ADIN1110
Recommended for New Designs
The ADIN1110 is an ultra low power, single port, 10BASE-T1L transceiver design for industrial Ethernet applications and is compliant with the IEEE® 802...
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ADIN1110 on Analog.com
by Michael Jackson and Albert O'Grady
While industrial Ethernet holds the ultimate promise of enabling complete edge-to-cloud process connectivity, it is unlikely to displace classical industrial input/output (IO) networks any time soon. This means that the medium-term challenge for process engineers will be managing both technologies simultaneously while industrial Ethernet is becoming more established.
This blog considers some of the challenges of managing legacy industrial IO networks that industrial Ethernet will help to address. Then it will show how a software-configurable application development kit (ADK) from Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) not only simplifies the management of side-by-side industrial IO and Ethernet networks but can also help to increase flexibility and security.
Many legacy installations use hardwired 4-20mA point-to-point connections, which restrict the ability of the industrial network to evolve and grow over time. These traditional installations have several shortcomings:
Figure 1: Reconfiguring legacy industrial IO interfaces can be time-consuming and costly.
The IEEE 802.3cg 10BASE-T1L industrial Ethernet standard was developed to help address these challenges. It offers 10 Mbps full duplex communication with power over a single twisted-pair Ethernet (SPE) cable up to 1 km in length and allows data to travel from a sensor to the cloud with no need for interface translations that can cause latency, power inefficiencies, or other additional costs. Instructions can be simultaneously communicated in the opposite direction, from the controller to a field instrument. Furthermore, since industrial Ethernet is compatible with other Ethernet standards, data generated at field nodes can be communicated onward to the cloud at even higher speeds.
Software configurable IO (SWIO) field junction boxes can help to improve the flexibility of industrial IO installations as industrial Ethernet is rolling out. This was the driving vision behind ADI’s AD-SWIOT1L-SL application development kit, which simplifies the integration of a secure industrial Ethernet alongside a software-configurable industrial IO interface. The SWIO can be remotely programmed to function as either an analog or digital IO channel, which reduces development and maintenance times and hence reduces costs.
Figure 2: AD-SWIOT1L-SL features a software-configurable analog and digital I/O with a 10BASE-T1L interface.
It will take time for industrial Ethernet to become a widely established industrial network, but in the interim, field junction boxes that can be remotely configured using software offer the ideal transition between legacy IO installations and 10BASE-T1L. Analog Devices' AD-SWIOT1L-SL application development kit demonstrates how to simultaneously implement and manage software configurable IO and industrial Ethernet networks, allowing process engineers to benefit from reduced capital expenditure as well as lower installation complexity and maintenance costs.
You can learn more about ADI's AD-SWIOT1L-SL application development kit here.