Renesas Electronics Corporation announced the development of the Industrial Network Solution to accelerate the development of industrial slave equipment using the RX72M Group of 32-bit industrial Ethernet microcontrollers (MCUs).

The new RX72M solution includes an evaluation board, an operating system, middleware, and a sample software that supports approximately 70 percent of the communications protocols used in industrial network applications. This enables users to immediately launch slave equipment development, such as motor control blocks for compact industrial robots, PLC (programmable logic controller) devices, and remote I/O systems. The sample software includes: EtherCAT, PROFINET RT, Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP, and OPC UA, as industrial Ethernet software, and PROFIBUS DP, Modbus, RTU/ASCII, CAN open, and DeviceNet, as Field Bus communication software.

Renesas has confirmed conformance testing for the three major protocols – EtherCAT, PROFINET RT, and Ethernet/IP – which represents the global industrial Ethernet market. This allows developers to reduce the overall development time – including development, evaluation, and verification steps – by as much as six months, accelerating their time to market.

The new solution will be showcased in Renesas’ booth at the CIIF (China International Industry Fair) in Shanghai, China, from September 17 to 21, 2019 (booth number 6.1, E202).

Industrial network protocols differ extensively between countries and regions, and industrial network equipment deploying globally must support a wide range of protocols. The RX72M solution includes major protocols used in each region, allowing users to evaluate industrial network connectivity equipment immediately. Customers can focus on their own application development efforts, while strengthening their competitive edge for global product deployments.

With the new RX72M solution, Renesas provides sample software and will collaborate with partners providing sales and support mass production protocols to support customers’ transition from development to mass production.

The RX72M Industrial Network Solution will be available for customers in Japan by December 2019 with OS, middleware, industrial networks support from Renesas’ partner companies. Global access will be available by October 2020.