Yaskawa Electric Corporation (head office: Kitakyushu, Fukuoka; Representative Director and President: Hiroshi Ogasawara) is pleased to announce that profichip, a subsidiary of YASKAWA Europe GmbH (Yaskawa Europe), has commercialized “ANTAIOS”, a multi-protocol communication ASIC with MECHATROLINK*¹ protocol.

To manufacture various products and volumes with high added value in real time, the manufacturing industry has been accelerating its efforts to cope with Industry 4.0 and IoT. Within such an environment, compatibility with various networks for industrial machinery is a crucial challenge and the preparation of dedicated hardware (such as ASICs) for each network has been a considerable burden. However, remarkable progress in semiconductor manufacturing technology has enabled the commercialization of ASICs which are compatible to multiple networks.

“ANTAIOS“, an ASIC for multi-protocol communication commercialized by profichip, is equipped with an advanced real-time Ethernet switch and uses the company’s proprietary microcode and software stack to offer connectivity, not only with MECHATROLINK-III Master/Slave recommended by Yaskawa, PROFINET IO device RT/IRT*², EtherCAT Slaves*³, and EtherNet/IP adapters (under development) *⁴. “ANTAIOS“ also supports other networks such as Profibus*⁵, CANopen and RS-485, as well as USB. A single “ANTAIOS“ multi-protocol communication ASIC will enable users to have available multiple choices in network connections.

Multi-protocol communication ASIC “ANTAIOS“ will allow users to have one common hardware design for high-performance networks with PLCs, servos, drives, I/O, sensors, and gateways.

Yaskawa will continue to expand sales of profichip products in Japanese market as well as in global market. Yaskawa will also employ the multi-protocol communication ASIC “ANTAIOS” for its products to promptly deal with MECHATROLINK and other various networks to strengthen the initiatives to accommodate market changes, such as Industry 4.0 and IoT which are expected to accelerate.

●Product name: ANTAIOS (chip for real-time Ethernet communication)

●Product package versions:

　- TFBGA380: 15×15 mm², 0.65 mm pitch

　- TFBGA385: 19×19 mm², 0.80 mm pitch

●Specification:

　- 288MHz ARM Cortex-A5 Processor

　- Programmable real-time Ethernet switch with integrated PHYs (2 ports)

　- Compatible communication protocols: MECHATROLINK-III, EtherCAT, PROFINET IRT, etc.

●Start of sales

– Commencement of global sales: February 2017

– Commencement of sales in Japan: April 2017 (scheduled launch of chip compatible with MECHATROLINK)

A subsidiary of VIPA, acquired by Yaskawa Europe in 2012, profichip develops and supplies ASICs required for VIPA products. As a design house specialized on semiconductor solutions for industrial communications and control applications, profichip also sells communication ASICs, such as ASICs for Profibus or its proprietary SliceBus Technology, to customers other than VIPA worldwide.

●Head office/development base: Herzogenaurach, Germany

●Establishment: April 1999

●Sales (FY2015): 5.2 million EUR (approx. 700 million JPY)

*1) About MECHATROLINK

MECHATROLINK is an open protocol used for industrial automation, originally developed by Yaskawa Electric Corporation in the early 1990’s, then released as an open protocol in 2003. It is presently maintained by Mechatrolink Members Association (MMA). Over 2,800 companies are registered as a member of MMA. MECHATROLINK is a motion field network that can integrate motor-driven (such as servo motor driven) networks which require high speed control cycles and I/O networks.  MECHATROLINK’s high standards of motion control performance has led to its use in many devices employed for the latest technologies in machine automation in application areas such as semiconductors, flat panel displays, LEDs, machining, sheet metal processing, winding machines, robotics, food, beverages and pharmaceutical packaging.

*2) PROFINET is a registered trademark of PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation e.V.

*3) EtherCAT is a registered trademark of Beckhoff Automation GmbH, Germany.

*4) EtherNet is a registered trademark of Fuji Zerox Limited.

*5) Profibus is a registered trademark of PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation e.V.

Contact:

Corporate Communications Div.

YASKAWA Electric Corporation

E-mail: kouhou@yaskawa.co.jp