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EP-4740366-A1 - AN I/O SWITCH DEVICE

EP4740366A1EP 4740366 A1EP4740366 A1EP 4740366A1EP-4740366-A1

Abstract

There is provided an I/O switch device (6) comprising an Ethernet switch (3), a plurality of plugin module sockets (7) having conductive terminals (11, 12), and one or more internal busses (4a, 4b) for conveying both power and data from the Ethernet switch (3) to the conductive terminals (11,12) The Ethernet switch comprises at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port (1), at least one powered single-pair Ethernet spur port (2), and an isolator (18) between the at least one trunk port and the at least one spur port. The isolator (18) provides galvanic isolation of power and data between a non-intrinsically safe side (18a) of the Ethernet switch having the at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port (1) and an intrinsically safe side (18b) of the Ethernet switch having the at least one powered single pair Ethernet spur port (2). The Ethernet Switch (3) further comprises a power supply (21) that is configured to power the Ethernet switch and the one or more internal busses (4a, 4b) from the at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port (1).

Inventors

  • ROGOLL, GUNTHER

Assignees

  • Pepperl+Fuchs SE

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240619

Claims (18)

  1. 1 . An I/O switch device comprising an Ethernet switch, a plurality of plugin module sockets having conductive terminals, and one or more internal busses for conveying both power and data from the Ethernet switch to the conductive terminals, wherein the Ethernet switch comprises at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port, at least one powered single-pair Ethernet spur port, and an isolator between the at least one trunk port and the at least one spur port, wherein the isolator provides galvanic isolation of power and data between a non-intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch having the at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port and an intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch having the at least one powered single pair Ethernet spur port; wherein the Ethernet Switch further comprises a power supply that is configured to power the Ethernet switch and the one or more internal busses from the at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port.
  2. 2. The I/O switch device of claim 1 , wherein the intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch comprises power limitation circuitry for the at least one spur port, wherein the power limitation circuitry is connected between the isolator and the at least one spur port, and the power limitation circuitry comprises a voltage clamp, a current limiter, or a voltage clamp and a current limiter.
  3. 3. The I/O switch device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the internal busses comprise a non-intrinsically safe power and data bus connected from the non-intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch to a non-intrinsically safe one of the plugin module sockets.
  4. 4. The I/O switch device of claim 1 , 2 or 3, wherein the internal busses comprise an intrinsically safe power and data bus connected from the intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch to an intrinsically safe one of the plugin module sockets.
  5. 5. The I/O switch device of claim 4, wherein the intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch comprises power limitation circuitry for the intrinsically safe power and data bus, wherein the power limitation circuitry is connected between the isolator and the intrinsically safe power and data bus, and the power limitation circuitry comprises a voltage clamp, a current limiter, or a voltage clamp and a current limiter.
  6. 6. The I/O switch device of any preceding claim, wherein the internal busses are high-speed data buses of at least 10 Mbps.
  7. 7. The I/O switch device of any preceding claim, wherein the non-intrinsically safe and intrinsically safe sides of the Ethernet switch and the isolator are all formed on a single circuit board of the I/O switch device.
  8. 8. The I/O switch device of any preceding claim, wherein the Ethernet switch comprises an Ethernet controller/manager that is powered solely by the power supply.
  9. 9. The I/O switch device of any preceding claim, wherein the isolator provides capacitive, magnetic and/or optical isolation, for example in accordance with IEC60079 Part 11 :2023.
  10. 10. An I/O switch system comprising the I/O switch device of any preceding claim and a plugin module that has been physically plugged into one of the plugin module sockets to connect to the conductive terminals, the plugin module comprising one or more I/O port connectors for connecting I/O devices via respective cables.
  11. 11 . The I/O switch system of claim 10, wherein the plugin module comprises a controller for receiving data from at least one of the I/O port connectors in accordance with a first communication protocol and sending data to the Ethernet switch via the conductive terminals in accordance with a second communication protocol that is different to the first communication protocol.
  12. 12. The I/O switch system of claim 11 , wherein the controller of the plugin module comprises a processor that is configured to process data received from at least one of the I/O port connectors before sending the data to the Ethernet switch.
  13. 13. The I/O switch system of claim 12, wherein the processor is remotely programmable via the Ethernet switch to define how the data is to be processed.
  14. 14. The I/O switch system of claim 11 , 12 or 13, wherein the controller of the plugin module is powered solely by power that is drawn from the internal bus connected to the conductive terminals.
  15. 15. The I/O switch system of any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the plugin module comprises an isolator providing galvanic isolation between the conductive terminals and at least a first one of the I/O port connectors.
  16. 16. The I/O switch system of any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the plugin module comprises power limitation circuitry connected between the conductive terminals and one or more of the I/O port connectors, wherein the power limitation circuitry comprises a voltage clamp, a current limiter, or a voltage clamp and a current limiter.
  17. 17. The I/O switch system of claim 16 when dependent on claim 15, wherein the power limitation circuitry of the plugin module is connected between the isolator of the plugin module and the first one of the I/O port connectors.
  18. 18. The I/O switch system of claim 14 or any claim dependent thereon, wherein at least a second one of the I/O port connectors does not have any isolator between the I/O port connector and the conductive terminals.

