Switch Chips Bring Time-Sensitive Networking to Factory Floors

Microchip Technology rolled out its new SparX-5i family of Ethernet networking switches, a single-chip solution that brings what it calls the semiconductor industry's most complete feature set for adding time-sensitive networking (TSN) to factory floors and other real-time industrial automation systems.

The SparX-5i is Microchip’s first in a family of time-sensitive networking switches that can address all the levels of a modern industrial automation network, spanning the field bus to the factory backbone.

Time-sensitive networking, or TSN, is a set of networking standards that aims to bring real-time data communication to factory floors, cars, and other systems, giving a shared understanding of time to sensors and other devices connected over Ethernet. The TSN standard serves to run information (IT) and operational technology (OT) on the same Ethernet network with deterministic latency. It accomplishes that without compromising the reliability and rigors required by modern factories.

The TSN standard is used by factory machines to coordinate with each other, replacing many of the costly proprietary protocols used by legacy industrial networks. The standard, which is under development at the IEEE, prioritizes packets of data used to control devices on a factory floor or industrial automation system, placing them ahead of IT chores like nonessential software updates.

However, to support all of the IEEE standards behind the TSN protocol, proprietary sets of chips are often required. That results in more complicated integration and increased costs, Microchip said.

To solve that challenge, Microchip’s SparX-5i line of switches can support the key TSN IEEE standards needed for a complete real-time communication solution in a single chip. That guarantees end-to-end transmission of data between devices on the same industrial automation network with low latency.

The standards supported by the new switches include IEEE 1588v2 and IEEE 802.1AS-REV for time synchronization, IEEE 802.1Qbv for traffic shaping, IEEE 802.1Qbu and 802.3br for delay reduction, IEEE 802.1Qci for stream policing, and IEEE 802.1CB for seamless redundancy. The chips support L2 and L3 Ethernet with up to 200 Gbps (GbE) of bandwidth, incorporating 100 Mbps, 1G, 2.5G, 5G, 10G, 25 GbE interfaces. Microchip said SparX-5i is the most flexible solution currently on the market.

Microchip also introduced the SparX-5 family of switch chips to be used in corporate networks, data centers, and other areas with the same set of standard Ethernet interfaces as the SparX-5i family.

The company said it has rolled out a complete set of industrial Ethernet software tools to support its networking switch product line. The software is based on the latest Linux operating system (OS). Also available is an Ethernet switch and PHY application programming interface (API) called MESA.

The SparX-5i and SparX-5 switch families are currently in volume production, Microchip said. Evaluation boards and reference designs are also available.