CN117832959A - Bus controller and distributed communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a bus controller and a distributed communication system. The bus controller includes: a first bus port for connection to a first communication bus, a second bus port for connection to a second communication bus; and an addressable switch connected between the first bus port and the second bus port for switching on and off the first bus port and the second bus port. The turning on and off of the addressable switch is controlled by control signals from the first communication bus based on a single bus protocol. The method can eliminate the requirement for a plurality of gateway devices and reduce the cost while ensuring the plug and play of the verification device.

Description

Bus controller and distributed communication system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a bus controller and a distributed communication system.

Background

In an industrial system, associated devices may communicate using an internal network (private network) based on a private protocol. For example, various devices serving the same circuit breaker, or various components for the same circuit breaker, may communicate in an internal network based on proprietary protocols. In the same internal network, only one device (such as a release, a display and the like) of the same type is allowed to be accessed, so that the possibility of the same device does not exist, and therefore, an access address is not required to be set for each device in the network, and the plug and play of the device in the internal network, namely, a single-device plug and play network can be realized.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure relates to a bus controller and a distributed communication system capable of eliminating the need for a plurality of gateway devices while ensuring plug-and-play of the incumbent devices, and reducing costs.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a bus controller is provided. The bus controller includes: a first bus port for connection to a first communication bus, a second bus port for connection to a second communication bus; and an addressable switch connected between the first bus port and the second bus port for switching on and off the first bus port and the second bus port. The turning on and off of the addressable switch is controlled by control signals from the first communication bus based on a single bus protocol.

Optionally, the first bus port includes: a first sub-port connected to a first segment of the first communication bus; and a second sub-port connected to a second segment of the first communication bus and in communication with the first sub-port, wherein the control signal is from the first sub-port.

Optionally, the first segment of the first communication bus is a segment closer to a communication gateway to which the first communication bus is connected, and the second segment of the first communication bus is a segment farther from the communication gateway to which the first communication bus is connected.

Optionally, the communication gateway is connected to an external network using a public communication protocol.

Optionally, the second communication bus is connected to an internal network using a proprietary communication protocol.

Optionally, each of the first sub-port, the second sub-port, and the second bus port includes a twisted wire interface and/or an RJ45 interface.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a distributed communication system is provided. The distributed communication system includes: a communication gateway; a first communication bus; a plurality of second communication buses; a plurality of the bus controllers. The communication gateway is connected to the first communication bus and to an external network, first bus ports of a plurality of the bus controllers are connected to the first communication bus, second bus ports of each of the bus controllers are each connected to one of the plurality of second communication buses, each second communication bus is for connecting one or more devices such that the one or more devices communicate in the internal network via the second communication bus based on a proprietary communication protocol. The communication gateway communicates with each of the bus controllers as a single bus host based on a single bus protocol and controls the turning on and off of the addressable switch of each of the bus controllers, and the communication gateway converts data based on a public communication protocol used by the external network to data based on a private communication protocol used by the device on the second communication bus.

Optionally, a plurality of the bus controllers are connected in series to form a daisy chain connection.

Optionally, the one or more devices are connected in series to form a daisy chain connection.

Drawings

Aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a bus controller according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a distributed communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein, which may be embodied in many different forms. The described embodiments are intended only to provide a thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure and to fully convey the concept of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. Features of the various embodiments described may be combined with or substituted for one another, unless expressly excluded or excluded depending on the context.