Description

AN I/O SWITCH DEVICE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an I/O switch device, specifically for use with powered single-pair Ethernet networks, for example Ethernet-APL. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Currently available powered single-pair Ethernet-APL field switches are specifically designed to connect Ethernet-APL field devices. However, for any existing process plant (brown field) or a new process plant (green field), the instrumentation for control and monitoring, including emergency shutdown/alarm, will not all be Ethernet-APL compatible or cannot be made Ethernet-APL compatible. Therefore, to incorporate these non-Ethernet-APL-compatible devices/instruments into a control system or SIS (Safety Instrumented System), further expensive I/O (Input/Output) systems must be included alongside the current Ethernet-APL solutions. The simplest approach is to traditionally, discretely cable each non-Ethernet- APL device; however, the cabling will be expensive, bulky, and less reliable. Furthermore, discrete cabling requires additional I/O systems in the control room or local equipment room. A more complex scenario is where some plants will require Intrinsically Safe devices for hazardous areas, meaning added barrier hardware and segregated cable design, management, and a different maintenance approach will be required. The cabling expense is increased because in most cases, non- Ethernet-APL devices e.g. Digital or 4-20mA are, or will be, loosely scattered (stratified) around the process plant and not conveniently clustered. Solving this with classic remote I/O would cost significantly more, due to the requirement to provide power to the systems, the high enclosure and hardware costs, the need to implement repeaters (or optical fibre) for long-reach Ethernet communication, and to only be able to connect to a limited number of localised devices, where the I/O count per supporting I/O system’s ratio will be unacceptably low. Therefore, classic remote I/O would be an impractical solution due to its high cost, low speed and overall complexity. Classic remote I/O solutions also implement a slow I/O internal digital bus, for example HART IP or RS485, which interfaces and uplinks into high-speed Ethernet networks e.g. into PROFINET. This internal bus, required to carry multiple digitized analogue device control loops and measurements, as well as additional serial I/O data, is at a low communication speed. This makes the operation of a highspeed communication device, such as for example an Ethernet-APL device, impossible through a classic remote I/O system. Furthermore, for hazardous areas both remote I/O and a dedicated Ethernet- APL based remote I/O will either need separate expensive Ex certified enclosures, from the Ethernet-APL switch enclosures, or use one larger and more expensive Ex enclosure, which may require certification for each different application/population design. In short, remote I/O or an Ethernet-APL based remote I/O can only be effective/efficient for high density clusters of similar I/O types, positioned close to the I/O, and where there are no Ethernet-APL devices present within the same location. This is unlikely to be the case with the uptake of Ethernet-APL technology or as process plants migrate/upgrade over to Ethernet- APL technology. It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the known art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an I/O switch device comprising an Ethernet switch, a plurality of plugin module sockets having conductive terminals, and one or more internal busses for conveying both power and data from the Ethernet switch to the conductive terminals. The Ethernet switch comprises at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port, at least one powered single-pair Ethernet spur port, and an isolator between the at least one trunk port and the at least one spur port. The isolator provides galvanic isolation of power and data between a non-intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch having the at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port and an intrinsically safe side of the Ethernet switch having the at least one powered single-pair Ethernet spur port. The isolator may provide capacitive, magnetic and/or optical isolation, for example in accordance with IEC60079 Part 11 :2023. The Ethernet spur ports can be used to provide powered single-pair Ethernet connections to devices/instruments in hazardous areas, for example areas such as oil rigs where electrical equipment has to be power limited to avoid any sparks in the event of a failure. The Ethernet spur ports may also support the connection of Profibus PA devices. The Ethernet switch further comprises a power supply that is configured to power the Ethernet switch and the one or more internal busses from the at least one powered single-pair Ethernet trunk port, and so the I/O switch device may not require any separate power input b