Universal input and output interface
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsAlan Carroll LOVELL, Bruce HENDERSON
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided is programmable circuit for interfacing with a field device. The circuit includes only one analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to receive from the field device one from the group including a current signal and a voltage signal. The received one signal has frequency shift keying tones (FSK) superimposed thereon, the ADC being configured to extract information from the received one signal and the FSK tones simultaneously. Also included is only one digital-to-analog converter configured to drive an output signal to the field device, the output signal (i) including one from the group including a current signal and a voltage signal and (ii) being summed with an FSK-modulated signal.
Claims21
A programmable circuit for interfacing with a field device, the circuit comprising:
- only one analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to receive, from the field device, one from the group including a first current signal and a first voltage signal, the received one signal having frequency shift keying tones (FSK) superimposed thereon;
- wherein the ADC is configured to extract information from the received one signal and the FSK tones simultaneously;
- and
- only one digital-to-analog converter configured to drive an output signal to the field device, the output signal (i) including one from the group including a second current signal and a second voltage signal and (ii) being summed with an FSK-modulated signal.
A programmable device for interfacing with a field device, the circuit comprising:
- a converter module configured to operate as only one of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC);
- wherein when the converter module operates as an ADC, the ADC is configured to (i) receive, from the field device, one from the group including a first current signal and a first voltage signal, the received one signal having frequency shift keying tones (FSK) superimposed thereon and (ii) extract information from the received one signal and the FSK tones simultaneously;
- and
- wherein when the converter module operates as a DAC, the DAC is configured to drive an output signal to the field device, the output signal (i) including one from the group including a second current signal and a second voltage signal and (ii) being summed with an FSK-modulated signal.
A device, comprising:
- a field circuit disposed on a field side of a barrier, the field circuit configured to receive a field signal from a field device in one of a digital and analog format, the field circuit including:
- only one analog-to-digital converter configured to perform a conversion of the field signal on the field side of the barrier to generate a converted signal;
- and
- a processing circuit configured to extract a first signal and a second signal from the converted signal, the first signal being a modulated signal based on a Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) protocol.
A device, comprising:
- a field circuit disposed on a field side of a barrier, the field circuit configured to receive a control signal from a control device in one of a digital and analog format, the control device disposed on a control side of the barrier, and the field circuit including:
- only one digital-to-analog converter configured to perform a conversion of the control signal on the field side of the barrier to create a converted signal;
- and
- a summing circuit configured to generate an output signal, the output signal comprising a first signal being modulated according to a Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) protocol and superimposed on the converted signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.