BE1031098B1 - Portable peripheral device, field device, method and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates in particular to a portable peripheral device (10), which preferably has a USB-C connector (80) with two supply voltage contacts (81, 82) and two data transmission contacts (84, 85), a power supply device (50), a memory (15) and a microcontroller (20). Both a UART unit (30) and a USB unit (40) are implemented in the microcontroller (20). The microcontroller (20) is designed in particular to detect whether a supply voltage is present at the first or the second supply voltage contact (81, 82) and, depending on the detection result, to activate either only the USB unit (40) or only the UART unit (30) and to connect it to the data transmission contacts (84, 85) of the USB connector (80).

Description

' BE2022/5977

Portable peripheral device, field device, method and communication system

Description

The invention relates to a portable peripheral device, in particular for use in an industrial automation environment, a field device, in particular for

Use in an industrial automation environment, a method which is particularly designed for operating a field device and a portable peripheral device externally connected thereto, as well as a communication system comprising a field device and an external portable peripheral device.

In order for electronic devices to work in different communication modes, such as UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) and USB (Universal

Serial Bus) communication mode, electronic devices can be equipped with a USB connector, a UART module and a USB module.

For example, from DE 11 2009 000 147 DS a mobile device is known which has a USB connector which enables communication of the mobile device according to the

UART and USB standards are supported. The mobile device has a central

processing unit in which a USB module is located. Furthermore, a separate

UART unit in the form of an integrated circuit in the mobile device. Furthermore, the mobile device has a determination device which is configured to

Based on a signal applied to at least one of the pins of the connector, to determine whether the connector is connected to an external USB device or an external UART

device. In addition, a separate switching unit with two switches is provided, which is configured to determine the

Determination device the data lines of the plug optionally with the USB

module or at least one UART module.

The present invention is based on the object of providing a portable peripheral device and a field device, each of which is compact in design and which enables both the portable peripheral device and

* BE2022/5977 the field device can communicate with external electronic devices in both a USB and a UART communication mode.

A core idea of the invention can be seen in the USB

Connector, which is preferably a USB Type-C connector, and a

Microcontroller, i.e. a system-on-a-chip, in a portable peripheral device and in a field device, whereby the microcontroller contains both a UART

unit and a USB unit is implemented. The microcontroller is particularly designed to detect whether a first or a second

A supply voltage is applied to the supply voltage contact of the USB connector and, depending on the detection result, either only the USB unit or only the UART unit is activated and connected to the data transmission contacts of the USB connector.

Preferably, the portable peripheral device is designed as a multifunctional device which, in USB mode, serves as a mass storage device for an externally connected USB-capable

Electronic device, preferably a personal computer, and in UART mode as a

Device that can control communication with an externally connected UART-capable device, preferably a field device.

The above-mentioned technical problem is solved by the features of claim 1. Thereafter, a portable peripheral device is provided which has the following

Features: - a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector designed to connect to an external electronic device having a USB connector, the USB connector having a first and second data transmission contact, a first supply voltage contact and a second supply voltage

contact, - a power supply device having a first input connected to the first

supply voltage contact of the USB connector, a second input which is electrically connected to the second supply voltage contact of the USB

connector and has a DC output,

; BE2022/5977 wherein the power supply device is designed to convert a supply voltage applied to the first or second supply voltage contact into a predetermined direct voltage and to provide this at the direct voltage output, - a memory, - a microcontroller which has a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver

Transmitter) unit and a USB unit, whereby both the UART unit and the USB unit are electrically connected to the two data transmission contacts of the

USB connector, with the microcontroller electrically connected to the

DC output of the power supply device and via a

communication connection to the memory, wherein the microcontroller is designed to - detect whether the first or second supply voltage contact of the USB

connector, and - in response to the first supply voltage contact being connected to a

supply voltage is applied, only the USB unit is activated and, in response to a supply voltage being applied to the second supply voltage contact, only the UART unit is activated.

It should be noted that the USB unit and the UART unit may each be designed as a software and/or hardware device, each of which has a UART

Interface or a USB interface, each of which has two ports, can be controlled accordingly.

An advantageous embodiment provides that the USB connector of the

peripheral device as a USB-C connector, i.e. as a USB-C socket or USB-C

plug, can be designed.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the microcontroller of the peripheral device can have a first connection which corresponds to the first supply voltage contact of the USB

connector and/or a second terminal associated with the second

supply voltage contact of the USB connector.

Furthermore, the microcontroller can be designed to

* BE2022/5977 - to monitor the first connection to detect whether the first or second

supply voltage contact of the USB connector, and/or - to monitor the second connection to detect whether the first or second

A supply voltage is present on the supply voltage contact of the USB connector.

According to the exemplary embodiment, the microcontroller preferably only requires the first connection associated with the first supply voltage contact or the second connection associated with the second supply voltage contact in order to be able to determine whether the first or second supply voltage contact of the

USB connector is connected to the power supply. As long as the

When the microcontroller is in the operational state, there is always a supply voltage present at either the first or second supply voltage contact, which is used to supply the microcontroller with energy.

Advantageously, the first terminal can be assigned to the first supply voltage contact via a first voltage divider, while the second terminal can be assigned to the second supply voltage contact via a second voltage divider.

The memory can be a digital memory module, such as a flash memory, which is electrically connected to the

DC output of the power supply device.

According to a preferred embodiment, the microcontroller can be designed to, in response to the first supply voltage contact of the

USB connector to activate the USB device and cause the portable peripheral to work as a USB mass storage device. This means that in this case the portable peripheral acts as a passive

Storage device operates in a USB communication mode in which data from an externally connected USB-enabled electronic device can only be read from the storage device

) BE2022/5977

peripheral device or written to the peripheral device's memory.

According to an advantageous development, the portable peripheral device can be used not only as a passive data storage device, i.e. as a USB mass storage device, but also as an active

device that itself controls, for example, a UART-based communication with an externally connected UART-capable electronic device. For this purpose, the

Memory or at least a separate memory of the portable peripheral device may contain software, which may contain, for example, firmware, which may be used to

Controlling communication between the portable peripheral device and an external UART-enabled electronic device in accordance with the UART standard.

In other words, the microcontroller executes the software and causes the

Peripheral device to control communication between the portable peripheral and an external UART-enabled electronic device according to the UART standard.

The separate memory can be, for example, a read-only memory that is implemented in the microcontroller. It should be noted at this point that

Note that the software may include various programs, such as

Application programs and firmware. In this case, the microcontroller can be designed to respond to the fact that on the second

A supply voltage is applied to the supply voltage contact of the USB connector to execute the software.

According to an advantageous development, the portable peripheral device in this

In this case, for example, it can function as a data logger. For this purpose, the microcontroller can be designed to execute the stored software to record at least one

To create and/or manage a log file that can be stored in memory, i.e. to update it at regular intervals if necessary. In a known manner

In this way, all actions performed during communication between the portable peripheral device and an externally connected UART-capable electronic device are logged in such a log file.

In particular, the microcontroller can be designed to extract defined data from

° BE2022/5977 to be read from an externally connected UART-capable electronic device and stored, for example, in the log file.

According to an advantageous further development, the USB connector can have a

feedback contact that is electrically connected to the second

supply voltage contact of the USB connector. As will be explained later, the feedback contact is used to signal an externally connected UART-capable electronic device that the portable

peripheral device is actually connected.

The above technical problem is also caused by the characteristics of the

Claim 9 is solved. Accordingly, a field device is provided, in particular for use in an industrial automation system, which can have the following features: - a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector, which is designed to be connected to an external electronic device having a USB connector, wherein the USB connector has a first and second data transmission contact, a first supply voltage contact and a second supply voltage

contact, - a power supply device having a first input to which the

Supply voltage of an external power source can be applied, a second input which is connected to the first supply voltage contact of the USB

connector and an output for providing a

DC supply voltage, wherein the power supply device is connected via a controllable switching element to the second supply voltage contact of the USB

connector, and - a microcontroller that has a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver

Transmitter) unit and a USB unit, whereby both the UART unit and the USB unit are electrically connected to the two data transmission contacts of the

USB connector, wherein the microcontroller has a first terminal electrically connected to the output of the

power supply device, and a second, the first

Supply voltage contact of the USB connector, wherein the microcontroller is designed to monitor the second connection in order to detect whether the first

Supply voltage contact of the USB-C connector

supply voltage is present or not, wherein the microcontroller is further configured to activate only the USB unit when it detects the presence of a

supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact, and only to activate the UART unit and control the switching element when it detects the non-

Application of a supply voltage to the first supply voltage contact of the

USB connector has been detected.

