Method for operating a network and network participants

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10271249-B2
Application number	US-201615043886-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2016
Priority date	Apr 29, 2014
Publication date	Apr 23, 2019
Grant date	Apr 23, 2019

Abstract

A network includes a first network participant connected via a first connection to a further network participant. The first network participant receives a data message containing information that a parameter must be set to a first value, via the first connection. The first network participant checks whether it is connected via a second connection to a still further network, and whether the parameter is not set to the first value in the second connection. In this case, the first network participant forwards the data message via the second connection, clearing down the second connection, and re-establishes the second connection, where the parameter for the second connection is set to the first value.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for operating a network,
wherein a first network participant of the network is connected via a first connection to a further network participant of the network, and
wherein the first network participant carries out the following steps:
receiving a data message containing the information that a parameter must be set to a first value in connections, via the first connection, and
checking whether the first network participant is connected via a second connection to a still further network participant of the network and checking whether the parameter is not set to the first value in the second connection;

wherein the first network participant in this case carries out the following further steps:
forwarding the data message via the second connection,
clearing down the second connection,
re-establishing the second connection, wherein the parameter for the second connection is set to the first value; and
wherein the first network participant transmits the data message via all its connections in which the parameter is not set to the first value, except via the first connection.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein a second network participant of the network is connected via a third connection and a fourth connection to further network participants of the network, and
wherein the second network participant carries out the following steps:
recognizing that the parameter is set to the first value in the third connection and the parameter is set to a second value in the fourth connection,
transmitting the data message containing the information that the parameter must be set to the first value in connections,
clearing down the fourth connection, and
re-establishing the fourth connection, wherein the parameter for the fourth connection is set to the first value.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the second network participant transmits the data message via the fourth connection.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the second network participant transmits the data message via all its connections in which the parameter is not set to the first value.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the second network participant does not transmit the data message via the third connection.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein a second network participant of the network is connected via a third connection to a further network participant of the network, and
wherein the second network participant carries out the following step:
transmitting the data message containing the information that the parameter must be set to the first value in connections, via the third connection.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the second network participant carries out the following further steps:
clearing down the third connection; and
re-establishing the third connection, wherein the parameter for the third connection is set to the first value.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the parameter is a transmission rate.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first value is a transmission rate of 100 Mbit/s.

10. The method as claimed in claims 2 and 8 , wherein the second value is a transmission rate of 1 Gbit/s.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the parameter is a message format, a minimum message length, a maximum message length, a minimum time interval between two transmitted data frames, a line code or an addressing mode.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the data message is an Ethernet message.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the data message is an EtherCAT message.

14. A network participant, wherein the network participant is designed to carry out a method as claimed in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Beckhoff Automation Gmbh & Co Kg
• Beckhoff Automation Gmbh

Inventors

• Bunte Thorsten
• Büttner Holger
• Vonnahme Erik
• Janssen Dirk
• Rettig Thomas
• Beckhoff Hans

Classifications

• H04L45/22

  Alternate routing · CPC title

• H04L5/1438 Primary

  Negotiation of transmission parameters prior to communication (modified according to link quality H04L1/0001) · CPC title

• H04W36/0094 Primary

  Definition of hand-off measurement parameters · CPC title

• H04L5/1446

  of transmission speed · CPC title

• H04L67/1044

  Group management mechanisms  (management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425) · CPC title