CN217770112U - EPA gateway equipment and EPA cross-network communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a EPA gateway equipment and EPA cross-network communication system. The EPA gateway device includes: a plurality of EPA communication modules, each EPA communication module comprising EPA protocol circuitry, one or more MAC layer circuitry, and one or more PHY layer circuitry, the EPA protocol circuitry of each EPA communication module being connected to the one or more MAC layer circuitry, each of the one or more MAC layer circuitry being connected to one of the one or more PHY layer circuitry such that the PHY layer circuitry provides an EPA channel connected to a corresponding EPA network; and a data forwarding module that receives user data of the data message sent by the first EPA device in the first one of the plurality of EPA networks from the first one of the plurality of EPA communication modules, and forwards the data message to a second one of the plurality of EPA networks upon determining that an actual destination of the data message is the second one of the plurality of EPA networks.

Description

EPA gateway equipment and EPA cross-network communication system

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of communications, and more particularly, to an EPA gateway device and an EPA cross-network communication system.

Background

The EPA (industrial Ethernet for Plant Automation) bus, as a fieldbus standard having completely proprietary intellectual property rights in china, has been accepted and released as a fieldbus international standard by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), becomes the first international standard for industrial Automation in china, and is widely applied to the field of industrial Automation control. The EPA bus uses the physical layer of the Ethernet as a transmission basis and realizes high-speed, strong real-time and reliable transmission through the EPA protocol. As the EPA bus becomes more complex, its application scenarios become more diverse, and the different EPA networks used are increasing.

With the increase in application scenarios, it may be desirable to enable data communication between two or more different EPA networks. However, since the physical transmission media and data communication methods used by these EPA networks are different, it is not possible to directly implement cross-network communication of data between different EPA networks. For example, one EPA network is an EPA network having a dual star topology formed by EPA devices of a hundred mega electrical port, and the other EPA network is an EPA network having a dual ring network topology formed by EPA devices of a gigabit optical port, and the EPA devices in the two EPA networks cannot directly communicate with each other.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

To the above problem, the utility model provides a EPA gateway equipment and by this EPA gateway equipment and a plurality of EPA network build's EPA cross network communication system. By realizing the network protocols of different EPA networks in the EPA gateway equipment and forwarding the received data message to the actual destination address of the EPA gateway equipment in another EPA network by the special data forwarding module of the EPA gateway equipment, the problem of cross-network communication under the condition that a plurality of different EPA networks exist is solved.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an EPA gateway device. The EPA gateway device includes: a plurality of EPA communication modules, each EPA communication module comprising an EPA protocol circuit, one or more MAC layer circuits, and one or more PHY layer circuits, the EPA protocol circuit of each EPA communication module connected to the one or more MAC layer circuits, each of the one or more MAC layer circuits connected to one of the one or more PHY layer circuits such that the PHY layer circuit provides an EPA channel connected to a corresponding EPA network; and a data forwarding module that receives user data of a data message sent by a first EPA device in a first EPA network of the plurality of EPA networks from a first EPA communication module of the plurality of EPA communication modules, and forwards the data message to a second EPA network of the plurality of EPA networks upon determining that an actual destination of the data message is a second EPA device of the second EPA network.

In some embodiments, the EPA gateway device further comprises: a PHY initialization module connected to one or more PHY layer circuits of each EPA communication module to initialize the PHY layer circuits upon power up.

In some embodiments, the EPA gateway device further comprises: and the parameter and state management module is connected with the EPA protocol circuit of each EPA communication module so as to provide configuration parameters and configuration parameters for the EPA protocol circuit.

In some embodiments, the first EPA communication module further comprises one or more network transformers, each network transformer connected to one first PHY layer circuit to match a voltage of the first PHY layer circuit to the first EPA network.

In some embodiments, the EPA gateway device connects each EPA network through one or more EPA channels, and each PHY layer circuit provides one EPA channel.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an EPA cross-network communication system is provided. The EPA cross-network communication system comprises: an EPA gateway device as described above and a plurality of EPA networks as described above.

