Patent Description:
Industrial automation systems may include automation control and monitoring systems. The automation control and monitoring systems may monitor statuses and/or receive information from a wide range of devices, such as valves, electric motors, a wide range of sensors, other suitable monitoring devices, or the like. One or more components of the automation control and monitoring systems, such as programming terminals, automation controllers (e.g., programmable logic controller (PLC) or a programmable logic device (PLD)), input/output (I/O) modules, communication networks, human- machine interface (HMI) terminals, and the like, may use the statuses and/or received information to provide alerts to operators to change or adjust operation of one or more devices of the industrial automation system (e.g., such as adjusting operation of one or more actuators), to manage the industrial automation system, or the like.

The components (e.g., supervisory control system) described above may also send data and/or commands to one or more drives within a control cabinet of the of the industrial automation system. The drives may be connected to a communication network such as an Ethernet network (e.g., Ethernet/IP), such that the control system of each drive may receive the statuses and/or information from the wide range of devices and use the statuses and/or information to make control decisions. An example of a control decision is determining whether to slow or halt operation of a motor. In response to receiving the control decision from some component or generating the control decision based on receiving data from some component, a drive associated with the motor may slow or halt operation of the motor according to the control decision. However, connecting each drive directly to a communication network may result in increased cost within each product, require a bundle of cables to route and manage, and require a network switch for each product to connect into which may be cumbersome and not ideal to the customer's needs.

<CIT> relates to a vehicle control system. The control system communicates via a wired connection via a vehicle system interface device, such as an Ethernet over a multiple unit cable interface. The interface device represents communication circuitry. A front-end controller is coupled with the interface device by one or more wired connections. Several control devices are connected with the interface device and the controller via a first communication network. An interface gateway is also connected with the first communication network. The interface gateway represents hardware circuitry that communicatively couples the first network with at least a second communication network. The interface gateway can provide a communication bridge between the two networks. For example, the interface gateway can change protocols of communications between the two networks, can determine which communications to allow to be communicated from a device on one network to a device on the other network, or otherwise control communications between the two networks.

In one embodiment, a system comprises a plurality of drives that control one or more operations of a plurality of load devices and a gateway communication device. The gateway communication device is communicatively coupled to the plurality of drives via a first communication network accessible via single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors and communicatively coupled to one or more components accessible via a second communication network. The gateway communication device receives a data packet from one or more components via the second communication network. determines how the format of the data packet corresponds to the first communication network, and identifies one or more drives of the plurality of drives based on the data packet to route or translate that data packet to. If the data packet includes a format that corresponds to the second communication network, the gateway communication device retrieves one or more data properties specified by the data packet and associated with the one or more drives on the first communications network via a memory component. As such, when the data packet is associated with the first communication network, the gateway communication device retrieves the one or more data properties directly from the one or more drives. The gateway communication device also generates an additional data packet based on the one or more data properties and transmits the additional data packet to the one or more components via the second communication network.

In a further embodiment, a system includes a plurality of drives that control one or more operations of a plurality of load devices and a gateway communication device. The gateway communication device is communicatively coupled to the plurality of drives via a first communication network accessible via single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors and communicatively coupled to one or more components accessible via a second communication network. The gateway communication device receives a data packet from the one or more components via the second communication network and identifies one or more drives of the plurality of drives based on the data packet. The gateway communication device also determines whether one or more data properties specified by the data packet and associated with the one or more drives are stored in a memory component in response to determining that the data packet is incompatible with the first communication network. The memory component is periodically updated to include scanned information for each of the plurality of drives acquired via the first communication network. The gateway communication device retrieves the one or more data properties from the memory component in response to determining that the one or more data properties are stored in the memory component. Further, the gateway communication device generates an additional data packet based on the one or more data properties and transmits the additional data packet to the one or more components via the second communication network.

In an additional embodiment, a method includes a processor receiving a data packet from one or more components via a first communication network and determining whether a format of the data packet corresponds to the first communication network or a second communication network associated with a plurality of drives. The processor identifies one or more drives of the plurality of drives based on the data packet. In response to determining that the data packet is associated with the first communication network, the processor retrieves one or more data properties specified by the data packet and associated with the one or more drives via a memory component. In response to determining that the data packet is associated with the second communication network, the processor retrieves the one or more data properties directly from the one or more drives. Further, the processor generates an additional data packet based on the one or more data properties and transmits the additional data packet to the one or more components via the first communication network.

Industrial automation systems may be used in various contexts, such as a manufacturing plant, a resource extraction system, a hydrocarbon extraction site, a chemical refinery facility, an industrial plant, a power generation system, a mining system, a brewery, or the like. For example, in a resource extraction system context, a drive associated with a control system may control load and position of a rod pump to perform an oil extraction process. Although examples are provided with regard to specific contexts, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that these examples are not intended to be limiting and that the techniques described herein can be used with any suitable context.

