Patent Grant
7752344
The invention relates to a parameterization device for generating parameterization signals, which define device-specific operating parameters, for one or more electrical devices of an electrical arrangement. The term “parameterize” is understood below as meaning the operation of inputting predefined operating parameters to electrical devices, the operating parameters defining the method of operation or the functional scope of the devices; the operating parameters are input with the aid of parameterization signals which transmit the operating parameters to the devices.
Commercial planning and parameterization aids are available nowadays for planning and designing electrical arrangements, for example complex electrical systems such as electrical station control systems, and for parameterizing individual devices of such electrical arrangements, for example protective devices. One known parameterization aid (also referred to as a “parameterization tool” in technical terminology) is formed, for example, by the DIGSI parameterization program from Siemens AG; after being started up in a data processing system, the DIGSI parameterization program forms a parameterization device.
In the case of this previously known parameterization tool, the operator must first of all specifically define the devices (that is to say, for example, the device type, the device version, the device equipment) which are intended to be used to construct the electrical system and are accordingly intended to be parameterized; for this purpose, the person operating the parameterization tool must first of all select all devices to be parameterized from a very large device catalog which sometimes has more than a hundred suitable devices. The actual parameterization, that is to say the stipulation of specific device parameters, can only be begun after the specific devices have been selected. If the person using the parameterization tool determines during his work that he selected an incorrect device at the beginning, which device cannot be used to perform the desired functions or cannot be used to set the desired operating parameters or does not have the quantity structure originally assumed by the user or does not have the performance originally assumed by the user, he must select a new device instead of the previously selected device and start inputting the desired operating parameters again.
The invention is based on the object of specifying a parameterization device which is particularly user-friendly and makes it possible to parameterize electrical devices in a very short space of time and therefore in a particularly cost-effective manner.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of a parameterization device having the features as claimed in claim 1.
According to this, the invention provides a parameterization device having an input device to which operating functions which are desired by the user can be input for the individual devices in a manner independent of the devices. There is also a memory device which records a multiplicity of electrical devices with their operating functions and their device-specific operating parameters. A processing device is used to evaluate the operating functions which have been input by the user and to read a list containing all those devices which perform the operating functions desired by the user from the memory device. An output device is used to supply the list to the user for the purpose of selecting the devices. A signal generating device is used to respectively generate those parameterization signals which correspond to the operating parameters stored in the memory device for each device selected by the user.
One fundamental advantage of the parameterization device according to the invention can be seen in the fact that, in this device, the order of parameterization steps is virtually inverted with respect to the prior art explained and an incorrect device selection and a useless parameter input thus cannot result: This is because the input device of the parameterization device according to the invention makes it possible to input operating functions desired by the user in a form that is independent of the device; this means that only device-independent functions, for example protective functions (distance protection, differential protection etc.), input and/or output functions, number of inputs and outputs etc., are defined instead of specific device-specific operating parameters. The operation of inputting the desired functions can be concluded even before specific electrical devices, for example protective devices or the like, have been selected by the user; this procedure is made possible by the memory device, which stores the functions which have been input in a manner independent of the device, and by the processing device which processes the functions which have been input further. Only after all desired functions have been input does the parameterization device according to the invention request the definition of respective specific devices to be parameterized; for this purpose, the processing device creates a list of all those devices which are suitable for performing or satisfying the functions or operating parameters desired by the user. The corresponding list is supplied to the user by the output device of the parameterization device according to the invention, for example on a screen or in another form, with the result that the user can select only those devices which are suitable for the desired applications. An incorrect device selection and thus an associated useless parameter input therefore cannot result in the parameterization device according to the invention. Only after the desired devices have been selected is the “actual” parameterization carried out automatically by the signal generating device by virtue of the latter generating the device-specific parameterization signals on the basis of the device-independent operating functions which have been input and on the basis of the respectively selected devices.
Another fundamental advantage of the invention can be seen in the fact that the “hardware”, that is to say the devices of the electrical arrangement which are used, can be very easily replaced, for example if the demands imposed on the arrangement change: If, for example, a device is replaced, the parameterization of the new device is automatically induced by the parameterization device according to the invention, after it has been selected by the user, by resorting to the device-independent operating functions which have been input by the user. For example, a protective device having eight binary inputs/outputs can be expanded in this manner without problems to 16 binary inputs/outputs, the remaining functions simply being assumed unchanged; as already explained, the signal generating device of the parameterization device then generates the specific parameterization signals.
A third fundamental advantage of the invention is that the demands imposed on the devices of the arrangement can also be subsequently modified in a very simple manner: If, for example, functions of the devices which have already been parameterized are intended to be omitted or added, only the changes in functions need to be input by the user; if it is possible, following such a change in function, to reselect more suitable or more cost-effective devices than before (for example when previously defined operating functions are omitted), this can be automatically induced, for example, by the parameterization device according to the invention using the processing device without precautions having to be taken by the user in this respect. If a substitute device is subsequently used, this new device is automatically parameterized—as explained—by the signal generating device by resorting to the operating functions which have been input.
