Authors:
Miguel Ángel Domínguez
;
Mª Dolores Valdés
and
Mª José Moure
Affiliation:
University of Vigo, Spain
Keyword(s):
Industrial networks, Fieldbuses, WorldFIP, Profibus, FPGA.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Field-Buses
;
Industrial Networks and Automation
;
Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics
;
Robotics and Automation
;
Signal Processing, Sensors, Systems Modeling and Control
Abstract:
Fieldbuses are serial communication networks very used in industrial control applications. They constitute
the lower level of the communication networks in a flexible manufacturing system. Nowadays there are a
lack of standardization in the area of fieldbuses and it supposes the existence of a lot of proprietary
protocols. Thus, the interconnection of equipment from different manufacturers has become very
problematic. It implies that a change in equipment supposes a change in the fieldbus too with the
consequent economic losses. This paper proposes the implementation of a device using reconfigurable
circuits such as FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) that can be used as a communication processor,
compatible with different fieldbuses making only little changes in the programming code and in the level
and impedance matching circuit (depending on the electrical features of the corresponding fieldbus). Thus, the same hardware can be connected to different fieldbuses. The implementati
on of fieldbus communication processors using FPGAs implies that the interface can be easily adapted to different protocols (improvement in the interconnection between products of different manufacturers) and that the programming code can be easily modified, adding new functionality when it is necessary.
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