Phoenix Contact Gmbh + Co. Kg

Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co.

Joachim Schmidt

Viktor Oster

Steffen Horn

Detlev Kuschke

Heinz-Carsten Landwehr

J&uuml;rgen Jasperneite

Dietmar Schn&ouml;nherr

Safety-related functions in automation systems for controlling industrial production processes are achieved by providing a simple and safe parameterization of the safety-related apparatuses of such an automation plant. After a start signal sent by the communication master is received, all further activities for parameterization are controlled by a logic module.

Control device for controlling safety-critical processes in an automated plant and method for parameterizing the control device

The invention relates to communication between safety-related modules in a communication network of an automation system. The object of the invention is to simplify installation and development of safety-related modules in an automation network. To this end, the safety functions of a system are divided into small, manageable, locally delimitable and simply verifiable groups of modules.

Method and apparatus for safety-related communication in a communication network of an automation system

The invention relates to a control system for controlling safety-critical processes in an automated system by using a communications network with a communications master for controlling the communications on the network and a plurality of network subscribers. At least a few of the network subscribers are constructed as decentralized, secure network subscribers, and each has a separate, decentralized safety controller for controlling a safety-relevant application. Each of the decentralized, secure network subscribers has a unique safety address. The decentralized, secure network subscribers themselves execute the safety functions and/or safety logic operations relevant to them. The decentralized, secure network subscribers communicate with each other in a fail-safe way in which each executes automatic, fail-safe point-to-point communications with another of the decentralized, secure network subscribers, in order to be able to provide safety functions covering the decentralized, secure network subscribers.

Control system for controlling safety-critical processes

The present invention relates to the packet-oriented transmission of security-relevant data. One task of the invention is the provision of a way for the packet-oriented transmission of security-relevant data ensuring &#x2014;under the guarantee of a considerably enhanced user data rate &#x2014;a high level of protection against statistical and systematic errors with an insecure transmission medium. The invention provides, particularly for the use of at least one parallel and/or serial network and/or bus system, a process and devices for the packet-oriented transmission of security-relevant data allowing the transmission of security-relevant data and a redundant information that is based on the data in different packets.

Process and device for the packet-oriented transmission of security-relevant data

To configure a secure bus subscriber connected to a field bus in a secure control system, the secure bus subscriber being assigned a defined subscriber address, the invention provides a method having the following steps: The invention also provides an appropriate control system.

Address allocation for secure bus subscribers

A method and also a control and data-transmission system is presented, with which the installation location of at least one safety bus component connected to the control and data-transmission system () can be checked. For this purpose, in two separate communications cycles, a respective position identifier, which had been allocated to the safety bus components () in a prior configuration process, is transmitted to each safety bus component via a non-safety communications control device (). The safety bus components compare the position identifiers received in the two communications cycles to the contents of a memory, in which a reference position identifier has already been stored or which is still empty. Based on a comparison of the transmitted position identifier to the reference position identifier and the configuration dataset stored in a safety control device (), it can be tested whether each safety bus component is connected to the predetermined installation location within the control and data-transmission system ().

Method and control and data-transmission system for checking the installation location of a safety communications component

A method and an apparatus are disclosed for the coupling of a safety-critical process from a safe environment to an environment that is not safe or to an environment that is safe but has fewer processing channels. To this end, provision is made of a method which processes a data record that is relevant to the safety-critical process to form a respective safe protocol using at least two redundant processing channels in accordance with identical laws, and forms a common safe protocol taking into account at least two redundant safe coupling protocols. When writing at least elements of the common safety-based protocol using a processing channel with write authorization, another processing channel is used to check whether these elements are identical to one another. Access to a common buffer register for the purpose of storing these elements is enabled only when they are identical to one another.

Method and apparatus for converting multichannel messages into a single-channel safe message

Data transmission and processing system with at least one input user (), with a control unit () for the reception and the processing of data of the input user () and a transmission device () of data between the input user () and the control unit (). The input user () cyclically makes available the input data values (Z, Z. . . Z) for retrieval, and the transmission device () cyclically calls up the input data values (Z, Z. . . Z) and transfers them to the control unit (), to be sent after processing to at least one output user (). A parameterization device () with a monitoring switch () is provided at the input user () to mark the input data values that characterize critical states as critical data values (FZ). In the case of the presence of such critical states, only the associated critical data values (FZ) are made available henceforth for transfer and are transmitted until it has been determined with certainty that the control unit () has received the critical data values (FZ).

Data transmission and processing system with reliable acquisition of critical states

The invention relates to a method and to a system for transmitting data of a data type to be transmitted cyclically and of a data type which can be transmitted acyclically via a common transmission channel from a first participant unit connected to the transmission channel to at least one further participant unit connected to the transmission channel. The invention proposes to develop a method based on a protocol-specific cyclic transmission sequence of transmission messages for transmitting data of a data type to be transmitted cyclically via a transmission channel. When a particular type of impending transmission message is detected for which redundant data of the data type to be transmitted cyclically are provided without new information content, instead of these data, data of a data type which can be transmitted acyclically are inserted into the data area provided for data of this data type to be transmitted cyclically.

Method and system for transmitting data of a data type to be transmitted cyclically and of a data type which can be transmitted acyclically via a common transmission channel

An apparatus for self-diagnosis of substantially sporadic faults in a serial network which connects a number of subscribers together to a central diagnosis apparatus is characterised in that arranged decentrally at each subscriber (Tln,, . . . Tlnn; FIG.,) at given fault-relevant locations in its protocol stack are fault detectors (FD) which transmit their test results to a diagnosis and report manager (DRM) which from the individual test results of all fault detectors produces a fault picture which it preaddresses for transmission thereof insofar as, for each fault picture to be transmitted to a central diagnosis apparatus (DE) for the purposes of evaluation there, it generates an address (ID-ADR) by means of which it actuates an ID-transmitting-receiving buffer memory (FDSEP) in which it provides for intermediate storage of the fault pictures associated with the addresses and reads them out again in time-displaced relationship for their transmission to the central diagnosis apparatus by way of the transmission network (UN).

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Bad Pyrmont, Germany

Joachim Schmidt