To improve operation of industrial automation systems, components of the industrial automation system (e.g., supervisory control system) may monitor performance of one or more devices (e.g., machines, sensors) with respect to the industrial automation process as a whole. Statuses and/or information from the one or more components (e.g., supervisory control system) may be transmitted to respective control systems of drives associated with the one or more devices via an Ethernet network. Respective control systems of the drives may use the statuses and/or information to make control decisions related to the one or more devices controlled by or coupled to the drive. As mentioned above, each drive may be housed in a control cabinet associated with the industrial automation system, and each drive may include a control system to control operations of respective components (e.g., load devices, motor). In some embodiments, the control system of each drive and components such as the supervisory control system may have similar processing capabilities. To enable the control system to receive statuses and/or information from the one or more components, each drive may be connected to an Ethernet network (e.g., subnet, Ethernet/IP). In some cases, each drive may be connected to the Ethernet network via separate Ethernet cables. However, wiring each drive to the Ethernet network via an Ethernet cable may be cumbersome, cost inefficient, and result in a bundle of Ethernet cables, which may be difficult to maintain.

In previous solutions, multiple drives may each be connected to the Ethernet network via a drive serial interface (DSI) cable. A drive serial interface (DSI) cable serves to connect each of the multiple drives to the Ethernet network without having to wire each drive to the Ethernet network with a separate Ethernet cable. However, the drive serial interface (DSI) cable is limited to connecting up to certain number (e.g., <NUM>) drives, including a gateway communication device, to the Ethernet network due to bandwidth limitations of the DSI cable. As used herein, a gateway communication device may be a communication device that is directly (e.g., no intervening components) connected to the Ethernet network.

Further, a second Ethernet network connected to the gateway communication device may be any Ethernet based communication network including industrial networks such as ProfiNct, Modbus TCP, BacNet/IP, EtherCAT, or EthcrNct/IP. In this embodiment, the drives may be communicatively coupled to each other and the gateway communication device via a first communication network (subnet, SPE Ethernet/IP), and the gateway communication device may be communicatively coupled to the components (e.g., supervisory control system) of the industrial automation system via a second communication network that utilizes a different Ethernet protocol from the first communication network (e.g., ProfiNct, Modbus TCP, BacNet/IP, EtherCAT). In such case and as described in greater detail below, the gateway communication device may operate as a scanner to facilitate communications between devices that are part of different networks (e.g., between Ethernet/IP and ProfiNet). For example, the gateway communication device may receive a data packet from components of the industrial automation system. If the data packet is in a format that is incompatible with subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP), then the gateway communication device may operate as a scanner and determine destination drives(s) based on parsing the data packet. In some embodiments, the gateway communication device may retrieve data properties specified by the parsed data packet and associated with the destination drive(s) from a memory component that includes scanned information corresponding to each drive on the subnet. In other embodiments, if the data properties specified by the parsed data packet are not stored in the memory component, then the gateway communication device may transmit a message to the destination drive(s) to retrieve the data properties specified by the parsed data packed from the destination drive(s). The gateway communication device may then transmit the data properties to the components (e.g., supervisory control system) of the industrial automation system by repackaging the data properties in a format suitable for transmission via an Ethernet network different from the subnet, such as ProfiNet or Modbus TCP. However, if the gateway communication device receives the data packet in a form compatible with the subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP), then the gateway communication device may operate as a router and transmit the data packet directly to destination drives(s) via single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors.

In addition to limiting the number of drives that can be connected to the Ethernet network, the previous solutions using the drive serial interface (DSI) had limited bandwidth, a transmission speed of <NUM> baud, and a drive update rate as slow as <NUM> milliseconds. Further, while each drive may have included an interface that supports connection to the drive serial interface (DSI), the gateway communication device may also include a separate Ethernet interface that supports connection to the Ethernet network.

With this in mind, it may be desirable to effectively connect multiple drives to the Ethernet network while reducing number of wires and overall cost of the control cabinet, increasing transmission speed and drive update rate, and the like. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides techniques for connecting the gateway communication device to other drives using single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors.

As used herein, single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors may include a single pair of twisted wire for transmitting and receiving data. Non-limiting examples of single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors include single pair Ethernet (SPE) cables, single pair Ethernet (SPE) wires, single pair Ethernet (SPE) traces, and single pair Ethernet (SPE) bars. In some embodiments, a network ribbon cable (e.g., five-line cable, six-line cable, seven-line cable) may include the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors. The single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors may be used to couple the drives to the Ethernet network and communicatively couple each drive to each other and to the Ethernet network via the gateway communication device. In some embodiments, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors may connect up to a certain number (e.g., <NUM>-<NUM>) of drives (e.g., drive control systems) based on the bandwidth provided via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors. While eliminating superfluous wiring, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors within the network ribbon cable may have a transmission update rate (e.g., transmission update rate between <NUM> and <NUM> milliseconds) that is faster as compared to the previous solutions employing drive serial interface (DS1).