In some embodiments, a first EPA network of the plurality of EPA networks further comprises a switch, and the EPA gateway device is connected to the first EPA network through the switch.

In some embodiments, a first EPA communication module of the plurality of EPA communication modules further comprises one or more network transformers, each network transformer connected to one first PHY layer circuit of the first EPA communication module to match a voltage of the first PHY layer circuit to the first EPA network.

Utilize the utility model discloses a scheme, the EPA network that uses different network protocols can be through EPA gateway equipment data message of sending each other to cross network communication has been realized.

Drawings

The invention will be better understood and other objects, details, features and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the description of the embodiments of the invention given with reference to the following drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary EPA cross-network communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of an EPA gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of an inter-network communication method of an EPA gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an EPA gateway device suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

In the following description, for the purposes of illustrating various utility embodiments, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various utility embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details. In other instances, well-known devices, structures and techniques associated with this application may not be shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.

Throughout the specification and claims, the word "comprise" and variations thereof, such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to have an open, inclusive meaning, i.e., will be interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to", unless the context requires otherwise.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in some embodiments" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between various objects for clarity of description only and do not limit the size, other order and the like of the objects described therein unless otherwise specified.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary EPA cross-network communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, an EPA cross-network communication system 100 includes a plurality of different EPA networks and EPA gateway devices connecting these EPA networks. Each EPA network includes a plurality of EPA devices communicating using a respective network protocol. Each EPA network may have a different topology and different communication capabilities depending on the devices employed, e.g. one EPA network may employ optical devices capable of producing gigabit bandwidth communication channels, another EPA network may employ electrical devices capable of producing hundreds of megaband bandwidth communication channels, etc. EPA gateway devices, such as EPA gateway device 30, are capable of forwarding data messages from an EPA device in one EPA network to an EPA device in another EPA network.

In fig. 1, 2 EPA networks are schematically shown, namely a first EPA network 10 and a second EPA network 20. As shown in fig. 1, a first EPA network 10 includes a plurality of first EPA devices 12 and a second EPA network 20 includes a plurality of second EPA devices 22. In the example of fig. 1, the first EPA network 10 has a dual star topology, each first EPA device 12 having two EPA channels, respectively connected to two switches 14, the two EPA channels constituting a dual redundancy. The second EPA network 20 has a dual ring topology with 4 EPA channels per second EPA device 22, where each pair of two EPA channels form a ring channel, and the two ring channels are redundant of each other.

Note that fig. 1 illustrates the first EPA network 10 and the second EPA network 20 in a dual star topology and a dual ring topology, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the respective EPA networks are not limited to the topology illustrated in fig. 1, but may have other types of topologies, such as a linear structure, a star structure, a hybrid structure, or the like. In this case, the EPA network may have a different structure than that shown in fig. 1. For example, where the first EPA network 10 is in a star topology, each first EPA device may be connected to only one switch 14, i.e. only one EPA channel and no redundant channels.

