Enhanced reliability (fault tolerance)

The FCP280’s unique, patented fault-tolerant operation improves 

reliability compared to traditional process controllers.

The fault-tolerant version of the FCP280 consists of two modules operating

 in parallel with two Ethernet connections to the control network.

The two FCP280 modules are combined as a fault-tolerant pair,

ensuring continuous operation of the controller in the event of any hardware failure in one of the

modules.

Both modules receive and process information simultaneously and faults are detected by the modules

themselves.

One important method of fault detection is to compare the communication messages of the modules’

external interfaces.

A message leaves the FCP280 only if the two FCP280s agree on the message to be sent (bit for bit match).

Once a fault is detected, both modules run self-diagnostics to determine which module is affected.

The modules run self-diagnostics to determine which module is affected. 

The unaffected module then takes over control without affecting the normal operation of the system.

This fault-tolerant solution offers the following key advantages over redundant-only controllers