Control and communication system including at least one automation unit

ES 2 344 482 T3

DESCRIPTION

Control and communication system that includes at least one automation unit.

The invention relates to a control and communication system that includes at least one automation unit that is adapted to execute an operation program, and to an engineering unit that is adapted to modify the operation program. As an example of such a system, from GB-A-1 602 164 a device is known for generating and correcting a user program in a machine control system. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of modifying an operation program of at least one automation unit of a control and communication system, the control and communication system also including an engineering unit that is adapted to modify the program. of the corresponding automation unit.

The automation of machinery or facilities equipment, such as electrical installations, requires flexible and versatile control and communication systems, to project increasingly complex adjustment and control objectives, in order to put them into operation and adapt them to changing terms and conditions. .

Although many efforts have been made to receive such control and communication systems, it is still considered that known systems include too many inflexible rules and are too complicated in programming and modifying the corresponding operating programs.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication and control system and a method for modifying an operating program of such a system, which are much easier to correct. At the same time, the system and method have to maintain the currently known standard of low probability of errors, and it would be possible to arrange the system and method on the basis of currently known automation units, such as those of the well-known SIMATIC family. .

The objective underlying the invention is achieved by a control and communication system that includes at least one automation unit that is adapted to execute an operation program, and an engineering unit that is adapted to modify the operation program, the engineering unit including a code setter, which is adapted to design automation functions of the operating program in the form of at least a configured data structure, and to modify the configured data structure, said at least one automation unit including an interpreter frame, which is adapted to include a catalog of necessary predefined automation functions, the operation program, and a structure empty data, the interpreter framework being further adapted to interpret the modified configured data structure and to provide a modified operating program as a function of at least one of the automation functions of said catalog and of the modified configured data structure. The configured data structure contains in particular pointers and values, and is used in the interpreter framework to point to the relevant automation functions (already provided in the aforementioned interpreter framework catalog) and to fill them with the appropriate values.

In other words, the invention provides a projection of automation functions of an automation unit in the form of at least one configured data structure. This data structure contains only data, but no functions in the common form. The configured data structure is interpreted in the automation unit by assigning corresponding automation functions from an automation functions catalog, which has previously been included in the automation unit. By doing this, the invention allows a modification of the automation functions projected in the automation units, which achieves the very short deadlines necessary for the generation and download of the modifications.

The solution according to the invention is particularly suitable for communication systems of installations, such as electrical installations, in which said at least one automation unit and the engineering unit are each connected to a common communication bus of a communication network between peers.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the engineering unit is adapted to send said at least one modified configured data structure to said at least one automation unit by means of the corresponding interpreter frame. Accordingly, the interpreter framework additionally provides the functions of an interface between the engineering unit and the corresponding automation unit.

Preferably, the engineering unit is adapted to include a structural image of the operating program of said at least one automation unit. The structural image can serve as a basis for the projection of automation functions of the operation program of the corresponding automation unit, in the form of said at least one configured data structure.

Said at least one automation unit is advantageously adapted to switch the modified operation program, while keeping the previous operation program running, in a corresponding buffer memory. Alternatively or additionally, the modified configured data structure is kept in a corresponding buffer of the engineering unit or of the corresponding automation unit.

ES 2 344 482 T3

Said at least one automation unit further advantageously includes a running operation program, and is adapted to switch the modified operation program while executing said operation program.

The object of the invention is further achieved by means of a method of modifying an operation program of an automation unit of a control and communication system, the control and communication system further including an engineering unit that is adapted to modify the program. of operation, the method including the steps of projecting automation functions of the operation program in the form of at least one configured data structure, and modifying the configured data structure in the engineering unit, providing a catalog of predefined necessary automation functions of the operation program, and an empty data structure in said at least one automation unit, sending the modified configured data structure to said at least one automation unit, interpreting the modified configured data structure in said at least one automation unit, and providing a modified operation program, to said at least one automation unit, based on at least one of the automation functions of said catalog and on the modified configured data structure.

In a first preferred embodiment, said method includes the step of sending the modified configured data structure to said at least one automation unit, by means of the automation functions arranged in the corresponding automation unit.

In a second preferred embodiment, said method includes the step of including a structural image of the operation program of said at least one automation unit in the engineering unit.

Preferably, the method according to the invention includes the step of switching to the modified operation program in said at least one automation unit, while keeping the previously running operation program in a corresponding buffer.

Also preferably, said method includes the step of executing an operation program in said at least one automation unit and switching to the modified operation program while executing said operation program.

By means of the solution according to the invention, a disturbance-free modification of the operating programs can be provided in running automation units, ie the modification can be carried out without interruption or impact on the running processes. New functions can be added to the process, parameters and internal switches can be modified, and functions can be moved to other program cycles.

Short "reversal" or switching times (according to the invention, typically only a few seconds) can be achieved in order to provide the correspondingly modified operating program in an executable manner.

