Virtual Peripheral Provisioning for Flexible Industrial Control Modules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial processes face challenges in ensuring intrinsic safety and high-speed communication of large data packets while managing connectivity and complexity, especially in environments with combustible materials, and existing systems require reconfiguration upon hardware changes.
Innovation Solution
A communication system with a master controller and slave modules using low-voltage connections and a communication schedule for high-speed data transfer, along with virtual peripherals defined in an IDE for flexible hardware setup, enabling efficient and safe data exchange without explicit hardware dependencies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If intrinsic safety measures are implemented to limit electrical and thermal energy in hazardous environments, then safety is improved, but communication bandwidth is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments communication into multiple slots within a communication cycle, allowing different data packets to be transmitted sequentially. This segmentation enables the system to achieve higher effective bandwidth by utilizing multiple time slots while maintaining intrinsic safety limits on simultaneous electrical energy
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic communication cycles with multiple slots, where data transmission occurs in repeated sequences. This periodic structure allows the system to accumulate communication bandwidth over time while keeping instantaneous energy consumption within intrinsic safety limits
2Adaptability or versatility
If controller hardware is physically separate from industrial devices, then system flexibility is improved, but setup complexity increases when devices or hardware are changed
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses virtual device definitions that create software representations of physical devices. When hardware changes occur, the virtual definitions can be updated without affecting the application software, eliminating the need to rewrite code and reducing setup complexity while maintaining hardware independence
3Extent of automation
If connectivity and complexity of monitoring and control increase, then process automation capability is improved, but communication bandwidth utilization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple data packets into single communication cycles, combining several data transmissions into organized slots within a unified communication framework. This merging reduces overhead and optimizes bandwidth utilization while supporting increased automation capability
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of provisioning a system includes defining one or more virtual peripherals such that each of the virtual peripherals corresponds to a respective device; identifying one or more enabled virtual peripherals; and identifying one or more control modules. Each of the control modules includes one or more terminals for connecting to one or more devices. The method further includes linking each of the enabled virtual peripherals to a respective terminal of the one or more control modules to form a link; generating a provisioning configuration that represents the link between the respective terminal and the corresponding one of the enabled virtual peripherals; and writing the provisioning configuration to each of the control modules. The method further includes connecting the respective device to the respective terminal consistent with the link between the respective terminal and the corresponding one of the enabled virtual peripherals.