Method and Installation for Optimized Transmission of Data Between a Control Device and a Plurality of Field Devices

Method for optimized transmission of data between a control device (20) and a plurality of N field devices (30, 40, 50) that are connected to one another via an IP-based communications network (60), wherein the data transmission is controlled using a Profinet protocol, the method comprising performing at least one of:

• i) a first sequence that consists of steps a) through e), and
• ii) a second sequence that consists of steps f) through j),
• which steps are as follows:
• a) generating a first Profinet data frame according to the Profinet protocol for transmitting data to the plurality of N field devices (30, 40, 50);
• b) subdividing the first Profinet data frame into N data fields that are associated with the N field devices (30, 40, 50) in a predetermined manner;
• c) writing into each data field of the first Profinet data frame data for the field device which is associated with the respective data field, insofar as data is present for this field device;
• d) transmitting the subdivided first Profinet data frame to each of the N field devices (30, 40, 50);
• e) reading out the data from each data field by the field device which is associated with the respective data field;
• f) generating a second Profinet data frame according to the Profinet protocol for transmitting data of the N field devices (30, 40, 50) to the control device (20);
• g) subdividing the second Profinet data frame into N data fields that are associated with the N field devices (30, 40, 50) in a predetermined manner;
• h) transferring the second Profinet data frame to one of the N field devices (30, 40, 50);
• i) upon reception of the subdivided second Profinet data frame at the one field device, writing the data, insofar as available, into the data field of the subdivided Profinet data frame associated with this field device;
• and
• j) repeating steps h) and i) until the subdivided second Profinet data frame has passed all N field devices (30, 40, 50).