IO-Link single chip controller

The NEC IO-Link device controller solution was developed in partnership with ELMOS Semiconductor AG and Technologie Management Gruppe, Karlsruhe .

Introduction

NEC Electronics’ single chip IO-Link controller enables you to integrate both IO-Link communications and sensor application software on the same device. With 13 Dhrystone MIPS, dedicated DMA controller to handle communications data, and 64KB of Flash there are more than enough resources to support most sensor or actuator applications.

Included in the device is the 78K0R 16-bit CPU, a comprehensive set of peripherals, 24V IO-Link device transceiver circuit, and an abundant amount of Flash and RAM. The IO-Link single chip controller comes with the complete device protocol stack delivered as an easy to use software library file.

To get you started on your IO-Link project, a simple, low cost development kit is available which includes everything you need to develop an IO-Link sensor or actuator product and optionally includes a USB driven master device to allow for testing your device application.

Operating Conditions

Supply voltage at pin VDDH
- for transmitter functionality:
  Min: 8 V / Typ: 24 V / Max: 36 V
- for receiver functionality:
  Min: 18 V / Typ: 24 V / Max: 30 V
Operating temperature range
- -40 deg C to +85 deg C

Mechanical Features

QFN (Quad Flat Pack - No Leads) package
56-pins
8mm x 8mm package size

IO-Link Device Stack Features

The IO-Link stack is compliant with version 1.0 of the IO-Link specification and is available as an object code library. The stack is free of charge for development use and is included in the Link-It! development kit. A license fee is required once your product is qualified for mass production. Please contact NEC Electronics for more information about the licensing terms.

Key Features:

All IO-Link Features according to Specification V1.0 are supported
Use DMA feature of microcontroller

Less interrupt load

Adapt the stack to the applications requirements
Clear separation of hardware abstraction and application
Reach down to memory footprints as little as:

Without SPDU
RAM: 97 Bytes ROM: 1290 Bytes
With SPDU
RAM: 351 Bytes ROM: 1549 Bytes

Preserve real time operation through use of interrupt modes

IO-Link stack can run in Interrupt mode
Other timing critical operations can run in interrupt mode
Only SPDU Handling should be done in normal program mode

Requires only one timer running in interval mode

The Timer can run at speeds from 2 MHz to 20 MHz

IO-Link stack requires only two dedicated interrupts

Receive Interrupt and Timer Interrupt

Process data is consistently stored in a triple buffer
Process data is writable at anytime without blocking interrupts
Configured using one single file

Fast and simple software integration

To integrate the TMG IO-Link Device developers are provided with some useful features:

Board Support Package (BSP)

With the BSP the user can configure the IO-Link interface such as the receiving and transmitting function of the IO-Link UART, the wakeup function, Interrupts and timer settings.

Application interface

To transport information between the application and the IO-Link stack, simply call the “Process data handling” and “On-Request Data” handling functions.

Stack Management

Use the stack manager to initialize, start the stack, and regularly call the “Run” function in order to process SPDU requests.

Using the IO-Link controller in your design

With a versatile range of peripherals NEC Electronics IO-Link applications controller is the component of choice for sensor and actuator applications. The 13 Dhrystone MIPS delivered by the 78K0R CPU makes it a perfect fit for many different types of application, either used as a primary or secondary controller.

A large amount of Flash memory is available on the device allowing developers to integrate both IO-Link communications and their application onto a single device. This saves both cost and vitally important board space in today’s ultra small sensor products.

Replace an existing microcontroller with the NEC IO-Link controller

Developers can use the on-chip 10-bit analogue to digital converter for signal conditioning or for direct connection to analogue sensors. A number of dedicated PWMs are also available, particularly useful for actuator designs.

Add the NEC IO-Link controller to an existing design

Add value to existing analogue sensor designs by including IO-Link connectivity. The single chip concept enables fast and easy integration of new functionality that can provide great differentiation at low investment costs.

Connect directly to a sensor ASIC for new sensor designs

Many advanced applications include dedicated custom ASIC based sensor devices. A number of serial interfaces are available on the IO-Link controller to make integration simple. Because the IO-Link controller has abundant Flash memory and CPU performance developers can also add new features through additional software.

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