Each drive may include an interface (e.g., vampire tap, device that clamps onto cable, 10BASE5 cabling) that supports connection to the single pair Ethernet (SPE) cable. The gateway communication device may include an interface that supports a direct connection to the Ethernet network and supports connections to neighboring drives via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors. Unlike the previous solutions employing drive serial interface (DSI), in addition to drives, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors may also connect to other control cabinet devices (e.g., push buttons, pilot lights, contactors, switches, starters, input/output modules) that may be capable of interacting with the drives. By connecting drives to the Ethernet network via a single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors, the number of drives that can be connected to the Ethernet network the transmission speed, and drive update frequency increase.

By way of introduction, <FIG> illustrates an example industrial automation system <NUM> employed by a food manufacturer in which the present embodiments may be implemented. It should be noted that although the example industrial automation system <NUM> of <FIG> is directed at a food manufacturer, the present embodiments described herein may be employed within any suitable industry, such as automotive, IT, mining, hydrocarbon production, manufacturing, and the like. The following brief description of the example industrial automation system <NUM> employed by the food manufacturer is provided herein to help facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of how the embodiments described herein may be applied to components and a manufacturing application system to significantly improve the operations of the respective industrial automation system. As such, the embodiments described herein should not be limited to be applied to the example depicted in <FIG>.

Referring now to <FIG>, the example industrial automation system <NUM> for a food manufacturer may include silos <NUM> and tanks <NUM>. The silos <NUM> and the tanks <NUM> may store different types of raw material, such as grains, salt, yeast, sweeteners, flavoring agents, coloring agents, vitamins, minerals, and preservatives. In some embodiments, sensors <NUM> may be positioned within or around the silos <NUM>, the tanks <NUM>, or other suitable locations within the industrial automation system <NUM> to measure certain properties, such as temperature, mass, volume, pressure, humidity, and the like.

The raw materials may be provided to a mixer <NUM>, which may mix the raw materials together according to a specified ratio. The mixer <NUM> and other machines in the industrial automation system <NUM> may employ certain industrial automation devices <NUM> to control the operations of the mixer <NUM> and other machines. The industrial automation devices <NUM> may include controllers, input/output (I/O) modules, motor control centers, motors, human machine interfaces (HMIs), operator interfaces, contactors, starters, sensors <NUM>, actuators, conveyors, drives, relays, protection devices, switch gear, compressors, firewall, network switches (e.g., Ethernet switches, modular-managed, fixed-managed, service-router, industrial, unmanaged, etc.) and the like. The industrial automation devices <NUM>. the mixer <NUM>, and other machines are examples of components in the industrial automation system <NUM>.

The mixer <NUM> may provide a mixed compound to a depositor <NUM>, which may deposit a certain amount of the mixed compound onto conveyor <NUM>. The depositor <NUM> may deposit the mixed compound on the conveyor <NUM> according to a shape and amount that may be specified to a control system for the depositor <NUM>. The conveyor <NUM> may be any suitable conveyor system that transports items to various types of machinery across the industrial automation system <NUM>. For example, the conveyor <NUM> may transport deposited material from the depositor <NUM> to an oven <NUM>, which may bake the deposited material. The baked material may be transported to a cooling tunnel <NUM> to cool the baked material, such that the cooled material may be transported to a tray loader <NUM> via the conveyor <NUM>. The tray loader <NUM> may include machinery that receives a certain amount of the cooled material for packaging. By way of example, the tray loader <NUM> may receive <NUM> ounces of the cooled material, which may correspond to an amount of cereal provided in a cereal box.

A tray wrapper <NUM> may receive a collected amount of cooled material from the tray loader <NUM> into a bag, which may be sealed. The tray wrapper <NUM> may receive the collected amount of cooled material in a bag and seal the bag using appropriate machinery. The conveyor <NUM> may transport the bagged material to case packer <NUM>, which may package the bagged material into a box. The boxes may be transported to a palletizer <NUM>, which may stack a certain number of boxes on a pallet that may be lifted using a forklift or the like. The stacked boxes may then be transported to a shrink wrapper <NUM>, which may wrap the stacked boxes with shrink-wrap to keep the stacked boxes together while on the pallet. The shrink-wrapped boxes may then be transported to storage or the like via a forklift or other suitable transport vehicle.

