The CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) has announced new product solutions designed to lower the cost and to speed development of CC-Link-compatible field devices, including solutions for the 1 GB Industrial Ethernet CC-Link IE Field Network.
Renesas Electronics Corp. has developed the R-IN32M3 series of Industrial Ethernet communication chips with support for multiple communication protocols. These application-specific standard ICs (ASSPs) provide 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.
Likewise, Altima Corp.'s intellectual property (IP) core for CC-Link IE Field is designed for implementation in field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) manufactured by Altera Corp. in the United States.
Altera's FPGAs are widely used in the industrial equipment field. This Altima IP core is the equivalent of the CP220 CC-Link IE Field intelligent device station ASIC. It supports both cyclic and transient data exchange. Developers can now integrate this Altima IP and their own design IP into one Altera FPGA to produce unique products with CC-Link IE Field networking compatibility. Altima plans to begin selling the IP core in March.
CC-Link IE Field Network, based on the IEEE 802.3 standard, provides an ultra-high-speed data acquisition backbone for manufacturing process improvement, process and part traceability, equipment control and monitoring, and failure detection.
Introduced in 2000 as an open fieldbus network, the original CC-Link enabled high-speed transmission and processing of control and information data to satisfy the requirements of automation control systems. In 2007, the CC-Link IE Control Network was introduced to enable 1-GB industrial Ethernet communications between automation controllers over fiber-optic cable. Now, CC-Link IE Field networking provides 1-GB industrial Ethernet communications to field devices over Cat5E cable.
