NEXCOM, an Associate member of the Intel® Internet of Things Solutions Alliance, has added the NIFE 100 series to NEXCOM Industrial Fieldbus Embedded (NIFE) family to help today’s manufacturing benefit from the value of the Internet of Things (IoT). The NEXCOM PC-based controller NIFE 100 series supports the Intel® Atom™ processor E3800 product family and integrates fieldbus technologies to consolidate computing, communication, and control capabilities onto one robust platform. The NEXCOM NIFE 100 series links enterprise domain and operation domain to enable smart and digital manufacturing.
Advanced manufacturing requires integration of multiple control tasks, high volumes of data processing, and cross-protocol communication. Supporting the single-core Intel® Atom™ processor E3815 and dual-core Intel® Atom™ processor E3826, the PC-based controller NIFE 100 series can perform a wide variety of tasks ranging from aggregating field data and performing endpoint data analytics to controlling field devices.
To enable cross-protocol communication, the PC-based controller NIFE 100 series supports seven fieldbus protocols, including PROFINET, PROFIBUS, EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, EtherCAT, CANopen, and Modbus. An internet connection is also available. As a result, the NIFE 100 series can integrate PLCs, remote I/Os, and legacy field devices using different protocols and across different control subsystems and take field data to the cloud to enable big data analytics.
By building Automation-of-Things onto one platform, the NIFE 100 series can transform factories with a simplified control scheme, simplified control network architecture, and reduced maintenance efforts.
For use in industrial environments, the PC-based controller NIFE 100 series is designed to operate under tough factory conditions. To mitigate the effects of voltage fluctuation and electrical noises, the NIFE 100 series provides isolation protection on COM ports by default and optional power isolation as well. The built-in 128KB of NVRAM can ensure the data is saved in case of sudden power outage. In addition, CFast and a SSD protect data from mechanical vibration. Moreover, the NIFE 100 series can withstand wide temperatures ranging from -20°C to 70°C and be bolted on a DIN rail or factory wall.
The NEXCOM PC-based controller NIFE 100 series features an open architecture to integrate existing building blocks of industrial automation from NEXCOM ecosystem partners. The building blocks consist of Intel® Atom processors, Hilscher Fieldbus technology, CODESYS SoftLogic kernel, and PLC and distributed I/O modules from world-class providers. Based on the Intel® Gateway Solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) (formerly codenamed Moon Island), the NEXCOM NIFE 100 series provides a quick and secure solution to implementing Automation-of-Things for smart and digital manufacturing.