As described above, the advantage of the single device plug and play network is that plug and play of devices can be achieved without setting bus addresses for the devices. However, devices in such an internal network (private network) communicate using a private communication protocol, and cannot be accessed by devices (e.g., client devices) in an external network (public network) using a public communication protocol. If access to devices in the internal network by devices in the external network is to be achieved, a communication gateway needs to be provided to establish communication between the external network and the internal network. For example, it is necessary to provide an internal network with a communication gateway associated therewith. By assigning the communication gateway a bus address for communication with the external network and by implementing a protocol conversion between communication protocols of the external network and the internal network with the communication gateway, the devices in the external network can access the information of the devices in the internal network. If a plurality of single device plug and play networks (i.e., internal networks) are connected to form a larger bus type communication network (i.e., external network), since the single device plug and play networks only allow access to one and the same type of device in order to realize plug and play of the devices, each single device plug and play network cannot share one communication gateway, and thus one communication gateway needs to be set at the demarcation point of each internal and external network to realize communication between the internal and external networks and communication isolation between the single device plug and play networks, thereby resulting in the need to set a plurality of communication gateways and resulting in increased cost.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a bus controller and a distributed communication system, which can eliminate the requirement for a plurality of gateway devices and reduce the cost while ensuring plug and play of the existing devices.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a bus controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Communication between devices in the external network (such as client devices) and devices in the internal network (such as state acquisition modules of circuit breakers, protection modules of circuit breakers, etc.) may be facilitated through the bus controller 100 and a communication gateway described later. The external network may be a public network, such as an ethernet network. The internal network may be a private network such as the single device plug and play network described above. In the internal network, only one device of the same type exists, access addresses do not need to be set for the devices, and each device communicates based on a private communication protocol (such as a controller area network (Controller Area Network, CAN) bus protocol and the like) so as to realize plug and play of the device. In the external network, communication is performed using a public communication protocol (such as an ethernet protocol or the like) different from the private communication protocol described above. The bus controller 100 may be associated with one internal network and a plurality of such bus controllers 100 may be associated with a plurality of different internal networks.

As shown in fig. 1, the bus controller 100 may include a first bus port 110, a second bus port 120, and an addressable switch 130. The first bus port 110 may be connected to a first communication bus. The first communication bus may be a communication bus for connecting the plurality of bus controllers 100 and the communication gateway, and the communication gateway may be further connected to an external network using the above-described common communication protocol, so that the plurality of bus controllers 100 may communicate with the above-described external network through the communication gateway. In one embodiment, the first bus port 110 may include a first sub-port 1101 and a second sub-port 1102. The first sub-port 1101 may be connected to a first segment of a first communication bus and the second sub-port 1102 may be connected to a second segment of the first communication bus and in communication with the first sub-port 1101, whereby signal transmission over the first communication bus may be achieved. The first segment and the second segment of the first communication bus are defined with respect to their positions from a communication gateway described later. In one embodiment, the first segment of the first communication bus may be a segment closer to the communication gateway to which the first communication bus is connected, and the second segment of the first communication bus may be a segment farther from the communication gateway to which the first communication bus is connected. In this case, the first sub-port 1101 may be referred to as an external wire-inlet end of the bus controller 100, and the second sub-port 1102 may be referred to as an external wire-outlet end of the bus controller 100.

The second bus port 120 may be connected to a second communication bus. The bus controller 100 may be associated with an internal network via a second communication bus through a second bus port 120. In one embodiment, the second communication bus may be connected to an internal network using a proprietary communication protocol. The internal network may be, for example, the single-device plug-and-play network described above, where only one device of the same type exists, and plug-and-play of devices may be implemented without setting access addresses for the devices.

The addressable switch 130 may be connected between the first bus port 110 and the second bus port 120 for switching the first bus port 110 and the second bus port 120 on and off, so that it may be controlled whether or not information about one or more devices in the internal network is transmitted to a communication gateway described later via the second communication bus, the first communication bus, for further transmission to the external network. The turning on and off of the addressable switch 130 may be controlled based on a single bus (1-wire) protocol by control signals from the first communication bus. Specifically, the control signal may be transmitted by a communication gateway described later on the first communication bus. In one embodiment, the control signal may be received by the bus controller 100 on the first sub-port 1101 described above as an external inlet port. With this arrangement, the communication gateway and the bus controller (specifically, the addressable switch 130) can operate as a single bus master and a single bus slave, respectively, based on a single bus protocol. The single bus technology is a known serial expansion bus technology, adopts a single signal wire, not only transmits clocks but also transmits data, and the data transmission is bidirectional, and has the advantages of saving I/O port wires, along with simple resource structure, low cost, convenient bus expansion and maintenance, and the like. The communication gateway may control each communication to only turn on the addressable switch 130 in one of the plurality of bus controllers based on a single bus protocol, thereby enabling each communication to access only data of one or more devices in the internal network associated with the one bus controller, enabling communication isolation between different internal networks, and enabling "addressing" of the addressable switch 130, i.e., without setting an access address for the addressable switch 130. The addressable switch 130 may be implemented using, for example, chips such as DS2413 and DS2408 of the Maxim Integrated semiconductor company (Maxim).

In one embodiment, to facilitate user access and device access, each of the first sub-port 1101, the second sub-port 1102, and the second bus port 120 may include a twisted-wire interface and/or an RJ45 interface.