To perform the operations of each of the devices in the example industrial automation system <NUM>, the industrial automation devices <NUM> may be used to provide power to the machinery used to perform certain tasks, provide protection to the machinery from electrical surges, prevent injuries from occurring with human operators in the industrial automation system <NUM>, monitor the operations of the respective device, communicate data regarding the respective device to a supervisory control system, and the like. In some embodiments, each industrial automation device <NUM> or a group of industrial automation devices <NUM> may be controlled using a local control system (e.g., associated with a drive). The local control system may receive data regarding the operation of the respective industrial automation device, other industrial automation devices, user inputs, and other suitable inputs to control the operations of the respective industrial automation device(s) <NUM>.

The local control system may have access to configuration data associated with the connected industrial automation devices (e.g., load device, motor). That is, the local control system may include memory or a storage component that stores information concerning the configuration of each industrial automation device <NUM> connected to it. In some embodiments, the information or configuration data may be populated or input by an operator at the time the respective industrial automation device <NUM> is installed. Additionally, the local control system may query the connected industrial automation device <NUM> to retrieve configuration data, such as model number, serial number, firmware revision, assembly profile, and the like. In some embodiments, the supervisory control system may collect configuration data from multiple local control systems and store the information in a suitable memory or storage component.

As mentioned above, the industrial automation devices <NUM> may be controlled using a local control system. The local control system may be disposed within a respective drive <NUM>. One or more drives <NUM> may be disposed in a control cabinet <NUM> of the industrial automation system <NUM>. Along with the one or more drives <NUM>, the control cabinet <NUM> may house one or more gateway communication device <NUM> of the industrial automation system <NUM>. In some embodiments, as illustrated in <FIG>. the one or more gateway communication devices <NUM> may be enclosed in a different housing than the one or more drives <NUM>. For example, each gateway communication device <NUM> may be enclosed in a separate housing than each drive <NUM>. In other embodiments, at least one gateway communication device <NUM> and at least one drive <NUM> may integrated together in a common housing.

The gateway communication device <NUM> may receive data (e.g., status information) from components (e.g., supervisory control system) of the industrial automation system <NUM> via a communication network (e.g., Ethernet network) and facilitate routing of the data to a respective destination drive via single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. In some embodiments, the gateway communication device <NUM> may be a drive with the ability to interface with the communication network. Based on receiving data from components (e.g., supervisory control system) of the industrial automation system <NUM> via the gateway communication device <NUM>, a respective drive <NUM> may make a control decision. In some embodiments, the components such as the supervisory control system may make the control decision, and the gateway communication device <NUM> may transmit the data related to the control decision to a respective drive <NUM>. For example, the drive <NUM> may control torque, power, speed, direction, or any suitable operation of a respective industrial automation device <NUM> (e.g., load device). That is, the drive <NUM> may include drive circuitry, such as switches (e.g., diodes, IGBTs, thyristors), that convert single-phase or multi-phase alternating current (AC) voltage into a controllable AC voltage that may be used to perform control operations for a load device, such as a motor. In addition, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive data from the drives <NUM> via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> and facilitate transmission of the data to components (e.g., supervisory control system) via the communication network (e.g., Ethernet network).

Referring back to the gateway communication device <NUM>. in some embodiments, the gateway communication device <NUM> may include a communication component, a processor, a memory, a storage unit, input/output (I/O) ports, a display (e.g.. HMI), and other computing components. The communication component may be a wireless or wired communication component that may facilitate communication between the equipment and other communication capable devices. The processor may include any suitable single-core or multi-core processor that performs certain operations such as parsing data packets, performing certain computing commands, and other operations commonly performed by processors. In addition, the drives <NUM> may also include a control system (e.g., a local control system) that has similar components as described above with reference to the gateway communication device <NUM> to perform processing and communication operations.

To prevent latency issues, increase the transmission speed, the drive update rate, the number of drives <NUM> that can be connected to the Ethernet network <NUM>, and provide better connectivity properties between drives <NUM>, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> or a subnet ribbon cable (e.g., ribbon cable having the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>) may be used to connect each drive <NUM> to the Ethernet network <NUM>. Accordingly, <FIG> illustrates an example infrastructure, such as a subnet ribbon cable <NUM>, that may be used to perform the embodiments discussed herein. As used herein, the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> may include a series of single conductor wires placed parallel to each other and molded together. The subnet ribbon cable <NUM> may receive and transmit data between drives <NUM> and/or between the gateway communication device <NUM> and drives <NUM>. A subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP) is a portion of the communication network logically designated for transmitting messages between two or more drives <NUM> and/or between a drive <NUM> and another component.

