Adaptive repeater for industrial communication

An adaptive repeater supporting two or more predetermined communication protocols for communication in an industrial communication system, wherein the adaptive repeater is configured to be operably coupled to at least two communicating devices communicating with one another using one of the two or more predetermined communication protocols at a time instant, the adaptive repeater comprising:

• a communication direction module configured to:
• detect a direction of communication between the at least two communicating devices using a sampling clock source;
• establish communication between the at least two communicating devices;
• periodically sample and monitor transceivers of each of the at least two communicating devices using the sampling clock, such that signals representing data are detectable on any of the transceivers;
• and
• a protocol adapter module operably coupled to the communication direction module, wherein the protocol adapter module is configured to:
• adapt the communication direction module to the communication protocol in use, the adaptation of the communication direction module comprising generation of the sampling clock;
• and
• change the sampling clock to adapt the communication direction module to switch between the two or more predetermined communication protocols.

A method for communicating in an industrial communication system, the method comprising:

• providing an adaptive repeater configured to support two or more predetermined communication protocols for communication in the industrial communication system, the adaptive repeater comprising a communication direction module and a protocol adapter module, the adaptive repeater being operably coupled to at least two communicating devices communicating with one another using one of the two or more predetermined communication protocols at a time instant;
• receiving, by a parameter reception module of the protocol adapter module, one or more communication parameters associated with the two or more predetermined communication protocols from a user device;
• identifying, by a baud rate identification module of the protocol adapter module, a baud rate based on the one or more communication parameters;
• generating, by a sampling clock generation module of the protocol adapter module, a sampling clock based on the baud rate, using at least one clock source operably coupled to the adaptive repeater;
• detecting, by the communication direction module, a direction of communication between the at least two communicating devices based on physical layer parameters of the two or more predetermined communication protocols, using the sampling clock, wherein detecting the direction of communication between the at least two communicating devices comprises periodically sampling and monitoring transceivers of each of the at least two communicating devices using the sampling clock to detect signals representing data on any of the transceivers;
• establishing, by the communication direction module, communication between the two or more communicating devices in the direction of communication, using the sampling clock;
• changing, by the protocol adapter module, the sampling clock to adapt the communication direction module to switch between the two or more communication protocols;
• and
• adapting the established communication, by the communication direction module, based on the communication protocol in use.