Network device supports CC-Link industrial Ethernet (IE), says Renesas
High speed and high precision motion control of time synchronisation accuracy of less than one millionth of a second between applications is a feature of the R-IN32M4-CL3 IC for industrial Ethernet (IE) communication.
The IC for IE communication anticipates support for CC-Link IE time sensitive networking (TSN), a communication standard for next-generation Ethernet TSN technology.
It is believed to be one of the first controllers to support CC-Link IE TSN. It satisfies the strict specifications of less than one-millionth of a second time synchronisation accuracy between applications, accelerating TSN support for applications such as AC servos, actuators and vision sensors which demands high-speed responsive control, as well as remote I/O widely used in network communication. Users are able to implement high-speed and high-precision motion control. TSN enables seamlessly linked interoperation between information technology (IT) networks and operational technology (OT) networks, allowing product models or production volumes to be changed in real-time, while also providing flexible support for the manufacture of multiple product types in varying quantities and boosts factory productivity overall.
In addition to driver software, Renesas will provide the TCP/IP protocol software, CC-Link IE TSN protocol software, and CC-Link IE Field protocol software.
The R-IN32M4-CL3 features Renesas’ R-IN engine, a GbE PHY, and 1.3Mbyte of on-chip RAM to support high-speed, high-volume communication with no real-time OS software or external components required, which can reduce the complex development burdens.
The R-IN engine is based on an Arm Cortex-M4 core with floating point unit (FPU), real-time OS accelerator and Ethernet communication accelerator. Implementing real-time OS processing in hardware allows users to offload the CPU and accelerate processing speeds.
The R-IN32M4-CL3 also supports the existing CC-Link IE Field network protocol. Customers can use the IC in existing networking products to expand capabilities for next-generation network functionality simply by changing the software.
Renesas will begin mass production orders for the R-IN32M4-CL3 starting February 2020.
