NUREMBURG, Germany,
Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
Developers looking to ease and accelerate their industrial
automation designs can now benefit from the industry's first ARM®
Cortex™-A8 system solution with multiple integrated industrial
communication protocols, offered by Texas Instruments Incorporated
(TI) (NYSE: TXN). The Sitara™ AM335x ARM Cortex-A8
microprocessors, launched last month, deliver power dissipation
levels below 7mW, along with two industrial automation hardware
development tools, complete software and analog signal chain
complement to provide a total industrial automation system
solution. Using this solution, developers can get to market
faster with industrial automation designs, including input/output
(I/O) devices, human machine interfaces (HMIs) and programmable
logic controllers (PLCs).
On-chip industrial peripherals and communication protocols
offer 30 percent BOM reduction
Perfect for industrial automation designs, the AM335x ARM
Cortex-A8 microprocessors include a programmable real-time unit
(PRU) on-chip interface to enable real-time industrial
communications capability (master and slave) to support popular
protocols, such as EtherCAT®, Ethernet/IP, PROFIBUS®, PROFINET®,
POWERLINK and SERCOS III. This unique PRU + ARM architecture
in the AM335x ARM microprocessors eliminates the need for an
external ASIC or FPGA to reduce system complexity and save on bill
of materials (BOM) costs by more than 30 percent. The AM335x
ARM microprocessors also include other key, on-chip industrial
peripherals -- CAN, ADC, USB + PHY and two-port Gigabit Ethernet
with IEEE1588 -- to enable fast network connectivity and rapid data
throughput, as well as connection to sensors, actuators and motor
control.
One scalable platform for many different end
equipments
Designers can take advantage of the pin-to-pin and software
compatibility of the AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessors and
design several end equipments with the devices that best fit their
industrial automation need, such as:
- Drives and I/O-level devices: Specifically
targeted to enable sensors, actuators, motor drives, communications
modules and gateways needing industrial slave communications, the
AM3356 and AM3357 ARM microprocessors offer a low-performance 275
MHz solution. These two devices do not require an external memory
or an operating system making the system solution simple and
compact.
- Industrial PLC applications: Offering high
performance of up to 720 MHz, the AM3356 and AM3357 ARM
microprocessors are well suited for high-performance PLC
applications that need to control various I/O devices in an
automation system such as electric motors, pneumatic or hydraulic
cylinders, magnetic relays solenoids and more.
- HMI products: Ideal for designing HMI products,
the AM3354, AM3358 and AM3359 ARM microprocessors offer an on-chip
3D graphics accelerator, which combined with the integrated touch
screen controller, enables rich and intuitive graphical user touch
screen interfaces. For HMI applications not requiring
integrated industrial communications, the AM3354 and AM3352 and ARM
microprocessors offer lower cost options.
Get to market quickly with two industrial development tools
and complete software
Accompanying the AM335x ARM microprocessors are two industrial
hardware development tools to enable customers to easily
incorporate industrial communication standards in their industrial
automation designs:
- AM3359 Industrial development kit (IDK) from TI is an
extensive development tool enabling customers to evaluate all
popular industrial communications and motor control applications.
The AM3359 IDK has many different evaluation features such as
512 MB of DDR2 memory, dual motor drivers, digital I/O, a C2000™
Piccolo microcontroller with integrated analog to digital
converters, a Stellaris® ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller, USB,
Ethernet, SPI, I2C and much more. The AM3359 IDK is
$895 and available for order
today.
- AM3359 Industrial communications engine (ICE) from TI is
a pocket-sized, cost-optimized and form-factor optimized hardware
tool for I/O devices and sensors needing to add industrial
communications quickly and easily. The AM3359 ICE is $99 and available for order today.
Designers can also utilize the AM335x evaluation module for
$995 to begin development. Further
easing development is a software development kit (SDK) with free,
production-ready, certified software for industrial automation,
supporting Linux, Android and Windows Embedded Compact 7 for
high-end applications. For low-end applications, the SDK
contains the ultra-compact, real-time SYS/BIOS operating system.
The SDK also includes support for popular industrial
communications protocols, industrial automation design demos,
applications notes and videos.
TI offers the ability to complete an entire system design with
TI analog ICs, including industrial Ethernet and isolated CAN
transceivers, motor drivers, temperature sensors and power
management devices, plus wireless connectivity options to
complement the Sitara AM335x ARM microprocessors.
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments semiconductor innovations help 80,000
customers unlock the possibilities of the world as it could be --
smarter, safer, greener, healthier and more fun. Our
commitment to building a better future is ingrained in everything
we do -- from the responsible manufacturing of our semiconductors,
to caring for our employees, to giving back inside our
communities. This is just the beginning of our story.
Learn more at www.ti.com.
Trademarks
Sitara is trademark of Texas Instruments. All trademarks
and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.
SOURCE Texas Instruments