Wind Turbine Control Architecture Without Ethernet Jitter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wind turbine control architectures face issues with data reliability due to network jitter and latency, data loss, and high maintenance and configuration complexity, particularly due to communication via Ethernet networks and the use of separate computers for data storage and control.
Innovation Solution
Integrating a turbine control portion and a turbine data storage portion within a single computer, utilizing inter-process communication and a shared memory or internal bus for data transfer, eliminating the need for an external Ethernet network and separate interface computers, and employing a time-series data storage container.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate computers are used for control and data storage with Ethernet network communication, then data storage capacity and control functionality are improved, but network jitter, data loss, and communication latency occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the control computer and data storage computer into a single integrated system. The control unit and data storage unit share common hardware resources including processor, memory, and storage, eliminating the need for separate computers and Ethernet network communication. This integration directly resolves the technical contradiction by removing network-related reliability issues (jitter, data loss, latency) while reducing system complexity through consolidation.
2Ease of manufacture
If separate interface computer is used for data storage, then data storage functionality is improved, but maintenance cost and configuration complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The interface computer functionality is merged into the main control computer. The control unit directly accesses and manages the data storage unit through shared memory and internal communication bus, eliminating the need for a separate interface computer. This reduces configuration complexity by removing multiple permission setups and network configurations, while simplifying maintenance through a single integrated system.
3Productivity
If Ethernet network is used for communication between control and storage, then data transfer capability is improved, but jitter and data loss occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the external Ethernet network communication from the system and replaces it with internal direct memory access and shared memory communication. The control unit writes data directly to the data storage unit's memory through the system bus, eliminating network protocol overhead and network-related reliability issues. This maintains high data transfer speed while ensuring data integrity through direct memory-to-memory transfer.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple computers are used for control and storage, then functional capability is improved, but initial cost and maintenance cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate computers (control computer, interface computer, data storage computer) into a single integrated control system. The control unit, data storage unit, and interface functionality are all implemented within one computer system, reducing hardware quantity while maintaining full functional capability through software-based separation of functions. This directly reduces both initial investment costs and lifetime maintenance costs.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
It is described a wind turbine control architecture (100), comprising a turbine control portion (10) which is configured to control at least one component of a wind turbine (1), and a turbine data storage portion (11) which is configured to store a data storage container (12) therein. The turbine control portion (10) and the turbine data storage portion (11) communicate with each other via an inter-process communication (13).