Control system having a plurality of spatially distributed stations, and method for transmitting data in such a control system

A control system for the automated control of installations or appliances, comprising a plurality of spatially distributed stations connected to one another via a communication medium, where the stations are logically arranged in a series which defines a first station, at least one second station and a last station,

• wherein the first station is designed to generate a data frame having a plurality of data fields, with every second station and the last station being clearly assigned at least one data field for filling with transmission data,
• wherein the first station is further designed to send the data frame as an outgoing data frame to that second station which comes after the first station in the series,
• wherein every second station is designed to receive the outgoing data frame from the respective previous station in the series, to fill a data field assigned to it with transmission data, and to send the outgoing data frame with the transmission data to the next station in the series, and
• wherein the last station is designed to receive the outgoing data frame from the previous station in the series, to fill a data field assigned to it with last transmission data, and to return the data frame with all the transmission data as a returning data frame to the series of stations,
• wherein the stations are designed to read extraneous transmission data from other stations from the data fields of the returning data frame.

A communication module for use in a station of a control system comprising a plurality of spatially distributed stations connected to one another via a communication medium, where the stations are logically arranged in a series which defines a first station, at least one second station and a last station,

• with the first station being designed to generate a data frame having a plurality of data fields, with every second station and the last station being clearly assigned at least one data field for filling with transmission data,
• with the first station being further designed to send the data frame as an outgoing data frame to that second station which comes after the first station in the series,
• with every second station being designed to receive the outgoing data frame from the respective previous station in the series, to fill a data field assigned to it with transmission data, and to send the outgoing data frame with the transmission data to the next station in the series, and
• with the last station being designed to receive the outgoing data frame from the previous station in the series, to fill a data field assigned to it with last transmission data, and to return the data frame with all the transmission data as a returning data frame to the series of stations,
• wherein the communication module is designed to receive the outgoing data frame and to fill it with the transmission data, to read the transmission data from the returning data frame, and to forward the outgoing data frame and the returning data frame to two different recipients.

A communication module for use in a station of a control system comprising a plurality of spatially distributed stations connected to one another via a communication medium, where the stations are logically arranged in a series which defines a first station, at least one second station and a last station,

• with the first station being designed to generate a data frame having a plurality of data fields, with every second station and the last station being clearly assigned at least one data field for filling with transmission data,
• with the first station being further designed to send the data frame as an outgoing data frame to that second station which comes after the first station in the series,
• with every second station being designed to receive the outgoing data frame from the respective previous station in the series, to fill a data field assigned to it with transmission data, and to send the outgoing data frame with the transmission data to the next station in the series, and
• with the last station being designed to receive the outgoing data frame from the previous station in the series, to fill a data field assigned to it with last transmission data, and to return the data frame with all the transmission data as a returning data frame to the series of stations, so that the first and each second station can read the transmission data from the returning data frame,
• wherein the communication module is designed to generate the outgoing data frame, to send it to the next station in the series, and to monitor the return of the returning data frame within a predefined time period.

A method for transmitting data in a control system comprising a plurality of spatially distributed stations which are connected to one another via a communication medium, the stations being logically arranged in a series which defines a first station, at least one second station and a last station, the method comprising the following steps:

• the first station generates a plurality of data frames each having a plurality of data fields, with every second station and the last station being clearly assigned at least one data field for filling with transmission data,
• the first station sends the plurality of data frames in direct succession as outgoing data frames to that second station which comes after the first station in the series,
• the second stations receive the outgoing data frames in direct succession from the respective previous station in the series, fill a data field assigned to it with transmission data and send the outgoing data frames with the transmission data to the next station in the series, and
• the last station receives the outgoing data frames from the previous station in the series, fills a data field assigned to it with last transmission data and returns the data frames in direct succession with all the transmission data as returning data frames to the series of stations.

A method for transmitting data in a control system comprising a plurality of spatially distributed stations which are connected to one another via a communication medium, the stations being logically arranged in a series which defines a first station, at least one second station and a last station, the method comprising the following steps:

• the first station generates a data frame having a plurality of data fields, with every second station and the last station being clearly assigned at least one data field for filling with transmission data,
• the first station sends the data frame as an outgoing data frame to that second station which comes after the first station in the series,
• the second stations receive the outgoing data frame from the respective previous station in the series, fill a data field assigned to it with transmission data and send the outgoing data frame with the transmission data to the next station in the series, and
• the last station receives the outgoing data frame from the previous station in the series, fills a data field assigned to it with last transmission data and returns the data frame with all the transmission data as a returning data frame to the series of stations,
• wherein individual data fields in the data frame are alternately filled with transmission data from at least two different stations from one transmission cycle to the next.

A method for transmitting data in a control system comprising a plurality of spatially distributed stations which are connected to one another via a communication medium, the stations being logically arranged in a series which defines a first station, at least one second station and a last station, the method comprising the following steps:

• the first station generates a data frame having a plurality of data fields, with every second station and the last station being clearly assigned at least one data field for filling with transmission data,
• the first station sends the data frame as an outgoing data frame to that second station which comes after the first station in the series,
• the second stations receive the outgoing data frame from the respective previous station in the series, fill a data field assigned to it with transmission data and send the outgoing data frame with the transmission data to the next station in the series, and
• the last station receives the outgoing data frame from the previous station in the series, fills a data field assigned to it with last transmission data and returns the data frame with all the transmission data as a returning data frame to the series of stations,
• wherein the stations read extraneous transmission data from other stations from the returning data frame and rearrange the extraneous transmission data read to form a station-specific data word.