Universal Controller for Multi-Vendor Cryogenic Equipment Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cryogenic systems lack a common platform to operate and communicate between cryopumps and cryogas compressors from different manufacturers, due to proprietary power supply and communication protocols, limiting interchangeability and forcing users to rely on a single manufacturer for technology, performance, and support.
Innovation Solution
A universal controller comprising a highly configurable Power Supply Element (PSE) and Protocol Translator Element (PTE) that provides a single-phase and frequency input voltage to drive multiple cryogenic devices with different power requirements and translates communication protocols between incompatible systems, enabling interoperability across various manufacturers' equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If proprietary power supply and communication protocols are used by each manufacturer, then each manufacturer's equipment can be optimized for its specific system, but interoperability between different manufacturers' cryopumps and cryogas compressors is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary components including a protocol translator that converts between different communication protocols (Bitbus, Ethernet, Fieldbus) and a power supply element that mediates between different voltage requirements (24V, 48V, 110V, 220V). These intermediaries enable cryopumps and compressors from different manufacturers to communicate and power each other without requiring full system compatibility, thus resolving the contradiction between proprietary optimization and interoperability.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller is designed with universal capabilities to support multiple communication protocols and power voltage levels simultaneously. The protocol translator can handle multiple protocol types, and the power supply element can provide different voltages to different devices, making the system universally compatible across manufacturer boundaries while maintaining the ability to optimize for specific device requirements.
2Ease of operation
If a single manufacturer's ecosystem is used, then system integration and support are simplified, but users are limited in accessing superior technology and performance from other manufacturers
Solution Approach 1:
The controller provides universal support for multiple communication protocols (Bitbus, Ethernet, Fieldbus) and power voltage levels (24V, 48V, 110V, 220V), enabling users to integrate equipment from different manufacturers into a single coordinated system. This maintains ease of operation through unified control while expanding technology access across manufacturer boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The protocol translator and power supply element act as mediators that enable seamless integration of multi-vendor equipment. Users can access superior technology from any manufacturer while the intermediary components handle the complexity of protocol and voltage differences, presenting a simplified unified interface to the user.
3Adaptability or versatility
If cryopumps and compressors from different manufacturers are integrated, then access to superior technology and performance is enabled, but communication compatibility and power supply requirements become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The protocol translator and power supply element consolidate the complexity of multi-protocol and multi-voltage integration into dedicated intermediary components. This allows cryopumps and compressors from different manufacturers to be interconnected through standardized interfaces, enabling equipment interchangeability while the intermediaries handle the communication and power compatibility complexities.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple communication protocol handlers and power supply capabilities are merged into a single integrated controller unit. This consolidation reduces overall system complexity by combining what would otherwise be separate complexity sources into one unified device that manages all protocol translations and voltage conversions centrally.
4Reliability
If proprietary control systems are used by each manufacturer, then each system can be optimized for its specific cryopump design, but a common platform for operating multiple manufacturers' equipment does not exist
Solution Approach 1:
The controller is designed with universal capabilities to support multiple communication protocols and power voltage levels, creating a common platform that can operate cryopumps and compressors from different manufacturers. This universal design maintains the ability to optimize for specific device requirements while providing a shared operational foundation across manufacturer boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The protocol translator and power supply element serve as intermediaries that enable the common platform functionality. They translate between proprietary protocols and provide standardized power interfaces, allowing each manufacturer's optimized design to operate within a unified multi-vendor platform without sacrificing design-specific optimizations.
Data Source
AI summary
A universal controller for integration of cryogenic equipment, requiring different control mechanisms, onto a single operating platform. The universal controller may include a power supply element that is configured to simultaneously drive a plurality of cryogenic devices that have different power supply requirements and a protocol translator element that is configured to enable communication between a plurality of cryogenic devices that use different, incompatible communication protocols, wherein the protocol translator element translates communications sent by a first type of cryogenic device from a first cryogenic device communication protocol into a second cryogenic device communication protocol and translates communications sent by a second type of cryogenic device from a second cryogenic device communication protocol into the first cryogenic device communication protocol, enabling the first type of cryogenic device and the second type of cryogenic device to communicate with each other.