The device-specific parameterization signals can be directly transmitted to the devices if they are already connected to the parameterization device; alternatively, the parameterization signals may also be initially buffer-stored and forwarded to the respective device for its parameterization at a later point in time. It is also conceivable that the parameterization signals are generated by the signal generating device only when the devices to be parameterized are connected to the arrangement.
The device-independent operating functions are preferably input by means of a selection of predefined application-specific solutions or standard functions which have to be already provided by the parameterization device and only have to be selected by the user.
The invention can be used, for example, in station control systems which are equipped with a plurality of field devices, for example protective devices. For example, the parameterization device according to the invention is connected to at least one of the field or protective devices in such a case, said parameterization device using its signal generating device to generate the parameterization signals and feed them into the field or protective device.
The invention also relates to a method for generating parameterization signals, which define device-specific operating parameters, for one or more electrical devices.
In order to achieve a particularly high level of user-friendliness in such a method and to make it possible to parameterize electrical devices in the shortest possible space of time, the invention proposes a method in which operating functions which are desired by the user are input for the individual devices in a manner independent of the devices, the operating functions which have been input by the user are evaluated by reading a list containing all those devices which perform the operating functions desired by the user from a memory device which records a multiplicity of electrical devices with their operating functions and their device-specific operating parameters, the list is supplied to the user for the purpose of selecting the devices, and those parameterization signals which correspond to the operating parameters stored in the memory device are respectively generated for each device selected by the user.
As regards the advantages of the method according to the invention, reference is made to the above statements in connection with the parameterization device according to the invention.
Before the list is supplied to the user, the list is preferably filtered or sorted in accordance with criteria predefined by the user. For example, the sorting or filtering operation is carried out on the basis of device costs.
The invention is explained below with reference to an exemplary embodiment. In the drawing
Three protective devices 10, 20 and 30 which belong to a station control system (not illustrated any further in
The specific design of the parameterization device 50 according to
The processing device 110 is also connected to an output device 140 and to a signal generating device 150 by means of an output A110a and a further output A110b. An output A150 of the signal generating device 150 forms the output A50 of the parameterization device 50, which is connected to the external data bus 40 according to
The method of operation of the arrangement according to
The station control system according to
After the operating functions desired by the user have been input, the operating functions which have been input are processed further in the processing device 110. To this end, the processing device 110 compares the operating functions which have been input with operating functions stored in the memory device 130. For this comparison, the operating functions which have been input by the user are transmitted, via the internal data bus 120, to the memory device 130 and are aligned there with the stored data records.
For this purpose, the memory device 130 stores different devices, in particular protective devices, with their operating functions and additionally with their device-specific operating parameters which must be set in order to start up the respective operating functions. As a result of the data alignment described, the processing device 110 determines which of the devices stored in the memory device 130 are, in principle, able to perform the operating functions desired by the user. All of the suitable devices are compiled in a list L and are indicated to the user using the output device 140 which may be, for example, a monitor or the like. The person using the parameterization device 50 now has the opportunity to select the respectively desired device from the list.
The user will preferably select the respective most cost-effective device in order to ensure that the station control system according to
As soon as the user has used the input device 100 to select the desired protective devices 10 to 30 using input signals G, the protective devices 10 to 30 can be parameterized. To this end, the processing device 110 drives the signal generating device 150 using control signals ST. As soon as the signal generating device 150 receives the control signals ST, it generates the required parameterization signals SP which give rise to the desired operating functions for the selected devices. In this case, the parameterization signals SP are generated in the signal generating device 150 using the memory device 130 which stores the device-specific operating parameters P for each device on the basis of the respectively available operating functions of the respective device. In order to enable a data connection between the signal generating device 150 and the memory device 130, the signal generating device 150 is likewise connected to the internal data bus 120.
In order to input the operating functions desired by the user in a particularly simple manner, the input device 100 is preferably configured in such a manner that it makes it possible to input the operating functions by means of a selection of predefined application-specific solutions; this means, for example, that selectable operating functions are offered to the user using pull-down menus or the like, with the result that the user must merely make a selection. A selection of predefined solutions which is prepared in this manner affords the advantage that incorrect definition of functions by the user is avoided in a very reliable manner.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DE2005/001005 | 6/1/2005 | WO | 00 | 1/2/2008 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2006/128395 | 12/7/2006 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20040107009 | Fehrer et al. | Jun 2004 | A1 |
| 20050071463 | Bodin et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20080201124 A1 | Aug 2008 | US |
