New family of Texas Instruments 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 (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN). 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. For more information, see www.ti.com/amic110-pr.

TI’s new Sitara AMIC110 SoC helps developers convert existing non-networked designs such as motor drives to networked systems by adding industrial Ethernet. Unlike application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which may only support a single industrial Ethernet standard, AMIC110 SoC’s programmable real-time unit (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 Sitara AMIC110 SoC can serve as a companion communication device to a microcontroller (MCU) such as TI’s C2000™ MCU, for connected drive applications. By harnessing the strengths of C2000 MCU LaunchPad™ development kit and the AMIC110 industrial communication engine (ICE) development board, developers can create a highly integrated and scalable Industry 4.0-ready solution. Jump-start your design with the AMIC110 SoC by downloading the EtherCAT Slave and Multiprotocol Industrial Ethernet Reference Design. In addition to the AMIC110, this reference design also showcases the DP83822 PHY device that is well suited for Industrial Ethernet applications.

Pricing and availability
The AMIC110 SoC is available now through the TI store and authorized distributors at US$6.00 in 1,000-unit quantities.