The plurality of bus controllers 100 may be connected in series via a first communication bus to form a daisy chain (i.e., a "hand-in-hand") connection. Forming a daisy chain connection may reduce costs by connecting multiple devices (e.g., multiple such bus controllers 100) using limited signal transmission lines.

One or more devices in the internal network may also be connected in series via the second communication bus to form a daisy chain connection, thereby reducing device connection costs.

Due to the above-described arrangement of the bus controller 100, communication isolation between different internal networks can be achieved. Therefore, the plurality of bus controllers 100 can share one communication gateway to communicate with the external network, without providing one communication gateway for each internal network, reducing costs. In addition, as can be seen from the structure of the bus controller 100, only one electronic device is used therein, i.e., the addressable switch 130, which has a significantly reduced cost compared to a communication gateway.

According to the bus controller disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, communication isolation between different internal networks can be realized, the requirements on a plurality of gateway devices are eliminated while the plug and play of the existing devices are ensured, and the cost is reduced.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a distributed communication system 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 2, the distributed communication system 200 may include a communication gateway 210, a first communication bus 220, a plurality of second communication buses 230, and a plurality of bus controllers 240. The communication gateway 210 may be connected to the first communication bus 220 as well as an external network. The first communication bus 220 may be a communication bus for connecting the plurality of bus controllers 240 and the communication gateway 210, so that the plurality of bus controllers 240 may communicate with an external network through the communication gateway. The external network may be a public network, such as an ethernet network. In the external network, communication is performed using a common communication protocol such as an ethernet protocol or the like.

Each of the plurality of bus controllers 240 may be the bus controller 100 as described above with reference to fig. 1. A first bus port of the plurality of bus controllers 240 is connected to the first communication bus 210. The first bus port of each of the plurality of bus controllers 240 may include a first sub-port and a second sub-port as described above. For each bus controller 240, a first sub-port thereof may be connected to a first segment of the first communication bus 220, and a second sub-port may be connected to a second segment of the first communication bus 220 and communicate with the first sub-port, whereby signal transmission over the first communication bus 220 may be achieved. The first segment and the second segment of the first communication bus 220 are defined with respect to their location from the communication gateway 210. In one embodiment, for each bus controller 240, the first segment of the first communication bus 220 may be a segment closer to the communication gateway 210 to which the first communication bus 220 is connected, and the second segment of the first communication bus 220 may be a segment farther from the communication gateway 210 to which the first communication bus 220 is connected.

The second bus port of each bus controller 240 may be each connected to one of the plurality of second communication buses 230, and each second communication bus 230 may connect one or more devices such that the one or more devices communicate in the internal network over the second communication bus 230 based on a proprietary communication protocol. Each bus controller 240 may be associated with an internal network via a respective second communication bus 230. As shown in fig. 2, the second bus port of each bus controller 240 may each be connected to a corresponding internal network via one of the plurality of second communication buses 230, the devices in the internal network also being connected to each other via the second communication buses 230. The internal network may be a private network such as the single device plug and play network described above. In the internal network, only one device of the same type exists, access addresses do not need to be set for the devices, and each device communicates based on a private communication protocol (such as a controller area network (Controller Area Network, CAN) bus protocol and the like) so as to realize plug and play of the device. In fig. 2, there are 4 devices in each internal network, and these 4 devices may be, for example, a display panel, a state acquisition module of a circuit breaker, a protection module of the circuit breaker, and an I/O module from top to bottom in a clockwise direction, which are related to each other, and may communicate based on a private communication protocol. It is noted that although fig. 2 shows that each internal network includes 4 kinds of devices, and the 4 kinds of devices in each internal network are each identical, this is merely for convenience in showing the structure of the internal network. It will be appreciated that the internal network may include more or less than 4 devices, and that the devices in each internal network may be the same or different.

The communication gateway 210 may communicate with each bus controller 240 as a single bus host based on a single bus protocol and control the turning on and off of the addressable switch of each bus controller 240 so that it may control whether information about one or more devices in the internal network associated with that bus controller 240 is transferred to the communication gateway 210 via the second communication bus 230, the first communication bus 220 for further transfer to an external network. The turning on and off of the addressable switch of each bus controller 240 may be controlled based on a single bus protocol by control signals from the first communication bus 220, which may be sent by the communication gateway 210 over the first communication bus 220. To this end, it is understood that the first communication bus 220 includes not only data signal lines for transmitting communication data between the bus controller 240 and the communication gateway 210, but also single bus control signal lines for transmitting control signals for controlling the on and off of the addressable switches of the bus controller 240 based on a single bus protocol. With this arrangement, the communication gateway 210 and the plurality of bus controllers 240 may operate as a single bus master and a single bus slave, respectively, based on a single bus protocol, enabling access to data for only one or more devices in the internal network associated with one bus controller 240 per communication, enabling communication isolation between different internal networks, and enabling "addressing" of addressable switches in the bus controllers 240, i.e., without setting access addresses for the addressable switches.

