Method and apparatus for bus coupling of safety-relevant processes

An apparatus for single-channel bus coupling of a safety-critical process, comprising:

• at least two redundant computers configured to process an identical input data record using identical laws to form one safe protocol;
• a circuit arrangement for connection of each of the at least two redundant computers to a common buffer register, the common buffer register having a plurality of register locations each assigned to one of the at least two redundant computers;
• and
• a further common safe protocol, wherein, when the at least two redundant computers write to the common buffer register, a further identical common safe protocol is formed by joining messages processed with the identical laws from the at least two redundant computers by in each case writing in different components of the plurality of register locations each assigned to one of the at least two redundant computers to form the further identical common safe protocol.

A method for single-channel bus coupling of a safety-critical process, comprising:

• processing a data record via redundant processing channels;
• generating a safety protocol from the data record using identical safety laws in each of said redundant processing channels resulting in a redundant safety message from each of said redundant processing channels;
• and
• generating a further safety protocol by joining the redundant safety messages generated using the identical safety laws in a common buffer register by writing in different components of the respective redundant safety messages,
• wherein each of the redundant processing channels accesses a plurality of memory locations in a common buffer register, the method further comprising allocating each of the plurality of memory locations only once.