The EPA gateway device 30 is able to forward data messages of one EPA device in one EPA network to another EPA device in another EPA network.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of an EPA gateway device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The EPA gateway device 30 may include a number of EPA communication modules that is greater than or equal to the number of EPA networks to which the EPA gateway device 30 is connected. Each EPA communication module may include EPA protocol circuitry, one or more Media Access Control (MAC) layer circuitry, and one or more Physical (PHY) layer circuitry. The EPA protocol circuit of each EPA communication module is coupled to the one or more MAC layer circuits, each MAC layer circuit being coupled to a PHY layer circuit such that the PHY layer circuit provides an EPA channel coupled to the corresponding EPA network. The EPA protocol circuit is used for realizing the network protocol of the corresponding EPA network, namely processing the received data according to the network protocol of the EPA network. Each MAC layer circuit may perform MAC layer processing on a received data packet and transmit the processed data packet to a PHY layer circuit or an EPA protocol circuit of a next stage. Each PHY layer circuit may perform PHY layer processing on a received data packet, and send the processed packet to a next MAC layer circuit or an EPA channel. The structure and operation of the EPA gateway device 30 will be described below by way of example of an EPA cross network communication system 100 comprising a first EPA network 10 and a second EPA network 20 as shown in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 2, the EPA gateway device 30 may comprise a first EPA communications module 310 comprising a first EPA protocol circuit 312, one or more first MAC layer circuits 314 and one or more first PHY layer circuits 316. The first EPA protocol circuit 312 is coupled to one or more first MAC layer circuits 314, each first MAC layer circuit 314 being coupled to a first PHY layer circuit 316 such that the first PHY layer circuit 316 provides a first EPA channel coupled to the first EPA network 10. Wherein the first EPA protocol circuit 312 is used to implement the network protocol of the first EPA network 10. Each first MAC layer circuit 314 is coupled to a first PHY layer circuit 316. The first EPA protocol circuit 312 drives a corresponding number of first MAC layer circuits 314 and first PHY layer circuits 316 to implement a corresponding number of first EPA channels depending on the number of channels to be implemented. Each first PHY layer circuit 316 provides a first EPA channel connecting the first EPA network 10. As shown in fig. 1, the first EPA network 10 is in a dual star topology, and the two switches 14 are each connected to the EPA gateway device 30 through one EPA channel, so in the EPA gateway device 30, two EPA channels need to be implemented for the first EPA network 10. In this case, the first EPA protocol circuit 312 needs to drive two first MAC layer circuits 314 and two first PHY layer circuits 316 to construct two EPA channels respectively connected to the two switches 14.

The EPA gateway device 30 may also include a second EPA communications module 320 comprising a second EPA protocol circuit 322, one or more second MAC layer circuits 324, and one or more second PHY layer circuits 326. Second EPA protocol circuit 322 is coupled to one or more second MAC layer circuits 324, each second MAC layer circuit 324 being coupled to a second PHY layer circuit 326 such that the second PHY layer circuit 326 provides a second EPA channel coupled to second EPA network 20. Wherein second EPA protocol circuit 322 is operative to implement the network protocol of second EPA network 20. Each second MAC layer circuit 324 is coupled to a second PHY layer circuit 326. The second EPA protocol circuit 322 drives a corresponding number of second MAC layer circuits 324 and second PHY layer circuits 326 to implement a corresponding number of second EPA channels depending on the number of EPA channels to be implemented. Each second PHY layer circuit 326 provides a second EPA channel connecting to second EPA network 20. As shown in fig. 1, second EPA network 20 is of a dual ring type topology, and EPA gateway device 30 accesses second EPA network 20 through four EPA channels, and thus in EPA gateway device 30, four EPA channels need to be implemented for second EPA network 20. In this case, the second EPA protocol circuit 322 needs to drive four second MAC layer circuits 324 and four second PHY layer circuits 326 to construct four EPA channels in a dual ring connection with two second EPA devices 22.

In addition, in some embodiments, the EPA communication module may further comprise one or more network transformers, each network transformer being connected to one PHY layer circuit of the EPA communication module to match the voltage of the PHY layer circuit to the corresponding EPA network. For example, as shown in fig. 2, the first EPA communication module 310 also comprises one or more network transformers 318, each network transformer 318 being connected to one first PHY layer circuit 316 to match the voltage of that first PHY layer circuit 316 to the first EPA network 10.

The EPA gateway device 30 also includes a data forwarding module 330 that receives a data message from the first EPA device 12 via the first EPA communication module 310 and forwards the data message to a second EPA device 22 when it is determined that the data message is destined for the second EPA device 22.

