CoreTigo’s IO-Link Wireless Industrial Solutions Revolutionize Factory Automation
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Manufacturing implies a dynamic ecosystem of independent machines and systems. In other words, lots of motion. With cables limiting mobility and scalability, wired technologies limit feasibility of better utilization under constraints of capital and space. Today’s manufacturers are embracing digitalization for increased efficiency and flexibility, leading to a rising demand in robotics, smart sensors, and advanced actuators for automation.
One of the wireless connectivity pioneers in factory automation is CoreTigo. Designed for harsh industrial environments, CoreTigo’s wireless solutions provide cable-grade, fast, and scalable connectivity for millions of sensors, actuators, and devices at any site around the world. Built on the IO-Link Wireless global standard, CoreTigo enables real-time control and monitoring across the entire operational technology, for greater adaptivity and modularity. IO-Link Wireless enables actionable data captured from dozens of sensors on a machine and from hundreds of different machines; thereby optimizing maintenance, energy conservation, customization, and throughput.
The Challenge
A future-proof wireless SoC platform able to support the IO-Link Wireless requirements, matching the fast RF channel, radio state switching times, as well as high-performance radio sensitivity and ultra-low power modes.
The Result
Resilient, high-performance, and cost-effective wireless solutions with long range, low latency of 5msec and high-output connectivity, with a system PER (Packet Error Rate) of 10-9.
IO-Link Wireless for the Most Complex Industrial Automation Deployments
Industrial applications often happen in challenging conditions, from electromagnetic interference (EMI) radiation, RF reflection, equipment vibration, to extreme temperatures. Manufacturing lines employ excessive electrical noise levels, coming from fast-moving, rotating machinery operating at high speeds. When implementing advanced manufacturing solutions, conventional wireless technologies fall short in delivering reliable, uninterrupted connectivity. IO-Link Wireless is revolutionary.
Optimized for industrial automation, the IO-Link Wireless protocol provides highly robust, 5 msec latency wireless communication with deterministic data transport and compatibility to the wired factory automation protocols. Customers report that it is as reliable as, if not more reliable than communication over a cable. It enables access and real-time control at the lowest level of automation, on the machine, with sensors and actuators.
CoreTigo Elevates Smart Motion Control and Condition Monitoring
As an ambassador of IO-Link Wireless technology, CoreTigo offers a complete connectivity solutions portfolio for machine builders, system integrators, and industrial equipment manufacturers across a variety of industries, from packaging, automotive to logistics.
Its wireless capabilities link the device level to the master, all the way to the programmable logic controller (PLC) and enterprise applications. From sensor to cloud, CoreTigo brings together information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) for operational excellence.
By connecting devices that were previously impossible to connect, CoreTigo unlocks advanced adaptive manufacturing and reliable control over dynamic machinery. Either by embedding connectivity or retrofitting the existing infrastructure, CoreTigo empowers various applications at the factory floor, spanning across intelligent tooling, robots, and transport track systems. This translates into mass customization, higher throughput, and better overall equipment efficiency (OEE).
Wireless SoC Meets IO-Link Requirements and Speeds Design
When designing their wireless solutions, CoreTigo needed to find the last piece of the puzzle: a future-proof wireless SoC, ready to support the IO-Link Wireless level of performance. To achieve cable-grade, reliable connectivity in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, IOLW combines frequency- and time-division multiple access schemes (F/TDMA), using frequency hopping to minimize the effects of channel-selective fading, shadowing, and interference. In the selection process, most candidates failed to provide the needed flexibility in optimizing the radio settings to the IO-Link PHY requirements.
The Silicon Labs EFR32MG13, EFR32MG21, and EFR32MG24 provide a natural choice for their fast RF channel and radio state switching times, excellent radio sensitivity, and ultra-low power modes. From a future-proof perspective, Silicon Labs mitigates security gaps with the highest level of industry security certification at the SoC level, PSA Level 3 -Certified Secure Vault™.