Rabbit Introduces Wireless Communications and Control System on Chip for Industrial Automation Applications

“This chip allows us to further expand our MiniCore series and offer modules designed specifically for flexible networking and control of industrial devices,”said Larry Kraft, senior vice president of global sales and marketing, Digi International. “The networking speed performance of the new MiniCore modules will be six times faster than previous MiniCore modules, and the already low power requirements will be reduced.”

The Rabbit 6000 features integrated 10/100 Base-T Ethernet and secure 802.11a/b/g with WPA2 support for the highest levels of security. It also offers an industrial control feature set that includes Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) and Quadrature decoder inputs for efficient industrial motor control, and an on board analog-to-digital (A/D) converter with 12-bit resolution to enable measurement of sensor data such as water, temperature and humidity. It also features USB 2.0 full-speed host and two on-board Flexible Interface Modules (FIMs) that enable further protocol support such as CANbus, Secure Digital (SD) and Secure Digital Input Output (SDIO).

Digi will introduce pin-compatible and interchangeable wired and wireless MiniCore modules based on the Rabbit 6000. The MiniCore family provides a rich embedded feature set on an ultra-compact mini PCI Express form factor. Its small size makes it easy for customers to place wired or wireless network connectivity anywhere on a mother board. Systems developers can easily interchange MiniCore family products to tailor connectivity for any given application.