Advantageously, the USB connector is a USB Type-C

Connector, i.e. a USB Type-C plug or a USB Type-C socket.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the power supply device of the

field device must be designed to receive a signal applied to the second input

supply voltage into the DC supply voltage and connect it to the

to provide output.

In order to enable the field device to detect whether an external, particularly UART-capable electronic device, such as the portable peripheral device, is connected, the USB connector of the field device can have a signaling contact, in which case the microcontroller of the field device has a third

connection that can be connected to the signaling contact of the USB

connector is electrically connected.

According to an advantageous further training, the

Power supply devices of the field device must be designed to

To convert the supply voltage present at the input into the DC supply voltage and to make it available at the output when the first

Supply voltage contact of the USB connector of the field device no

The microcontroller of the field device can

* BE2022/5977 be trained, addressing the fact that he has a non-application of a

Supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact of the USB

connector, — close the switching element to electrically connect the output of the power supply device to the second supply voltage contact of the USB connector, and — monitor the third connection to detect whether the signalling

Contact of the USB connector has a predetermined signal, which signals that an external UART-capable electronic device is connected to the USB connector of the field device.

If an external UART-capable electronic device does not have its own

supply voltage, it must be supplied with energy by the field device.

According to an advantageous development, the microcontroller of the field device can be designed to keep the switching element in the closed state as long as the predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact of the USB connector.

In this way, it can be ensured that an external UART-capable

Electronic device that is connected to the field device can be supplied with energy from the field device.

According to an advantageous development, the microcontroller of the field device can be designed to activate only the UART interface if it has both the

The absence of a supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact of the USB connector as well as the presence of the predetermined signal at the

Detects the signaling contact of the USB connector.

To prevent the field device from permanently being connected to the second

Supply voltage contact of the USB connector

DC supply voltage, even if there is no external UART-capable

electronic device, the microcontroller can be designed to

) BE2022/5977 (a) to reopen the switching element after a first predetermined period of time, for example after 20 ms, if during the first predetermined period of time the signalling device

contact the predetermined signal is not present, and b) after a second predetermined time, for example after 2 seconds, the

Switching element to close again and monitor the third connection to detect whether the signaling contact of the USB connector has the predetermined

signal is present. Steps a) and b) can be performed by the microcontroller depending on

Configuration can be repeated as often as required if no external UART-capable

electronic device is connected. However, the number of repetitions can preferably be limited in time.

According to an advantageous development, the microcontroller of the field device can be designed to recognize, for example, the device type of a connected external UART-capable electronic device. For this purpose, the microcontroller can be designed to cause the field device to request a connected external UART-capable electronic device to transmit information to the field device, which contains, for example, the device type of the UART-capable electronic device.

The above-mentioned technical problem is also solved by the process steps of the

Claim 18 is solved. The method can comprise, for example, the following steps: - electrically connecting a field device according to one of claims 13 to 17 to an external portable peripheral device according to claim 8, wherein in the connected

State of the first supply voltage contact, the second supply voltage

Contact, the feedback contact, the first data transfer contact and the second data transfer contact of the USB-C connector of the portable

peripheral device with the first supply voltage contact, the second

supply voltage contact, the signaling contact, the first

Data transfer contact or the second data transfer contact of the USB-C

connector of the field device; - Monitoring, by the field device, the first supply voltage contact to detect whether the first supply voltage contact of the USB connector of the

field device or not; - if not, closing the switching element so that the power supply device of the field device is connected to the second supply voltage contact of the USB-C

connector of the field device is electrically connected, - Monitoring, by the field device, the signaling contact to detect whether the

Signaling contact the predetermined signal is present which signals that the external peripheral device is connected to the USB connector of the field device; - Activation, by the field device, of the UART unit when it has been detected that the predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact.

According to an advantageous further development, the method can further

Steps include: - Detect, by the portable peripheral device, whether on the first or second

Supply voltage contact of the USB connector of the peripheral device

supply voltage is present, and - Activating in response to the detection that the second

Supply voltage contact is connected to a supply voltage, only the UART

unit, so that a UART-based communication link between the

Peripheral device and the field device via the first and second data transmission

Contact of the USB connector of the peripheral device and the first and second

Data transfer contact of the USB connector of the field device is established.

According to an advantageous development, the method may comprise the further step of executing the software stored in the peripheral device and

Communication according to the UART standard between the peripheral device and the

Field device is controlled by the microcontroller of the peripheral device.

According to an advantageous embodiment, a firmware and

Identification data containing the firmware version may be stored, whereby a firmware and the associated version number, which is preferably assigned to a field device, may be stored in the peripheral device. In this case, the method may comprise the following further steps:

By executing the software stored in the peripheral device by the

Microcontroller reads the identification data from the field device, in

“ BE2022/5977

Depending on the identification data read out, it is checked whether the portable

peripheral device is intended for the connected field device, and if so, it is checked whether the firmware stored in the peripheral device is more recent than the firmware stored in the field device, and if so, the firmware stored in the peripheral device is transferred to the connected field device via the established UART communication connection.

field device and initiates the firmware update.

Advantageously, information can be stored in the memory of the peripheral device which indicates that the firmware of the field device has been updated and which contains an indication of the version number of the updated firmware.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the portable peripheral device can contain a

Configuration and/or parameterization file, where

Dependence of the identification data read from the field device on the

Peripheral device is checked whether the stored configuration and/or

parameterization file is intended for the connected field device, and if so, the saved configuration and/or parameterization file is transferred to the field device and stored in the field device.

According to an advantageous further training, by carrying out the

Peripheral device stored software by the microcontroller data from the

field device and stored in the memory of the peripheral device and/or at least one log file is stored in the memory of the peripheral device and regularly updated.

The above technical problem is also caused by the characteristics of the

Claim 25 is solved. Accordingly, a communication system is provided which can have the following features: a field device according to one of claims 13 to 17 and an external portable

Peripheral device according to claim 8, wherein in the connected state the first

Supply voltage contact, the second supply voltage contact, the

Feedback contact, the first data transmission contact and the second

Data transfer contact of the USB-C connector of the portable peripheral device with the first supply voltage contact, the second supply voltage

Contact, the signaling contact, the first data transmission contact or the second data transmission contact of the USB-C connector of the field device are electrically connected, wherein the communication system is designed in particular to carry out the method according to one of claims 18 to 24.

The invention is explained in more detail below using some embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the block diagram of an exemplary portable peripheral device,

Figure 2 shows the block diagram of an exemplary field device,

Figure 3 shows an exemplary communication system in which the portable

Peripheral device according to Figure 1 is electrically and mechanically coupled to a PC, and

Figure 4 shows an exemplary UART-capable extension module, which can be connected to the

The field device shown in Figure 2 can be connected.

Figure 1 shows the block diagram of an exemplary portable peripheral device 10, the components of which can be arranged in a housing 11. Already at this

It should be noted that the portable peripheral device 10 may be a multifunctional electronic device, also referred to as an expansion module, which may be used as a passive

data storage device, i.e. USB mass storage, and can be operated in a UART communication mode as an active electronic device. The portable peripheral device 10 is particularly suitable for use in an industrial automation environment.

It should be noted that the power supply of the exemplary portable

Peripheral device 10 is carried out via an externally connectable electronic device.

The exemplary portable peripheral device 10 has a USB connector 80, which is preferably designed as a USB Type-C connector. For example, it is assumed that the USB-C connector 80 is a USB-C socket. The USB-C socket 80 is particularly designed for connecting to an external

Electronic device which has a USB-C connector. In a direct connection between portable peripheral device 10 and an external

Electronic device, the external electronic device has a complementary USB-C

connector, in this case a USB-C connector. The USB-C

The plug of the external electronic device can be electrically and mechanically coupled directly to the USB-C socket 80 of the portable peripheral device 10. It is also conceivable that the portable peripheral device 10 is connected to the external

electronic device. In this case, the USB-C

The connectors of the portable peripheral device 10 and the external electronic device can each be designed as USB-C plugs or USB-C sockets.

