Real-time performance of periodic data transmission in EPA industrial Ethernet

To evaluate and improve the real-time performance of Ethernet for plant automation（EPA） industrial Ethernet,the real-time performance of EPA periodic data transmission was theoretically and experimentally studied.By analyzing information transmission regularity and EPA deterministic scheduling mechanism,periodic messages were categorized as different modes according to their entering-queue time.The scheduling characteristics and delivery time of each mode and their interacting relations were studied,during which the models of real-time performance of periodic information transmission in EPA system were established.On this basis,an experimental platform is developed to test the delivery time of periodic messages transmission in EPA system.According to the analysis and the experiment,the main factors that limit the real-time performance of EPA periodic data transmission and the improvement methods were proposed.

Design and FPGA verification of a novel reliable real-time data transfer system

Considering the increasing use of information technology with established standards, such as TCP/IP and XML in modem industrial automation, we present a high cost performance solution with FPGA （field programmable gate array） implementation of a novel reliable real-time data transfer system based on EPA （Ethemet for plant automation） protocol and IEEE 1588 standard. This combination can provide more predictable and real-time communication between automation equipments and precise synchronization between devices. The designed EPA system has been verified on Xilinx Spartan3 XC3S1500 and it consumed 75% of the total slices. The experimental results show that the novel industrial control system achieves high synchronization precision and provides a 1.59-ps standard deviation between the master device and the slave ones. Such a real-time data transfer system is an excellent candidate for automation equipments which require precise synchronization based on Ethemet at a comparatively low price.

EPA协议抽象测试集的设计

根据IEC9646对协议测试的原理和说明,基于工业以太网(EPA)协议的通信特点及其要求,设计了EPA一致性测试中抽象测试集的层次结构模型,参照树表结合表示法(TTCN)的结构框架和思路定义了一种类形式化语言来描述EPA的抽象测试集,介绍了EPA抽象测试集的生成过程和实现步骤。通过EPA一致性测试系统的实际应用,证明EPA抽象测试集能够完整的包括EPA协议一致性测试的所有内容,根据此测试集设计的测试系统能够准确测试出被测协议实现是否与EPA标准一致。

EPA网络控制系统时延特性分析

EPA(Ethernet for Plant Automation)通过微网段划分和确定性调度策略解决了以太网的非确定性问题,实现了信息的实时传输。作为一种实时网络控制系统,网络时延特性是影响EPA控制性能的关键因素。在分析EPA信息结构和信息传输规律的基础上,研究了EPA微网段中信息传输网络时延的构成和各部分子时延的特性。通过分析确定性调度策略,对网络时延各部分中最重要的通信调度管理实体排队时延部分进行了重点研究,推导了周期报文和非周期报文排队时延的数学表达式,还建立了确定周期报文发送时间片和非周期报文发送时间片的数学模型。最后通过一个实例对相关分析进行了验证,找到了制约EPA网络时延特性的关键因素并提出了解决方案。

基于并行处理的EPA通信调度算法研究与实现

针对目前工业以太网(EPA)通信调度算法软件实现方法存在的内存资源耗费多,通信调度表搜索效率低的问题,提出了一种基于现场可编程逻辑门阵列(FPGA)的硬件实现方法。该实现方法采用了一种报文集中存储,通信调度表分别构建的策略,并基于该策略设计了一种并行处理的调度表搜索方法。在以Altera CycloneⅡFPGA为主控芯片的开发平台上的测试结果表明,与软件实现方法相比,该设计方法减少了内存资源的占有率,将报文搜索效率提高了9倍,通信调度性能提高了1倍。

EPA调度算法信道利用率分析及仿真

分析EPA微网段中EPA通信调度管理实体的调度原理,讨论EPA通信调度算法的信道使用效率,并给出在一定条件下,周期数据传输阶段的信道利用率和非周期数据传输阶段的信道利用率。通过理论推导得出上限值及下限值。根据OPNET Modeler创建EPA仿真模型,证明EPA调度算法的信道利用率能够达到理论值的最大值与最小值,验证了理论推导结果的正确性。

基于EPA网络的多媒体数据确定性传输

为实现多媒体数据在EPA中的确定性传输,在研究EPA通信调度原理的基础上,分析多媒体数据在EPA通信宏周期传输的可行性以及分片重组原理,设计多媒体数据在周期时间片的传输调度模型,以及基于链表插入方法的分片数据报重组算法。针对目前多数多媒体设备未集成EPA协议栈,无法直接参与EPA现场层调度的问题,搭建接入多媒体数据的EPA网络测试平台。实验结果表明,在不干扰控制数据传输的情况下,基于EPA的多媒体数据传输延时为30 ms^36 ms,满足可接受延时小于130 ms的要求,延时抖动在4 ms以内,图像清晰流畅,从而验证了将多媒体数据接入EPA网络确定性传输的可行性。

Improving the real-time performance of Ethernet for plant automation(EPA) based industrial networks

Real-time Ethernet(RTE) control systems with critical real-time requirements are called fast real-time(FRT) systems.To improve the real-time performance of Ethernet for plant automation(EPA),we propose an EPA-FRT scheme.The minimum macrocycle of EPA networks is reduced by redefining the EPA network frame format,and the synchronization process is modified to acquire higher accuracy.A multi-segmented topology with a scheduling scheme is introduced to increase effective bandwidth utilization and reduce protocol overheads,and thus to shorten the communication cycle significantly.Performance analysis and practical tests on a prototype system show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme,which achieves the best performance at small periodic payload in large scale systems.

智能阀门定位器EPA高速通信模块的开发

介绍了智能阀门定位器EPA高速通讯模块的设计原理和方法,模块核心为ARM7处理器AT91R40008和AX88796网卡芯片,采用DPRAM实现与阀门定位器高速并行数据通信,内嵌μC/OS-Ⅱ实时嵌入式操作系统和EPA工业以太网协议栈。测试结果表明:采用该EPA模块的阀门定位器通讯具有较高的精度、实时性和通用性。