ICS Triplex

FAQS

• What is ICS Triplex's Triple Redundancy Technology?
  ICS Triplex's Triple Redundancy Technology is the core architecture of its Trusted series safety control system. It achieves extremely high reliability and safety through "three independent hardware channels executing the same task in parallel." The outputs of the three channels are voted on in real-time by a dedicated voter using a "two-out-of-three" majority vote, automatically masking single-channel failures. Simultaneously, the system continuously performs cross-diagnostics and readback tests. If an unrecoverable fault is detected, it immediately redirects to a preset safe state.
• What is a Trusted System?
  The Trusted System is a high-integrity safety-critical control system developed by ICS Triplex (now part of Schneider Electric). Its core is a triple-modal redundancy hardware architecture and a real-time voting mechanism that ensures continuous execution of safety functions and redirection to a defined safe state even under single-point or multiple failures. This system is designed for the highest safety requirements, such as emergency shutdown of oil and gas systems and turbine control. It has passed IEC 61508 SIL 3 certification and is the ultimate hardware barrier against catastrophic accidents in the industrial field.
• What are the differences in safety design between ICS Triplex's Trusted System and DCS?
  Trusted systems are safety instrumented systems specifically designed for fail-safe operation. Their core design utilizes triple-redundant hardware and real-time voting mechanisms to ensure automatic fault tolerance for any single point of failure or potential multiple failures, forcing a return to a preset safe state and meeting the highest Safety Integrity Level (SIL) certification. In contrast, DCS (Distributed Control System) aims for stable and efficient process control. Its redundancy design primarily focuses on improving availability and continuity, lacking a mandatory safety-oriented mechanism for hazardous failures. It typically serves only as a basic process control layer and cannot independently provide the highest level of safety protection.
• How well does a Trusted system adapt to extreme environments?
  Trusted systems are ruggedized to military standards to ensure adaptability to extreme environments. The hardware meets a wide temperature range of -40°C to +70°C and has passed vibration, shock, and high salt spray corrosion tests. It also complies with the highest industrial electromagnetic compatibility standards, ensuring stable execution of safety-critical functions under harsh conditions such as offshore platforms and desert oil fields.
• What is Fail-Safe State?
  Fail-Safe State is a core design principle in safety engineering. It refers to the design that allows a system to automatically and definitively enter a preset safe state when it detects any internal fault, power outage, or abnormal signal. Its core concept is "better to stop safely than to operate dangerously."