The electronic device can be, for example, a field device 90, which is shown in Fig. 2, or a computer or PC 200, which is shown in Fig. 3.

The USB-C connector 80 has in particular a first data transmission

Contact 84, a second data transmission contact 85, a first

supply voltage contact 81 and a second supply voltage contact 82. In practice, the USB-C connector 80 can preferably have further defined contacts in addition to a ground contact 86. According to the USB Type-C

Connector specification, the first supply voltage

Contact can be the connection A4 to which a supply voltage VBUS can be applied by means of an externally connectable USB-capable electronic device, such as the PC 200 or the field device.

The second supply voltage contact 82 may be the terminal B5 (CC2) to which a supply voltage Vconn provided by an external UART-capable electronic device may be applied. As shown in Figure 1, the second supply voltage contact 82 may be electrically connected to a

Feedback contact 83 of the USB-C connector 80. The

Feedback contact 83 can be the connector B8 according to USB Type-C connector

specification. Preferably, a resistor 73 may be connected in series with the

Feedback contact 83 must be switched. It is used to limit the current.

The two data transfer contacts 84 and 85 may be the terminals A6 and A7 according to the USB Type-C connector specification. The ground terminal 86 may be the terminal A1.

The exemplary portable peripheral device 10 has a power supply device 50, which preferably does not include a power adapter. The power supply device 50 preferably has a first input 52 which is connected to the first

Supply voltage contact 81 of the USB-C connector 80 is electrically connected, a second input 53 which is connected to the second supply voltage

Contact 82 of the USB-C connector is electrically connected, and a

DC voltage output 51. The power supply device 50 is designed to supply a DC voltage applied to the first supply voltage contact 81.

Supply voltage VBUS or a supply voltage Vconn present at the second supply voltage contact 82 is converted into a predetermined direct voltage and made available at the direct voltage output 51. The predetermined direct voltage is an internal operating voltage VCC.

To connect a power supply to the first supply voltage contact 81 or the second

Supply voltage contact 82 applied supply voltage, which is preferably a DC supply voltage, into the predetermined

In order to be able to convert the DC voltage, the power supply device 50 can have a correspondingly implemented voltage regulator.

Voltage regulator can be omitted if the portable peripheral device 10 has a

Microcontroller 20 is implemented, which is specified for a maximum voltage of 5.5 V. This is because, as a rule, both the supply voltage VBUS and the supply voltage Vconn are 5.5 V, which can be supplied by an external electronic device that can be connected to the portable peripheral device.

The microcontroller 20 has a UART unit 30 and a USB unit 40, each of which can be designed as a controller. The UART unit 30 controls two

Connections of the microcontroller 20, which function as TxD connection 31 and RxD connection 32. In other words: If the UART unit 30 is activated, the

Data is sent out via port 31, while data coming from an external electronic device is received at port 32. The UART unit 30 has an enable port 33 to which the microcontroller 20 can apply an activation or enable signal to activate the UART unit 30. As can be seen in Figure 1, the TxD port 31 is electrically connected to the first

Data transfer contact 84, while the RxD port 32 of the UART

Unit 30 is electrically connected to the second data transfer contact 85, which are specified as D+ or D- connector according to the USB-C connector specification.

The USB unit 40 is designed to have two ports 41 and 42 of the

Microcontroller 20 as D+ connection or as D- connection. The D+

Terminal 41 is connected to the corresponding first data transfer contact 84, while the D-terminal 42 of the microcontroller 20 is connected to the second

Data transfer contact 85 of the USB-C connector 80. The USB

Unit 40 also has an enable terminal 43 to which the microcontroller can apply an enable signal to activate the USB unit 40.

A ground terminal 27 of the microcontroller 20 is connected to the ground terminal 86 of the

USB-C connector 80. The microcontroller 20 further comprises a

Operating voltage connection 22, which is electrically connected to the DC voltage

Connection 51 of the power supply device 50. Via a

The microcontroller 20 and its components are supplied with voltage by the operating voltage applied to terminal 22, which is supplied by the power supply device 50.

The microcontroller 20 is particularly designed to detect whether the first

Supply voltage contact 81 of the USB-C connector 80 a

Supply voltage VBUS is present. In response to the fact that on the first

If a supply voltage V Bus is present at supply voltage contact 81, the microcontroller 20 activates only the USB unit 40 by sending an activation signal to the

enable terminal 43 of the USB unit 40, while in response to a supply voltage being applied to the second supply voltage contact 82, it activates only the UART unit 30 by sending an activation signal to the

Release port 33 is created.

For this purpose, the microcontroller 20 can, for example, have a first

Detection connection 21, which is assigned to the first supply voltage contact 81, for example via a voltage divider 60. The voltage divider 60 has, for example, two electrical resistors 61 and 62. For example, the common connection point of the two resistors 61 and 62 is connected to the

detection connection 21 of the microcontroller 20. Alternatively or additionally, the microcontroller 20 can have a second detection connection 23 which is connected to the second supply voltage via a voltage divider 70.

Contact 82 is assigned. The voltage divider 70 can have two electrical resistors 71 and 72, whose common connection point is electrically connected to the detection connection 23. The resistors 62 and 71 can each be connected to the

ground terminal 86 of the USB-C connector 80. It should be noted that for proper operation of the microcontroller 20 only the first, the first

detection terminal 21 associated with the supply voltage contact 81 or only the second detection terminal 21 associated with the second supply voltage contact 82.

Detection port 23 is required to detect whether the first

A supply voltage is present at the supply voltage contact 81 or at the second supply voltage contact 82 of the USB connector 80. In other words:

The first detection terminal 21 and the exemplary voltage divider 60 or the second detection terminal 23 and the voltage divider 70 may be omitted if necessary.

A technical reason for this advantageous embodiment is based on the fact that the microcontroller 20 is only operational and can therefore only monitor the first connection 21 and/or second connection 23 if there is actually a signal at the first

Supply voltage contact 81 or at the second supply voltage contact 82 there is also a supply voltage which is supplied directly or converted as operating voltage via the power supply device 52 to the microcontroller 20, as explained above. The exemplary operation of the

Microcontroller 20 with regard to monitoring the first detection terminal 21 and/or the second detection terminal 23 will now be explained.

Let us first assume the exemplary case that only the first detection terminal 21 and the voltage divider 60 are implemented or taken into account.

If a supply voltage VBUS is present at the first supply voltage contact 81 of the USB-C connector 80, the voltage divider 60 supplies a corresponding high level to the detection connection 21, whereupon the

Microcontroller 20 recognizes that it must activate the USB unit 40. Under

Responding to the high level detected at terminal 21, the

Microcontroller 20 an activation signal which is transmitted via the enable connection 43 of the

USB unit 40. Since only the USB unit 40 is activated in this case, only the connections 41 and 42 of the microcontroller 20 are operational, for example connected with low resistance to the first and second data transmission contacts 84, 85, respectively, while the connections 31 and 32 of the UART unit 30 are not operational, i.e., for example, connected with high resistance to the data transmission contacts 84 and 85.

If, however, there is no supply voltage VBUS at the first supply voltage

Contact 81 of the USB-C connector 80, the voltage divider 60 supplies a corresponding low level at the detection connection 21, from which the microcontroller 20 concludes that a supply voltage Vconn is present at the second supply voltage

Contact 82 is present. In this case, this supply voltage Vconn feeds the microcontroller 20 via the power supply device 50. In response to the low level detected at the connection 21, the microcontroller 20 generates a

Activation signal which is fed to the UART unit 30 via the enable connection 33. Since only the UART unit 30 is activated in this case, only the connections 31 and 32 of the microcontroller 20 are operational, i.e., for example, connected with low resistance to the first or second data transmission contact 84, 85.

Now assume the exemplary case that only the second detection terminal 23 and the voltage divider 70 are implemented or taken into account.

If a supply voltage Vconn is applied to the second supply voltage contact 82, the voltage divider 70 supplies a corresponding high level to the

Detection port 23, whereupon the microcontroller 20 recognizes that it has the UART

Unit 30 must be activated. In response to the signal detected at terminal 23,

High level, the microcontroller 20 generates an activation signal, which is transmitted via the

Enable port 33 of the UART unit 30. Since only the UART unit 30 is activated in this case, only the ports 31 and 32 of the

Microcontroller 20 is ready for operation, i.e., for example, connected with low resistance to the first or second data transmission contact 84, 85.

