Identifying nodes in a master-slave-fieldbus

Abstract

A novel approach to identify nodes in a flexible and robust field area network (FAN) is presented. Based on the special fieldbus system architecture a master node may identify unknown slave nodes, collect them and form a running network. The paper shows how the identification is done and presents calculations for the probability and the expected time to find all nodes. Optimal parameters for the identification process could be found. They were verified by simulations and tests in a prototype environment.