Each drive <NUM> may be communicatively coupled to other components of the industrial automation system <NUM> via a communication network (e.g., Ethernet network <NUM>) and/or sub networks (e.g., sub-nets) of the communication network. Keeping this in mind, in some embodiments, the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> may include a select signal <NUM>, network power positive signal <NUM> and negative signal <NUM>, an Ethernet positive signal <NUM> and negative signal <NUM> (e.g., the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>), and a control power positive signal <NUM> and negative signal <NUM>. The select signal <NUM> may serve to select or access one or more drives <NUM> connected to the gateway communication device <NUM>. For example, the gateway communication device may send a select signal <NUM> to one of the drives <NUM> to identify the drive <NUM>, provide an IP address for the drive <NUM>, or the like. That is, when the select signal <NUM> is provided to a particular drive <NUM>. the particular drive <NUM> may be assigned an internet protocol (IP) address that serves as identification for the particular drive <NUM>. As described in greater detail below, the gateway communication device <NUM> may identify each drive from the drives <NUM> and respective data properties for scanning purposes.

Referring again to the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>, the network power positive signal <NUM> and negative signal <NUM> may deliver power to network components of each of the drives <NUM> and components (e.g., motor) from a power supply or tapped connection off of another electrical coupling. The Ethernet positive signal <NUM> and negative signal <NUM> (e.g., the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>) may provide network communication functionality using a single pair Ethernet (SPE) protocol. In some embodiments, the Ethernet positive signal <NUM> and negative signal <NUM> may be a part of a bus system. The control power positive signal <NUM> and negative signal <NUM> may power an actuator (e.g., a contactor coil) or other control mechanism for at least one of the drives <NUM>. An actuator may execute a control operation for the drive <NUM>. For example, a control operation of the drive <NUM> may include closing a contactor to connect a motor to a power source, the drive <NUM>, or the like.

It can be appreciated that any suitable number of pins and lines may be used to form the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> (e.g.. five-line ribbon cable, seven-line ribbon cable). As illustrated in <FIG>, the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> may be a six-line cable that uses eight-pin connector circuitry to couple the drives <NUM> to the communication network (e.g., Ethernet network <NUM>) and each other.

In some embodiments, one or more of the drives <NUM> may be connected to the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> (e.g., having the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>) via respective vampire taps. Further, Ethernet signals may transmit through respective switches <NUM> of the drives <NUM> that may control a timing used to transmit messages between the drives <NUM> and/or between the gateway communication device <NUM> and components or the industrial automation system <NUM> via Ethernet communicative couplings.

With the preceding in mind, <FIG> illustrates multiple drives <NUM> connected to the Ethernet network <NUM> via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> having the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As mentioned above, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> (e.g., Ethernet positive and negative signals72 and <NUM>) communicatively couple each drive <NUM>, including the gateway communication device <NUM>, to the Ethernet network <NUM>. In some embodiments, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> may connect up to any suitable number of drives <NUM> (e.g., between <NUM> and <NUM> drives). That is, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> may facilitate a transmission speed (e.g., transmission speed between <NUM> and <NUM> milliseconds) when connected to a certain number of drives <NUM>.

As mentioned above, the drives <NUM> are communicatively coupled to each other and the gateway communication device <NUM> via a subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP) using the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. In some embodiments, the gateway communication device <NUM> may also be communicatively coupled to components (e.g.. supervisory control system) via the subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP). In other embodiments, the gateway communication device <NUM> may be communicatively coupled to the components (e.g., supervisory control system) via an Ethernet network <NUM> (e.g., ProfiNet, Modbus TCP, BacNet/IP) different from the subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP). As mentioned above, the Ethernet network <NUM> may be any Ethernet based communication network including industrial networks such as ProfiNet, Modbus TCP, BacNet/IP, subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP).

When Ethernet network <NUM> (e.g., ProfiNet) used by certain components to communicate with the gateway communication device <NUM> is different than the communication network (e.g., Ethernet/IP) that the gateway communication device <NUM> uses to communicate with the drives <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> operates as a scanner or a protocol translator to transmit data between the components (e.g., supervisory control system) and destination drives <NUM>. The gateway communication device <NUM> cyclically communicates with a device that it controls, such as the drive <NUM>. The gateway communication device <NUM> may, for instance, send control data to the drive <NUM>. and the drive <NUM> may return status data associated with the control data. The gateway communication device <NUM> may perform this operation repetitively for multiple drives <NUM>. This repetitive process may be referred to as scanning.