If, however, there is no supply voltage Vconn on the second supply voltage

Contact 82 of the USB-C connector 80, the voltage divider 70 supplies a corresponding low level at the detection connection 23, from which the microcontroller concludes that a supply voltage VBUS is present at the first supply voltage

Contact 81 is present. In this case, this supply voltage VBUS feeds the microcontroller 20 via the power supply device 50. In response to the low level detected at the connection 23, the microcontroller 20 generates a

Activation signal which is supplied to the USB unit 40 via the enable connection 43. Since only the USB unit 40 is activated in this case, only the connections 41 and 42 of the microcontroller 20 are operational, for example connected with a low resistance to the first or second data transmission contact 84, 85, while the connections 31 and 32 of the UART unit 30 are not operational, i.e. for example connected with a high resistance to the data transmission contacts 84 and 85.

The two detection connections 21 and 23 can, if implemented or activated, also be monitored simultaneously by the microcontroller 20 in the manner described above. In this case, the microcontroller 20 can

21 and 23 redundantly evaluate the high or low level and

In response to this, activate either the UART unit 30 or the USB unit 40.

It is conceivable that when the detection connections 21 and 23 are monitored simultaneously, the microcontroller 20 only evaluates the respective high level, i.e. only the

UART unit 30 is activated when a high level is detected by the microcontroller 20 at the second detection port 23, and only USB unit 40 is activated when a high level is detected by the microcontroller 20 at the first detection port 21.

It should be noted that the two voltage dividers 60 and 70 are also

Power supply device 50 can be assigned.

The exemplary portable peripheral device 10 further comprises a memory 15 which is electrically connected via a connection 17 to the DC voltage output 51 of the

Power supply device 50 is connected. The memory 15 can preferably be designed as a digital memory module, such as a flash memory. The memory 15 has a communication interface 16, via which it can be connected to a communication interface 24 of the microcontroller 20 by means of a communication connection 230. The communication connection 230 can be designed, for example, as an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus system. In this case, the communication interfaces 16 and 24 are each designed as SPI-based

Interface formed.

Furthermore, software can be stored in the memory 15 and/or in at least one further memory, for example a read-only memory 25, which is implemented in the microcontroller 20. The software can, for example, be used to control and/or monitor the portable peripheral device 10 and/or to control a

Communication between the portable peripheral device 10 and an external

UART-capable electronic device must be designed in accordance with the UART standard. It should be mentioned at this point that this software is at least one

program, which can be a firmware, for example.

Application programs can be part of the software. The microcontroller 20 is designed, for example, to respond to the fact that the second

Supply voltage contact 82 is connected to a supply voltage Vconn, which is

memory 15 and/or software stored in memory 25. The exact

The task and functions of the microcontroller 20 are described in more detail below in

Connection with a field device shown as an example in Figure 2 and a

The communication system 1 shown in Figure 3 is explained.

As already explained above, the microcontroller 20 detects the request of a

Supply voltage at the second supply voltage contact 82, for example, by applying a high-level signal to the

detection connection 23. In this case, the microcontroller 20 can also be designed to generate and/or manage at least one log file that can be stored in the memory 15, for example, by executing the stored software. The manage operation also includes regularly updating the log file.

It should also be noted that a processor 26 can be implemented in the microcontroller 20, which can communicate with the memory 25, the UART unit 30 and the USB unit 40 via an internal bus. The memory 25 can be implemented in a manner known per se

For example, it can be implemented as working and/or program memory.

An exemplary application for the exemplary portable peripheral device 10 shown in Figure 1 will now be explained in connection with Figure 3, in which the portable peripheral device 10 is operated as a USB mass storage device, which is shown in Figure 3. In Fig. 3, only the USB-C

Connector 80 of the portable peripheral device 10 shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a communication system 1 in which the exemplary portable

Peripheral device 10 is electrically and mechanically coupled directly to a personal computer 200. Accordingly, the PC 200 has a complementary USB-C

Connector 210, which in the present example is designed as a USB Type-C connector. The USB-C connector 210 is electrically and mechanically connected to the USB-C

socket-shaped USB-C connector 80 of the portable peripheral device 10. The USB-C connector 210 has in particular a first

Data transfer contact 214 and a second data transfer contact 215, which are electrically connected to the contacts 84 and 85 of the USB-C socket 80.

Furthermore, the USB-C connector 210 has a supply voltage contact 211.

The supply voltage contact 211 is electrically connected to the first

Supply voltage contact 81 of the USB-C socket 80. A

Ground contact 216 of the USB-C connector 210 is electrically connected to the ground contact 86 of the

USB-C socket 80 of the portable peripheral device 10. Additional contacts, such as a contact 213, can be provided.

For example, the personal computer 200 has a power supply 220, which has a

DC supply voltage VBUS is applied to the supply voltage contact 211.

The power supply 220 can also supply power to a microcontroller 240 of the PC 200. Furthermore, a USB controller 230 is preferably implemented in the PC 200, which is connected to the data transmission contacts 214 and 215. The USB

Controller 230 is preferably used for USB-based communication with the USB

Unit 40 of the portable peripheral device 10.

Are PC 200 and the portable peripheral device 10 connected via the USB-C connector 210 and the

USBC-C socket 80 are electrically connected to each other and the PC 200 is switched on, the supply voltage VBUS provided by the power supply 220 is transmitted via the

Supply voltage contacts 210 and 81 to input 52 of the

Power supply device 50 of the peripheral device 10. Via the

Voltage divider 60 will therefore send a signal with a high level to the

Detection connection 21 of the microcontroller 20, which is detected by the microcontroller 20. As already explained above, the microcontroller 20 recognizes from the high level at the detection connection 21 that the first

Supply voltage contact 81 is connected to a supply voltage VBUS.

In response, the microcontroller 20 applies an activation signal only to the

port 43 so that only USB device 40 is activated. As already mentioned, the software stored in memory 15 and/or memory 25 may include firmware which, when executed by microcontroller 20, controls and/or monitors peripheral device 10. Furthermore, microcontroller 20 may be designed such that, when executing the software, it operates portable peripheral device 10 as a USB

Mass storage device related to the personal computer 200. For this purpose,

PC 200 is preferably designed to receive commands for reading the memory 15 and

Data and commands for storing the data in the memory 15 via the USB

Controller 230, which connects the data transfer contact pairs 214/215 and 84/85 to

Microcontroller 20 of the peripheral device 10. The microcontroller 20 is designed to read the requested data from the memory 15 and to

Cooperation with the USB unit 40 via the data transfer contact pairs 84/85 and 214/215 to the PC 200. Furthermore, the microcontroller 20 is preferably designed to receive the write or

to execute the memory command by sending the corresponding data from the PC 200 via the

communication connection 230 into the memory 15. In this

In this application, the portable peripheral device 10 acts as a conventional USB

Mass storage for the personal computer 220.

Figure 2 shows the block diagram of an exemplary field device 90, whose

Components can be arranged in a housing 91. The field device 90 can be, for example, an actuator or sensor. The field device 90 is particularly suitable for use in an industrial automation environment. It should be noted at this point that the field device 90 is used to supply energy to an externally connectable

UART-capable electronic device, such as the portable peripheral device 10 or the UART-capable expansion device 240 shown as an example in Figure 4.

The exemplary field device 90 has a USB connector 150, which is preferably designed as a USB Type-C connector. For example, it is assumed that the USB-C connector 80 is a USB-C plug. It could of course also be designed as a USB-C socket. The USB-C

Plug 80 is designed in particular for connection to an external electronic device which has a USB-C connector. In the case of a direct

Coupling between field device 90 and an external electronic device indicates the external

Electronic device has a complementary connector, in this case a

USB-C socket. The USB-C socket of the external electronic device can be electrically and mechanically coupled directly to the USB-C plug 150 of the field device 90. It is also conceivable that the field device 90 can be connected to the external electronic device using a USB cable. In this case, the USB-C

Connectors of the field device 90 and the external electronic device each as USB-C

Plugs or USB-C sockets. The external electronic device can be, for example, the portable peripheral device 10, the computer or PC 200, or a UART-capable expansion module, such as the UART-capable expansion module 240 shown in Figure 4.

