The global site of the UK's leading magazine for automation, motion engineering and power transmission
19 March, 2024

LinkedIn
Twitter
Twitter link

Cards bring multi-protocol Ethernet support to PCs

16 December, 2015

The Swedish industrial communications specilaist HMS Industrial Networks has developed a PC interface card that supports numerous industrial Ethernet standards, allowing users to connect PC-based slave applications to EtherCat, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, Profinet IRT/RT, Powerlink and standard TCP/IP.

Previously, says HMS, it has been complicated to develop PC-based measurement, visualisation or service applications for several Ethernet standards, because different interface cards and APIs were needed for each protocol.

The new IXXAT INpact card – available in PCIe and PCIe Mini formats – overcomes this problem, with uniform drivers allowing users to switch between protocols quickly and without extensive programing. A Flash update facility is said to make the cards future-proof.

HMS’ IXXAT INpact card allows PC applications to support various industrial Ethernet standards

The cards, which offer low latencies and deterministic real-time behaviour, include a two-port Ethernet interface that supports protocol-specific switch functions such as IRT for Profinet, DLR for EtherNet/IP and Hub for Powerlink.




Magazine
  • To view a digital copy of the latest issue of Drives & Controls, click here.

    To visit the digital library of past issues, click here

    To subscribe to the magazine, click here

     

Poll

"Do you think that robots create or destroy jobs?"

Newsletter
Newsletter

Events

Most Read Articles