New family of SoCs drives down cost of multi-protocol industrial Ethernet communication

Cost-optimized industrial Ethernet communication is now attainable with the newly announced family of Sitara AMIC SoCs from Texas Instruments. The AMIC110 SoC is a multiprotocol industrial communication processor that provides a ready-to-use solution supporting more than 10 industrial Ethernet and fieldbus communication standards. The device leverages TI's unified software platform, Processor SDK, and the programmability of TI's industrial communications subsystem (PRU-ICSS) for industrial communication support in factory automation and control applications. The company’s new SoC helps developers convert existing non-networked designs such as motor drives to networked systems by adding industrial Ethernet. Unlike ASICs, which may only support a single industrial Ethernet standard, SoC's PRU-ICSS supports many different protocols including EtherCAT, Profinet, Ethernet/IP, PROFIBUS master and slave, HSR, PRP, POWERLINK, SERCOS III, CANopen and more are in development. As the market moves to Industry 4.0, a programmable solution opens the door for designs to support more standards with no or minimal hardware changes. Built on the industry-proven Sitara processor platform that features flexible peripherals, industrial temperature ranges and unified software support, the AMIC110 SoC was developed for industrial designers. The SoC can serve as a companion communication device to a MC) such as TI's C2000 MCU, for connected drive applications. By harnessing the strengths of C2000 MCU LaunchPad development kit and the AMIC110 ICE development board, developers can create a highly integrated and scalable Industry 4.0-ready solution. Jump-start your design with the SoC by downloading the EtherCAT Slave and Multiprotocol Industrial Ethernet Reference Design. In addition to the device, this reference design also showcases the DP83822 PHY device that is well suited for Industrial Ethernet applications.