GE A35311 Vernova Mark VIe Control System

GE A35311 Vernova Mark VIe Control System

System Overview

Architecture core: single board controller as the core, integrated main processor and redundant Ethernet driver, 

running real-time multi-tasking operating system, control software using configurable control block language stored in non-volatile memory.

I/O network: IONet as a dedicated full-duplex point-to-point protocol network, providing high-speed deterministic communication, 

supporting copper and optical fibre interfaces, with single, dual and triple redundancy configurations to ensure stable data transmission.

I/O Modules: Consisting of terminal boards, terminal blocks and I/O packages, there are T-type and S-type modules; 

T-type modules are used for decentralised inputs, S-type modules are suitable for different redundancy configurations, 

and the I/O packages are hot-swappable, supporting online repair and automatic reconfiguration.

Redundant design: A variety of redundancy options are available, such as power supplies, controllers, I/O networks, and modules. 

Dual and triple redundant systems are available for different failure scenarios, reducing maintenance time and increasing system availability.

Control Software Suite

HMI: Windows-based system that can be used as an operator station or engineering workstation. 

It communicates with controllers and third-party systems via Ethernet, with redundant configurations to improve reliability, 

and a variety of functions such as alarm viewing and trend analysis.

WorkstationST: Integrates various functions, such as alarm management, historical data storage, network communication, etc. 

Provides various interface standards to support interaction with external systems, and has flexible alarm management tools

to facilitate users to analyse and process alarm information.

ToolboxST: Used for hardware and software configuration, provides various editing tools, supports drag-and-drop operation, 

has powerful trend analysis functions, can perform complex calculations and spectrum analysis, and supports SFC programming, 

which is convenient to achieve the sequential control of equipment.

Features

Diversified communication interfaces and protocols: It supports a variety of communication interfaces and protocols, 

including industry-standard Ethernet for communication between I/O, controllers and operation and maintenance stations, etc.; 

IONet adopts protocols such as Ethernet Global Data (EGD) and is based on the UDP/IP standard, 

which ensures efficient communication between controllers and I/O modules. 

At the same time, it supports various protocols such as Modbus and OPC, which makes it convenient to interact with third-party devices and systems.

Highly reliable communication mechanism: the communication network is equipped with redundant design, and IONet has single, 

double and triple redundancy configurations, which can effectively respond to equipment failure and ensure stable data transmission. 

At the software level, precise time synchronisation mechanisms, such as the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol, 

are used for the time alignment of I/O packet data on IONet to ensure the time consistency and accuracy of the data and improve system reliability.

Powerful Data Processing and Interaction Capability: The software suite can collect, transmit and process large amounts of data in real time. 

In terms of alarm management, it can collect, analyse and display all kinds of alarm information in a timely manner; 

the trend analysis function can obtain data from multiple data sources for complex analysis. 

Smooth data interaction between different software modules, such as WorkstationST and ToolboxST can share data, 

which is convenient for operators to fully grasp the system operation status.