Patent ID: 8355821

Claim:
A motor control system, comprising: a motor drive configured to connect to a motor, the motor drive including a plurality of communication ports; a memory configured to store therein a security mask, the security mask defining a configuration mask designating a first subset of the plurality of communication ports through which motor configuration messages may be received, and a control mask designating a second subset of the plurality of communication ports through which motor control messages may be received; and a processing device configured to: send a first message over selected at least one of the plurality of communication ports having an affirmative enablement state to maintain a communication link, the first message including the configuration mask and the control mask, and after sending the first message: use a motor configuration message received on a port in the first subset of the plurality of communication ports to modify a configuration of a motor, use a motor control message received on a port in the second subset of the plurality of communication ports to control the motor, reject motor configuration messages received on a port not in the first subset of the plurality of communication ports, and reject motor control messages received on a port not in the second subset of the plurality of communication ports.