Arrangement in a distributed control system for increasing the availability of data and/or control commands

An apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;
• a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;
• wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link;
• wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, is configured to receive data being transmitted to the few-wire link by another of the plurality of the at least one receiving nodes that received a complete wireless transmission of data, the data being transmitted to the few-wire link allowing the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes to prevent continued attempts to access the few-wire link.

An apparatus in a distributed control system comprising:

• a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;
• a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive a wireless transmission of data from at least one wireless link and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;
• wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link;
• wherein the distributed control system is configured to select one of the plurality of receiving nodes that is least subject to interference whereby the one of the plurality of receiving nodes least subject to the interference obtains access to the few-wire link for transmission of the received data to the few-wire link.

An apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;
• a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;
• wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link;
• the apparatus further comprising a plurality of g-nodes connected both wirelessly to the transmitter unit and wired to the few-wire link and configured to receive a message associated with the wireless transmission of the data, wherein the g-nodes are configured to determine if the message is correctly received through use of at least one code;
• wherein a first of the plurality of g-nodes sends a message and a second of the plurality of g-nodes, in response to failing to synchronize with the message, does not re-send the message.

An apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;
• a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;
• wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link and to receive information related to disconnection from the few-wire link.

A method comprising:

• receiving data from a wireless transmitter unit at a receiving node;
• if the receiving node is subjected to interference, not transmitting received data from the receiving node to a few-wire link;
• if the receiving node receives complete data from the wireless transmitter unit, transmitting the data from the receiving node to at least one operating device via the few-wire link;
• and
• receiving information at the at least one receiving node subject to interference concerning disconnection of the at least one receiving node from the few-wire link.

A method comprising:

• receiving data from a wireless transmitter unit at a plurality of receiving nodes;
• if one of the receiving nodes is subjected to interference, not transmitting received data from the one of the receiving nodes subjected to interference to the few-wire link;
• if at least one of the receiving nodes receives complete data from the wireless transmitter unit, transmitting the data from the at least one of the receiving nodes that received a complete wireless transmission of data to at least one operating device via the few-wire link;
• and
• allowing the plurality of receiving nodes access to the few-wire link in response to the at least one receiving node receiving the complete wireless transmission of data and transmitting the received data to the few-wire link wherein the at least one receiving node is configured to, if subjected to the interference, obtain information from the few-wire link concerning cancelling attempts to connect to the few-wire link after the at least one receiving node receiving the complete wireless transmission of data has transmitted the received data on the few-wire link.

An apparatus comprising:

• a receiving node configured to receive a wireless transmission of data from a transmitting unit via wireless links, and configured to connect to a few-wire link connected to at least one other receiving node;
• and
• the receiving node configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, to receive data being transmitted to the few-wire link by the at least one other receiving node,
• wherein the receiving node is further configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, to receive information from the few-wire link related to cancelling attempts to connect to the few-wire link after the at least one other receiving node has transmitted the data on the few-wire link.