METHOD AND APPARATUS TO IDENTIFY CONNECTED DEVICE TYPES ON AN I/O CHANNEL BASED ON CURRENT CHARACTERISTICS

A method, system and apparatus for identifying a type of device connected to I/O (Input/Output) channels of an I/O module, can involve applying a current for a predefined time duration to one or more I/O channels of an I/O module, initiating a current readback at a regular interval of time within the predefined time duration, determining values of the current readback for each of a time interval during the predefined time duration, storing the values of the current readback in a memory associated with the I/O module, determining a pattern as a function of the values of the current readback and a sample of time interval for a device connected to the one or more I/O channels, and identifying a type of the device connected to the one or more I/O channels based on a determined pattern of a current sink of the device connected to the one or more I/O channels.