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DE-102024132994-A1 - Method for operating a transmitter and transmitter

DE102024132994A1DE 102024132994 A1DE102024132994 A1DE 102024132994A1DE-102024132994-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating a transmitter comprising: - Providing a transmitter (1) with a first computing unit (10), a second computing unit (20), and an internal communication module (30) for communication with a communication module (2) external to the transmitter (1), wherein the first computing unit (10) and the second computing unit (20) are connected to each other, wherein the first computing unit (10) is connected to the internal communication module (30), - Control of the internal communication module (30) by the first computing unit (10) so that a first data packet (D1) is sent during a first activity of the first computing unit (10), - Transmitting activity information (AI) from the first computing unit (10) to the second computing unit (20), wherein the activity information (AI) includes a second activity time and a second activity duration of a future second activity of the first computing unit (10), and the future second activity includes controlling the internal communication module (30) by the first computing unit (10) so that a second data packet (D2) is sent, wherein the future second activity is a repetition of the first activity.

Inventors

  • Reinhard Griech
  • Patrice Grosperrin
  • Björn Haase
  • Philipp Heinrich Kindt

Assignees

  • ENDRESS+HAUSER CONDUCTA GMBH+CO. KG

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241112

Claims (10)

  1. A method for operating a transmitter comprising: - providing a transmitter (1) with a first computing unit (10), a second computing unit (20), and an internal communication module (30) for communication with a communication module (2) external to the transmitter (1), in which the first computing unit (10) and the second computing unit (20) are interconnected, in which the first computing unit (10) is connected to the internal communication module (30), - controlling the internal communication module (30) by the first computing unit (10) such that a first data packet (D1) is sent during a first activity (A1) of the first computing unit (10), - transmitting activity information (AI) from the first computing unit (10) to the second computing unit (20), wherein the activity information (AI) includes a second activity time (TA2) and a second activity duration (TDA2) of a future second activity (A2) of the first computing unit (10), and the future second activity (A2) involves controlling the internal Communication module (30) by the first processing unit (10) includes sending a second data packet (D2), wherein the future second activity (A2) is a repetition of the first activity (A1), - Checking for an overlap of the future second activity (A2) with a future third activity (A3) of the second processing unit (20), wherein the future third activity (A3) has a third activity time (TA3) and a third activity duration (TDA3), - Transmitting an overlap information (OI) from the second processing unit (20) to the first processing unit (10), wherein the overlap information (OI) includes whether the future second activity (A2) overlaps with the future third activity (A3), - Suppressing the future second activity (A2) depending on the overlap information (OI) by the first processing unit (10), so that a temporal overlap of the future second activity (A2) and the future third activity (A3) is prevented.
  2. Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein the activity information (AI) includes an initial repetition frequency (F1) of the future second activity (A2) for repetitions of the future second activity (A2').
  3. Procedure according to Claim 2 , wherein the overlap information (OI) includes a suppression duration (DD) such that during suppression the future second activity (A2) and at least one repetition of the future second activity (A2') dependent on the first repetition frequency (F1) is suppressed.
  4. Procedure according to Claim 3 , wherein the first computing unit (10) counts the suppressed second activity (A2) and the suppressed repetitions of the future second activity (A2') during suppression and compares them with a suppression threshold, wherein a warning message (WN) is sent from the first computing unit (10) to the second computing unit (20) when the suppression threshold is reached, wherein the second computing unit (20) suppresses or postpones the future third activity (A3) when the second computing unit (20) receives the warning message (WN).
  5. Procedure according to Claim 2 , wherein the overlap information (OI) includes a third repetition frequency (F3) of the future third activity (A3) for repetitions of the future third activity (A3'), wherein the first repetition frequency (F1) is determined depending on the third repetition frequency (F3) and the second activity duration (TDA2), such that temporal overlap of multiple subsequent repetitions of the future second activity (A2) and the repetitions of the future third activity (A3) is prevented.
  6. A method for operating a transmitter comprising: - Providing a transmitter (1) with a first computing unit (10), a second computing unit (20), and an internal communication module (30) for communication with a communication module (2) external to the transmitter (1), the first computing unit (10) and the second computing unit (20) being interconnected, the first computing unit (10) being connected to the internal communication module (30), - Controlling the internal communication module (30) by the first computing unit (10) such that a first data packet (D1) is sent during a first activity (A1) of the first computing unit (10), - Transmitting activity information (AI) from the first computing unit (10) to the second computing unit (20), wherein the activity information (AI) includes a first repetition frequency (F1) of a future second activity (A2), a second activity time (TA2), and a second activity duration (TDA2) of the future second activity (A2) of the first computing unit (10) and the future second activity (A2) includes controlling the internal communication module (30) by the first computing unit (10) so that a second data packet (D2) is sent, wherein the future second activity (A2) is a repetition of the first activity (A1), - Checking for an overlap of the second activity time (TA2) and second activity duration (TDA2) and repetition frequency (F1) with a third activity time (TA3), third activity duration (TDA3) and third repetition frequency (F3) of a future third activity (A3) of the second computing unit (20), - Setting the third repetition frequency (F3) such that the first repetition frequency (F1) is a multiple of the third repetition frequency (F3) or the third repetition frequency (F3) is a multiple of the first repetition frequency (F1), - Shifting the future third activity (A3) by an offset (PSI) depending on the activity information (AI) by the second computing unit (20), so that a temporal overlap of the future second activity (A2) with the future third activity (A3) as well as temporal overlaps of the repetitions of the future second activity (A2') with the repetitions of the future third activity (A3') is prevented.
  7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the method further comprises assigning a computation task (R1) from the second computation unit (20) to the first computation unit (10), wherein the computation task (R1) has a computation time (TR1) and a computation duration (TDR1) such that a temporal overlap of the computation task (R1) and the future third activity (A3) is prevented.
  8. Procedure according to Claim 7 , where the assignment of a computational task (R1) is preceded by a request of the computational task (R1) from the first computational unit (10) to the second computational unit (20).
  9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first computing unit (10) has a first clock and the second computing unit (20) has a second clock and each has different clock sources, and the method further comprises a step of exchanging a synchronization message with a timestamp between the first computing unit (10) and the second computing unit (20), wherein the first computing unit (10) adapts the first clock or the second computing unit (20) adapts the second clock to the timestamp.
  10. Transmitter (1) comprising, - a first computing unit (10), a second computing unit (20), an internal communication module (30) for communication with a communication module (2) external to the transmitter (1), in which the first computing unit (10) and the second computing unit (20) are connected to each other, in which the first computing unit (10) is connected to the internal communication module (30), in which the transmitter (1) is suitable for being connected to an external power source (3) with an external power level and the transmitter (1) is suitable for being operated with an internal power level, wherein the internal power level is less than or equal to the external power level.

