Ready-to-install UNIGATE IC bus nodes from Deutschmann Automation relieve automation manufacturers from having to develop interfaces and thereby help them offer products for various protocols with little one-time development effort. The all-in-one bus nodes in a 32 DIL housing have been designed for embedded solutions for direct integration into terminal devices. The modules are comprised of a microcontroller, flash, RAM, and a bus controller. They handle the complete communication on the bus side, thus reducing the workload of the application’s microprocessor.
UNIGATE ICs are connected to the host processor via a UART interface. Among others, Deutschmann offer models for Profibus, DeviceNet, CANopen, Modbus TCP, PROFINET (according to the PROFINET V.2.2 specification), EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Ethernet TCP/IP, LonWorks, and BACnet. Furthermore, models with an RS232 or RS485 interface are available for Modbus RTU and Modbus ASCII. Thanks to the identical hardware and software interfaces and functionality of all UNIGATE IC devices, manufacturers can offer various protocol options to their customers. They only need to integrate an adaptation board with a socket for the bus modules or implement a socket directly on the device PCB. Then they can insert the UNIGATE IC model for any customer’s choice communication protocol.
Ready-to-install two-port interfaces from the UNIGATE FC series additionally feature conventional connection hardware: the miniature nodes comprise two RJ interfaces with diagnosis LEDs. Thereby, terminal devices can be linked in line topologies. Just like the compact interfaces from the UNIGATE IC series, UNIGATE FCs fit all necessary components such as a microcontroller, flash, RAM, and a bus controller on a small footprint. The multiprotocol modules are available for Fast Ethernet, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, and BACnet/IP. Like the Ethernet-based UNIGATE IC modules, UNIGATE FC interfaces integrate a powerful, multiprotocol-capable FIDO (flexible input, deterministic output) chip from Innovasic. This chip’s design provides significant advantages over standard controllers with an integrated Ethernet interface. The FIDO chip employs PriorityChannel technology to manage real-time data traffic and non-real-time Ethernet packages.
Unique in the market, UNIGATE products from Deutschmann use a script which implements the protocol of the terminal device, making changes to the device firmware unnecessary. Any user can easily generate the script with the free-of-charge Protocol Developer tool. Programming skills or special fieldbus knowledge are not required. The script can also be used to emulate complex protocols, buffer data and process it in any desired manner. Customer-specific commands can be integrated, operations can be linked with time and event-based triggers, and all data and bus statuses can be displayed. Since UNIGATE ICs feature standardized hardware interfaces, configurations and scripts, once generated, can be used for all models of the same line without any additional programming effort.