With this in mind, the gateway communication device <NUM> receives a data packet from the components via the Ethernet network <NUM>. If the data packet is not in a form compatible with the subnet or communication network that the gateway communication device <NUM> uses to communicate with the drives <NUM>, the gateway communication device operates as a scanner by parsing the received data packet and identifying the destination drive(s) <NUM> of the data packet. That is, the gateway communication device retrieves data properties specified by the parsed data packet and associated with the destination drive(s) from a memory component that includes scanned information corresponding to each drive on the subnet. In other embodiments, if the data properties specified by the parsed data packet are not stored in the memory component, then the gateway communication device may transmit a message to the destination drive(s) to retrieve the data properties specified by the parsed data packed from the destination drive(s). The data properties may also be transmitted to the components of the industrial automation system by repackaging the data properties in a form suitable for transmission via the Ethernet network <NUM> that is different from the subnet.

When the Ethernet network <NUM> (e.g., Ethernet/IP) used to couple the gateway communication device <NUM> and the components is similar to the Ethernet network <NUM> (e.g., Ethernet/IP) used to couple the gateway communication device <NUM> to the drives <NUM>. the gateway communication device <NUM> operates as a router to transmit data between the components (e.g.. supervisory control system) and the destination drives <NUM>. For example, the gateway communication device <NUM> receives a data packet from the components via the Ethernet network <NUM>. If the data packet is in a form compatible with subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP), then the gateway communication device <NUM> directly transmits the data packet to destination drives(s) of the drives <NUM> connected to the subnet (e.g., Ethernet/IP) using the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>.

To use the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>, each drive <NUM> may include an interface that supports connection to the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. In addition, the gateway communication device <NUM> may include an interface that supports connection to the Ethernet network <NUM> and neighboring drives <NUM> via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. For example, the gateway communication device <NUM> may include communication components that couple to the Ethernet network <NUM>. The gateway communication device <NUM> may include communication components that couple to the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. In additional and/or alternative embodiments, the gate may include communication components that couple to three-phase power source. Such communication components may include ports, modems, network switches, and the like. In some embodiments, a drive <NUM> may include communication components such as a switch that couple to the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. The drive <NUM>, via the switch, that may receive single pair Ethernet (SPE) data via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> and forward the single pair Ethernet (SPE) data to another drive via additional single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors.

In addition to the gateway communication device <NUM> and the drives <NUM>, the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> may also connect to other control cabinet devices <NUM> (e.g., push buttons, pilot lights, contactors, switches, starters, input/output devices) that may interact with the drives <NUM> or other components within the industrial automation system <NUM>. In some embodiments, the other control cabinet devices <NUM> may provide data such as status information associated with industrial automation devices <NUM> (e.g., load devices) or user input that may be interpreted by a respective drive <NUM>. The gateway communication device <NUM> may receive the data from the other control cabinet devices <NUM> via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. In some embodiments, the gateway communication device <NUM> (e.g., processor or control system of the gateway communication device <NUM>) may generate control signal(s) based on the data. Based on receiving the data from the other control cabinet devices <NUM> via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> may send the data or the control signal(s) associated with the data to a processor or control system of a respective drive <NUM>. The processor or control system may modify operation (e.g., output speed) associated with the drive <NUM> and corresponding industrial automation device <NUM> (e.g., load device). For example, the drive <NUM> such as a motor starter may power on a motor load in response to a command received from a control cabinet device <NUM> such as a start button. The start button may be an input device that enables an operator to provide control instructions (e.g., start or power on, stop or power off) to the motor starter. Another, control cabinet device <NUM>, a status pilot light, may emit light in response to a message from the motor starter indicative of an operation of the motor load. Accordingly, each of the control cabinet devices <NUM> may provide messages to the drives <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM>, and/or the other components communicatively accessible via the Ethernet network <NUM>.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in <FIG>, the gateway communication device <NUM> may be coupled to a power supply (e.g.. 24V DC power supply) to power the gateway communication device <NUM>. By way of operation, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive communications via the Ethernet network <NUM>, and transmit the communications to the neighboring drives <NUM> via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. As such, the gateway communication device <NUM> serves to connect two similar networks and provide a routing function. For example, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive data (e.g., status information related to industrial automation devices <NUM> such as load devices) from components (e.g., supervisory control system) of the industrial automation system <NUM> and/or user input from an operator via the Ethernet network <NUM>.

As discussed above, the gateway communication device <NUM> may operate as a scanner and retrieve scanned information (e.g., information from registers, data points, information from input/output modules) related to each destination drive <NUM>. With this in mind, the gateway communication component <NUM> may first initialize the drives <NUM> connected to the gateway communication component <NUM> via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> and generate a table that stores the data that is periodically scanned or retrieved from the connected drives <NUM>.

With this in mind, in some embodiments, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive a command to identify a set of devices (e.g., drives <NUM>) that may be present on a communication network (e.g., subnet) and communicatively coupled to the gateway communication device <NUM>. The command may be received from a user input, components coupled to the Ethernet network <NUM>, or any other suitable device. The command may be related to initializing the components communicatively coupled to the gateway communication device <NUM> via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>.

