Low-power Industrial Ethernet Communication Chips from Renesas

One of the most distinctive features of the R-IN32M3 is the high-speed operation with the basic function of the real-time OS in hardware to implement high-speed real-time response and high-precision communication control for industrial Ethernet communication. Because the hardware in the new R-IN32M3 series covers heavy load operations for the CPU, the combination of the CPU and integrated real-time OS offload engine (HW-RTOS) result in ultra-high-speed real-time responsiveness five to ten times that of a conventional software real-time OS. In addition, the fluctuation caused by inconsistencies in the operation time with conventional CPU processing is reduced substantially from one-fifth to one-tenth of the previous level. The new R-IN32M3 series include an integrated ARM Cortex-M3 CPU (100 MHz). The new Ethernet controllers accept protocols for industrial Ethernet communication such as CC-Link IE and EtherCAT and will accept the control area network which is heavily used in industries and generic interface such as universal asynchronous receiver transmitter. There are also plans to provide support for the SSCNET III/H optical network standard, which uses fully synchronous communication to deliver improved performance.

The industrial Ethernet communication market, which demands faster communication between devices and their efficient central control, is growing rapidly because there is increasing need to boost factory production efficiency and improve the precision of machine control. Increasing high-speed real-time responsiveness and reducing processing time deviation in communication and machine control are particularly important issues. Also, cutting costs, reducing power consumption, and improving safety are much more important than in other markets. The newly developed R-IN32M3-CL and R-IN32M3-EC are designed to meet the industrial network market requirements.

Key Features of the R-IN32M3 Series

1) Integrated real-time OS offload engine (HW-RTOS) and Ethernet accelerator

Industrial Ethernet communication applications require support for a large number of tasks, high-speed time synchronization, and low power consumption. By implementing real-time OS processing in hardware, which previously imposed a substantial load on the CPU, and standard Ethernet communication protocol processing such as checksum calculation and header sorting, processing speed is increased five to ten times. The HW-RTOS driver is µITRON compliant. Plans call for support for additional OSs to be added in future.

2) Multi-protocol support (CC-Link IE, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, etc.)

The R-IN32M3-CL with CC-Link IE support integrates a slave controller supporting CC-Link IE Field as a circuit. CC-Link is a 1 Gbps industrial Ethernet communication standard that is the industry’s fastest and is promoted by the CC-Link Partner Association, a Japanese organization promoting open networks. The R-IN32M3-EC with EtherCAT support, on the other hand, integrates a slave controller supporting the EtherCAT industrial Ethernet communication standard. Both feature an ARM Cortex-M3 (100 MHz) 32-bit RISC CPU, a media access control with low-latency 2-port switch function required by industrial Ethernet protocols, and large on-chip memory. Support by protocol software for EtherNet/IP, FL-net and some others are under final preparation. In addition to communication interfaces with industrial Ethernet support, communication interfaces such as CC-Link, CAN, serial peripheral interface, and UART can be implemented as well, allowing R-IN32M3 series products to be used as gateway modules to an industrial Ethernet network.

3) R-IN32M3-CL with 1 Gbps MAC and R-IN32M3-EC with 10/100Mbps EtherPHY

The R-IN32M3-CL, which implements the CC-Link IE protocol in hardware, incorporates a 1 Gbps Ethernet MAC, so 1 Gbps Ethernet communication can be achieved by adding an external 1 Gbps EtherPHY. The R-IN32M3-EC, in contrast, integrates a 2-port 10/100Mbps EtherPHY, so no external PHY and smaller module board is required, which contributes to making a smaller module board. Note that the hardware purchase cost is roughly identical whether an external or an internal PHY is used.

See here for the separate specifications sheet.