The USB-C connector 150 has in particular a first data transmission

Contact 154, a second data transmission contact 155, a first

supply voltage contact 151 and a second supply voltage contact 152. In practice, the USB-C connector 80 can preferably have further defined contacts in addition to a ground contact 156. According to the USB Type-C

Connector specification, the first supply voltage

Contact 151 is connection A4, to which a supply voltage VBUS can be applied by means of an externally connectable USB-capable electronic device, such as the PC 200.

The second supply voltage contact 152 may be the connection

B5 (CC2) to which a signal provided by the field device 90 itself

Supply voltage Vconn can be applied. The two data transmission

Contacts 154 and 155 can connect to connectors A6 and A7 according to the USB Type-C

Connector specification. Ground terminal 156 may be terminal A1.

The exemplary field device 90 has a power supply device 130 which has a

power supply if the field device can be connected to an external power supply (not shown). In this case, the power supply marked 135

Functional block is the power supply. For example, if the field device is connected to an external

DC power supply 170 is connected, usually a

Voltage regulator is used. In this case, the voltage regulator marked 135

Function block represents the voltage regulator.

The power supply device 130 preferably has a first input 132 to which the supply voltage of an external energy supply source 170, here for example a DC voltage supply source, can be applied. Furthermore, the power supply device 130 has a second input 131 which is connected to the first

supply voltage contact 151 of the USB connector 150, and an output 133 for providing a DC supply voltage. The

Power supply device 130 can be connected to the second supply voltage contact 152 of the USB connector 150 via a controllable switching element 160.

The external DC power supply source 170 provides, for example, a

DC voltage of 24V, from which the voltage regulator 135, for example, a 3.3V

A voltage regulator 131 can be connected between the input 131 and the output 133, which consists of a voltage regulator connected to the supply voltage

Contact 151 applied DC voltage VBUS a stabilized operating voltage

VCC of 3.3V, for example. For an example

Embodiment, the switching element 160 can be arranged between the second

Supply voltage contact 152 of the USB-C connector 150 and the

Output 133 of the power supply device 130.

The power supply device 130 can be designed to consist of a second

Input 131 supply voltage VBUS to generate the operating voltage VCC by means of the voltage regulator 134 and to provide this at the output 133. Depending on the implementation, the power supply device 130 can also be designed to convert the supply voltage provided by the external energy supply device 170 into the operating voltage VCC and to provide this at the output 133 even if a

supply voltage VBUS is present. In any case, the

Power supply device 130 from the external

The supply voltage provided by the power supply device 170

operating voltage and provides it at output 133 if no voltage is present at input 131.

Supply voltage VBUS is present.

Furthermore, the field device 90 has a microcontroller 100. The microcontroller 100 preferably has a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) unit

110 and a USB unit 120, which can each be designed as a controller. Both the UART unit 110 and the USB unit 120 are electrically connected to the two data transmission contacts 154 and 155 of the USB connector 150. Furthermore, the microcontroller 100 has a first connection 103, which is electrically connected to the output 133 of the power supply device 130, and a second connection 103, which is connected to the first supply voltage contact 151 of the USB

connector 150. The connection 102 can also be referred to as a detection connection. The microcontroller 100 can also have a

Control output 104, which is connected to a control input of the switching element 160. The switching element 160 is preferably a semiconductor switching element, which can be implemented, for example, by a bipolar transistor or a field effect transistor. Via the control output 104, the microcontroller 100 supplies inputs and

Switch-off signals to the switching element 160.

The UART unit 110 controls two ports of the microcontroller 100, which are called TxD

Port 111 and RxD port 112. In other words: If the

When the UART unit 110 is activated, data is sent out via the connection 111, while data coming from an external electronic device is received at the connection 112. The UART unit 110 has an enable connection 113 to which the microcontroller 100 can apply an activation or enable signal in order to activate the UART unit 110. As can be seen in Figure 2, the TxD

Terminal 111 is electrically connected to the second data transmission contact 155, while the RxD terminal 112 of the UART unit 110 is electrically connected to the first

Data transfer contact 154, which is in accordance with the USB-C connector

Specification as D- or D+ connection.

The USB unit 120 is designed to connect two ports 121 and 122 of the

Microcontroller 100 as D+ connection or as D- connection. The D+

Terminal 121 is connected to the corresponding first data transfer contact 154, while the D-terminal 122 of the microcontroller 100 is connected to the second

Data transfer contact 155 of the USB-C connector 150. In a manner known per se, the USB unit 120 supports bidirectional and differential data transfer. The USB unit 120 also has a

Release connection 123, to which the microcontroller 100 sends an activation or deactivation signal.

can apply an enable signal to activate the USB unit 120.

A ground terminal 101 of the microcontroller 100 is connected to the ground terminal 156 of the

USB-C connector 150.

In a manner known per se, the microcontroller 100 may comprise a processor 108 and a

Memory 109 in which, for example, a firmware for controlling and/or

Monitoring the field device 90 can be stored. In a manner known per se, the memory 109 can be implemented as a working and/or program memory. The

Processor 108 may be connected to enable ports 113 and 123, memory 109, and control port 104 via an internal bus.

It should be noted that the USB connector 150 has a signaling contact 153 and the microcontroller 100 has a third connection 105, which is connected to the

Signaling contact 153 of the USB-C connector 150 is electrically connected. The signaling contact 153 can be, for example, the SBU1

Connection of the USB-C connector 150 can be used.

The microcontroller 100 is particularly designed to monitor the second connection 102 in order to detect whether the first

Supply voltage contact 151 of the USB-C connector 150 a

supply voltage VBUS is present or not. Furthermore, the microcontroller 100 can be designed to - only activate the USB unit 120 when it detects the presence of a

supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact 151, and - to activate only the UART unit 110 and the switching element 160 via the

Control output 104 is to be activated when it detects the absence of a

Supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact 151 of the USB

connector 150 has been detected.

For this purpose, the detection connection 102 can, for example, be connected via a

Voltage divider 140 can be assigned to the first supply voltage contact 151 or connected to the supply voltage contact 151. The

Voltage divider 140 has, for example, two electrical resistors 141 and 142. For example, the common connection point of the two resistors 141 and 142 is electrically connected to the detection connection 102 of the microcontroller 100. The electrical resistor 141 can be connected to the ground connection 156 of the

USB-C connector 150.

If a supply voltage VBUS is applied to the first supply voltage contact 151 of the USB-C connector 150, the voltage divider 140 supplies a signal with a corresponding high level to the detection connection 102, whereupon the

Microcontroller 100 detects that only the USB unit 120 should be activated.

Responding to the high level detected at terminal 102, the

Microcontroller 100 generates an activation signal which is fed to the USB unit 120 via the enable connection 123. Since only the USB unit 120 is activated in this case, only the connections 121 and 122 of the microcontroller 20 are operational, i.e., for example, low-resistance with the first or second

Data transfer contact 154, 155, while the terminals 111 and 112 of the UART unit 110 are, for example, high-impedance and thus not operational with the

Data transmission contact 154, 155.

If, however, there is no supply voltage VBUS at the first supply voltage

Contact 151 of the USB-C connector 150, the

Power supply device 130 ensures that the power applied to the first input 132

Supply voltage is converted into the DC supply voltage VCC and

Output 133 is provided. The absence of a supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact 151 of the USB connector 150 is detected by the

Microcontroller 100, for example, by sending a low level via the

Voltage divider 140 is applied to terminal 102 of microcontroller 100.

The microcontroller 100 is preferably designed to apply a switch-on signal via the control terminal 104 to the control input of the switching element 160 in response to the detected low level at the terminal 102 in order to close the switching element 160 so that the output 133 of the power supply device 130 is electrically connected to the second supply voltage contact 152 of the USB connector 150. In this way, the operating voltage VCC provided by the power supply device 130 reaches the

Supply voltage contact 152. Furthermore, the microcontroller 100 monitors the third connection 105 to detect whether the signaling contact 153 of the USB

Connector 150 has a predetermined signal which signals that an external UART-capable electronic device, which preferably does not have its own

power supply is connected to the USB connector 150 of the field device 90.

