ABSTRACT
The STI standard defines a smart transducer system as a system comprising several clusters with transducer nodes connected to a bus. Via a master node, each cluster is connected to a CORBA gateway. The master nodes of each cluster share a synchronized time that supports coordinated actions (e. g., synchronized measurements) over transducer nodes in several clusters. Each cluster can address up to 250 smart transducers that communicate via a cluster-wide broadcast communication channel. There may be redundant shadow masters to support fault tolerance. One active master controls the communication within a cluster (in the following sections the term master refers to the active master unless stated otherwise). Since smart transducers are controlled by the master, they are called slave nodes. Figure 11.1 depicts an example for such a smart transducer system consisting of three clusters.
