Phoenix Contact Gmbh + Co. Kg

Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co.

Viktor Oster

Joachim Schmidt

Steffen Horn

Rainer Esch

Heinz-Carsten Landwehr

Johannes Kalhoff

Thorsten Behr

Dirk Quardt

Karsten Meyer-Gräfe

Andreas Pape

Klas Hellmann

Andreas Metzger

Lutz Rahlves

Roland Berg

Achim Fürhoff

Jurgen Brand

Hubertus Lohre

Carsten Gregorius

Henry Peter

Oliver Stallmann

Olaf Ruth

Harald Grewe

Juergen Teutenberg

Kai Grube

Klaus-Peter Säck

Carsten Landwehr

Frank Hannibal

Werner Neugebauer

Klaus-Peter Saeck

Andreas Nordhoff

Thomas Warneke

Jürgen Teutenberg

More efficient data transmission of safety-relevant data is achieved by a method for transmitting data between the central control apparatus and a plurality of decentralized devices, which includes generating, in the central control apparatus, a data telegram for the broadcast or multicast transmission of data to a plurality of devices, unidirectionally transmitting the data telegram from the central control apparatus to at least one decentralized device, monitoring the transmission duration of the transmission of the data telegram from the central control apparatus to the at least one decentralized device, and triggering a predetermined safety reaction if the transmission duration exceeds a predefined value. Further, a control and data transmission system designed to carry out the method, and means belonging to such a system.

Method for transmitting data between a central control apparatus and a plurality of decentralized devices, and corresponding means

A communication system for current-modulated transmission of data via a current loop&#x2014;into which a master device and at least one slave device are looped. The at least one slave device has a switching means that is actuable by an evaluation and control unit and that is configured to short a current loop in the closed state, wherein the evaluation and control unit is configured to temporarily close and then reopen the switching means during a system configuration detection phase. An evaluation and control unit of the master device&#x2014;is configured to detect when the at least one slave device is looped into the current loop.

Communication system for current-modulated data transmission via a current loop

Meeting the safety requirements of automation systems in a more flexible manner, the invention provides a control and data transmission system for controlling safety-critical processes comprising a plurality of I/O modules connected via a first communication network to a gateway module. The gateway module is connected to a second communication network hierarchically superior to the first communication network and acts as a gateway between the first and the second communication networks. At least one of the I/O modules comprises a diagnosis unit for generating status data relating to the functional state of an input and/or output and/or of a process device. The gateway module and the I/O modules communicate via the first communication network in a safe manner to transfer status data and input and/or output data. The gateway module performs safety processing of the status data and/or of the input and/or output data.

Control and data-transfer system, gateway module, I/O module, and method for process control

The invention relates to a safe electronic device which has multichannel logic circuitry, a single channel input device, an output device, and a storage device. Data items, each of which is associated with an input value, are stored in the storage device. The multichannel logic circuitry is comprised of a first control unit and a second control unit. The first control unit reads in an input value which has been input, and transmits the input value to the second control unit which actuates the output device for outputting of optical and/or acoustic information, in response to the input value which has been input. If the optical and/or acoustic information corresponds to the input value, the selected data item is released for further use.

Secure electronic device

An analog signal input circuit with a first number of analog signal detection channels and a diagnostics circuit, with each analog signal detection channel including a third number of analog signal detection circuits and a first connection selection device, and each analog signal detection circuit comprising a first connection device and a second connection device. For each analog signal detection channel, for detecting analog input signals applied at analog signal inputs from a second number of analog signal inputs, and for the respective issuance of output signals for the detected analog input signals, respectively one analog signal detection circuit is alternatingly selected for a certain period of time, not connected to its first connection device comprising an analog signal input for detecting an analog input signal, but used for testing and/or diagnostic purposes.

Analog signal input circuit to process analog input signals for the safety of a process

The invention is based on the problem of devising a circuit arrangement () for protecting electronic devices from incorrect logic voltages, wherein this circuit arrangement delivers increased protection against overvoltages, so that this circuit arrangement could also be used in multi-channel fail-safe systems that satisfy, for example, Performance Level 'e' according to DIN EN ISO 13849. The circuit arrangement () has an input terminal () for connecting a power supply device and at least one voltage converter () that delivers, on the output side, an adjustable logic voltage. A controllable switching element () is connected between the one or more voltage converters () and the input terminal (). Furthermore, a first monitoring device () is provided for monitoring the logic voltage. The first monitoring device () is constructed so that it triggers the opening of the switching element () when the logic voltage reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold.

Circuit arrangement for protecting electronic devices against incorrect logic voltages

The invention relates to a signal processing device having a first signal processing unit (), a second signal processing unit (), a third signal processing unit (), and a safety unit (). The first signal processing unit () and the second signal processing unit () are operable in parallel for providing signal processing redundancy, and are designed to output an output signal in each case in response to an input signal. The safety unit () is designed to replace the first signal processing unit () or the second signal processing unit () with the third signal processing unit ().

Signal processing device

The present invention concerns a communication system with monitored input state of an input device. The input device has an input connection, a ground connection and an input circuit connected between the input connection and the ground connection. The input circuit is designed to detect an input signal. A sensor device is also provided, which is connected to the input connection and optionally the ground connection. The communication system also has a current-increasing device connected to the input connection and the ground connection, which is designed to furnish an increased current for the input circuit for an adjustable time period as a function of the voltage lying on the input connection. A power supply is also provided to supply power to the sensor device.

Communication system with monitored input state of an input device as well as current-increasing device

A method and an apparatus are provided, which provide for single-channel bus coupling of safety-relevant processes. The method is distinguished in that a data record which is relevant for the safety-critical process is processed via at least two redundant processing channels, in particular on a protocol-specific basis, in accordance with identical laws for in each case one safe protocol and the redundant safety messages for single-channel bus coupling are joined together to form a common safe protocol, to be precise in that each of the processing channels accesses a common buffer register, with write authorization for each register location being allocated only once, in such a way that the common safe protocol is joined together in components by in each case writing in different components of the respective safety messages.

Method and apparatus for bus coupling of safety-relevant processes

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

A data processing system ensures maximum reaction times. A novel and significantly improved way of ascertaining, checking and/or observing maximum reaction times in data processing systems includes complex or distributed, safe and/or nonsafe systems, particularly between a safe input signal and the corresponding safe output signal, in a flexible and universally applicable manner. Input and/or output data, which are present on the input side of users incorporated in the system, are read in synchronously during each data cycle and checked in relation to currency parameters, which are based on at least one data cycle and associated with the input and/or output data An error is identified in response to a defined discrepancy being reached between at least one currency parameter and a defined currency threshold, and a defined function, particularly a safety-oriented function, are triggered in response to identification of an error.

Ensuring maximum reaction times in complex or distributed safe and/or nonsafe systems

An input circuit for an input component is disclosed for enabling the safe reading of input signals applied to the input component. The disclosed input circuit for an input component, particularly a bus input component, enables the safe reading of input signals applied to the input component, particularly according to the standards Category 4 DIN EN 954 and SIL 3 IEC 61508, which is characterized by at least one signal input circuit with a one-channel periphery connection for the connection of at least one signal generator, an evaluation circuit, which can be connected electrically to the signal input circuit via a first coupling element, and a comparison circuit, which is connected electrically to the signal input circuit, for setting a reference voltage for the activation and deactivation of the coupling element.

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Blomberg, Germany

Viktor Oster