Totally Distributed, Redundantly Structured Hardware and Software Local Computer Control Network

The following presentation of a newly devised local computer control network is based on the conceptual design developed for a Solar Cogeneration Industrial Plant, sponsored by DOE under Contract DE-AC03-81SF 11533. The control system features a modular local computer network, whose redundancy can be designed to meet any availability requirement of a specific application, using the same hardware building blocks. The intrinsic redundancy applies to the component level, with an orderly overlapping, as opposed to a complete system redundancy which is more costly and less reliable. The control software is hierarchical and distributed with a redundant structure and topology. The local computer network uses simple packet switching and routing decision making techniques, based on a contention method which presents the advantage to convey messages in the order of their priority. Some details of the concept are presented as they were applied to the Solar Cogeneration conceptual design.