Micrel's Industrial Ethernet Breakthrough

I had the pleasure to meet with Mike Jones, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Micrel and Eberhard Haug, Senior FAE for Central Europe, who presented Micrel's groundbreaking new technology which offers a highly compact, energy efficient IEEE 1588v2 switch solution. Next-generation Industrial Automation Systems are increasingly being architected around distributed, high-performance networks that blend low-messaging latencies, flexible topologies, and integrated timing. Several so-called Industrial Ethernet frameworks are emerging based on standard Ethernet communications tightly coupled with IEEE 1588v2 distributed synchronization. IEEE 1588v2 offers sub-microsecond performance, flexible timing modes, and widespread acceptance among a growing ecosystem of vendors. A key challenge for any communications standard is the cost to realize the benefits. Micrel's recent EtherSynch™ product family introduction provides systems designers with the most highly integrated IEEE 1588v2 network attachment device available, significantly reducing the physical form factor, power consumption, as well as overall BOM costs. This article examines the implications of integrating Ethernet and IEEE 1588v2 for Industrial Automation, and the Micrel's EtherSynch™ product architecture and benefits for Industrial Ethernet networks. Industrial Automation is being radically transformed by the venerable Local Area Network (LAN) standard deployed in over a billion devices- Ethernet. Micrel accelerates this trend by extending its Industrial Ethernet product line, with a family of IEEE 1588-enabled Ethernet switches that provide a new standard for integration, features, and power consumption. Micrel Inc., (Nasdaq:MCRL), an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth communications and Ethernet IC solutions, recently introduced the KSZ84xx family of IEEE 1588v2-enabled Ethernet devices for Industrial Ethernet and Power Substation Automation applications. The groundbreaking solution employs Micrel's EtherSynch™ technology, which integrates IEEE 1588v2 distributed synchronization, Ethernet switching, and Precision GPIO in an energy efficient, compact package. The ICs are currently sampling with volume production expected in the first quarter of 2012.

The KSZ84xx platform is the most compact, highly integrated, and energy efficient IEEE 1588v2 10/100 switch available, supporting both centralized and distributed network topologies. A full complement of Precise Timing Protocol timing modes are provided, including the Transparent Clock (TC) introduced in IEEE 1588v2, along with a range of host interfaces capable of interfacing to a wide range of CPUs. The KSZ84xx switches are particularly well-suited for distributed network topologies which are preferred for Industrial Ethernet networks. The ICs feature a hardware-oriented architecture that reduces the synchronization and communications processing demands on the Host CPU. Such features as Source Addressing, One-Step TC corrections, and Bypass mode facilitate both Ring and Linear topologies. By integrating the IEEE 1588 PTPv2 time stamping as close to the physical layer as possible, sub-100ns synchronization performance has been demonstrated. The KSZ84xx product family consists of:

• KSZ8463: IEEE 1588v2, 3-port switch with MII/RMII interface
• KSX8462: IEEE 1588v2, 3-port switch with generic host interface
• KSX8441: IEEE 1588v2, Controller with generic host interface

Micrel also intends to offer a pre-qualified Precise Timing Protocol software stack, which has been integrated with the driver and optimized to exploit the KSZ84xx architecture. Source code is available under license. Please contact your local sales representative for more information. "The KSZ84xx is a cost-effective solution for implementing Industrial Ethernet networks, reducing size and power consumption vs. FPGA-based designs," noted Dr. J.C. Lin, vice president Micrel Ethernet. "Such a high level of integration reduces costs, making IEEE 1588v2/Ethernet a viable contender for FieldBus applications by replacing point-to-point serial interconnects." Like all of Micrel's LAN Solution products, the KSZ84xx significantly reduces operational power consumption, which is less than 300 mW. Advanced power management features complement the inherently low-power Physical Layer design, including Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE- IEEE 802.3az), Wake on LAN (WoL), Energy Detect Power Down (EDPD), and software power down. Standby power savings of over 95 percent are achievable, rending the new platform the lowest power, most energy-efficient IEEE 1588v2/Ethernet solution available. www.micrel.com