As a leading supplier of industrial communication solutions Softing has teamed-up with the FPGA manufacturer Altera and has generated an offering providing all the required hardware and firmware for implementing Industrial Ethernet and PROFIBUS field device functionality based on Altera FPGAs. This hardware and firmware bundle includes the Softing Protocol IP and is available from the Altera worldwide sales channel as a single source.
The Softing Protocol IP allows embedding a flexible Industrial Ethernet and PROFIBUS functionality into an FPGA. It provides an easy implementation of Industrial Ethernet (EtherCAT, Ethernet POWERLINK, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, PROFINET RT and IRT) and PROFIBUS slave devices based on Altera’s family of Cyclone FPGAs.
A simple step-by-step evaluation/implementation process is provided, which does not require any upfront license payment.
In detail, the Softing Protocol IP files include:
The Softing Protocol IP has been hardware tested for the Altera family of Cyclone FPGAs.
The evaluation can be done using the downloaded Softing Protocol IP (see Step 1) based on an appropriate evaluation kit plus Quartus software. The following evaluation kits are recommended:
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Altera’s Cyclone IV FPGA Based INK Kit | Altera’s Cyclone V E FPGA Development Kit | Altera’s Cyclone V SoC Development Kit* |
Together with the evaluation kits the Softing Protocol IP can be used with full functionality for a limited time without requiring any royalty. Once the Softing Protocol IP has timed-out the evaluation can be re-started.
The individual customer target hardware is developed including the Altera Cyclone FPGA. In addition, the application can be integrated into a second NIOS II IP Core, into an external microprocessor or into an ARM Core of a System-on-Chip (SoC). The application can be based on the Reference FPGA Design and the Sample Application Code included in the Softing Protocol IP (see Step 1). All supported protocols can be accessed by the application using SDAI, a common software API as well as a common hardware interface.
The complete package of required hardware and firmware is purchased through Altera’s worldwide sales channel. It includes the Security CPLD, which activates the Softing Protocol IP functionality. The identical Security CPLD can be used for implementing any of the supported protocols.
Protocol | Supported Features | ||
![]() | EtherCAT |
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![]() | Ethernet/IP |
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![]() | Modbus TCP |
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![]() | PROFINET RT |
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![]() | PROFINET IRT |
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![]() | PROFIBUS DP |
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Additional information is also available from the website of Softing's partner Altera at https://www.altera.com/solutions/industry/industrial/applications/automation/industrial-networking.html
The complete package for implementing Industrial Ethernet and PROFIBUS for Altera FPGAs can be ordered through Altera or the local Altera representative. |
SIA-YY-012501 | Integration Workshop for Implementing Industrial Ethernet Devices Based on FPGA |