In the automation unit, the previous operating program can even be rebuilt or restored in such a way that it does not cause a disturbance, after the modifications have been carried out depending on the modified configured data structure. It is only necessary to switch to the old data structure, which points to the previous automation functions and includes values ​​for the previous operating program.

The solution of the invention also allows a simulation in the process circuits of any input and / or output values ​​defined by the user, without losing the possibility of viewing the actual process values ​​of the equipment. The user-defined value can be inserted into the configured data structure, instead of the actual value of the process, and thus you can create the basis for a simulation of that value in the next automation function.

Before putting the planned modifications in the corresponding automation unit, a consistency test can be provided based on the solution according to the invention, which allows finding inconsistencies, for example due to communication failures or modifications carried out manually.

Furthermore, the invention provides the basis for an automatic dispatch of automation functions at corresponding time intervals, to receive a balanced processor load from the automation units for the different and various cycles of operation.

The communication between the engineering unit and the interpreter framework of said at least one automation unit according to the invention, can also be used for a kind of integrated communication mechanism that allows the exchange of process signals (in particular, for the operation of automation units and / or human / machine interfaces (hmi, human / machine interfaces), including through several automation units, without requiring additional screening of such signal transfers.

Furthermore, such communication can be used for integrated alarm handling of binary output signals without any additional circuitry. The binary output signals can be processed simply by a function of

ES 2 344 482 T3 appropriate automation that must be included in the interpreter frame, and can then be paged via a corresponding pointer in the configured data structure of the engineering unit.

Finally, the solution according to the invention can provide an integrated quality code for each signal, in which the configured data structure not only deals with a specific automation function, but also provides quality data for the corresponding signal, which are used in the automation function for a quality check.

Therefore, according to the invention, a completely new operating program has been configured in the automation unit, and a corresponding code generator has been developed in the engineering unit. The planned automation functions are fully described in data form, no time-consuming function generation is required. The automation unit interprets the configured data structures. The interpretation of the data structures forms the core or the basis for the realization of functions of the operating program.

The engineering system receives in particular a complete picture of the operating program stored in the automation unit, and configures the necessary data structures in the event of an activated project change. In this way, all the necessary corrections are transferred to the automation unit, in parallel to the running operation program. After a complete and consistent transfer of all data, the engineering unit will switch the automation unit to the modified operating program. In this way, a negative impact on the running operation program can be ruled out.

The interpreter framework is loaded once at automation unit initialization, and then provides its services. The engineering unit uses the services of the interpreter framework for the transfer of the configured project data, thereby defining the operation of the interpreter framework. Since the interpreter framework includes all the necessary functions and also the empty data structures, extensive loading of other data components is not necessary during the activation of the projected modification.

A preferred embodiment of a control and communication system, and a method of modifying an operation program of an automation unit of a control and communication system, according to the invention, is described below with reference to the schematic drawings annexes, in which:

Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic description of an embodiment of a control and communication system, according to the invention, Figures 2a and 2b show a first list of telegrams or tasks that are interchangeable between the counterparts of the control and communication system according to the Figure 1, Figures 3a and 3b show a second list of telegrams or tasks that are interchangeable between the counterparts of the control and communication system according to Figure 1, Figure 4 shows a third list of telegrams or tasks that are interchangeable between the counterparts of the control and communication system according to Figure 1, Figure 5 shows a fourth list of telegrams or tasks that are interchangeable between the counterparts of the control system. control and communication according to figure 1, Figure 6 shows a diagrammatic description of an embodiment of a method of modifying an operation program of an automation unit of a control and communication system, according to Figure 1, Figure 7 shows a diagrammatic description of the procedure in the corresponding automation unit, during the method according to figure 6, Figure 8 shows a first diagrammatic description of the content of the data components during the procedure according to Figure 7, Figure 9 shows a second diagrammatic description of the content of the data components during the procedure according to Figure 7, Figure 10 shows a third diagrammatic description of the content of the data components during the procedure according to figure 7, Figure 11 shows a diagrammatic description of the communication between the counterparts of the control and communication system according to Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows a communication and control system 10, which includes an engineering unit 12 or server (server-Ft) and a series of automation units 14 in the form of SIMATIC S7 control units (only one is shown in figure 1). The engineering unit 12 is operatively connected to the control unit.

ES 2 344 482 T3 automation 14 through a peer-to-peer network 16, in which the communication unit includes four redundant channels 18, 20, 22 and 24 (channel no. 0, 1,2, 3; redundancy no. 0 , 1). Thus, each of units 12 and 14 is addressed by IP addresses (IP-adr.) And channels 18 to 24 are accessible through appropriate ports (port no.) Of units 12 and 14.

Through the first channel 18, the so-called engineering channel, signals, telegrams and / or tasks are transferred for the installation and modification of operating programs of the automation units 14. The second channel 20, the so-called operating channel, serves to transmit signals, telegrams and / or tasks for the actual operation of the automation unit 14. The third channel 22, the so-called hmi channel, is used for a human / machine interface (hmi) between the engineering unit 12 and the corresponding automation unit 14. Finally, the fourth channel 24, the so-called alarm channel, provides the handling of alarms between the automation unit 14 and the engineering unit 12.

