EtherCAT Slave Controller

June 1, 2015

Ryan Gehm

Microchip Technology Inc. announced the LAN9252 standalone EtherCAT slave controller with two 10/100 PHYs. The highly integrated device’s dual 10/100 Ethernet transceivers support both fiber and copper, along with cable diagnostics capabilities. The LAN9252 supports traditional Host Bus and SPI/SQI communication, along with standalone digital I/O interfaces, providing system designers the flexibility to select from a wide range of microcontrollers when implementing the real-time EtherCAT communications standard. It also is claimed to reduce system complexity and cost for developers using EtherCAT in factory-automation, process-control, motor/motion-control, and Internet of Things industrial-Ethernet applications. Fully compliant with the EtherCAT standard and interoperable with all EtherCAT systems, the new slave controller includes 4 Kbytes of Dual-Port RAM and three Fieldbus Memory Management Units. The LAN9252 also features cable diagnostics support that allows field service technicians to rapidly and effectively diagnose line faults and provides for fiber connectivity. This EtherCAT slave controller is available in commercial, industrial and extended industrial temperature ranges, in low pin count and small body size QFN and QFP-EP packages.