CHANDLER, Ariz., January 16, 2024 — The growth of the industrial automation market encompasses innovative technologies like Machine Learning (ML) and robotic systems. Embedded solutions with deterministic communication are essential for industrial automation applications to control, monitor and process data. To provide designers with a reliable and robust network solution with deterministic communication, Microchip Technology (Nasdaq: MCHP) today announces its next-generation of LAN969x Ethernet switches with Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), scalable bandwidths from 46 Gbps to 102 Gbps and a powerful 1 GHz single-core Arm Cortex-A53 CPU.
For applications that require greater redundancy, the LAN969x Ethernet switches can be configured with High-availability Seamless Redundancy (HSR) and Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP). HSR and PRP are hardware protocols that provide zero-loss redundancy in Ethernet networks. The LAN969x Ethernet switches support multiple HSR and PRP Redundancy Box (RedBox) instances that can operate in parallel and in series, as well as at Ethernet port speeds from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
The LAN969x can implement a QuadBox, which is a function that connects two HSR networks to each other. This feature is particularly useful in applications where high reliability and zero downtime are critical. Alternative solutions that implement a QuadBox typically require multiple different components that can drive up design complexity and system costs.
“Prior to the introduction of Microchip’s LAN969x Ethernet switches, customers who wanted to implement TSN and HSR/PRP features required multiple ICs. Microchip’s new LAN969x solution is a single chip that can reduce the number of components and system level costs,” said Charles Forni, vice president of Microchip’s USB and networking business unit. “These devices are also supported with our VSC6817SDK IStaX Linux application software package that can enable designers to quickly bring products to market.”