In response to receiving the command, the gateway communication device <NUM> may send the select signal <NUM> to a first device via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>. While the first device receives the select signal <NUM>. the gateway communication device <NUM> may assign an IP address to the first device, identify data properties associated with input/output (IO) devices that are a part of the first device, and the like. The gateway communication device <NUM> may store the IP address and the data properties associated with the first device in a table or memory component. The gateway communication device <NUM> may then periodically query the first device while performing a scanning operation and periodically update the table to include status data (e.g., operational parameters, sensor data) for the data properties associated with the first device.

Non-limiting examples of the data properties may include information from data registers associated with the drive, data points, and information from input/output modules associated with the drive and available for scanning. As used herein, the input/output modules may communicatively couple the respective control systems of the drives <NUM> to components (e.g., input/output devices) of the industrial automation system <NUM>. For example, the input/output modules may serve functions related to control and timing, data buffering, and the like between the control systems of the drives <NUM> and the input/output devices. The gateway communication device <NUM> may perform the same operation for each device of the set of devices connected to the gateway communication device <NUM> via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> and populate, the table for each connected device. As such, the gateway communication device <NUM> may initialize the scanning operation functions to periodically collect data from the connected devices.

As mentioned above, the gateway communication device <NUM> operates as a scanner or a router to facilitate communication between components of the industrial automation system <NUM> and the drives <NUM> (or other devices coupled to the gateway communication device <NUM> via the subnet). Keeping this in mind, <FIG> is a flow chart of a process <NUM> for routing data transmission between the components of the industrial automation system <NUM> and the drives <NUM> via the gateway communication device <NUM>. Although the following description of the process <NUM> will be discussed as being performed by the gateway communication device <NUM>, it should be noted that any suitable computing component may perform the process <NUM>. In addition, although the process <NUM> is described in a particular order, it should be noted that the process <NUM> may be performed in any suitable order.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> receives a data packet from components (e.g., supervisory control system) that is present on the Ethernet network <NUM>. The data packet may be an EtherNet/IP data packet that is directed to a devices that is present on a second subnet EtherNet/IP network accessible to the gateway communication device <NUM>. The data packet may provide status information, performance attributes, status requests, data requests, data write operations, and other operations associated with the components, the industrial automation devices <NUM> (e.g., load devices, input/output devices), the drives <NUM>, or any other suitable component communicatively coupled to the gateway communication device <NUM>. For example, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive data packets related to a requested speed, torque, power, and the like of a load device (e.g., motor) that is controlled by a respective drive <NUM> from the supervisory control system via the Ethernet network <NUM>. The gateway communication device <NUM> may include one or more communication components (e.g., ports, modems, network switches) that couple to the Ethernet network <NUM> to receive the data packets from the supervisory control system.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> directly routes the data packet to the destination device on the second subnet EtherNet/IP network. The gateway communication device <NUM> first determines that a format of the data packet corresponds to the second subnet EtherNet/IP network associated with the drives <NUM>. As mentioned above, when the Ethernet network <NUM> and the drives <NUM> coupled to the gateway communication device <NUM> operate using the same communication network (e.g., EtherNet/IP), the gateway communication device <NUM> operates as router. As such, the gateway communication device <NUM> may directly (e.g., without intervening component) transmit the data packet to the destination drive(s) via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM> since the data packet is in a format that may be transmittable via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> receives a response from the destination device or drive <NUM> that received the data packet routed via the second subnet network at block <NUM>. That is, the destination device or the drives <NUM> may provide a response packet via the subnet network. At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> transmits the response packet to the component (e.g.. supervisory control system) via the Ethernet network <NUM>. That is, since the response packet may be transmitted using the same type of communication network that the components use, the gateway communication device <NUM> may direct the response data packets directly from the one or more drives (e.g., without intervening component) to the components.

With the foregoing in mind, <FIG> and <FIG> illustrate flow charts of processes employed by the gateway communication device <NUM> when performing scanning functions. That is, when the gateway communication device <NUM> may operate as a scanner or translator to facilitate data communication between devices on an EtherNet/IP subnet network and devices using a non-EtherNet/IP network. For example, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive a data packet is in a format not compatible with the Ethernet/IP network (e.g., second subnet EtherNet/IP network), the gateway communication device <NUM> may perform a process <NUM> or a process <NUM> depending on whether the received data corresponds to message data or I/O data, respectively.

Referring first to <FIG>, at block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive message data that may include a message for one or more devices (e.g., drives <NUM>) that may be part of the subnet EtherNet/IP network accessible via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>. As such, the gateway communication device <NUM> may parse the message data to identify destination devices.

