Abb Schweiz Ag

Abb Research Ltd.

Johan Åkerberg

Krister Landernäs

Mikael Gidlund

Jörgen Gade

Ewa Hansen

Alexander Gogolev

Alf Isaksson

Mallikarjun Kande

Tomas Lennvall

Ravish Kumar

Jonas Neander

Linus Thrybom

Maryam Vahabi

Niclas Ericsson

Rahul Nandkumar Gore

Pietro Falco

Johan Furunäs

Mats Björkman

Jörgen Bror Gade

Markus Eriksson

Tomas Olofsson

Pang Zhibo

Xiaolin Jiang

Kan Yu

A method for providing a deterministic behavior in a shared physical network is disclosed. The method may be performed in a device controlling a Virtual Local Area Network, VLAN, of the shared physical network. The method includes rate limiting amount of inbound traffic for each traffic flow in the VLAN and assigning a respective priority for each traffic flow in the VLAN.

Deterministic behavior in a shared physical network

A method for transporting a message from an end device in an industrial plant over an Ethernet network with extended functionality for time-sensitive communication includes obtaining the message from a control application of the end device, mapping the message, based at least in part on the content of the message, to at least one functionality for time-sensitive communication converting the message into Ethernet frames; encoding a request to transport the message; transmitting the Ethernet frames; decoding the request; and forwarding the message on the Ethernet network according to the requested functionality for time-sensitive communication.

Transporting a message from an industrial end device over an ethernet network

A method for establishing time-sensitive communication from at least one end device in an industrial plant into an Ethernet network with extended functionality for time-sensitive communication includes obtaining a first information model of the at least one end device, obtaining a second information model of the Ethernet network; determining first configuration information; determining second configuration information; transmitting the first configuration information to the at least one end device; and transmitting the second configuration information to the at least one network device.

Establishing time-sensitive communications between industrial end devices and an ethernet network

A method for handling failure of a TSN communication link in a TSN network. The method is performed by a control node and includes estimating requirements for TSN communication for end-points based on application parameters, input/output requirements, and application requirements, wherein each end-point is capable of communicating over a TSN channel and a non-TSN channel in the TSN network using one and the same network interface. The method includes obtaining an indication of a failure of a TSN communication link in the TSN network between two of the end-points. The method includes performing self-healing of the TSN communication link.

Failure handling of a TSN communication link

There is provided mechanisms for routing packets between a terminal device and a control system node via intermediate nodes on wireless paths in a wireless network. A method includes obtaining information on disturbances of wireless paths used for communicating packets of a traffic flow between the intermediate nodes in the wireless network. The method includes determining, based on the information on disturbances, mutual correlation between the disturbances of the wireless paths. The method includes routing the packets of the traffic flow between the terminal device and the control system node via some of the intermediate nodes and along disjoint wireless paths, whereby the packets are transmitted in parallel on the disjoint wireless paths, and wherein the disjoint wireless paths have mutual correlation not higher than a threshold correlation value.

Identification of robust wireless routing paths

A method, arrangement, computer program and computer program product for improving communication between devices of an industrial automation system running automation applications as well as to such an industrial automation system. The devices include a first and a second endpoint device of a communication path for a data stream through a time sensitive network and for which a corresponding application has an application cycle time at which the first and second endpoint device are to transmit data to each other. The first endpoint device detects a communication degradation of the data stream, which communication degradation is indicative of congestion and performs a congestion limiting activity from a group of congestion limiting activities, which group at least includes an activity of increasing the application cycle time of the data stream.

Communication in an industrial automation system

There is provided mechanisms for configuration of parameters for a networked device to be provisioned in a network. A method is performed by a device configuration node. The method includes obtaining a request for configuration of parameters for the networked device. The request indicates that the networked device is of a certain device type. The method includes selecting a template from a set of templates stored in a database. The template is selected based on the certain device type. The method includes providing configuration of at least a subset of the parameters for the networked device based on the template.

