PHYTEC (Mainz) and port (Halle) expand their embedded systems portfolios with integrated supporting PROFINET and EtherNet/IP

PHYTEC (Mainz) and port (Halle) expand their embedded systems portfolios with an integrated industrial communication technology offering supporting the PROFINET and EtherNet/IP protocol standards.

PHYTEC and port will introduce at the SPS/IPC an embedded board solution with integrated PROFINET and EtherNet/IP industrial Ethernet support. The phyBOARD-Wega Single Board Computer (SBC), populated with the Texas Instruments AM335x processor, is the first PHYTEC board to features PROFINET CC-A/CC-B in RT1 and EtherNet/IP. Wega also offers Gigabit (Gbit) simple line structure when using the on-chip Ethernet switch on the AM335x.

System developers will save considerable time, effort and costg by using an off-shelf PHYTEC board with integrate PROFINET CCA/CCB-RT1 and EtherNet/IP. Licensing is also included in the hardware purchase price. Embedded communication technology and protocol libraries are especially applicable for product development companies offering High Mix, Low Volume (HMLV) solutions.  The PHYTEC and port offering is attractive even in annual volumes as low as 100 to 500 units, and also provides easy access to Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 solutions for mid-sized ODMs.
As of Q2/2015 PHYTEC will offer the phyBOARD-Wega in an off-shelf PROFINET (PN) as well as an EtherNet/IP (EIP) option. Customers can select from both protocols via a single software switch.

PHYTEC will also integrate PROFIT and EtherNet/IP circuitries and functionalities in its customizable SBCplus Single Board Computer offering as of Q1/2015 as re-usable building blocks.  This will make these networking features available to customers as options across all platforms.
PHYTEC’s phyCORE-AM335x SOM is the CPU core at the heart of the phyBOARD-Wega. AM335x with Linux offers an ideal solution for combining Linux networking functionalities and industrial requirements.

port’s PROFINET protocol stack offers PROFINET device/slave functionality including drivers and tools for standard Linux systems. When using the standard Linux High Precision Timer, real-time patches for the kernel can recycle times up to 1ms.
The PROFINET control stack also supports dynamic configuration, including removal and insertion of modules in slots, as well as class CC-A and CC-B real-time Class 1 conformance.  This conformance is also known as PROFINET RT.

The PROFINET stack also offers simple line structure. While an external component is needed, the on-chip Ethernet switch of the AM335x eliminates this need for external components in support of Gbit line structure. Developers thus benefit from reduced system costs and size, as well as increased reliability.
The combination of Linux support, an industrial PROFINET network and Gbit line structure in a single device provides an added value. Standard Linux includes the use of Linux tools.