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Fiber-optic interface system
| Details |
Inventors: Cucci, Gerald R.; Stasz, Peter; Bjork, Paul E.;
Assignee: NT International, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN)
Primary Examiner: Boudreau; Leo
Assistant Examiner: Negash; Kinfe-Michael
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Haugen and Nikolai
A fiber-optic data-link used to interface a remote process variable sensor/transmitter to a local process control system includes a local light source module and a remote interface module interconnected by one or more optical fibers. Energy for operating the remote interface module and its associated process variable sensor/transmitter is provided by light energy transmitted from the local site to the remote site and converted at the remote site to an electrical signal. The local light source module and the remote interface module each may include a microcontroller. The controllers not only control the flow of status messages in either analog or digital or analog and digital form simultaneously from the remote site to the local site, but also insure the integrity of the system and minimizes the amount of optical power delivered to the remote site to that which is required to electrically power the remote interface module and the process variable sensor/transmitter, thus extending the useful life of the light source. The system is also arranged to check the integrity of the optical fibers to ensure that the light intensity is always below a minimum eye-safe value whenever the optical fiber is not correctly connected between the local light source module and the remote interface module. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION What is claimed is: 1.
An optically-powered, fiber-optical data-link for interfacing a remote process variable transmitter to a local control system, comprising; (a) a first controller means for controllably applying light energy to a first output terminal and for receiving digitally encoded, optically transmitted messages at a first input terminal; (b) transmitter means electrically connected to said first controller means for transmitting information to said local control system based upon said messages received at said first input terminal; (c) a second controller means having input and output terminals, the second controller means being located remotely from said first controller means for receiving both analog and digital signal components defining the state of a process variable sensed by said remote process variable transmitter and delivering optically encoded digital messages and status information relating to the performance of said second controller means as a message packet to a output terminal of said second controller means, said optically encoded digital message information being based upon the analog and digital signal components defining the state of a process variable sensed by said remote process variable transmitter, said second controller means including a power supply means comprising an optical-to-electrical power converter connected to a power supply converter means for the second controller means and an output conductor, said output conductor being connected to a power supply converter means for supplying electrical power to a remote microcontroller means and said remote process variable transmitter; (d) at least one optical fiber optically coupled between said first output terminal of the first controller means, said input terminal of said second controller means, said output terminal of the second controller means and said first input terminal of the first controller means; and (e) means coupled to said first controller means at said local site for reconstructing the optically encoded digital message information in said message packet into tis analog and digital components prior to being sent to the local control system
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