Unlock Industrial 4.0 with IO-link communication

IIoT02 Aug 2024

A professional in a suit operates a tablet device in a modern industrial setting with robotic arms.

IO-link is an open standard that is globally supported by sensor and controls companies. More than 16 million IO-link nodes were deployed up to 2020. Major players in the IO-Link market are Siemens (Germany), Balluff (Germany), Ifm electronic (Germany), SICK (Germany), Rockwell Automation (US), Festo (Germany) Omron (Japan), Banner Engineering (US), Hans Turck (Germany), Pepperl & Fuchs (Germany), and Datalogic (Italy). However, APAC market is coming up, especially from China who is holding the largest size of IO-Link market share (>30%-> $3.6B) by 2023.

The IO-link master allows for a digital communication path to process sensors and control actuators. As a result, a 100% digital path from internet, to PLC, to the field-mounted equipment, see Figure 1. IO-link is a 3-wire industrial communication protocol consists of three baud rates: 4.8K, 38.4K, 230.4K), see Figure 2.

IO-link as a simple 3-wire digital data transmission, can carry multiple data and transfer data faster than analog transmission, because of less analog-digital conversion loss. IO-link allows bidirectional communication, one Port can be configured as Input or Output, so can connect sensors or actuators.

IO-link employs standard M12/M8 connectors, with no need of shielded cable and the connection range can be up to 20 meter. IO-link can replace RS-232, RS-432, RS-485, 4-20mA, 0-10V, PNP, NPN, Push-pull NO/NC, etc.. Thus, this simple wiring system can save cost.

IO-link allows seamless remote monitoring and control, so no more manual onboard on/off push buttons. By automatic and remote configuration, so to have less downtime for flexible production line configuration and remote machine condition monitoring.

As a result, IO-link is the foundation of Industrial 4.0 to enable Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). This sensor to cloud solution makes mass production customization, machine condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, energy saving, factory design and quality control UNIVERSAL, SMART & EASY!

Arrow brings you turn-key solutions to simplify your IO-link product design with minimal effort and shortest time to market. Arrow IO-link Solutions are IO-link Master (P/N:2021W001), Digital Input Module(P/N: 2021W002), Digital Output Module (P/N:2021W003); for details, please refer to Arrow Openlab homepage (HK Open Lab - solution list (arrowopenlab.com). The Arrow IO-link Master MCU- ARW-IOLM4P-STM32L4 (IOLM4P) is powered by ST’s STM32L431RBT6 and TEConcept’s IO-link Master stack.

IO-link System typical architecture, with courtesy to IO-link.org

Figure 1

IO-link Wiring, with courtesy to ISA, fmi and IO-link.org

Figure 2

To help you speed up IO-link solution development, Arrow Asia Pacific Ltd. released 8 ports IO-link master hub solutions and 8 ports Digital Input/Output solutions for applications of Industrial Maintenance, IO-Link® Digital Sensing Systems, Digital Input Modules for PLC, and other Industrial, Building and Factory Automation systems.

IO-Link 8-Channel Master Hub Solution

Click here to download IO-Link Actuator Tower Light Solution

This is an IO-LINK Actuator Tower Light to demonstrate how to trigger and configure the actuator tower light through the standard IO-LINK interface. The individual LEDs can be switched individually via digital inputs parameters set by IO-LINK master. In the reference design, the L6364Q IO-LINK PHY works as a device to enable direct access to process and diagnose data, then MCU controls four channels’ status of the low side power switch IPS4260L via IOs.

Arrow IO-link Solution Key Take-aways

Arrow’s ARW-IOLM4P-STM32L4 (IOLM4P) system chip is based on the STM32L431RBT6 and contains a full featured IO-link Master stack that handles the IO-link communication with up to four independent IO-link ports, see Figure 3.

The IOLM4P is connected with a host controller that controls the IO-link Master on the IOLM4P. The controlling function is based on a well-defined simple telegram structure and uses the SPI-slave interface of the IOLM4P. A basic overview about the application of the IOLM4P is given below. Overview of some simple telegrams, see Figure 4; and software architecture, see Figure 5. Please refer to Arrow’s IOLM4P datasheets for details from ARW-IOLM4P-STM32L4 by Arrow Development Tools | Application Processors and SOC | Arrow.com.

One ARW-IOLM4P-STM32L4 Master MCU controls 4 Devices

Figure 3

FID	ILS^a	Function ID	Telegram Name	Description
0x00	Y	E_FNCIP_GETINFO (5.1)	Get Identification	Get Information about the Master
0x01	Y	E_FNCIP_SETPDI (5.2)	Set PD Interface	Set the PD sizes
0x02	Y	E_FNCIP_getpdi (5.3)	Get PD Interface	Get PD Interface
0x03	Y	E_FNCIP_CNTSTA (5.4)	Control Status	Standard telegram for setting ports configuration and receiving port/SDU status flags and process data streams
0x04	Y	E_FNCIP_SETPORTCNF PAR (5.5)	Set Port Configuration	Set configuration parameters for one port
0x05	Y	E_FNCIP_GETPORTCNF PAR	Get Port Configuration	Get configuration parameters of one port

Figure 4: ARW-IOLM4P-STM32L4 Master MCU Telegrams examples

To expedite product design cycles, Arrow provided the complete reference design solutions aforementioned: IO-link Master (P/N:2021W001), Digital Input Module (P/N: 2021W002), Digital Output Module (P/N:2021W003); for details, please refer to Arrow Openlab homepage (HK Open Lab - solution list (arrowopenlab.com). Arrow also provides technical support such as schematics review services, prototype testing, etc..

With the aid of TEConcept’s Certified and IEC 61131-9 compliant IO-link stack solutions (both Master and Devices), and GUI (Control Tool Development environment, see Figure 6), software engineers can focus more on application layers (high level access and system management). Customers can also purchase source code and technical support via Arrow to further reduce time-to-market.