Schneider Electric Usa, Inc.

Schneider Electric Automation Gmbh

Achim Zimmermann

Ronald H Naismith

Pascal Hampikian

William E LeRette

Gernot Miksch

Aspects of the invention support different products having a host device and a communications device. The host device may interact with the communications device to exchange messages containing data objects over a fieldbus network for transporting messages containing data objects. Read/write requests to the fieldbus data objects may be answered locally in the communications device, or the fieldbus data object may be mapped to host data when host access is required. The communications device stores a profile image associated with a designated host type, so that the communications device may map the data object to host data for the host device and then exchange the host data with the host device. The communications device may subsequently interact with a different host type if a corresponding profile image is downloaded to the memory device.

Dynamic host profiles for option modules

A communication module for connecting electrical host devices, each with an individual physical interface, to different external networks, where the communication module is connected to the host device via an interface and provides at least two physical interfaces, and where the communication module has a network connector which is adapted to the respective external network. In order to enable development of communication modules independently of the individual host device and to reuse them for many different host devices, provision is made for the host device to have a processor for identifying the communication module and for selecting the at least one physical interface which is suitable for the host device by means of serial communication.

Growing community of inventors

Dietzenbach, Germany

Achim Zimmermann