ELMOS Semiconductor and NEC Electronics have worked together on the developemtn of single-chip IO-Link devices incorporating NEC's 78K0R 16-bit microcontroller and ELMOS IO-Link transceiver, with integrated IO-Link slave protocol stack in a single package.
The part numbers differ according to their flash memory capacity; uPD78F8040 offers 32kbyte, uPD78F8041 offers 64kbyte, uPD78F8042 offers 96kbyte, and uPD78F8043 offers 128kbyte of flash memory.
The IO-Link slave protocol stack can be used to incorporate minor upgrades or designers can opt to develop and maintain their own software stacks.
Used in industrial automation systems, an IO-Link system consists of sensors and actuators linked together with a standard 3-conductor cable, and controlled by an IO-Link Master.
Typically, the Master may have one or more ports. Only one IO-Link device can be connected to a single port. This makes IO-Link a point-to-point system and not a field bus.
Developers can choose from 4 pin-compatible memory configurations in an 8mm x 8mm 56-pin QFN package. Flash sizes from 32kbyte to 128kbyte will be available.
This also allows developers to use the same PCB for multiple designs even though different amounts of software may be required. A 32kbyte device can easily be replaced by a 128kbyte device
without having to re-design the PCB.
Samples of the new single-chip IO-Link solutions are available. Mass production of the new devices is slated to begin in April 2010, with expected monthly mass production of 500,000 units.