A communication system (1000) includes communication devices (10, 20) to share common time after correction of synchronization error including a communication delay with each other via a network (400). The communication device (10) includes a set time acquirer to acquire set time set by a user, a setter to set the set time as first system time, which is system time of the communication device (10), and a time difference data transmitter to transmit time difference data, which indicates a time difference between the common time and the set time, to the communication device (20). The communication device (20) includes a time difference data receiver to receive the time difference data, and a setter to set the sum of the common time and the time difference indicated by the time difference data as second system time, which is system time of the communication device (20).

A communication system (1000) includes communication devices (10, 20) to share common time after correction of synchronization error including a communication delay with each other via a network (400). The communication device (10) includes a set time acquirer to acquire set time set by a user, a setter to set the set time as first system time, which is system time of the communication device (10), and a time difference data transmitter to transmit time difference data, which indicates a time difference between the common time and the set time, to the communication device (20). The communication device (20) includes a time difference data receiver to receive the time difference data, and a setter to set the sum of the common time and the time difference indicated by the time difference data as second system time, which is system time of the communication device (20).

An interconnection device, a communication method, and a system including a robot are disclosed. In an embodiment, the interconnection device includes a first OPC UA interface, configured to establish connection between the interconnection device and an OPC UA device; and an ROS interface, in communication with the first OPC UA interface. The ROS interface includes: at least one ROS node module, configured to perform communication between the OPC UA device and an ROS device; an ROS client library module, configured to provide a function library to be called when the ROS node module performs the communication; and an ROS core module, configured to manage the ROS node module in the ROS interface unit and a node module in the ROS device. Communication between the OPC UA device and the ROS device is achieved via the interconnection device and the communication method.

Example implementations described herein are directed to systems and methods for deploying function packages onto machines connected to an Internet of Things (IoT) network. The function packages can include updates for machine functions or sensor functions, and can be triggered for deployment while the factory floor is running. Through the example implementations described herein, appropriate function packages can be scheduled and deployed to corresponding machines or sensors in response to an event occurring on the factory floor.

A novel and useful acknowledgement and adaptive frequency hopping mechanism for use in wireless communication systems such as IO-Link Wireless. One or two additional acknowledgement bits are added to packet transmissions. One is a current acknowledgment bit which indicates whether a packet was successfully received anytime during the current cycle. The second bit is a previous acknowledgment bit which indicates whether packets were received successfully anytime during the previous cycle. An adaptive hopping table is constructed using a greedy algorithm which chooses frequencies with the best PER for transmission of higher priority packets, while equalizing the PER products across cycles. A last resort frequency mechanism further improves transmission success by switching to a better performing channel for the last subcycle when previous attempts to transmit a high priority packet have failed.

A system for managing communication between building management system (BMS) devices includes a memory and a controller. The memory includes instructions stored thereon. The controller is configured to execute the instructions to implement an agent manager, a zone manager, and a channel manager. The agent manager is configured to generate an agent for each of the BMS devices. The zone manager is configured to define at least one zone relating to a physical location zone or a building control zone. The channel manager is configured to generate a communication channel associated with the at least one zone. The channel manager is further configured to manage registration of an agent to the communication channel, wherein an agent is configured to communicate over a communication channel in response to being registered to the communication channel.

The present invention addresses the problem whereby the number of commands to be transmitted increases in accordance with an increase in the number of devices to be backed up and restored, and processing becomes complex. An IO-Link master is provided with: an upper-level communication control unit which receives an instruction to execute backup in which setting information is acquired from IO-Link devices, and stored in a storage unit; and a backup control unit which executes backup of the plurality of IO-Link devices in accordance with the one received instruction.

An interconnection device, a communication method, and a system including a robot are disclosed. In an embodiment, the interconnection device includes a first OPC UA interface, configured to establish connection between the interconnection device and an OPC UA device; and an ROS interface, in communication with the first OPC UA interface. The ROS interface includes: at least one ROS node module, configured to perform communication between the OPC UA device and an ROS device; an ROS client library module, configured to provide a function library to be called when the ROS node module performs the communication; and an ROS core module, configured to manage the ROS node module in the ROS interface unit and a node module in the ROS device. Communication between the OPC UA device and the ROS device is achieved via the interconnection device and the communication method.

Provided is a control station that may be configured to control and/or monitor various devices, such as, for example, industrial devices. The control station may comprise communication circuitry, a first processor, and a second processor configured to communicate with one or more devices via the communication circuitry. Information from the one or more devices are configured to be processed by at least one of the first processor and the second processor, and at least one of the first processor and the second processor is configured to output the processed information to one or more of: an electronic display of the control station, a display external to the control station, and a server.

An expansion module for an industrial controller is configured to perform independent local processing of its input signals and to independently generate control outputs in parallel with the primary control program executed by the industrial controller. This can reduce or eliminate response latency for time-critical processes that would otherwise be present if all monitoring and control were performed by the industrial controller alone. This approach can be beneficial for configurations in which the industrial devices that are monitored and controlled via the expansion module require fast response times, as in the case of industrial safety applications.