FPGA-based Controllers provide SERCOS III interface.

Press Release Summary:



Based on Spartan-3 FPGA platform of Xilinx, SERCON100 controllers for SERCOS III include hardware functions such as timing, synchronization, and processing of cyclic and non-cyclic data on basis of 2 integrated Ethernet MACs. Master and slave controllers, available for Spartan-3 FPGA with 400K system gates, are integrated in FT256 BGA housing. Also offered, SERCON100S Slave Controller is available for Spartan-3 FPGA with 200K system gates in TQ144 housing.



Original Press Release:



First SERCOS III Controllers Available



New FPGA-based controllers for SERCOS III, the new Ethernet-based implementation of the SERCOS interface® for motion control, are now available. They include all hardware functions, such as timing, synchronization and processing of cyclic and non-cyclic data on the basis of two integrated Ethernet MACs.

Cores for two controllers are available, based on the low-cost Spartan-3 FPGA platform of Xilinx, a leading supplier of programmable logic solutions. The SERCON100 Master and Slave Controllers are available for a Spartan-3 FPGA with 400K system gates (XC3S400).

Both controllers are integrated in a FT256 BGA housing so that a common hardware design can be realized. This makes a very powerful, low-cost standard hardware platform available, which not only reduces implementation efforts, but also ensures a high acceptance by suppliers. In addition, the SERCON100S Slave Controller is available for a Spartan-3 FPGA with 200K system gates (XC3S200) in a TQ144 housing, which further reduces the costs and efforts for a slave hardware design.

Detailed documentation on the SERCOS III controllers, reference designs and example Ethernet interface diagrams are available on request to p.lutz@sercos.de. Spartan-3 FPGAs can be purchased from any of Xilinx' worldwide distributors. The SERCOS III core can be licensed from the SERCOS organizations by contacting p.lutz@sercos.de.

A datasheet for the SERCON 100 can be downloaded from www.sercos.com.

SERCOS III is based on the established real time mechanisms of the original SERCOS interface, using the principle of cyclic data transfer with deterministic timing. This hardware-based synchronization is the indispensable prerequisite for the reliable implementation of challenging motion applications, such as packaging machines, multi-axis machine tools and electronic line shafts in printing machines.

SERCOS III has been defined such that any standard IP telegram (e.g., TCP/IP) can be transmitted in a non-real time slot, in parallel to the real time processing. A SERCOS III control system is able to exchange these telegrams with super-ordinate devices in the network. Thus, SERCOS III combines the established SERCOS real time mechanisms and standardized parameter set with universal communications based on Industrial Ethernet.

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