Configuration of networked devices

A mechanisms for analyzing event based behavior of end-points of a network in an industrial system and a method performed by a control node, the method includes collecting, from the end-points, timestamped event log entries as created by the end-points within a time window. Each respective timestamped event log entry pertains to a respective event performed by one of the end-points. The method includes identifying tuples of correlated events by comparing the timestamped event log entries to each other, thereby providing a mapping between the events and those end-points where the events of each tuple of correlated events are performed.

Analysis of event based behavior of end-points in an industrial system

A method of scheduling field devices in a wireless network of an industrial process system is provided. The method is performed in a scheduling device and includes scheduling one or more field devices on uplink resources and on downlink resources, such that, for at least one of the field devices, a periodicity of uplink resources is different than a periodicity of downlink resources.

Method of scheduling field devices in a wireless network of an industrial process system

A method for communication between a wireless device node in a wireless sensor network (WSN) and control apparatus or control processes of an industrial control system is used to determine a method of radio transmission which provides a greater or a lesser measure of transmission quality between nodes. Thus a transmitter node measures a transmission quality metric of at least one packet received from two or more different switching branches, identifies which of the two or more switching branches has the greater transmission quality metric, distributes data packets with a first priority to the switching branch with the greater transmission quality metric, and transmits data packets with the first priority such as real-time data on the switching branch with the greater transmission quality metric. A wireless node, a sensor network system and a computer program for carrying out the method are described.

Method for providing reliable wireless communication in a wireless sensor network

A wireless communication device providing a node in an industrial wireless network investigates if there is more than one data packet with process control data from the same data originating device destined for a process control device in a transmission queue, where the data originating device is an interface to the process being controlled and transmits data packets in the transmission queue. If there is more than one such data packet, the wireless communication device further compares time stamps of the data packets, where a time stamp reflects the time of generation of a corresponding data packet, keeps the newest data packet and discards older data packets, so that only the most recent data packets from a data originating device are sent to the process control device from the node.

Transmitting data packets in an industrial wireless network

A wireless communication device for a wireless network employing a wireless time division communication structure, where the wireless communication device includes a wireless transmitter, a wireless receiver and an access control unit, which is configured to order the wireless transmitter to transmit, in a contention interval, a priority setting of a wireless communication device competing for resources, where the priority setting is transmitted as a signal having a frequency representing the priority setting, order the wireless receiver to receive, in the contention interval, priority settings of other competing wireless communication devices as signals having frequencies representing these priority settings, compare the transmitted priority setting with the received priority settings and seize a following data interval if the transmitted priority setting is higher than the received priority settings.

Contention based access of resources in a wireless network

A network manager device in an industrial wireless network sends a network investigating message to other network nodes for processing and forwarding through the network, the message including a message weight. A wireless communication device providing a node in the network receives the message from another network node, determines a communication weight based on the quality of communication, adds the communication weight to the message weight and compares the sum with the node weight. If the sum is lower than the node weight, it is set as new node weight and as new message weight, whereupon the changed message is sent to other nodes in the network. The network manager device maps the topology of the network based on updated node weights, sets a communication scheduling scheme based on the mapped topology and informs the network nodes of the scheme.

Determination of communication routes in a wireless communication network

A method of allocating time slots for sensor node sample transmission from sensor nodes in a wireless sensor node network which forms part of a control system for controlling an industrial process includes receiving a sample from a first sensor node in a first time slot of a superframe, which first sample has a value outside an accepted range of values, obtaining an identification of a second time slot of the superframe in which second time slot the first sensor node is to send a further sample in a subsequent superframe, and providing instructions to the first sensor node to send the further sample in the second time slot of a subsequent superframe. A computer program product and a sensor node network interface system are also disclosed herein.

Method and sensor node network interface system for wireless control of an industrial process

A wireless network managing device for a wireless network that is part of a process control system. The wireless network managing device includes a node determination element configured to receive an operator selection of at least one node in the process control system via an operator terminal and determine a field device implementing the functionality of the node, and a bandwidth control element configured to adjust a bandwidth assigned to the at least one field device in an auxiliary data section of a communication structure used by the wireless network based on the received operator selection in order to increase system responsiveness.

Growing community of inventors

Västerås, Sweden

Johan Åkerberg