In addition, to enable data transfer between the internal network and the external network, the communication gateway 210 may also convert data based on a public communication protocol used by the external network to data based on a private communication protocol used by the device on the second communication bus 230.

In one embodiment, multiple bus controllers 240 may be connected in series as shown in FIG. 2 to form a daisy chain connection, thereby reducing cost.

In one embodiment, one or more devices in each internal network may be connected in series as shown in fig. 2 to form a daisy chain connection, thereby reducing cost.

Due to the above-described arrangement of the distributed communication system 200, communication isolation between different internal networks can be achieved. Therefore, the plurality of bus controllers 240 can share one communication gateway 210 to communicate with external networks, without providing one communication gateway for each internal network, reducing costs. In addition, as described above, the bus controller 240 employs only one electronic device, i.e., an addressable switch, which is significantly less costly than a communication gateway.

According to the distributed communication system disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, communication isolation between different internal networks can be realized, the requirement on a plurality of gateway devices is eliminated while the plug and play of the existing devices is ensured, and the cost is reduced.

The block diagrams of the devices, apparatus, systems referred to in this disclosure are exemplary only, and are not intended to require or imply that the connections, arrangements, configurations must be made in the manner shown in the block diagrams. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, these circuits, devices, apparatuses, devices, systems may be connected, arranged, configured in any manner so long as the desired purpose is achieved.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).

Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be provided in combination. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above-described embodiments are merely examples and that various modifications, combinations, partial combinations and substitutions may be made to the embodiments of the present disclosure according to design requirements and other factors, provided that they fall within the scope of the appended claims or their equivalents, i.e., within the scope of the claims to be protected by the present disclosure.

Claims (9)

1. A bus controller, comprising:

a first bus port for connection to a first communication bus,

a second bus port for connection to a second communication bus; and

an addressable switch connected between the first bus port and the second bus port for switching on and off the first bus port and the second bus port,

wherein the turning on and off of the addressable switch is controlled by control signals from the first communication bus based on a single bus protocol.

2. The bus controller of claim 1, wherein the first bus port comprises:

a first sub-port connected to a first segment of the first communication bus; and

a second sub-port connected to a second segment of the first communication bus and in communication with the first sub-port,

wherein the control signal is from the first sub-port.

3. The bus controller of claim 2, wherein the first segment of the first communication bus is a segment closer to a communication gateway to which the first communication bus is connected, and the second segment of the first communication bus is a segment farther from the communication gateway to which the first communication bus is connected.

4. A bus controller according to claim 3, wherein the communications gateway is connected to an external network using a public communications protocol.

5. The bus controller according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the second communication bus is connected to an internal network using a proprietary communication protocol.

6. The bus controller of claim 2, wherein each of the first sub-port, the second sub-port, and the second bus port comprises a twisted-wire interface and/or an RJ45 interface.

7. A distributed communication system, comprising:

a communication gateway;

a first communication bus;

a plurality of second communication buses; and

a plurality of bus controllers according to any one of claims 1-6,

wherein the communication gateway is connected to the first communication bus and to an external network, a first bus port of a plurality of the bus controllers are connected to the first communication bus, a second bus port of each of the bus controllers is connected to one of the plurality of second communication buses, each second communication bus is for connecting one or more devices such that the one or more devices communicate in the internal network via the second communication bus based on a proprietary communication protocol,

the communication gateway communicates with each of the bus controllers as a single bus host based on a single bus protocol and controls the turning on and off of an addressable switch of each of the bus controllers, and the communication gateway converts data based on a public communication protocol used by the external network to data based on a private communication protocol used by devices on the second communication bus.

8. The distributed communication system of claim 7, wherein a plurality of the bus controllers are connected in series to form a daisy chain connection.

9. The distributed communication system of any of claims 7-8, wherein the one or more devices are connected in series to form a daisy chain connection.