Shared Control Streams for Deterministic Industrial Ethernet Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In industrial control systems, existing communication methods lack efficient protection mechanisms, leading to data loss and disruptions due to uncoordinated data transmission from sensors to a central unit, causing 'beatings' in the communication network and potential overload, especially in open Ethernet-based systems where many components communicate without knowing each other's presence or topology.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a control method that uses two protected connections: one between sensors and the central unit, and another between the central unit and actuators, with each sensor assigned a transmitter-side sub-area within a time window to ensure sequential data arrival at the central unit, and each actuator filters its control signals from a shared connection, maintaining disjunctive receiver-side sub-areas to prevent conflicts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensors transmit actual states freely in an open communication network without coordination, then the communication network remains simple and flexible, but data loss and network overload occur due to uncoordinated transmissions causing 'beatings'
Solution Approach 1:
The time window for data transmission is segmented into multiple time slots, with each sensor assigned a specific time slot within the cyclic interval. This segmentation prevents uncoordinated transmissions by ensuring that sensors transmit sequentially rather than simultaneously, eliminating 'beatings' and network overload while maintaining the simplicity of the open communication network infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
A cyclic transmission interval is established where sensors periodically transmit actual states to the central unit. Within each cycle, sensors follow a predetermined transmission sequence, creating regular periodic action that prevents data collisions and ensures reliable reception without requiring complex real-time coordination mechanisms
2Reliability
If multiple streams are set up for each sensor and actuator to ensure protected communication, then communication reliability improves, but network resource consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple individual communication streams from multiple sensors are merged into a single shared communication channel. By combining these transmissions and coordinating them through time slot allocation within cyclic intervals, the system achieves protected communication for all sensors while using only one network channel, significantly reducing network resource consumption compared to establishing separate protected streams for each sensor
Solution Approach 2:
A single communication channel is designed to serve multiple functions by carrying actual states from multiple different sensors sequentially. The channel universally handles transmissions from any sensor in the system within its cyclic interval, eliminating the need for dedicated channels for each sensor and optimizing network resource utilization
Data Source
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Figure 5~6
AI summary
Sensors (1) of a control system detect cyclical actual states (Z) of a technical industrial process (4) and transmit same to a common central unit (3) of the control system via a first protected connection (6) of a first open communication network (5), said connection being common to the sensors (1). Thus, each sensor (1) transmits the actual states (Z) detected by the sensor to the central unit (3) once within a specified time window (T). The central unit (3) ascertains cyclical control signals (C) for the technical industrial process (4) while taking into consideration the actual states (Z) transmitted to the central unit and transmits said control signals to multiple actuators (2) of the control system via a second protected connection (9) of a second open communication network (8), said connection being common to the actuators (2). The central unit (3) thereby transmits the control signals (C) determined for the respective actuator (2) to each actuator (2) once within the specified time window (T). The actuators (2) act cyclically on the technical industrial process (4) in a manner corresponding to the control signals (C) transmitted to the actuators. Each sensor (1) is assigned a respective transmitter-side sub-region (19), within which the respective sensor (19) supplies the actual state (Z) detected by said sensor to the first open communication network (5), within the time window (T). The transmitted actual states (Z) arrive within a respective receiver-side sub-region (20) of the time window (T), said sub-region corresponding to the respective transmitter-side sub-region (19), in the central unit (3). The transmitter-side sub-regions (19) of the sensors (1) are determined such that the receiver-side sub-regions (20) are disjointed relative to one another.