Companion Chip

A companion chip refers to a secondary integrated circuit that works in conjunction with a primary microprocessor or microcontroller to assist with specific functions. These functions can include managing power, handling input/output operations, providing additional memory interfaces, or facilitating connectivity protocols. Companion chips are designed to offload specialized tasks from the main processor, enhancing system performance, reducing power consumption, and simplifying the overall design of electronic devices. An example includes the Northbridge and Southbridge chips in traditional PC architectures, where they handle memory and peripheral interfaces, respectively. 

In automation technology, companion chips play a crucial role in facilitating seamless connectivity and interoperability between devices and systems. For example, they offload industrial communication tasks from main processors to improve their capabilities and enable efficient communication in industrial environments. These chips are often specialized for specific tasks related to communication protocols, data exchange and network connectivity. 

Companion chips serve as embedded network interfaces or stand-alone gateways, connecting millions of industrial devices to various fieldbuses or industrial ethernet networks. They act as translators between different protocols and network standards, ensuring that devices from different manufacturers can communicate effectively. By bridging communication gaps, it enables the integration of diverse devices, such as sensors, actuators, PLCs, HMIs and drives, into a cohesive industrial ecosystem. They serve a variety of purposes, such as improving data processing speeds, or facilitating specialized functions like encryption or signal conditioning.  

Companion chips play a vital role in enhancing the performance, reliability, and flexibility, contributing to greater efficiency and productivity in various manufacturing and process control environments. Their role in ensuring interoperability between devices from different vendors and supporting a wide range of communication protocols makes them vital for the smooth operation of modern industrial processes.  

Companion chips have a wide range of applications across industries such as automotive, industrial automation, embedded systems, and consumer electronics. They play a vital role in enabling connectivity, enhancing functionality, reducing costs, supporting specific features like image processing and communication protocols, and ensuring seamless integration within various systems to meet the specific needs of different applications. 

Industrial Automation Technology

Companion chips are extensively used in industrial automation systems to enhance communication between sensors, actuators, controllers, and other industrial devices. They facilitate real-time data acquisition, signal processing, and control functions, enabling seamless operation and monitoring of manufacturing processes, robotics, and machinery. 

Consumer Electronics

Companion chips are increasingly used in consumer electronics, for example to bridge the gap between powerful application processors designed for consumer devices and the specific requirements of automotive applications. These chips facilitate the interconnection of consumer-grade chips with in-car displays by providing standard interfaces. 

Aerospace and Defense

In aerospace and defense applications, companion chips are employed in avionics systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), radar systems, and military communication networks. They support mission-critical functions such as navigation, guidance, surveillance, and secure communication, ensuring the reliability, performance, and security of defense systems and platforms. 

Networking and Connectivity

In networking equipment such as routers, switches, and gateways, companion chips play a vital role in handling data processing, packet forwarding, and protocol management. They optimize network performance, ensure reliable data transmission, and support various communication standards, enhancing connectivity in both wired and wireless networks. 

Companion chips in the realm of industrial automation and communication offer a diverse range of key aspects that are instrumental in enhancing connectivity, enabling efficient data exchange, and supporting interoperability between devices. These technical features vary depending on the specific companion chip and its intended application. 

Communication Protocols Support

Companion chips for industrial communication should support a wide range of communication protocols such as Modbus TCP, PROFINET, OPC UA and others. Thanks to this versatility, these chips enable seamless communication between devices working with different protocols in industrial environments. 

Specialized Functionality

Companion chips are engineered to provide specialized functions that complement the capabilities of the main processor or controller. This can include tasks such as data processing, protocol handling, signal conditioning, encryption/decryption, and many more. 

Real-Time Capabilities

Many companion chips are designed to operate in real-time environments, ensuring timely processing and response to critical events or data inputs. This is essential for applications where timing accuracy is crucial, such as industrial control systems. Some companion chips provide integrated Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) solutions that support real-time control applications. These chips are crucial for ensuring low latency and high reliability in industrial automation processes. 

Security Features

Given the increasing focus on cybersecurity, companion chips include security features such as hardware-based encryption/decryption engines and authentication protocols to safeguard sensitive data and protect against unauthorized access or tampering. It ensures data integrity and protects against cyber threats. They usually support encryption protocols and other security mechanisms to safeguard communication within industrial networks. 

Scalability and Flexibility

Companion chips should have a certain degree of scalability to fulfil different system requirements. They should be able to be configured or programmed to adapt to different applications. This flexibility allows them to support a wide range of industrial automation and communication scenarios. They can adapt to different system requirements and support customization for specific applications. 

Data Exchange

Companion chips facilitate efficient data exchange between devices by acting as translators between different protocols and standards. They ensure that data is transmitted accurately and reliably across interconnected devices. 

Companion chips are engineered with a blend of specialized functionality and flexibility to address the unique challenges of modern industrial environments. They help to enable seamless communication, reliable data exchange, real-time control, network and scalability. Their versatility in supporting various protocols and standards makes them indispensable components for ensuring the smooth operation of modern industrial processes. 

A companion chip for industrial applications offers significant benefits by extending the capabilities of general purpose microprocessors and microcontrollers with special features and functions that they do not inherently possess. By integrating a companion chip, industrial systems can achieve improved performance, real-time communication and support for industry-specific protocols. 

In a two-chip architecture, the host application benefits from greater scalability in both processing power and functionality. This flexibility allows developers to choose the most suitable general-purpose microprocessor or microcontroller depending on the specific requirements of their application, whether it is automation, robotics or industrial IoT. 

Outsourcing complex tasks such as industrial communication, safety or signal processing to the companion chip relieves the main processor. This modular approach simplifies development, increases system reliability and ensures compatibility with evolving industry standards and protocols, making it a cost-effective and future-proof solution. 

Hilscher specializes in industrial communication solutions, particularly in the field of fieldbus and real-time ethernet (RTE) protocols as well as in the area of Industry 4.0 and IIoT. The basis of its portfolio for industrial communication solutions is the in-house developed netX chip family. The netX SoCs can be used as companion chips alongside a main processor, serve as a communication interface between industrial devices and networks, and they support all relevant industrial fieldbus and RTE protocols like PROFIBUS, CC-Link, CANopen, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT as controller or device. 

The multi-protocol capability of the netX communication processors makes them unique on the market. Simply reloading the protocol stacks in the form of the dedicated netX firmware is enough to switch from one standard to another. This allows users to communicate with one piece of hardware in a wide variety of industrial networks. Both, netX hardware and software come from a single source. This enables companies to minimize development risks, reduce external interfaces and always be up to date with the latest standards and certifications. This allows them to concentrate on their own processes and applications while Hilscher takes care of the communication. 

Next to the SoCs as a design-in solution, Hilscher also provides their netX technology as ready-to-use communication components, such as PC cards, embedded modules, and gateways. These components can be easier integrated into applications, providing a unified API interface for standardized integration.