Product category:
Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications
News Release from: Scensys | Subject: PowerDNA
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 23 January 2003
Distributed I/O provides real-time
performance
PowerDNA is a system claimed to set a new industry standard for hard real-time I/O using conventional Ethernet cabling.
PowerDNA (distributed, networked automation and control) is a system claimed to set a new industry standard for hard real-time I/O using conventional Ethernet cabling Developed by United Electronic Industries, the modular system is optimised for real-time control applications requiring both large numbers of analogue and digital I/O points in distributed locations as well as extremely fast response
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 19 Feb 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Thanks to the patent-pending DaqBIOS protocol, a PowerDNA system consisting of a PCI/PXI-based controller and multiple distributed nodes with more than 800 mixed analogue and digital I/O points, can guarantee a response time in less than 1ms.
In addition, when control situations arise, the latest algorithms allow as many as 64 PID loops to be operated.
At the highest level, PowerDNA consists of a central controller card that fits into a host PC or PXI/CompactPCI system.
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To each of its two Ethernet ports users can attach as many as 64 I/O Cubes.
Each I/O Cube in turn consists of a metal enclosure, typically 4 x 4 x 4in, that contains a communications layer, a CPU layer with an embedded real-time kernel, and positions for either three or six I/O layers.
Customers select the desired functionality from a range of I/O layers, which are factory installed, configured and calibrated.
When configuring an I/O Cube, users can select from several I/O layers: analogue input (16 or 32 channels, 16bit resolution, sampling rate to 160kHz); direct temperature-sensor inputs (25 channels, 24bit resolution, sampling to 500Hz); analogue output (eight channels, 12 or 16bit resolution, update rate to 160Ksample/s); digital I/O (with 16 inputs, 16 outputs, or 48 mixed I/Os); or serial communication (eight RS232/485 ports).
Users program their applications in C using a straightforward API that provides access to all hardware functionality.
After compiling an application on the host PC, engineers can download it to an I/O Cube in several ways: over the Ethernet, over a serial link or over a USB port.
The application can run under host control or as a stand-alone task.
"We have listened to the voice of the customer and have developed PowerDNA, which will easily meet the needs for distributed hard real-time I/O for the next decade", comments Shaun Miller, President of UEI.
"For several years engineers could purchase Ethernet-based I/O but with insufficient real-time response to address future system requirements.
However, our extensive investment in developing the DaqBIOS protocol has solved this problem".
The system will be shown on the Scensys stand D70 at the forthcoming MTEC show at the NEC Birmingham, 12th-13th February 2003.
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