In this case, the microcontroller 100 can be designed to keep the switching element 160 in the closed state as long as the predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact 153 of the USB connector 150. In this way, an externally connected electronic device, for example the portable peripheral device 10, is continuously supplied with energy by the field device 90.

The microcontroller 100 can be designed to apply an activation signal to the input 113 and to activate the UART interface 110 only when it detects both the absence of a supply voltage at the first

Supply voltage contact 151 of the USB connector 150 by a low-

level at terminal 102 as well as the presence of the predetermined signal at

Signaling contact 153 of USB connector 150 or at port 105.

The microcontroller 100 can, for example, be designed to a) after a first predetermined period of time, for example after 20 ms,

To generate a switch-off signal and to send the switch-off signal via terminal 104 to the

control input of the switching element 160 in order to open the switching element 160 again if the predetermined signal is not present at the signaling contact 153 during the first predetermined time, and b) after a second predetermined time, for example after 2 seconds,

To generate a switch-on signal and to send the switch-on signal via terminal 104 to the

Control input of the switching element 160 to close the switching element 160 again and to monitor the third terminal 105 to detect whether the

Signaling contact 153 of USB connector 150 is present for the predetermined signal, and steps a) and b) are repeated if necessary until an external UART-capable electronic device has been connected to field device 90.

The field device 90 can also be designed to recognize the device type of a connected external UART-capable electronic device. For example, the firmware stored in the memory 109 can be used for this purpose if it is

Microcontroller 100, instruct the microcontroller 100 to cause the field device 90 to detect an external UART-capable

electronic device to transmit identification information that is

Microcontroller 100 can be used to detect the connected external electronic device. This communication takes place using the UART unit 110.

The field device 90 can have a further memory 95, for example a flash memory, into which information and data can be written and from which information and data can be read. Information can be stored in the memory 95 or in the memory 105, which contains, for example, the version number of the firmware currently used by the field device. The memory 95 and the

Microcontrollers 100 are electrically connected to one another, for example via an SPI bus system. For this purpose, the microcontroller 100 has a communication interface 106 and the memory 95 has a communication interface 96.

Now, another example application is considered. Let us assume that the portable peripheral device 10 shown in Figure 1 is directly connected to the

Figure 2 is electrically and mechanically coupled to the field device 90, and that the

Field device 90 is electrically connected to the supply voltage source 170. Both the peripheral device 10 and the field device 90 are ready for operation.

In the connected state, in particular the first supply voltage contact 81, the second supply voltage contact 82, the feedback contact 83, the

Ground contact 86, the first data transfer contact 84 and the second

Data transfer contact 85 of the USB connector 80 of the portable

Peripheral device 10 is electrically connected to the first supply voltage contact 151, to the second supply voltage contact 152, to the signaling contact 153, to the ground contact 156, to the first data transmission contact 154 or to the second data transmission contact 155 of the complementary USB connector 150 of the field device 90.

An exemplary operating behavior and exemplary functional sequences of this coupled communication system are described in detail below.

For example, if the field device 90 is switched on or otherwise

When the microcontroller 100 is put into operation, it starts executing the firmware stored in the memory 109 and causes the field device 90 to monitor the first supply voltage contact 151 to detect whether the first supply voltage contact 151 of the USB connector 150 of the

field device 90 a supply voltage VBUS is present or not. Since in this

If the peripheral device 10 does not supply voltage to the supply voltage

Contact 81 and thus also at the supply voltage contact 151 no

supply voltage is applied, a low level is applied to the terminal 102 via the voltage divider 140. In response to the detected low level, the

Microcontroller 100 sends a switch-on signal to the

Switching element 160 and the switching element 160 is closed so that the

Output 133 of the power supply device 130 of the field device 90 with the second

supply voltage contact 152 of the USB connector 150. In addition, the microcontroller 100 causes the field device 90 to

Signaling contact 153 to detect whether the signaling

Contact 153 has a predetermined signal, e.g. a signal with a high level, which signals that the external peripheral device 10 is connected to the USB connector 150 of the

field device 90. Since in this case the peripheral device 10 is connected to the

Field device 90 is switched on, the supply voltage transmitted by the power supply device 130 via the supply voltage contacts 151 and 81 is fed back to the input 105 of the microcontroller 100 via the second supply voltage contact 82, the feedback contact 83 and the signaling contact 153. In response to the high level present at the input 105, the microcontroller 100 applies an activation signal to the enable input 113, whereby the UART unit 110 is activated, as already explained above. As already explained above, the microcontroller 100 can advantageously be programmed in such a way that the field device 90 is caused to keep the switching element 160 closed as long as the peripheral device 10 is connected to the field device 90.

It is also assumed that the peripheral device 10 is switched on or in another

has been put into operation in this way. Consequently, the

Microcontroller 20 begins executing the firmware stored in memory 25 and first causes the peripheral device 10 to check or detect whether the first

Supply voltage contact 81 or the second supply voltage contact 82 of the USB connector 80. This procedure was explained in detail above in connection with the peripheral device 10 and Figure 1. For this purpose, as already explained in detail above, the microcontroller 20 can connect the detection connection 21 and/or the detection connection 23, for example, to the

monitor the presence of a high or low level. In this case, only the second supply voltage contact 82 has the

Power supply device 130 of field device 90. Consequently, microcontroller 20 detects, for example, a

Voltage divider 70 applies a high level to the detection terminal 23 and/or, depending on the implementation, a low level to the detection terminal 21.

According to an advantageous implementation, the microcontroller 20 knows from the

Detection port 23 detected high level and/or, depending on the implementation, the low level detected at detection port 21, that the peripheral device 10 is connected to a

field device is connected.

In response to this or in response to the recognition that on the second

Supply voltage contact 82 of the USB connector 80 a

supply voltage is applied, the microcontroller 20 causes only the UART

Unit 30 is activated. This creates a UART-based

Communication connection between the peripheral device 10 and the field device 90,

i.e. a communication connection between the UART unit 30 of the

peripheral device 10 and the UART unit 110 of the field device 90 via the first and second data transmission contacts 84, 85 of the USB connector 80 of the

Peripheral device 10 and via the first and second data transfer contacts 154, 155 of the USB connector 150 of the field device 90.

The supply voltage is applied via the second supply voltage contact 82 to the input 53 of the power supply device 50, which consists of the

supply voltage generates an operating voltage and supplies it to the output 51 for

Power supply in particular of the microcontroller 20 and the memory 15.

In the present embodiment, the microcontroller 20 is programmed to cause the peripheral device 10 to control the UART-based

Communication between the peripheral device 10 and the field device 90.

As already mentioned, for example, in the memory 105 of the field device 90 a

Firmware and the associated version number can be stored. In addition, for example, the memory 15 of the peripheral device 10 can store a firmware specific to a field device.

Firmware and the corresponding version number must be stored.

By executing the software stored in the peripheral device 10, the

Microcontroller 20 may cause the peripheral device 10 to request the field device 90 via the existing UART-based communication connection to send identification data containing the version number of the firmware and a

Identification of the field device 90, read from the memory 109 and

peripheral device 10, - depending on the identification data received, to check whether the

peripheral device 10 is intended for the connected field device 90, - if so, based on the version number stored in memory 15 and the

Field device 90 to check whether the firmware stored in peripheral device 10 is more recent than the firmware stored in field device 90; and

- if yes, to transfer the firmware stored in the peripheral device 10 to the field device 90 via the established UART-based communication connection and

To update the firmware in the field device 90. To do this, the field device 90 can, for example, load the new firmware into the memory 109 and delete the old firmware.

For example, the peripheral device 10 can additionally function as a data logger.

For this purpose, the microcontroller 20 can, for example, be programmed in such a way that, by executing the firmware stored in the memory 25, it can execute the

peripheral device 10 stores information indicating that the firmware of the

Field device 90 has been updated and which also contains information about the

Contains the version number of the updated firmware.

It is also conceivable that a configuration and/or parameterization file is stored in the portable peripheral device 10. In this case, the microcontroller can be programmed in such a way that the peripheral device 10, depending on the identification data read from the field device 90, checks whether the stored

Configuration and/or parameterization file is intended for the connected field device 90 and, if so, transfer the stored configuration and/or parameterization file to the field device 90. The field device 90 can advantageously be designed to receive the received configuration and/or

Parameterization file can be stored in memory 95, for example.

