Method of Configuring Field Devices and Field Device Having a Configuration for Two Bus Systems

Abstract

Systems and methods of the subject invention provide for the communication with field devices in a first fieldbus system working in accordance with a first standard, and in a second fieldbus system working in accordance with a second standard. First and second field devices are arranged in the first fieldbus system and are coupled via a first fieldbus in accordance with the first standard. The first field device is also coupled to the second fieldbus system working in accordance with a second standard. A standardized object in accordance with the first standard is loaded on the first field device. A description of the standardized object is provided in the second fieldbus system. The standardized object is used from the second fieldbus system, the standardized object having no definition of a data type.

Claims

1. A method for communication with field devices in a first fieldbus system working in accordance with a first standard, and in a second fieldbus system working in accordance with a second standard, comprising the steps of: arranging a first field device and a second field device in the first fieldbus system; coupling the first field device and the second field device via a first fieldbus in accordance with the first standard; coupling the first field device to the second fieldbus system working in accordance with the second standard; loading a standardized object in accordance with the first standard on the first field device; providing a description of the standardized object in the second fieldbus system; and using the standardized object from the second fieldbus system, the standardized object having no definition of a data type.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the standardized object includes fields having the following definitions: a target specification, in particular a data length for a write access and a value.

3. The method according to claim 1, including acyclic retrieval of parameters or values of the second field device in the first fieldbus system from the second fieldbus system and via the first field device using the standardized object.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first field device is a gateway.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first standard is CANopen.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second standard is a standard for Fieldbus, in particular Profibus, Modbus, DeviceNet or CANopen or for Industrial Ethernet, in particular Profinet, ModbusTCP, EthernetIP, Ethercat or Powerlink.

7. A system comprising: a first field device and a second field device which are coupled via a first fieldbus system working in accordance with a first standard, the first field device being also coupled to a second fieldbus system set up in accordance with a second standard and working in accordance therewith; and wherein the first field device has a standardized object in accordance with the first standard to communicate with the second field device from the second fieldbus system directly via the first field device, the standardized object having no definition of a data type.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the standardized object includes fields having the following definitions: a target specification, in particular a data length for a write access and a value.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the first field device is set up using the standardized object so as to retrieve parameters or values of the second field device via the first field device using the standardized object in an acyclic manner from the second fieldbus system.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the first field device is a gateway.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein the first standard is CANopen.

12. The system according to claim 7, wherein the second standard is a standard for Fieldbus, in particular Profibus, Modbus, DeviceNet, or CANopen or for Industrial Ethernet, in particular Profinet, ModbusTCP, EthernetIP, Ethercat or Powerlink.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] Further aspects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of example embodiments with reference to the accompanying figure, wherein

[0057] FIG. 1 is a simplified block representation of an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] FIG. 1 is a simplified bloc representation of an example embodiment. It shows a first fieldbus system or a subnetwork SYS1 working in accordance with a first standard. The first standard can be CANopen. Accordingly, a first communication protocol according to the first standard is used in the first fieldbus system SYS1. Field devices or also nodes N1, N2, N3 to NN which are coupled to each other and to the first field device or gateway GW via the first fieldbus FI are arranged in the first fieldbus system. The first field device GW is also coupled to a second fieldbus system or also main network SYS2 which works in accordance with a second standard. A second communication protocol working according to the second standard is in particular used in the second fieldbus system SYS2. The second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol. In this respect, it is also possible to make a distinction between the first fieldbus system or network SYS1 and the second fieldbus system or network SYS2 in that at least two different communication protocols are used in the two networks SYS1, SYS2. Field devices or simply devices D1 to DN and a control ST which are coupled to each other via a second fieldbus or a network F2 are provided in the second fieldbus system SYS2. The second fieldbus F2 is also coupled to the first field device GW. A standardized object STDO which is set up in accordance with the first standard according to the specifications in the columns sub Object Route Function of the following table is now provided in the first field device GW. The table additionally contains the description of the standardized object for the second standard which can be Profinet, Ethernet/IP (Industrial Ethernet) or Modbus, for example.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE Object Route Function Profinet Ethernet/IP Modbus Index Subindex Function Slot Subslot Index Class Instance Attribute Address 0x3C31 0x01 Index/Subindex/NodeID 0 1 1 C7 1 3 1000 0x02 Data length for write access 0 3 2 C7 2 3 1002 0x03 Value UINT32 0 3 3 C7 3 3 1004 0x04 Value string 0 3 4 C7 4 3 1006 0x05 result 0 1 5 C7 5 3 1016 0x06 call/cancel 0 1 6 C7 6 3 1018

[0059] In detail, the specifications have the following meaning:

[0060] Index/Subindex/NodeID: Index and subindex of the object from which it is desired to read/write. It is additionally necessary to indicate the NodeID of the device (field device in the first fieldbus system SYS1). The index and subindex are stored in the device specification, for example EDS.

[0061] Data length for write access: It defines the data length of the write command in bytes. The data length need not be indicated for reading.

[0062] Value UINT32: The value to be written is preset or the value read out is reproduced here.

[0063] Value string: Serves to read and write texts, data greater than 4 bytes.

[0064] result: Result of operation 0=command successfully executed, 0<error occurred during execution, FFFFFFFF=read/write operation not yet completed

[0065] call/cancel: executes the command.

[0066] Therefore, the specifications of the standardized object comprise at least one target specification (Index/Subindex/NodeID), a data length (but only for a write command) (Data length for write access) and a value (Value UINT32; Value string). Furthermore, there is a field for the result (result) and a field for calling or cancelling (call/cancel). These fields of the standardized object are translated into the corresponding second standard. It is then possible to access the fields of the standardized object from a second fieldbus system SYS2 which works in accordance with the Profinet standard, for example, via the specifications Slot 0, Subslot 1 and Index 1 to 6. By analogy, in case the second fieldbus system SYS2 works in accordance with Ethernet/IP, the access is realized via the corresponding Class, Instance and Attribute commands and in the case of the Modbus via the given addresses.

[0067] In FIG. 1, a solid line represents a permanent or wireless connection via the corresponding fieldbus F1, F2. The dotted lines represent the direct accesses using the standardized object STDO. The dashed line illustrates the division into the two networks or fieldbus systems SYS1, SYS2.

[0068] All in all, this permits a direct access to parameters/objects of field devices N1 to NN in the first fieldbus system SYS1 from the second fieldbus system SYS2. These direct accesses can advantageously be realized in an acyclic manner and can, for example, be executed by the control ST.

[0069] Although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this disclosure. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this disclosure.