The data forwarding module 330 may be implemented by a separate processor or a separate terminal device, for example. In this case, the EPA gateway device 30 may further include an interface unit 340 for enabling communication between the data forwarding module 330 and the first EPA communication module 310 or the second EPA communication module 320. As shown in fig. 2, the data forwarding module 330 is implemented on a separate chip with the first EPA communication module 310 and the second EPA communication module 320, and the data forwarding module 330 may control the first EPA communication module 310 or the second EPA communication module 320 through the interface unit 340. The interface unit 340 may be realized by EBI (external bus interface), for example. The data forwarding module 330 may establish communication by transmitting a chip select signal to the interface unit 340 to select the first EPA communication module 310 or the second EPA communication module 320. The data forwarding module 330 may also send operation instructions and operation data, such as read operation instructions, write operation instructions, instruction addresses, etc., to the interface unit 340.

In some implementations, as shown in fig. 2, the first EPA protocol circuit 312, the first MAC layer circuit 314, the second EPA protocol circuit 322, the second MAC layer circuit 324, and the interface unit 340 may be implemented on a single entity, e.g., as a single circuit or chip, etc.

EPA gateway device 30 may also include a PHY initialization module 350 and a configuration module 370.PHY initialization module 350 may be located on a chip on which first EPA protocol circuit 312, first MAC layer circuit 314, second EPA protocol circuit 322, second MAC layer circuit 324, and interface unit 340 are located and connected to respective first PHY layer circuit 316 and second PHY layer circuit 326, while configuration module 370 may be located on a different chip. The configuration module 370 has stored therein executable code that the PHY initialization module 350 automatically loads from the configuration module 370 upon power-up to initially configure the first PHY layer circuitry 316 and the second PHY layer circuitry 326. In this manner, the PHY initialization module 350 is able to initialize the off-chip PHY chips (i.e., the first PHY layer circuitry 316 and the second PHY layer circuitry 326) to configure them to the respective operating mode (e.g., the hundred mega full duplex mode) and to obtain the network connections and status information of the first PHY layer circuitry 316 and the second PHY layer circuitry 326.

EPA gateway device 30 may also include a parameter and status management module 360 and a storage module 380. The parameter and status management module 360 may be located on a chip on which the first EPA protocol circuit 312, the first MAC layer circuit 314, the second EPA protocol circuit 322, the second MAC layer circuit 324, and the interface unit 340 are located, and connected to the first EPA protocol circuit 312 and the second EPA protocol circuit 322, and the storage module 380 may be located on a different chip. The storage module 380 is configured to store configuration parameters and configuration parameters of the protocol stack of each EPA network, and after being powered on, the parameter and state management module 360 automatically reads the configuration parameters and configuration parameters from the parameter and state management module 360 and provides the configuration parameters and configuration parameters to the first EPA protocol circuit 312 and the second EPA protocol circuit 322. The configuration parameters and configuration parameters are used to control the operation of the first EPA protocol circuit 312 and the second EPA protocol circuit 322. In addition, the parameter and status management module 360 may also obtain new operating parameters of the first EPA protocol circuit 312 and the second EPA protocol circuit 322 and write them into the storage module 380 through a write access, while updating the values and statuses of the corresponding registers.

When one first EPA device 12 in a first EPA network 10 needs to send data to a second EPA network 20, it first sends the data to EPA gateway device 30 and the EPA gateway device 30 forwards the data to a second EPA device 22 in the second EPA network 20. Since the data structure of the current EPA data message cannot support secondary addressing, i.e. cannot support two destination addresses, in the solution of the present invention, the EPA gateway device 30 is enabled to correctly address the corresponding second EPA device 22 by embedding its actual destination address in the data sent by the first EPA device (i.e. the user data as payload of the data message).

As shown in fig. 1, assuming that the IP address network segment of the first EPA network 10 is 192.168.1, the IP address of each of its first EPA devices 12 is 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3 … …, respectively; the IP address segment of the second EPA network 20 is 192.168.2 with the IP address of each second EPA device 22 being 192.168.2.1, 192.168.2.2, 192.168.2.3, 192.168.2.4 … …, respectively; the IP address of EPA gateway device 30 is 192.168.1.20. A flowchart of a cross-network communication method 400 of the EPA gateway device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 3.

As shown in fig. 3, the data forwarding module 330 may receive, at step 410, user data of a datagram sent by the first EPA device 12 of the first EPA network 10 via the first EPA communication module 310 of the EPA gateway device 30, wherein the first destination address of the datagram is the address of the EPA gateway device 30.