As will be described in greater detail later, channels 18 to 24 provide a kind of integrated communication between engineering unit 12 and corresponding automation unit 14, allowing process signals to be exchanged (in particular to modify operation programs, to the operation of automation units, for human / machine interfaces (hmi) and / or for alarm signals), or even through various automation units without requiring additional screening of such signal transfers.

Figures 2a, 2b show a list of those signals 26 (in the form of telegrams or tasks), which are transferred between the engineering unit 12 (server-Ft) and the corresponding automation unit 14 (programmable logic controller, PLC ) during the installation and modification of operating programs of the automation unit 14.

Signals 26 include, for example, an initiation or activation of a new configuration of an automation program by means of an >> EXECUTE >> signal. The signal is confirmed by the automation unit 14 with a telegram acknowledgment via a << TEL_ACK << signal. The telegram acknowledgment serves as a built-in quality code to provide a communication quality check.

Figures 3a and 3b show a list of those signals 26 that are transferred between the engineering unit 12 and the corresponding automation unit 14, during the actual operation of the automation unit 14. Figure 4 shows the corresponding signal transfer of the man / machine interface, and figure 5 shows the signal transfer in the event of an alarm during operation.

Figure 6 shows a partial diagrammatic description of the method of modifying an operation program of the automation unit 14 of the control and communication system 10, according to figure 1.

An important aspect of the method is that the new or modified operating program is not developed in its entirety in the engineering unit 12 and is then transmitted to the automation unit 14, but is developed in the form of an engineering structure. configured data that includes only pointers and values, but not full functions. The pointers and values ​​are interpreted by an interpreter frame, which is part of the automation unit 14, but is not represented in detail in figure 6. Figure 6 shows only the processes of this interpretation of the configured data structure, provided in principle by engineering unit 12.

First, the engineering unit 12 provides a series of data components (DB) in the interpreter frame of the automation unit 14, specifically a global DB 28, a cycle DB 30, a series of sequence DBs 32 and a module 34 DB. When the execution of a new program begins in step 36 (for example, by means of the signal 26 << EXECUTE <<), first, in step 38 a cycle DB number is read real from global DB 28. Next, in step 40 an actual sequence DB number is read from the appropriate cycle DB 30. The next step 42 reads a real modulo case from the appropriate sequence DB 32.

Based on this information, an actual modulo case is then carried out in step 44, using data from modulo DB 34 and providing outputs to output DBs 46 (and a DB of the case).

The next steps 48a, 48b and 50a, 50b check whether the last module in the sequence list and / or the last sequence DB 32 have been reached and consequently repeat the appropriate steps 38 to 34.

In doing so, the actual automation functions of the operating program of the automation unit 14 are generated through an interpretation of the data structure of the data components 28, 30, 32, and 34, which were provided (so initial or modified) by engineering unit 12.

Figure 7 shows the above-mentioned interpreter frame 52 in greater detail. The interpreter frame 52 includes a process 54 (RCvSnd) for receiving data from and sending data from a telegram buffer 56 (TelBuff). The telegram buffer 56 communicates with a process 58 (ProcEs) to process engineering services. Process 58 handles the actual reading and writing of data components, such as a 30 cycle DB, a number of 32 sequence DBs, and a number of modulo 34 DBs. Process 58 further addresses a certain number of DBs. of index and to a force DB 62 and writes data to the output DBs 46. The corresponding telegrams are received by the interpreter frame 52 on the engineering channel 18 and contain one or more

ES 2 344 482 T3 tasks. These tasks are processed by the interpreter frame 52. If there are no errors, a positive acknowledgment telegram is returned. For example, the response for a DB_READ signal or telegram is a DB_CONTENT telegram.

Figures 8 to 10 are provided to better explain the interpretation process in the corresponding automation unit 14. The process is based on a configuration data component 64 (config DB1), which includes an individualization RC number and a base cycle. These data are processed taking into account data from said global DB 28 and the number of cycle DBs 30. The data included are, specifically, information on the cycles to be processed and the sequences within the cycles. In addition, traffic on the peer-to-peer network is directed through peer-to-peer data components (PtP). The sequences refer, through pointers (represented by arrows), to modules of the module 34 DBs, in which the actual data of the case is stored.

As finally summarized in figure 11, the catalog of predefined necessary automation functions arranged in the interpreter frame 52, in combination with the data component library provided by the engineering unit 12, is translated by said sequence data, said cycle data and said case data, to a running operation program which is stored in a binary output DB 66, an analog output DB 68 and a case DB 70.

References cited in description

The list of references cited by the applicant is for the convenience of the reader only. It is not part of the European Patent document. Although special care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be ruled out and the EPO disclaims all responsibility in this regard.

Patent documents cited in the description • GB 1 602 164 A [0001]