Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Micrel | Subject: KS8893MQL
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 28 September 2005
Switch chip passed for Ethernet
Powerlink
Three-port switch IC solution for the Ethernet market has been endorsed by the Ethernet Powerlink Standardisation Group.
Micrel has announced that its new generation three-port switch IC solution for the Ethernet market has been endorsed by both Bernecker and Rainer (B and R), an automation specialist firm based in Austria, and the Ethernet Powerlink Standardisation Group, a global consortium for Industrial Ethernet standards The KS8893MQL, which was launched in July 2005, has been chosen by the EPSG for its streamlined technology, including its repeater function which features low latency - a key requirement for Industrial Ethernet applications that increasingly demand out of the box, low cost and less complex solutions
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 5 Dec 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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The KS8893MQL is a fully integrated switch/repeater with MII interface complying with IEEE802.3 standards.
A unique low latency repeater feature provides a maximum port-to-port latency of 310ns, in 100Mbit/s half duplex mode.
This repeater mode conforms to the Ethernet Powerlink Standardisation Group recommendation of using IEEE802.3 repeater hubs to reduce latency deviation.
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The KS8893MQL is currently available in volume quantities.
"The industrial Ethernet market looks set for significant growth over the coming years", stated Grahame Cooney, Director, Micrel Ethernet Group.
"The challenge to adapt 'office' Ethernet for the factory floor will depend on offering robust solutions with real-time features".
"The KS8893MQL three-port switch offers additional unique specific features aimed at supporting industrial Ethernet applications".
"This product was released on the heels of our KS8842M family which also offers the same repeater capabilities in a 2+1 configuration, with a generic 8, 16 or 32bit generic bus interface, instead of an MII interface", Cooney noted.
"ETHERNET Powerlink is the only open and market-proven Real-time Industrial Ethernet network with more than 80,000 nodes in machinery and process control around the world" said Andreas Pfeiffer, Member of the EPSG Board.
"With many more device vendors and users currently integrating the protocol in various industries, the KS8893MQL is an ideal building block to shorten their time to market".
Apart from the repeater mode, the KS8893MQL is a three-port Ethernet device that implements Micrel's LinkMD, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based cable diagnostic function that diagnoses common cabling faults such as open and short circuits.
This, in turn, reduces the cost of ownership for industrial Ethernet networks, along with Hewlett Packard (HP) Auto-MDIX crossover, Loopback modes and 34 MIB (management information base) counters per port for full compliancy statistics gathering.
The KS8893MQL will be made available in both industrial temperature range and RoHS compliant lead-free package options.
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