As industrial plants, products, and systems are becoming increasingly networked, the rapid adoption of multi-protocol Industrial Ethernet is shaping the industrial market in this new era of high-speed networking. Over a dozen communication protocols are available for industrial Ethernet and field bus, each with specific advantages and disadvantages for different industrial applications. These protocols are optimized to provide reliable operation in industrial field environments by enabling real-time data collection and the exchange of process data. This document overviews the Industrial Ethernet and Industrial IO communication protocol offering on TI's AM26x series of Arm®-based microcontrollers (MCUs). AM26x supports a wide variety of protocols. This document covers the following:
Arm® is a registered trademark of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere.
EtherCAT® is a registered trademark of Beckhoff Automation GmbH, Germany.
PROFINET® is a registered trademark of PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO).
EtherNet/IP® is a registered trademark of ODVA, INC.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
The AM26x microcontroller family comes packaged with a fully integrated networking solution and industry-leading control peripherals. This positions AM26x MCUs as an excellent solutions for Industry 4.0 enablers like Remote IO, micro PLCs, Industrial Gateways for sensors, and Industrial switches.
The AM26x System-on-Chip (SoC) family provides solutions for both industrial Ethernet connectivity and IO-Link connectivity using a real-time subsystem called the PRU-ICSSG. PRU-ICSS stands for Programmable Real-time Unit and Industrial Communication Subsystem. PRU-ICSS is a low-latency microcontroller subsystem that is included in many Texas Instruments processors and is efficient for low-latency and I/O control. It enables industrial communication protocols with 100Mbps speed. The deterministic IO is used for the IO-Link master solution with up to 8 channels simultaneously.
TI provides the industrial software kit, which consists of field bus communication protocol software stacks through the industrial communication SDK. The SDK enables real-time industrial communications for TI processors. For more info, visit the Industrial Communication Page for AM261x and AM263Px .