Design
( MAX14821 ), a tiny low-dropout linear regulator ( MAX8532 ), an efficient high-voltage step-down converter ( MAX17552 ), a Renesas ultra-low-power 16-bit microcontroller ( RL78 ) utilizing TMG TE ' s IO-Link device stack , and a Maxim Integrated proximity sensor ( MAX44000 ).
Figure 6 : Maxrefdes79 # First IO-Link master reference design for interfacing with up to 4 io-link sensors
The reference design has four robust female M12 connectors , the most common connector used for IO-Link , and ships with two black IO-Link cables to quickly connect to IO-Link compatible sensors and actuators . An AC-to-DC ( 24VDC / 1A ) power-supply cube is capable of providing greater than 200mA simultaneously
to each port and greater than four times that amount if the other Figure 4 : Maxrefdes27 # IO-Link Optical Proximity Sensor reference design ports are unused . A Micro-USB connector underneath the
enclosure allows for quick connectivity to a Windows ® PC . This reference design highlights an ability to develop ultra-small IO-Link reference designs such as the ones described above help IO-Link sensors that are versatile and powerful enough to be speed up the design and development of IO-Link based sensors integrated within an actual assembly line . within customers that are still beginning to embrace this fast
Enabling IO-Link Design growing technology .
There are various types of IO-Link sensors that are coming Conclusion available in the market which range from temperature to distance Industrial IoT is at an inflection point – we see some factories that and even light curtains with multiple light beams . To enable the are getting hyper connected and many others which are still in interface of these sensors with legacy programmable logic the evaluation mode . As factories become digital , smart and controllers ( PLCs ) we see a host of gateways that can translate relevant sensor data will be the basis upon which manufacturing
multiple IO-Link inputs to a single fieldbus . Some of the newer and even enterprise level software will run optimization and PLC designs are incorporating IO-Link master functionality built-in , other algorithms . so that they can communicate directly with the IO-Link sensors .
As sensors measure even more parameters and have to This is enabled by the availability of integrated IO-Link transceiver communicate with the controller / PLC , the need for a low-cost , devices in small , power efficient form-factors . robust , and open communication standard will be important . IO- For example , the MAX14824 is an IO-Link master interface that Link checks all of these boxes and has the potential to become
integrates an IO-Link physical layer transceiver with an auxiliary the dominant factory automation standard for the pervasive , digital input and two linear regulators in a small 4mm x 4mm , 24- smart sensor world that is emerging . pin TQFN package . The device supports all the IO-Link data rates and is compliant with IO-Link v . 1.0 and v . 1.1 Physical Layer . Figure shows the typical operating circuit for IO-Link Master functionality with such a device
Figure 5 : IO-Link Optical Proximity sensor reference design Using this transceiver , Maxim has also built the first public and fully IO-Link-compliant , 4-port IO-Link master reference design .
ELE Times | 32 | March , 2017