Virtual Hot-Standby Backup Control for Lower-Cost Redundancy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hot-standby redundancy control systems require a 1:1 ratio of primary and backup controllers, leading to a significant increase in hardware costs without reducing the reliability of the industrial control system.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a hot-standby redundancy control system with multiple virtual control apparatuses running on industrial personal computers (IPCs), where each IPC can simulate multiple primary control apparatuses, reducing the need for physical backup controllers and lowering hardware costs while maintaining system reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a 1:1 ratio of primary and backup controllers is used, then system reliability is improved, but hardware costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple virtual backup controllers are merged and run simultaneously on a single physical IPC platform. The patent implements virtualization technology to consolidate multiple backup control functions into one physical device, reducing hardware quantity while maintaining the reliability benefits of having multiple backup controllers available.
Solution Approach 2:
The IPC platform is designed to perform multiple functions by hosting different virtual backup controllers that can back up different primary controllers. This multi-functional approach allows one physical device to serve as backup for multiple primary controllers, reducing overall hardware requirements while maintaining system reliability.
2Reliability
If multiple physical backup controllers are deployed, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple backup controller functions into a single IPC platform using virtualization. This consolidation reduces device complexity by eliminating the need for multiple separate physical backup controllers while maintaining the same reliability level through virtual instances that can independently back up different primary controllers.
Data Source
AI summary
A hot-standby redundancy control system is disclosed. In an embodiment, the system includes multiple primary control apparatuses, each respectively running a process of the hot-standby redundancy control system; a backup control apparatus pool including at least one industrial personal computer (IPC), with multiple virtual control apparatuses being established on at least one IPC, and the multiple virtual control apparatuses established being in one-to-one correspondence with the multiple primary control apparatuses, and each respective multiple virtual control apparatus running a same process as a respective corresponding primary control apparatus; a control bus, to connect one or more of the t least one IPC in the multiple primary control apparatuses and the backup control apparatus pool; and a field bus, to connect one or more of the at least one IPC in the multiple primary control apparatuses and the backup control apparatus pool and multiple field apparatuses.