Description

The invention relates to a method for operating a transmitter and to a transmitter. In analytical measurement technology, particularly in water management, environmental analysis, and industrial applications (e.g., food technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals), as well as for a wide variety of laboratory applications, measured parameters such as pH, conductivity, or the concentration of analytes (e.g., ions or dissolved gases) in a gaseous or liquid medium are of great importance. These parameters can be measured and/or monitored using electrochemical sensors, such as optical, potentiometric, amperometric, voltammetric, or coulometric sensors, or conductivity sensors. These sensors are typically connected to a transmitter, which processes the sensor signals and communicates them to, for example, a control center. One type of connection between the transmitter and the control center uses only two wires. In this case, the transmitter is also called a two-wire device. With such two-wire devices, the available power is severely limited, making them particularly suitable for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. These devices communicate using an energy-efficient HART protocol, which is designed for signals between 4 and 24 mA via a current loop between, for example, the control center and the two-wire device. The minimum available current is usually limited to 3.6 mA with a supply voltage of typically a maximum of approximately 17 V. This results in an available power of approximately 61 mW. Many devices also have their operating voltage further reduced to power additional components such as explosion protection resistors or other devices in the current loop. This further reduces the available power. For example, the Endress+Hauser iTEMP TMT72 transmitter can be operated with a minimum supply voltage of only about 10V, resulting in a minimum available power of only 36 mW. However, the SoCs currently used in many transmitters with integrated Bluetooth communication modules exhibit peak power consumption of up to approximately 30 mW for wireless communication, while on average they typically require significantly less than 1 mW for their communication tasks. While on average sufficient power from the current loop is available for all device functions of the transmitter except Bluetooth, only about 6 mW are briefly available for functions such as measuring the sensor value, calculations, and fieldbus communication, as the remainder is used for Bluetooth communication. The total power consumption of the device can therefore briefly exceed the power supplied by the current loop. To meet this short-term energy demand, energy is typically stored temporarily in an energy storage device (e.g., a capacitor). The size of the required energy storage device depends on the duration and magnitude of the power peaks. However, this has the disadvantage that additional or larger electronic components become necessary, and the power available in the transmitter is increased beyond that provided by the current loop. This makes it more difficult to meet explosion protection requirements (“Ex”). It is therefore an object of the invention to propose a method which enables energy-saving operation of the transmitter. This problem is solved according to the invention by a method for operating a transmitter according to claim 1. The method according to the invention comprises: - Providing a transmitter comprising a first computing unit, a second computing unit, and an internal communication module for communication with a communication module external to the transmitter, wherein the first computing unit and the second computing unit are interconnected, and wherein the first computing unit is connected to the internal communication module, - Control of the internal communication module by the first computing unit, so that a first data packet is sent during a first activity of the first computing unit, - Transmitting activity information from the first computing unit to the second computing unit, wherein the activity information includes a second activity time and a second activity duration of a future second activity of the first computing unit, and the future second activity involves controlling the internal communication module by the first The computing unit includes a second data packet, with the future second activity being a repetition of the first activity. - Checking for an overlap between the future second activity and a future third activity of the second computing unit, wherein the future third activity has a third activity time and a third activity duration, - Transmitting overlap information from the second computing unit to the first computing unit, wherein the overlap information includes whether the future second activity overlaps with the future third activity, - Suppressing the future second activity depending on the overlap information from the first processing unit, so that a temporal overlap of the future s