Logic based simplex/dual/TMR driver for control outputs
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorDaniel Milton Alley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The exemplified methods and systems support shared output drivers or shared control setting drivers across separate control devices for a redundant system of 1, 2, 3, or more control devices in simplex, dual, triple redundancy, and etc. Digital communication links between the control devices are implemented to facilitate sensing, from other control devices, of operation states (e.g., amount of contribution by the control devices to the shared output) and on-line/health status of other control devices in the redundant network.
Claims20
A method of operating a plurality of controllable devices, collectively, forming a redundant control system, the method comprising:
- transmitting, at each controllable cycle over one or more links for a given controllable device of the plurality of controllable devices, a binary-framed pattern of a set of pre-defined binary-framed patterns to each of one or more other controllable devices of the plurality of controllable devices, wherein each pre-defined binary-framed pattern corresponds to a present output state of a set of pre-defined output states of the controllable device, wherein each pre-defined output state of the set of pre-defined output states represents a discrete amount of electrical output transmitted by each of the plurality of controllable devices, wherein the discrete amount of electrical output is a percentage of total electrical output and is based on a number of active controllable devices in the plurality of controllable devices;
- receiving, at the given controllable device during a current controllable cycle over the one or more links, a binary-framed pattern from each of the one or more other controllable devices of the plurality of controllable devices;
- determining the present output state based on at least one received binary-framed pattern and the transmitted binary-framed pattern;
- and
- generating, at an output of the given controllable device for the current controllable cycle, the discrete amount of electrical output corresponding to the determined present output state.
An apparatus that collectively forms a redundant control system with one or more other apparatuses, the apparatus comprising:
- a logic-based circuit configured to:
- transmit, at each controllable cycle a binary-framed pattern of a set of pre-defined binary-framed patterns to each of the one or more other apparatuses, wherein each pre-defined binary-framed pattern corresponds to a present output state of a set of pre-defined output states of the apparatus, wherein each pre-defined output state of the set of pre-defined output states represents a discrete amount of electrical output transmitted by each of the apparatus and the one or more other apparatuses, wherein the discrete amount of electrical output is a percentage of total electrical output and is based on a number of active apparatus;
- receive, during a current controllable cycle over one or more links, a binary-framed pattern from each of one or more other apparatuses;
- determine the present output state based on at least one received binary-framed pattern and the transmitted binary-framed pattern;
- and
- generate, at an output for the current controllable cycle, the discrete amount of electrical output corresponding to the determined present output state.
A controllable device that collectively forms a redundant control system with one or more other controllable devices, the controllable device comprising:
- an electrical output driver;
- an output signal driver;
- a logic-based circuit configured to:
- determine a present output state for the controllable device;
- transmit, via said electrical output driver, a discrete amount of electrical output, wherein the discrete amount of electrical output is based on a present output state;
- transmit, via said output signal driver, one or more signals to the one or more other controllable devices, wherein the one or more signals indicate the present output state;
- receive one or more signals from the one or more other controllable devices;
- determine a number of connected controllable devices based on the one or more signals;
- and
- determine an updated present output state for the controllable device based on the number of connected controllable devices and the present output state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.