Distributed architecture of an adaptive positioning servo

A distributed computer architecture which offers high precision and high-speed computing capabilities that are needed when complex system identification and controller adaptation algorithms are implemented in real time. The distributed implementation offers high immunity against external disturbances. An elevator control application is considered. However, the principles presented are applicable to different types of industrial automation problems. The individual computer units in this system are programmable VLSI signal processors (e.g. TMS-320C25). All the precision-sensitive computations are performed using simulated single-precision floating-point arithmetic (IEEE Standard 754). This is possible because of the high speed of the signal processor and low sampling rate (i.e. ⩽100 Hz) of the entire positioning servo. The communication between the master controller and the slave units is coordinated by a simple communication protocol that utilizes a prediction-type transmission error correction principle