Method and computer system for quickly transmitting time-controlled real-time messages

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10523760-B2
Application number	US-201615768573-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2016
Priority date	Oct 16, 2015
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

The invention relates to a method, in particular a time controlled error-tolerant method, for periodically transporting real-time data in a computer system, in particular in a distributed computer system, said computer system comprising node computers (111-116), in particular a plurality of node computers (111-116), and distributor units (131, 132, 133, 151), in particular a plurality of distributor units (131, 132, 133, 151). The node computers and the distributor units have access to a global time, and real-time data is transported by means of messages, preferably by means of time-controlled real-time messages. The topology of the computer system corresponds to an intree, and node computers (111-116), are arranged on the leaves of the intree. One or more sensors (101-106) is assigned to each node computer (111-116), and the node computers (111-116) arranged on the leaves of the intree transmit sensor data in the payload of messages in the direction of a control center (100) located at the root of the intree at points in time, preferably at synchronized points in time. The payload of one or more incoming messages in a distributor unit is transported out of the distributor unit with an outgoing message, and an individual time plan is generated a priori for each distributor unit, wherein the time plan contains a periodically repeating starting time (391) for transmitting a message (390) going out of the respective distributor unit, said starting time being calculated a priori from—the a priori known time of arrival of a controlling payload to be transported, which is specified a priori for example, of one of the incoming messages, in particular a time-critical payload to be transported of one of the incoming messages, —minus the a priori known lead-time interval ([391, 393]) of the outgoing message (390), —plus at least one time interval ([393, 393)] required to copy a data element of the controlling payload, in particular the time-critical payload of the incoming message (320), into a data element of the payload of the outgoing message (390); and the payloads of the incoming messages are copied into the payload of the outgoing message by carrying out the a priori generated time plan.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A time-controlled error-tolerant method for periodic transmission of real-time data in a distributed computer system comprising a plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ) and a plurality of distributor units ( 131 , 132 , 133 , 151 ), wherein the plurality of node computers and the plurality of distributor units have access to a global time, the method comprising:
transmitting the real-time data by time-controlled real-time messages,
arranging a topology of the distributed computer system to correspond to an intree, wherein the plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ) are arranged on leaves of the intree, wherein one or more sensors ( 101 - 106 ) are associated with each of the plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ),
sending, by the plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ) arranged on the leaves of the intree, sensor data in a payload of the time-controlled real-time messages in a direction of a central control system ( 100 ) situated at a root of the intree at synchronized points in time,
copying, by the plurality of distributor units at inner nodes of the intree, which receive the time-controlled real-time messages from a plurality of transmitters, which comprise (i) at least two node computers of the plurality of node computers, (ii) at least two distributor units of the plurality of distributor units, or (iii) at least one node computer of the plurality of node computers and at least one distributor unit of the plurality of distributor units, the payload of the time-controlled real-time messages arriving in the plurality of distributor units at the inner nodes of the intree at a time that is defined a priori or in a time window into a payload of at least one new time-controlled real-time message, and
sending the at least one new time-controlled real-time message at a time that is defined a priori from the plurality of distributor units in the direction of the central control system ( 100 ).

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the payload of the time-controlled real-time messages arriving in a distributor unit of the plurality of distributor units is transmitted with the at least one new time-controlled real-time message, and wherein an individual schedule, which includes a periodically recurring starting time ( 391 ) of a transmission for the at least one new real-time message ( 390 ) is created a priori for each distributor unit of the plurality of distributor units, wherein the individual schedule comprises the following algorithm:
the time, which is known a priori, of an arrival of the payload that is to be transmitted is defined a priori in one of the time-controlled real-time messages, wherein the payload of the time-controlled real-time messages comprises a time-critical payload to be transmitted from one of the time-controlled real-time messages,
minus a lead interval ([ 391 , 393 ]), which is known a priori, of the at least one new time-controlled real-time message ( 390 ), and
plus at least one interval of time ([ 323 , 393 ]), which is necessary to copy a data element of the time-critical payload of the time-controlled real-time message ( 320 ) into a data element of the payload of the at least one new real-time message ( 390 ),
wherein the payload of the time-controlled real-time messages are copied to the payload of the at least one new real-time message by execution of the individual schedule which is prepared a priori.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the payload of the time-controlled real-time messages is copied to a predetermined position of the payload of the at least one new time-controlled real-time message.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein sensor data is copied from a certain sensor to a certain position in the payload of the at least one new time-controlled real-time message.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein after arrival of a check sum of the time-controlled real-time messages, the plurality of distributor units are configured to verify whether a data error has occurred in the time-controlled real-time messages, and wherein, if there is the data error, then an error message is sent to the central control system ( 100 ).

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein dynamic data is transmitted in the time-controlled real-time messages, and a static description of the dynamic data is derived from a position of the dynamic data in the time-controlled real-time messages.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time-controlled real-time messages are carried out by a TT Ethernet protocol, and/or the plurality of node computers arranged with the one or more sensors are synchronized with a time supplied by the TT Ethernet protocol.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in copying the sensor data to the at least one new time-controlled real-time message, an identifier of the sensor data is also copied to the at least one new time-controlled real-time message to which the sensor data is copied.

9. A distributed computer system for periodic transmission of real-time data in the distributed computer system, said distributed computer system comprising:
a plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ); and
a plurality of distributor units ( 131 , 132 , 133 , 151 ), wherein the plurality node computers and the plurality distributor units have access to a global time, and wherein real-time data is transmitted by time-controlled real-time messages,
wherein a topology of the distributed computer system corresponds to an intree, wherein the plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ) are arranged on the leaves of the intree, wherein one or more sensors ( 101 - 106 ) are associated with each of the plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ), and wherein the plurality of node computers ( 111 - 116 ) arranged on the leaves of the intree are configured to send sensor data in a payload of the time-controlled real-time messages in a direction of a central control system ( 100 ) situated at a root of the intree at synchronized points in time,
wherein the plurality of the distributor units at inner nodes of the intree, which are configured to receive the time-controlled real-time messages from a plurality of transmitters, which comprise (i) at least two node computers of the plurality of node computers, (ii) at least two distributor units of the plurality of distributor units, or (iii) at least one node computer of the plurality of node computers and at least one distributor unit of the plurality of distributor units, are configured to copy the payloads the time-controlled real-time messages, which are arriving in the plurality of distributor unit at a time, which is defined a priori, or in a time window, into a payload of at least one new time-controlled real-time message, and
wherein the at least one new time-controlled real-time message is configured to be sent at a time that is defined a priori in the direction of the central control system ( 100 ).

10. The distributed computer system according to claim 9 , wherein the plurality of node computers are synchronized with a time supplied by a TT Ethernet protocol.

11. The distributed computer system according to claim 10 , wherein the time-controlled real-time messages are transmitted by the TT Ethernet protocol.

12. The distributed computer system according to claim 9 , wherein in copying the sensor data to the at least one new time-controlled real-time message, an identifier of the sensor data is also copied into the at least one new time-controlled real-time message to which the sensor data is copied.

13. The distributed computer system according to claim 9 , wherein the sensor data from a certain sensor is copi

Assignees

• Fts Computertechnik Gmbh
• Tttech Computertechnik Ag

Inventors

• Kopetz Hermann
• Poledna Stefan

Classifications

• H04L12/44 Primary

  Star or tree networks · CPC title

• H04L67/12 Primary

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title