Patent ID: 8719468

Claim:
A communication system for data interchange in a technical automation installation for communication between central and peripheral devices, the communication system comprising: a converter configured to receive input values from a panel; a central device configured to receive the input values from the converter and send configuration data to the peripheral devices via the converter; a plurality of controllers, wherein: the converter is connected in a first path between peripheral devices in the technical automation installation and the central device, and has a predeterminable number of associated peripheral devices, and is designed for cable-based communication with the central device, and for wireless communication with the associated peripheral devices; each of a plurality of second paths in the technical automation installation including at least one of the plurality of controllers for controlling at least a portion of the peripheral devices and being decoupled from the first path; at least one of the plurality of second paths including at least one of the plurality of controllers for controlling at least two of the peripheral devices, the plurality of controllers being bypassed by the first path; and the first path being arranged to provide communication from the converter to the central device for installation management of the technical automation installation and to provide communication from the central device to the converter for configuring at least a portion of the peripheral devices, wherein at least one of the peripheral devices is connected to the first path and one of the plurality of second paths, the at least one peripheral device being configured to have cable based communication with at least one other peripheral device over the second path and wireless communication with the converter over the first path, and wherein the peripheral devices are field devices.