STM32 x Yikong Technology x Mir Electronics | STM32MP135 open high real-time and high performance PLC controller solution released

01 Introduction

With the acceleration of the industrial digitalization process and the in-depth integration of IT/OT, the increasing OT core data has gradually become the core asset of the industrial automation industry. OT layer data has the characteristics of high real-time, high precision, high redundancy, large data volume, etc. How to obtain more accurate OT data plays a vital role in the digitalization process. At the same time, as domestic industrial control systems gradually enter mid-to-high-end applications, more precise control is crucial. Therefore, the high real-time and high performance requirements of industrial control systems are particularly prominent.

In the face of the above challenges, our partner Yikong Technology has released an open high-real-time and high-performance PLC controller solution based on the Mil STM32MP135 development board, integrating high-precision data acquisition, preprocessing, storage, communication and high-real-time control, providing a very good choice for the control system to move towards fully digital mid-to-high-end control.

02Introduction to the STM32MP135 processor

The STM32MP135 series processors have a high main frequency of 1GHz, which can achieve high performance while having lower power consumption, providing a solid foundation for the stable and reliable execution of industrial control products. At the same time, the STM32MP135 supports high-performance DDR3 memory, which greatly optimizes memory performance and jitter suppression. In order to realize the simultaneous operation of industrial real-time Ethernet EtherCAT and standard Ethernet TCP/IP communications, the STM32MP135 is designed with two independent high-performance Gigabit Ethernet MAC units. After long-term verification, the communication efficiency and stability are very high, and it can be well adapted to domestic Gigabit PHY chips. The Eclipse ThreadX real-time operating system supported by the STM32MP135 is designed for high-real-time and high-performance application scenarios. The interrupt response speed is as low as ns level, and the jitter of ThreadX tasks can still be controlled within 10us under very high load conditions. At the same time, the complete HAL driver library has extremely fast peripheral response speed. For development engineers familiar with STM32, zero threshold upgrade to STM32MP135 development can be achieved.

▲STM32CubeMPU MW overview

▲ Middleware Components

03Implementation of Yikong Technology's LogicLab solution based on the STM32MP135 platform

Yikong Technology and STM32 jointly developed and adapted the LogicLab solution to the STM32MP135 processor, including PLC operating system compliant with the IEC61131-3 standard, Modbus protocol stack, CANopen master station protocol stack, EtherCAT master station protocol stack, motion control and other components.

At the same time, Yikong Technology has enhanced the Eclipse ThreadX real-time operating system adaptation and BSP driver of the STM32MP135 processor for PLC applications. After detailed testing, the performance of the LogicLab solution based on the STM32MP135 platform has reached an advanced level. The key technical parameters are as follows:

• PLC memory: Program area: 16MB, Data area: 32MB, Power-off retention area: 128KB

• PLC basic instruction execution performance: 4ns

• PLC high-speed IO interrupt response capability: <1us

• PLC interrupt task response capability: <10us

• EtherCAT master recommended minimum cycle (DC on): 250us (less than 8 slaves), 500us (less than 16 slaves), 1ms (less than 32 slaves)

• EtherCAT task and DC slave time deviation: <10us

• Maximum number of motion control axes: 40 axes (including pulse axes and virtual axes)

Yikong Technology LogicLab solution application architecture diagram:

Yikong Technology provides a new LogicLab Runtime SDK 2.0 version based on the STM32 series processors. It integrates Eclipse ThreadX components, board-level drivers, PLC core library transplantation, fieldbus communication library, motion control library implementation and other functions based on standard development boards, making it ready to use and significantly reducing the investment in basic platform research and development. LogicLab Runtime SDK can be directly imported into the project through STM32CubeIDE, compiled and generated firmware, and can expand the core functions of PLC based on C/C++, completely solidifying the core knowhow of the industry, thereby realizing a unique PLC controller product. The core architecture diagram is as follows:

04Open Hardware Ecosystem

The hardware ecosystem of open high-real-time and high-performance PLC controller products can accelerate the progress of customer product development and reduce the difficulty and risk of R&D. Through in-depth cooperation with Mir Electronics, LogicLab Runtime SDK has been adapted to Mir Electronics' MYD-YF135-4E512D-100-I development board. The development board adopts a core board + baseboard separation design. The industrial-grade design can be quickly commercialized. It has 2 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces that are compatible with Ethernet communication (supporting ModbusTCP communication) and EtherCAT master stations, 1 RS485 and 1 RS232 that are compatible with ModbusRTU interfaces, 1 CAN bus that is compatible with CANopen master stations, and an external RGB display screen that can be used for graphical interface development and multiple general GPIOs to realize local high-speed IO subsystems. The development board picture is as follows:

Mir STM32MP135 Development Board

05Conclusion

With the help of STM32's excellent MPU products and rich RTOS software ecosystem and the industrial-grade modules of its board-level hardware partner Mir Electronics, Yikong Technology has achieved an open high-real-time and high-performance PLC controller solution. By releasing the open LogicLab Runtime SDK software package, users can quickly implement competitive PLC controller products and significantly reduce the investment of the R&D team, laying a solid foundation for the comprehensive realization of digital intelligent control systems.