A master slave communication system capable of reducing a manufacturing cost is provided. The mater slave communication system includes a master node and a plurality of slave nodes having the same initial address. A communication between the master node and one slave node among the plurality of slave nodes is established by using the initial address set as an address of the one slave node. The address of the one slave node is changed into another address which has been transmitted from the master node to the one slave node through the established communication and is different from the initial address.

A master slave communication system capable of reducing a manufacturing cost is provided. The mater slave communication system includes a master node and a plurality of slave nodes having the same initial address. A communication between the master node and one slave node among the plurality of slave nodes is established by using the initial address set as an address of the one slave node. The address of the one slave node is changed into another address which has been transmitted from the master node to the one slave node through the established communication and is different from the initial address.

An apparatus may be communicatively coupled to other nodes in a network. The apparatus may include a control circuit configured to repeatedly issue transmission cycles to the other nodes. A given transmission cycle may include a least one send slot for each of the other nodes to send data. The control circuit may be configured to initiate transmission cycles by issuing beacon signals to the other nodes. The control circuit may be configured to determine when to issue a beacon signal in a given transmission cycle by determining that all of the other nodes have completed all associated send slots in an immediately previous transmission cycle and based upon a determination of the completion of the other nodes' transmission, delaying transmission of the beacon signal for the given transmission cycle.

A construction machine is provided with a control device having an operating panel with operating elements, which can assume numerous switching states/positions, a control and monitoring unit for controlling machine components via control signals signalling the switching state/position of associated operating elements, and a display/signal unit interacting with the control and monitoring unit. The control device provides first and second signal transmission paths for transmitting a first control signal signalling the switching state/position of a first operating element and a second control signal signalling the switching state/position of a second operating element, respectively. The control signals are checked for the existence of a plausibility criterion. If the plausibility criterion is not met, signal transmission over one or the other signal transmission path is deactivated, wherein the functionality of the relevant component is checked. Switching to emergency operation is only possible after confirmation of the functionality of the relevant component.

A construction machine is provided with a control device having an operating panel with operating elements, which can assume numerous switching states/positions, a control and monitoring unit for controlling machine components via control signals signalling the switching state/position of associated operating elements, and a display/signal unit interacting with the control and monitoring unit. The control device provides first and second signal transmission paths for transmitting a first control signal signalling the switching state/position of a first operating element and a second control signal signalling the switching state/position of a second operating element, respectively. The control signals are checked for the existence of a plausibility criterion. If the plausibility criterion is not met, signal transmission over one or the other signal transmission path is deactivated, wherein the functionality of the relevant component is checked. Switching to emergency operation is only possible after confirmation of the functionality of the relevant component.

A communication device that can prevent the transmission of a message from being continuously hindered over a long period of time, a communication system and a message arbitration method are provided. The communication device transmits and receives a message to and from another device connected to a common communication line which comprises a calculation unit that calculates as to a message to be transmitted a margin time before a time when a transmission of the message is completed; a transmission unit that transmits the message to which information related to the margin time calculated by the calculation unit is attached; and an arbitration unit that performs arbitration based on the information attached to the message when simultaneous message transmissions to the communication line occur, and as to multiple of messages simultaneously transmitted to the communication line, the arbitration unit performs arbitration in such a manner as to prioritize a message with a shorter margin time.

A communication device that can prevent the transmission of a message from being continuously hindered over a long period of time, a communication system and a message arbitration method are provided. The communication device transmits and receives a message to and from another device connected to a common communication line which comprises a calculation unit that calculates as to a message to be transmitted a margin time before a time when a transmission of the message is completed; a transmission unit that transmits the message to which information related to the margin time calculated by the calculation unit is attached; and an arbitration unit that performs arbitration based on the information attached to the message when simultaneous message transmissions to the communication line occur, and as to multiple of messages simultaneously transmitted to the communication line, the arbitration unit performs arbitration in such a manner as to prioritize a message with a shorter margin time.

A method for real-time data communication between subscribers in an automation network is provided. The automation network includes an active subscriber, a plurality of passive subscribers and at least a connecting unit. The method includes the active subscriber arranging n data packets to be transmitted in a transmission order with a total occupancy time duration of the transmission order, performing an optimizing procedure for determining an optimized transmission order with minimum total occupancy time, and transmitting the n data packets in the optimized transmission order to the passive subscribers. An active subscriber for carrying out the method and an automation network comprising an active subscriber are also provided.

An EtherCAT bus system includes an EtherCAT master, EtherCAT nodes, and an EtherCAT star hub arranged and/or assembled on the same printed circuit board with the EtherCAT master.

A remote sensor data acquisition system for an aircraft includes a plurality of remote sensors co-located onboard the aircraft and adapted to measure one or more aircraft-related parameters. A remote sensor interface is co-located with the plurality of remote sensors. The remote sensor interface includes a communication bus having a plurality of nodes to transmit data from the plurality of remote sensors. A plurality of subsystems are each adapted to receive data from the plurality of remote sensors simultaneously and in real time via the remote sensor interface. A remote sensor data acquisition method for an aircraft includes sensing one or more parameters onboard the aircraft via a plurality of remote sensors and transmitting sensor data from the plurality of remote sensors to a plurality of subsystems independently and in real time via a remote sensor interface.