Promwad Implements Ethernet-APL in Client Devices for the Industrial Automation Market

Following major global manufacturers of industrial automation solutions, Promwad implements Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL) technology in new products designed for its customers. It has become a new standard in building scalable industrial networks to automate industrial buildings, enterprises, and smart cities. ABB, Siemens, Yokogawa, and other market leaders are beginning to use it in their products. Now device manufacturers can follow this trend with the engineering support of Promwad.

Deploying industrial Ethernet networking solutions in industrial environments brings some challenges: insufficient data transfer rates, distance limitations, and restricted use in hazardous areas. We are helping our customers to overcome these challenges by developing Ethernet-APL-enabled solutions. They can be deployed over distances of up to one kilometre and in hazardous areas. 

In this article, we describe the features and benefits of the Ethernet-APL technology for industrial networks, which our engineers implement on such evaluation boards as EVAL-ADIN1110 and EVAL-ADIN1100 by Analog Device and DP83TD510E-EVM by Texas Instruments.

Ethernet-APL business benefits

The world's major manufacturers consider Ethernet-APL to be a new and important step in process automation. Endress+Hauser, Krohne, Phoenix Contact, Rockwell Automation, SAMSON, Stahl, and Vega are already using this technology in their solutions.

Ethernet-APL is a more unified and scalable automation solution for buildings, manufacturing sites, and entire smart cities, which brings the following benefits to business:

• existing fieldbus installations can be reused for deployment;
• merging with Ethernet-APL eliminates the need for complex and energy-intensive gateways;
• the Ethernet-APL can be used for large systems in spark-dangerous areas and compact spaces;
• automation of processes connected to cloud storage is allowed;
• it is possible to work with a large data set and its analytics.

What is Ethernet-APL

Ethernet-APL is a two-wire physical layer of Ethernet technology designed for a field level: for industrial process automation systems, direct connection of devices, and sensors in hazardous areas. This technology is suitable for industrial Ethernet networks: EtherNet/IP, HART-IP, OPC UA, and PROFINET. They can be used to organize the operation of flow meters, actuators, pressure, and temperature transducers.

Ethernet-APL is an extended Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) specification based on the 10BASE T1L standard and can support higher-bit Ethernet protocols. The advantages of Ethernet-APL versus SPE are detailed in the table below:

^{Source: controlglobal.com}

Ethernet-APL technology provides the following features:

• the combined operation of devices from different manufacturers;
• flexible and scalable network topology;
• laying of networks over long distances – up to 1,000 m, and branch lines – up to 200 m;
• amplitude modes: 2.4 V peak for cables up to 1000 meters and 1 V peak for shorter distance cables;
• use in hazardous areas;
• connection of up to 50 field devices — of up to 500 mW each;
• high bandwidth: 10 Mbit/sec;
• data transmission and power supply of the device via the same cable.

How Promwad uses Ethernet-APL to design client solutions

We implement Ethernet-APL technology with single-port evaluation boards and modules from our partners, Analog Devices and Texas Instruments.

The EVAL-ADIN1110 evaluation board by AD

^{Functional block diagram ADIN1110. Source: analog.com}
 

The EVAL-ADIN1110 is a single-port, low-power, 10BASE-T1L-based evaluation board with the support of IEEE 1588, designed by Analog Devices. It is used for industrial Ethernet applications and complies with the 802.3cg-2019 standard. It is made as the LFCSP chip, and the dimensions are 6 x 6 mm.

^{The ADIN1110 chip. Source: analog.com}
 

The ADIN1110 has a built-in media access control interface (MAC) that allows you to connect to host controllers via Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and use processors with less power.

The board is suitable for intrinsically safe environments, it has a power supply voltage control and a reset system. It operates from a single 1.8V or 3.3V power bus.

The EVAL-ADIN1100 evaluation board by AD
 

^{Functional block diagram ADIN1100. Source: analog.com}
 

The EVAL-ADIN1100 is a single-port, low-power (39 mW) evaluation board based on the 10BASE-T1L standard, designed by Analog Devices. It is used for industrial Ethernet applications, meets the 802.3cg-2019 standard, and supports the IEEE 1588 protocol. 

^{The ADIN1100 chip. Source: analog.com}
 

The ADIN1100 chip is integrated with the two-wire MDIO interface that communicates between the host processor/MAC and ADIN1100. The MDIO interface provides access to the following components and functions of the Ethernet PHY core integrated with ADIN1100:

• analogue circuits, 
• buffering and control of the input and output clock pulses, 
• interface control register, subsystem registers, 
• MAC interface, 
• clock pulse control, 
• output configuration.

The operation of the chip can be provided by a single 1.8V or 3.3V power bus. The board has a built-in supply voltage monitoring and a resetting system to be suitable for use in intrinsically safe environments.

Where we use ADIN1110 & ADIN1100

We use the ADIN1110 and ADIN1100 chips to design IO-systems sensors, edge nodes, PLCs, PACs, distributed IPCs, DAQs, gas meters, and flow meters for our clients. 

The DP83TD510E-EVM evaluation module by TI

^{Evaluation module DP83TD510E-EVM. Source: ti.com}
 

The DP83TD510E-EVM is an evaluation module designed by Texas Instruments, compliant with 10Base-T1L IEEE 802.3cg. It has low power consumption and a long range. It supports 10BASE-TX Ethernet and ensures fast implementation thanks to the DP83822 chip. 

The built-in USB-MDIO graphical user interface tools are responsible for the PHY register setup. 

The DP83TD510E board is used for developing all kinds of sensors and actuators, such as shut-off valves, diaphragms, electric motors, etc.

+++

Ethernet-APL is an emerging technology that will influence the future development of industrial automation solutions. It brings such advantages as high data transmission speed, intrinsic safety, range, and ease of deployment.

Promwad follows the innovations in the industry and designs for its clients various solutions based on this technology: APL field switches, APL power switches with ADIN1110 and ADIN1100 by Analog Devices, and DP83TD510E by Texas Instruments. 

If you need help in designing a device for industrial automation with the Ethernet-APL technology, don't hesitate to get in touch with us: we are ready to undertake turnkey development or individual engineering tasks in hardware design, software development, or production launch!