The microcontroller 20 can advantageously be programmed such that

To cause the peripheral device 10 to store at least one log file in the memory 15 and to update it regularly in order to log the workflow preferably as long as the peripheral device 10 is connected to the field device 90.

Furthermore, the microcontroller 20 can be programmed in such a way that the peripheral device 10 can specifically request data from the field device 90 and store this data, for example, in the memory 15. This data can be used, for example, when the device is

Pairing the peripheral device 10 with the field device 90 or another field device can be uploaded to this field device.

Let us now assume that the field device 90 is connected to a computer, for example the PC 200.

If the PC 200 and the field device 90 are now switched on or otherwise in

Once the microcontroller 100 has been put into operational readiness, it begins

Execution of the firmware stored in the memory 109 and causes the field device 90 to monitor the first supply voltage contact 151 to detect whether the first supply voltage contact 151 of the USB connector 150 of the

field device 90 a supply voltage VBUS is present or not. Since in this

If the PC 200 supplies a supply voltage VBUS to the supply voltage

Contact 211 and thus also at the supply voltage contact 151 the

Supply voltage VBUS is applied, is connected to the terminal 102 via the

A high level is applied to voltage divider 140. In response to the detected

High level, the microcontroller 100 applies an activation signal to the enable

Input 123 of the USB unit 120 to activate the USB unit 120. The field device 90 now behaves like a USB device towards the PC. In this case, it depends on the implementation of the power supply device 130 whether the

The operating voltage provided at output 133 is derived from the voltage applied at input 131.

Supply voltage VBUS or from the voltage applied to input 132

Supply voltage of the external supply voltage source 170 is generated.

We will now examine in detail the example shown in Figure 4.

Extension module 240, which can be connected to the field device 90, for example.

The expansion module 240 has a USB connector 250, which is preferably designed as a USB Type-C connector. For example, it is assumed that the USB-C connector 250 is a USB-C

The USB connector 250 is especially designed for connecting to the

Field device 90 trained

The USB-C connector 250 has in particular a first data transmission

Contact 254, a second data transmission contact 255, a first

supply voltage contact 251, which is preferably not occupied, and a second supply voltage contact 252. In practice, the USB-C

Connector 250 in addition to a ground contact 256 preferably further defined

contacts that are not needed. The second

Supply voltage pin 252 can be connector B5 (CC2) according to the USB Type-C standard, to which a supply voltage from an external UART-capable

electronic device can be applied. As can be seen in Figure 4, the second supply voltage contact 252 can be electrically connected, for example through a resistor 300, to a feedback contact 253 of the

USB-C connector 250. The resistor 300 is then connected in series with the feedback contact 253. The feedback contact 253 can be the

Port A8 according to USB Type-C connector specification.

The two data transfer contacts 254 and 255 can connect the terminals A6 and

A7 according to the USB Type-C connector specification. The ground terminal 86 can be the terminal A1.

The exemplary, preferably portable, expansion module 240 has a

Power supply device 260, which preferably does not include a power supply.

Power supply device 260 preferably has a first input 261, which is electrically connected to the second supply voltage contact 252 of the USB-C connector 250, and a DC voltage output 262. The

Power supply device 260 is designed to supply a power supply to the second

Supply voltage contact 252 is used to convert the supply voltage VCONN applied to the supply voltage contact 252 into a predetermined DC voltage and to provide this at the DC voltage output 262. A voltage regulator 263 can be implemented for this purpose. The predetermined DC voltage is an internal operating voltage VCC.

Furthermore, a microcontroller 270 is implemented in the extension module 240, which

UART unit 280, which can be designed as a controller. The UART

Unit 280 controls two terminals 281 and 282 of the microcontroller 270, which serve as

TxD port 281 and RxD port 282. In other words: If the

UART unit 30 is activated, data is sent out via the connection 281, while data coming from an external electronic device is received at the connection 282. The UART unit 280 has an enable connection 283 to which the microcontroller 270 can apply an activation or enable signal in order to activate the UART unit 30. As can be seen in Figure 4, the TxD connection 281 is electrically connected to the first data transmission contact 254, while the

RxD connector 282 of the UART unit 30 is electrically connected to the second

Data transfer contact 255, which is in accordance with the USB-C connector

specification as D+ or D- connection. Furthermore, the

Microcontroller 270 has a connection 272 which is electrically connected to the output 262 of the

power supply device 260. A ground connection 273 of the

Microcontroller 270 is electrically connected to the ground contact 256 of the USB-C connector 250.

The extension module 240 can have at least one functional block 290, which can preferably be implemented as a software and hardware component. The

Function block 290 has, for example, a communication interface 291, which can be connected to a communication interface 271 of the microcontroller 270 via an electrical connection, for example via an SPI-based bus system.

Via a connection 292, the function block 290 is connected to the output 262 of the

Power supply device 260. In this way, the

Expansion module 240 and its components are powered by energy supplied by an external electronic device, such as the field device 90. The

Function block 290 can be used, for example, as a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or as a

WLAN module. Using the extension module 240, for example, the field device 90 can be easily expanded to include a wireless communication interface.

It is also conceivable that the function block 290 is designed as an Ethernet controller that has an Ethernet connector, for example an RJ45 or SPE (Single Pair of

Ethernet) connector, which can also be part of the expansion module 240, in a known manner.

It is also conceivable that the function block 290 can be designed as an IO-Link transceiver.

For example, if the extension module 240 is connected to the field device 90 via the USB-C

Connectors 250 and 150 are connected, the field device 90 recognizes this state by the fact that at connection 105 of the microcontroller 100 the

Power supply device 130 to the second supply voltage contact 152 applied operating voltage from the extension module 240 to the signaling

Contact 153 has been fed back. This functionality and the other

Functions of the field device 90 essentially correspond to those already explained above in connection with the portable peripheral device 10.

In particular, the field device 90 is designed to receive information from

Expansion module 240 to query the data that identify the expansion module.

The relevant information is stored in the extension module 240 and can be accessed.

Claims (25)