As previously described, each first EPA device 12 in the first EPA network 10 may send data packets directly to another first EPA device 12 through forwarding by the switch 14 as it communicates within the first EPA network 10. For example, if a first EPA device 12 with an IP address of 192.168.1.3 wants to send user data to a first EPA device 12 with an IP address of 192.168.1.2, which may indicate in the header of the data message that the destination address is 192.168.1.2, and send the data message to the switch 14, the switch 14 may determine, based on the destination address in the header, that the first EPA device 12 with an IP address of 192.168.1.2 belongs to the same EPA network, and directly forward the data message to the first EPA device 12 with an IP address of 192.168.1.2. However, if the first EPA device 12 with IP address 192.168.1.3 wants to send data to the second EPA device 22 with IP address 192.168.2.1, the source and destination EPA devices belong to different EPA networks respectively, and have different protocol types and operation modes, so that the data cannot be directly sent to the second EPA device 22 through forwarding of the switch 14. In this case, the first EPA device 12 may for example set two destination addresses in the data message, where the first destination address is the IP address 192.168.1.20 of the EPA gateway device 30 and the second destination address (i.e. the actual destination address) is the IP address 192.168.2.1 of the second EPA device 22. For example, the first EPA device 12 may set the first destination address to the IP address 192.168.1.20 of the EPA gateway device 30 in the header of the data packet, set the second destination address to the IP address 192.168.2.1 of the second EPA device 22 in the payload of the data packet, and send the data packet to the switch 14, and the switch 14 may forward the data packet to the EPA gateway device 30 via the first EPA channel according to the first destination address 192.168.1.20 in the header of the data packet. The EPA gateway device 30 receives the datagram from the first EPA channel, performs protocol processing on the datagram according to the network protocol of the first EPA network 10 via the first EPA communication module 310 and sends its data (i.e. payload or user data) to the data forwarding module 330.

In step 420, the data forwarding module 330 parses the received user data to determine a second destination address of the data packet. As mentioned above, the first EPA device 12 sets the second destination address in the payload (user data) of its data packet as the actual destination address of the data packet, so in step 420, the data forwarding module 330 can resolve the second destination address from the user data, for example, 192.168.2.1.

At step 430 data forwarding module 330 may determine that the second destination address belongs to second EPA network 20 and send the user data and the second destination address to second EPA communication module 320 corresponding to second EPA network 20 of the plurality of EPA communication modules of EPA gateway device 30. Here, the data forwarding module 330 may pre-store network segment information of each EPA network in the system 100 and/or an IP address of each EPA device in each EPA network, so that the EPA network to which the second destination address belongs may be determined according to the second destination address. In the case where only two EPA networks are included in the system 100, the data forwarding module 330 may more simply determine that the resolved second destination address belongs to another EPA network (since data packets of the same EPA network will not be forwarded to the EPA gateway device 30).

Further, at step 440, the second EPA communications module 320 (e.g., the second EPA protocol circuit 322) may package the user data and a second destination address into a second datagram based on the network protocol of the second EPA network 20, wherein the destination address of the second datagram (e.g., in the header) is the second destination address.

At step 450, the second data message may be transmitted to a second EPA channel connected to the second EPA network 20 indicated by the second destination address via the second EPA communication module 320 to transmit the second EPA device 22. For example, the second EPA protocol circuit 322 may perform MAC layer processing and PHY layer processing on the second data packet via the second MAC layer circuit 324 and the second PHY layer circuit 326, respectively, to send over a second EPA channel to a second EPA device 22 connected to the EPA gateway device 30, such as the second EPA device 22 having an IP address of 192.168.2.3 and/or 192.168.2.4. The second data message is sent to each second EPA device 22 of the second EPA network 20 via the second EPA device 22 connected to the EPA gateway device 30. Each second EPA device 22 receiving the second data packet may determine from the destination address in the header of the second data packet whether the second data packet is for it, and if so, process the data packet, and if not, discard the data packet.

