Real-Time Ethernet systems are successfully used and further developed in many applications. Thus, the demands on the resources and functionalities of network controllers are increasing. netX 51/52 network controllers are based on the further developed netX 50 communication architecture which features considerably more internal storage capacity and additional function units. The hardware of netX 51 and netX 50 is compatible. netX 52 consists of the same silicon, but dispenses with an external memory bus and is more cost-effective due to its smaller housing. These three components are thus optimized for designing modular or compact slaves, or as a Real-Time Ethernet controller of a high-performance CPU. The communication channels meet all actual and future requirements of the PROFINET Specification V2.3, as e.g. ”Dynamic Frame Packing“. Moreover, the application of the new PHYs manufactured by Renesas ensures faster throughput times and expanded diagnosis properties.

In connection with a small QSPI Flash the internal memory of more than 670 KByte enables very compact solutions doubling the performance of the netX 50. For processing fast IOs, the application is provided with a second RISC CPU. It works in parallel to the ARM and significantly reduces the demands on the ARM software in case of short bus cycle times. Typical applications are IO-Link Master Gateways. When using gateways, the xPIC carries out the IO-Link data transfer so that the ARM is fully available for processing the transmission protocol to the master. A third Ethernet interface for connecting a PC for diagnosis and configuration purposes is implemented. Alternatively, it can also be used for connecting the netX to a host CPU. On this MII interface the netX will behave like a PHY.

Some Real-Time Ethernet systems use the CANopen object models or the same communication services as with Ethernet/IP and DeviceNet. This makes it necessary to connect CAN to the Real-Time Ethernet system as a “legacy network”. So far, this task required the use of the expensive netX 100 controller with its three communication channels. As an alternative, a dedicated CAN controller is available now.

Owing to these possibilities, the netX 51/52 is significantly more than just a Real-Time Ethernet interface chip equipped with a dual-port memory.