netSHIELD 90-RE: New evaluation board for STM32 Nucleo 64 and Nucleo 144
Hattersheim, 16. Apr. 2025 – The Hilscher Gesellschaft für Systemautomation mbH has released the new evaluation board netSHIELD 90-RE for STM32-Nucleo applications. netSHIELD 90-RE is the successor to the established netSHIELD 52-RE and supports both Nucleo-64 and Nucleo-144 development boards from STMicroelectronics via the Arduino Uno host interface.
NSHIELD 90-RE allows the user to connect a microcontroller-based application to many relevant industrial communication networks:
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Unlike the netSHIELD 52-RE, the new netSHIELD 90-RE is based on Hilscher's netX-90 system-on-chip (SoC), the smallest multiprotocol network controller on the market. In conjunction with the Nucleo-64 or Nucleo-144 board, the netX 90 is implemented as a companion chip to the STM32 processor.
The ARM-based netX 90 SoC architecture is designed from the ground up to meet the highest requirements for flexibility, determinism, and performance in terms of multiprotocol capability and low latency for short cycle times. The heterogeneous dual-core architecture features two ARM processor cores. One is dedicated to the communication side, which is fully covered by Hilscher along with the corresponding protocol firmware. This processor ensures the multiprotocol capability of the netX 90 through its flexible communication subsystem and can thus support all common industrial communication protocols.
The communication subsystem, i.e., the protocol stack, runs independently on the netX 90 SoC and requires only minimal memory and very limited CPU resources from the STM32 host microcontroller. A protocol-specific firmware image for the netX 90 network controller is stored in a serial flash memory. Thanks to an integrated crypto core, the netSHIELD 90-RE is also suitable for implementing upcoming cybersecurity functions.
The second ARM processor is exclusively available to the customer for their application implementation.
- Integrated 8 MByte Serial Flash Memory, 8 MByte SDRAM
- SPI host interface between customer host device like STM32 MCU and netX 90 companion chip
- Two Ethernet ports (RJ45) with Real-Time Ethernet switch for line and ring topologies
- Status and communication LEDs
- Fieldbus module interface
- As STM32 Nucleo expansion board with Arduino Uno compatible footprint
- Power supply (5V) via Mini-B USB connector or host interface connector
- Firmware download to the device via SPM host interface, webserver, or on-board USB with virtual COM port
- On-board user peripherals: Reset button, boot mode selection
- KiCad schematic and layout files as reference design
- Firmware for evaluation (with limited functionality) is available from Hilscher as free download
- Software expansion package for the STM32Cube™ IDE application examples available
Related links
Hattersheim, 25. Feb. 2025– Hilscher Gesellschaft für Systemautomation has added a new evaluation board to its single-pair Ethernet (SPE) technology portfolio. The NXEB-90-SPE board is based on Hilscher's multiprotocol-capable device controller netX 90 and offers users and developers numerous options for developing and evaluating industrial applications with SPE.
