TI puts three industrial Ethernet protocols on one communications module
Illustrative image: Gavin Allanwood on Unsplash
Texas Instruments has introduced a communications module that lets equipment manufacturers support EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP and Profinet using the same hardware, alongside an IO-Link master with two channels for connecting field devices.
The TICS100MOD runs the selected industrial Ethernet stack on its own processor, exchanging application data with a host MCU or MPU over SPI or QSPI. A different protocol can be selected by changing the firmware loaded at startup, allowing a product family to serve customers using different factory networks without a separate communications board for each one. [1][3]
Inside the 30 × 18 mm module are an AM2612 microcontroller with two Arm Cortex-R5F cores, two Ethernet PHYs and external memory. The advance datasheet specifies two 10/100 Mbit/s ports, a single 3.3 V supply and an operating range of −40°C to +85°C. The protocol stack runs locally, leaving the host to handle the equipment's application rather than the timing and servicing of the industrial network. [2] TI's application brief describes a common API through which that host reads and writes process data. Integrating the clocking, power management and Ethernet interfaces also reduces the circuitry that has to be assembled around the communications processor, while the module approach gives TI a defined hardware platform on which to validate its stacks. [3]
The company says the module and software have undergone protocol compliance and interoperability work, including testing through the relevant industrial Ethernet organisations. That provides a starting point for a finished product's integration and validation, with the end equipment's application and compliance requirements remaining part of its own development. [3]
The second device, TIOM2212, is an IO-Link master with two channels and an integrated frame handler. It connects the sensor and actuator side of a system to a controller, complementing the upstream Ethernet module. TI says the part works with its Sitara networking processors and AM13Ex real-time MCUs. [1]
Preproduction quantities of TIOM2212 are available now, while TICS100MOD availability is planned by the end of 2026. TI will demonstrate the module at electronica in Munich from 10 to 13 November, in Hall C4, stand 159. [1]