In some embodiments, the message data may be received from components that use a non-EtherNet/IP protocol that is not compatible with the subnet EtherNet/IP network. As such, at block <NUM>. the gateway communication device <NUM> may translate the message data and convert it to a format that corresponds to the subnet EtherNet/IP network. The gateway communication device <NUM> may then transmit the translated message data to the destination devices via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive message responses from the devices (e.g., EtherNet/IP subnet devices) via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> may translate the message responses into a non-EtherNcl/IP message that corresponds to the message data received at block <NUM>. The gateway communication device <NUM> may then transmit the non-EtherNet/IP message to the device(s) that sent the message data. In this way, the gateway communication device <NUM> may facilitate communication between devices that are present on the subnet EtherNet/IP network and devices that are on a non-EtherNet/IP network.

With the foregoing in mind, <FIG> illustrates a flow chart of a process <NUM> employed by the gateway communication device <NUM> when performing scanning functions for I/O data. At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> may receive I/O data, which may consist of data from other I/O devices, requests for data from other I/O devices, or the like.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> performs a scanning operation on devices (e.g., drives <NUM>) accessible to the gateway communication device <NUM> via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>. That is, the gateway communication device <NUM> periodically performs a read operation or obtain a status update from devices that are part of the subnet EtherNet/IP network communicatively coupled to the gateway communication device <NUM>. As such, the gateway communication device <NUM> may periodically update a table stored in the memory component accessible to the gateway communication device <NUM> based on the scanned data. In some embodiments, the gateway communication device <NUM> may scan devices on the subnet EtherNet/IP network and place transmit data (e.g., data to be transmitted) and response data (e.g., data received in response to status requests) in a memory component accessible to the gateway communication device <NUM>. In this manner, the gateway communication device <NUM> may later retrieve the scanned data for each destination drive from the table stored in the memory component.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> receives a data packet directed to one or more devices (e.g., drives <NUM>) that are part of the subnet EtherNet/IP network. The data packet may be sent via a non-EtherNet/IP protocol. As such, the data packet may not be formatted in a manner that may be interpretable by the subnet devices or that may be transmitted via the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> may translate the data packet from the non-EtherNet/IP protocol and store the resulting translated data into the memory component. The translated data may be stored in a transmit memory that may be periodically scanned by the subnet devices.

At block <NUM>, the gateway communication device <NUM> translates responses stored in the memory component into a non-EtherNet/IP data packet, such that the non-EtherNet/IP data packet, are transmitted to the non-EtherNet/IP device that requested the response. The responses may be provided by the subnet devices and stored in the memory component. In this way, the gateway communication device <NUM> may facilitate scanning operations between non-EtherNet/IP devices and EtherNet/IP devices via the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> of the subnet ribbon cable <NUM>.

By performing the processes described above and employing the subnet as described above, the present embodiments described herein may allow multiple destination drives <NUM> to be communicatively coupled to the Ethernet network <NUM> while maintaining a high throughput and efficient transfer speeds. Moreover, the wiring involved between different drives <NUM> may be reduced as compared to routing Ethernet cables to each destination device <NUM>. For instance, <FIG> is a schematic illustration of the control cabinet <NUM>, in which the gateway communication device <NUM> and drives <NUM> and are connected to the Ethernet network <NUM> using the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM>. The single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> eliminates the use of excessing wiring to connect each drive <NUM> to the Ethernet network <NUM>. Using the single pair Ethernet (SPE) conductors <NUM> reduces overall cost and resource usage (e.g., simplifies wiring) associated with the control cabinet <NUM> compared to connecting each drive <NUM> to the Ethernet network <NUM> with a separate Ethernet cable.

Claim 1:
A system, comprising:
a plurality of drives (<NUM>) configured to control one or more operations of a plurality of load devices; and
a gateway communication device (<NUM>) configured to communicatively couple to:
the plurality of drives via a first communication network accessible via single pair Ethernet, SPE, conductors (<NUM>); and
one or more components accessible via a second communication network, wherein the gateway communication device is configured to:
receive (<NUM>; <NUM>) a data packet from the one or more components via the second communication network;
determine whether a format of the data packet corresponds to the first communication network or the second communication network;
identify one or more drives of the plurality of drives based on the data packet;
retrieve (<NUM>) one or more data properties specified by the data packet and associated with the one or more drives via a memory component in response to determining that the data packet is associated with the second communication network, wherein the memory component is periodically updated to include scanned information for each of the plurality of drives acquired via the first communication network;
retrieve (<NUM>) the one or more data properties directly from the one or more drives in response to determining that the data packet is associated with the first communication network;
generate (<NUM>) an additional data packet based on the one or more data properties; and
transmit (<NUM>) the additional data packet to the one or more components via the second communication network.