Switch fabric having a serial communications interface and a parallel communications interface

摘要

A switch fabric is disclosed that includes a serial communications interface and a parallel communications interface. The serial communications interface is configured for connecting a plurality of slave devices to a master device in parallel to transmit information between the plurality of slave devices and the master device, and the parallel communications interface is configured for separately connecting the plurality of slave devices to the master device to transmit information between the plurality of slave devices and the master device, and to transmit information between individual ones of the plurality of slave devices. The parallel communications interface may comprise a dedicated parallel communications channel for each one of the plurality of slave devices. The serial communications interface may comprise a multidrop bus, and the parallel communications interface may comprise a cross switch.

主权项

1. A switch fabric for an industrial control system, the switch fabric comprising:
a serial communications interface for connecting a plurality of slave devices to a master device in parallel, the serial communications interface configured for transmitting information between the plurality of slave devices and the master device; and a parallel communications interface for separately connecting the plurality of slave devices to the master device, the parallel communications interface configured for transmitting information between the plurality of slave devices and the master device, and transmitting information between individual ones of the plurality of slave devices, each one of the plurality of slave devices identifying itself to the master device using a unique identification upon connecting to the master device, the master device maintaining a routing table with the unique identification for each slave device connected to the master device, the unique identification comprising at least one of an identifier associated with the slave device or an identifier associated with a slot that provides registration for the slave device.