Patent claims 1. Portable peripheral device (10), comprising: - a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector (80) which is designed to be connected to an external electronic device (90, 200) having a USB connector, wherein the USB connector (80) has a first and second data transmission contact (84, 85), a first supply voltage contact (81) and a second supply voltage contact (82), - a power supply device (50) which has a first input (52) which is electrically connected to the first supply voltage contact (81) of the USB connector (80), a second input (53) which is electrically connected to the second supply voltage contact (82) of the USB connector (80), and a DC voltage output (51), wherein the power supply device (50) is designed to convert a supply voltage applied to the first supply voltage contact (81) or a supply voltage applied to the second supply voltage contact (82) into a to convert a predetermined direct voltage and to provide it at the direct voltage output (51), - a memory (15), - a microcontroller (20) which has a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) unit (30) and a USB unit (40), wherein both the UART unit (30) and the USB unit (40) are electrically connected to the two data transmission contacts (84, 85) of the USB connector (80), wherein the microcontroller (20) is electrically connected to the direct voltage output (51) of the power supply device (50) and to the memory (15) via a communication connection (230), wherein the microcontroller (20) is designed to - detect whether a supply voltage is present at the first or second supply voltage contact (81, 82) of the USB connector (80), and - in response to a supply voltage being present at the first supply voltage contact (81), only the USB unit (40) and to activate only the UART unit (30) in response to a supply voltage being applied to the second supply voltage contact (82). 2. Portable peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the USB connector (80) is designed as a USB Type-C connector, in particular as a USB Type-C socket. 3. Portable peripheral device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the microcontroller (20) has a first connection (21) which is assigned to the first supply voltage contact (81) of the USB connector (80), and/or a second connection (23) which is assigned to the second supply voltage contact (82) of the USB connector (80), wherein the microcontroller (20) is designed to monitor the first connection (21) in order to detect whether a supply voltage is applied to the first supply voltage contact (81) or to the second supply voltage contact (82) of the USB connector (80), and/or to monitor the second connection (23) in order to detect whether a supply voltage is applied to the second supply voltage contact (82) or to the first supply voltage contact (81) of the USB connector (80). 4. Portable peripheral device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the memory (15) is a digital memory chip that can be electrically connected to the DC output (51) of the power supply device (50). 5. Portable peripheral device according to claim 4, wherein the microcontroller (20) is designed to operate the portable peripheral device (10) as a USB mass storage device in response to a supply voltage being applied to the first supply voltage contact (81). 6. Portable peripheral device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein in the memory (15) and/or in at least one separate memory (25) of the portable peripheral device (10) software is stored which is designed to control communication between the portable peripheral device (10) and an external UART-capable electronic device (90) according to the UART standard, and wherein the microcontroller (20) is designed to execute the software in response to a supply voltage being applied to the second supply voltage contact (82). 7. Portable peripheral device according to claim 6, wherein the microcontroller (20) is designed to generate and/or manage at least one log file that can be stored in the memory (15) when executing the software. 8. A portable peripheral device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the USB connector (80) has a feedback contact (83) electrically connected to the second supply voltage contact (82). 9. Field device (90) comprising: - a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector (150) which is designed to be connected to an external electronic device (10, 240) having a USB connector, the USB connector (150) having a first and second data transmission contact (154, 155), a first supply voltage contact (151) and a second supply voltage contact (152), - a power supply device (130) which has a first input (132) to which the supply voltage of an external energy supply source (170) can be applied, a second input (131) which is connected to the first supply voltage contact (151) of the USB connector (150), and an output (133) for providing a direct supply voltage, the power supply device (130) being connected to the second supply voltage contact (152) of the USB connector (150), and - a microcontroller (100) which has a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) unit (110) and a USB unit (120), wherein both the UART unit (110) and the USB unit (120) are electrically connected to the two data transmission contacts (154, 155) of the USB connector (150), wherein the microcontroller (100) has a first connection (103) which is electrically connected to the output (133) of the power supply device (130), and a second connection (102) associated with the first supply voltage contact (151) of the USB connector (150), wherein the microcontroller (100) is designed to monitor the second connection (102) in order to detect whether the first supply voltage contact (151) of the USB-C connector (150) a supply voltage is present or not, wherein the microcontroller (100) is further designed to activate only the USB unit (120) when it has detected the presence of a supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact (151), and to activate only the UART unit (110) and to control the switching element (160) when it has detected the absence of a supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact (151) of the USB connector (150). 10. The field device of claim 9, wherein the USB connector (150) is a USB Type-C connector. 11. Field device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the power supply device (130) is designed to convert a supply voltage applied to the second input (131) into the DC supply voltage and to provide this at the output (133). 12. Field device according to one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the USB connector (150) has a signaling contact (153) and the Microcontroller (100) has a third terminal (105) which is electrically connected to the signaling contact (153) of the USB connector (150). 13. Field device according to claim 12, wherein the power supply device (130) is designed to convert the supply voltage applied to the first input (132) into the DC supply voltage and to provide this at the output (133) when no supply voltage is applied to the first supply voltage contact (151) of the USB connector (150), wherein the microcontroller (100) is designed, in response to it having detected that there is no supply voltage applied to the first supply voltage contact (151) of the USB connector (150), - to close the switching element (160) in order to electrically connect the output (133) of the power supply device (130) to the second supply voltage contact (152) of the USB connector (150), and - to monitor the third connection (105) in order to detect whether a predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact (153) of the USB connector (150). which signals that an external UART-capable electronic device (10, 240) is connected to the USB connector (150) of the field device (90). 14. Field device according to claim 13, wherein the microcontroller (100) is designed to keep the switching element (160) in the closed state as long as the predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact (153) of the USB connector (150). 15. Field device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the microcontroller (100) is designed to activate only the UART interface (110) when it has detected both the absence of a supply voltage at the first supply voltage contact (151) of the USB connector (150) and the presence of the predetermined signal at the signaling contact (153) of the USB connector (150). 16. Field device according to claim 13, 14 or 15, wherein the microcontroller (100) is designed to a) reopen the switching element (160) after a first predetermined period of time if the predetermined signal is not present at the signaling contact (153) during the first predetermined time, and b) close the switching element (160) again after a second predetermined time and monitor the third connection (105) to detect whether the predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact (153) of the USB connector (150), and to repeat steps a) and b) if necessary. 17. Field device according to one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the microcontroller (100) is designed to recognize the device type of a connected external UART-capable electronic device (10, 240). 18. Method with the following steps: - electrically connecting a field device (90) according to one of claims 13 to 17 to an external portable peripheral device (10) according to claim 8, wherein in the connected state the first supply voltage contact (81), the second supply voltage contact (82), the feedback contact (83), the first data transmission contact (84) and the second data transmission contact (85) of the USB connector of the portable peripheral device (10) are electrically connected to the first supply voltage contact (151), the second supply voltage contact (152), the signaling contact (153), the first data transmission contact (154) and the second data transmission contact (155) of the USB connector (150) of the field device (90), respectively; - Monitoring, by the field device (90), the first supply voltage contact (151) to detect whether a Supply voltage is present or not; - if not, closing the switching element (160) so that the output (133) of the power supply device (130) of the field device (90) is electrically connected to the second supply voltage contact (152) of the USB connector (150) of the field device (90), - monitoring, by the field device (90), the signaling contact (153) to detect whether the predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact (153), which signals that the external peripheral device (10) is connected to the USB connector (150) of the field device (90); - activating, by the field device (90), the UART unit (110) when it has been detected that the predetermined signal is present at the signaling contact. 19. The method according to claim 18, comprising the further steps: - detecting, by the peripheral device (10), whether a supply voltage is present at the first or second supply voltage contact (81, 82) of the USB connector (80) of the peripheral device (10), and - activating, in response to the detection that a supply voltage is present at the second supply voltage contact (82) of the USB connector (80), only the UART unit (30) so that a UART-based communication connection is established between the peripheral device (10) and the field device (90) via the first and second data transmission contacts (84, 85) of the USB connector (80) of the peripheral device (10) and via the first and second data transmission contacts (154, 155) of the USB connector (150) of the field device (90). 20. The method according to claim 19, wherein, by executing the software stored in the peripheral device (10), communication according to the UART standard between the peripheral device (10) and the field device (90) is controlled by the microcontroller (20) of the peripheral device (10). 21. The method according to claim 20, wherein in the field device (90) a firmware and identification data which the firmware Version are stored, wherein a firmware and the associated version number are stored in the peripheral device (10), wherein when the software stored in the peripheral device (10) is executed by the microcontroller (20) - the identification data are read out from the field device (90), - depending on the identification data read out, it is checked whether the firmware stored in the peripheral device (10) is intended for the connected field device (90), - if so, it is checked whether the firmware stored in the peripheral device (10) is more current than the firmware stored in the field device (90); - if so, the firmware stored in the peripheral device (10) is transmitted to the field device (90) via the established UART-based communication connection and the firmware is updated. 22. The method according to claim 21, wherein information is stored in the memory (15) of the peripheral device (10) which indicates that the firmware of the field device (90) has been updated and which contains an indication of the version number of the updated firmware. 23. Method according to one of claims 20 to 22, wherein a configuration and/or parameterization file is stored in the portable peripheral device (10), wherein, depending on the identification data read from the field device (90), it is checked in the peripheral device (10) whether the stored configuration and/or parameterization file is intended for the connected field device (90), and if so, the stored configuration and/or parameterization file is transferred to the field device (90) and stored in the field device (90). 24. Method according to one of claims 20 to 23, wherein, upon execution of the software stored in the peripheral device (10), the microcontroller (20) of the peripheral device (10) receives data from the field device (90) read out and stored in the memory (15) of the peripheral device (10) and/or at least one log file is stored in the memory (15) of the peripheral device (10) and regularly updated. 25. Communication system comprising a field device (90) according to one of claims 13 to 17 and an external portable peripheral device (10) according to claim 8, wherein in the connected state the first supply voltage contact (81), the second supply voltage contact (82), the feedback contact (83), the first data transmission contact (84) and the second data transmission contact (85) of the USB connector of the portable peripheral device (10) are electrically connected to the first supply voltage contact (151), the second supply voltage contact (152), the signaling contact (153), the first data transmission contact (154) and the second data transmission contact (155) of the USB connector (150) of the field device (90), wherein the communication system is designed in particular to carry out the method according to one of claims 18 to 24.