Product category:
Embedded Computing and Control
News Release from: Rexroth Electric Drives and Controls | Subject: SERCON816
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 03 April 2001
Cheaper chip makes access to SERCOS
faster
Access to the standard servo interface system SERCOS has become even faster and less expensive, thanks to a new interface chip, the SERCON816 from Thompson.
Access to the standard servo interface system SERCOS has become even faster and less expensive, thanks to a new interface chip, the SERCON816 from Thompson SERCOS is the world's only nonproprietary real-time digital communication standard for motion control and is strongly supported by Rexroth Indramat and many other manufacturers worldwide, such as Rockwell Automation in USA
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The SERCON816 ASIC has quadruple the speed capability of its predecessor but has more than halved in price.
The new 816 is pin compatible with the current SERCON410B ASIC, and not only supports the 2 or 4Mbit/s transfer rate now used, but also offers the option of 8 or 16Mbit/s for future requirements.
Whilst the SERCOS ASIC originally cost about $25, the new chip's price is expected to drop below $10 in the near future.
The communication ASIC is the core of SERCOS technology.
The physical layer, combined with the protocol, enables the extremely high level of determinism required for multi-axis motion control.
Furthermore, the SERCOS interface achieves this determinism without incurring the penalty of a high data transfer rate.
SERCOS allows the data transfer rate to be matched to system dynamics.
A comparison study demonstrated that the effective data transfer rate of 16Mbit/s SERCOS interface is comparable to the effective data transfer rate of 100Mbit/s Ethernet.
Given the fact that the majority of today's SERCOS applications can be covered at 2Mbit/s, 16Mbit/s offers tremendous opportunity to expand applications and functionality.
SERCON816 delivers higher overall performance.
The dual port RAM has been extended from 1000 to 2000 words, and a watchdog has been added to control the microprocessor's access to the ASIC.
In addition to the present 650nm fibre-optic wavelength, an 850nm wavelength has been specified to support the higher data transfer rate.
Both wavelengths can be applied in the same SERCOS loop.
The new ASIC's speed is expected to cause the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry to adopt the SERCOS interface.
The same is true for laser processing.
Modulation of the laser amplifier needs ample bandwidth, which the present SERCOS interface cannot provide.
In the future, both traversing axes and the laser amplifier can be controlled with a single SERCOS loop.
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