In some embodiments, data forwarding module 330 also performs a validity check on the user data to determine whether the user data complies with the rules of second EPA network 20 in step 430. For example, it may be determined whether the packet length, IP address, transmission time, etc. of the user data comply with the rules of second EPA network 20.

The user data and the second destination address are sent to the second EPA communication module 320 only if it is determined that the user data complies with the rules of the second EPA network 10.

In the above description, the EPA cross-network communication scheme according to the present invention has been described taking the example of the first EPA network 10 sending data to the second EPA network 20, however, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited thereto, and the first EPA network 10 and the second EPA network 20 in the above example may be interchanged to implement the EPA cross-network communication scheme sending data from the second EPA network 20 to the first EPA network 10, except that, for the former, the EPA gateway device 30 receives data packets from the switch 14 of the first EPA network 10, and for the latter, the EPA gateway device 30 receives data packets from the adjacent second EPA device 22 of the second EPA network 20.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an EPA gateway device 500 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. EPA gateway device 500 may be used to implement EPA gateway device 30 as shown in fig. 1.

As shown, EPA gateway device 500 may comprise a processor 510. Processor 510 controls the operation and functions of EPA gateway device 500. For example, in some embodiments, processor 510 may perform various operations by way of instructions 530 stored in memory 520 coupled thereto. The memory 520 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, including but not limited to semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems. Although only one memory 520 is shown in fig. 4, those skilled in the art will appreciate that EPA gateway device 500 may include many more physically distinct memories 520.

The processor 510 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include, but is not limited to, one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processor-based multi-core processor architectures. EPA gateway device 500 may also include multiple processors 510. The processor 510 is coupled to a transceiver 540, and the transceiver 540 may enable the reception and transmission of information by means of one or more communication components. All features described above with reference to fig. 1 to 3 apply to the EPA gateway device 500 and will not be described in detail here.

The present invention may be embodied as devices, systems, and/or computer program products. The computer program product may include a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied thereon for carrying out various aspects of the present invention.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions of the present invention may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. For example, if implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.

The units of the apparatus disclosed herein may be implemented using discrete hardware components, or may be implemented integrally on a hardware component, such as a processor. For example, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present invention may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.

The previous description of the invention is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (6)

1. An EPA gateway device, comprising:

a plurality of EPA communication modules, each EPA communication module comprising an EPA protocol circuit, one or more MAC layer circuits, and one or more PHY layer circuits, the EPA protocol circuit of each EPA communication module connected to the one or more MAC layer circuits, each of the one or more MAC layer circuits connected to one of the one or more PHY layer circuits such that the PHY layer circuit provides an EPA channel connected to a corresponding EPA network; and

a data forwarding module that receives user data of a data message sent by a first EPA device in a first EPA network of the plurality of EPA networks from the first EPA communication module of the plurality of EPA communication modules and forwards the data message to a second EPA network of the plurality of EPA networks upon determining that an actual destination of the data message is a second EPA device in the second EPA network.

2. The EPA gateway device of claim 1,

the first EPA communication module further comprises one or more network transformers, each network transformer being connected to one first PHY layer circuit to match a voltage of the first PHY layer circuit to the first EPA network.

3. The EPA gateway device of claim 1,

the EPA gateway device connects each EPA network via one or more EPA channels, and each PHY layer circuit provides one EPA channel.

4. An EPA cross-network communication system, comprising:

the EPA gateway device of any one of claims 1 to 3; and

the plurality of EPA networks.

5. The EPA cross-network communication system of claim 4,

a first EPA network of the plurality of EPA networks further comprises a switch, and the EPA gateway device is connected to the first EPA network through the switch.

6. The EPA cross-network communication system of claim 4,

a first EPA communication module of the plurality of EPA communication modules further comprises one or more network transformers, each network transformer connected to one first PHY layer circuit of the first EPA communication module to match a voltage of the first PHY layer circuit to the first EPA network.

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