Abstract: A method detects the electrical topology of a supply network. The network includes at least one power supply unit, a control unit, at least one field bus device, and at least one measuring device. The field bus devices are supplied by the power supply unit. The measuring device is a smart connector, a field bus device, and/or an operating value sensor integrated in the power supply unit or connected thereto. A load is a field bus device and/or another device presenting a load. The method includes a) activating a load to generate an operating signal, b) receiving the operating signal and/or a time profile of the operating signal, c) detecting the operating value, d) evaluating the detection data from the operating signal, and e) applying an algorithm to determine the topology of the supply network. A control unit includes hardware and software to carry out the method.

Abstract: An electrical plug connector (10) including a housing (12); at least one input-side contact (14, 16, 18); at least one output-side contact (20, 22, 24); and an electrical circuit (30) arranged inside the housing (12). The electrical circuit (30) has a sensor device (32), a control device (34) and a communication interface (38). The sensor device (32) is designed to detect an electrical operating parameter; and the control device (34) is designed to generate output data on the basis of the electrical operating parameter and to output said data by a communication interface (38). A method for operating a system having an electrical plug connector (10) is provided in which the plug connector (10) includes a sensor device (32) for detecting an electrical operating parameter.

Abstract: The disclosed embodiments relate to a system including a connection element for producing a wired connection between a first unit and a second unit, the connection element comprising a diagnostic module; wherein the diagnostic module comprises: a receiving interface, which is set up to receive data from the first unit over a wired data connection, a memory module, which is set up to store the data received from the first unit, and a read-out interface, which is set up to output the data stored by the memory module over a wireless data connection. The disclosed embodiments furthermore relate to a system including the first unit with the connection element directly connected to the first unit, as well as a system with the first unit and the second unit. The disclosed embodiments finally also relate to a method for producing a wired connection.