Microsemi Collaborates with TRINAMIC to Introduce EtherCAT Slave Controller for its SmartFusion2 FPGAs

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. and HAMBURG, Germany, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC), a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, and TRINAMIC Motion Control, a leading global provider of motion control technologies, today announced the availability of a plugfest-tested EtherCAT^® intellectual property (IP) and chip solution from TRINAMIC for Microsemi's SmartFusion^™2 system-on-chip (SoC) field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In addition to accelerated time to market and lower total cost of ownership, the new solution offers scalability, low power, security, and TRINAMIC's customization and integration services for Microsemi's FPGAs.

The new solution, leveraging TRINAMIC's well-established track record of delivering embedded motor drives with high-level bus interfaces for the industrial motion control market, provides IP, software and design services to target an EtherCAT solution for Microsemi's SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs. Industry experts estimate that more than one third of automation equipment is being used or migrated from fieldbus to Ethernet-based solutions. As a result, sales of TRINAMIC's solution are expected to increase Microsemi's revenue opportunities for SmartFusion2 and continue the company's commitment to the growing industrial Ethernet market.

"We are pleased TRINAMIC has successfully leveraged the industry-leading features of Microsemi's SmartFusion2 SoC FPGA, including its reliability, security, low power, compact form factor and high levels of integration, into its new EtherCAT solution," said Bruce Weyer, vice president and business unit manager at Microsemi. "Collaborating with TRINAMIC as an ecosystem provider plays an important role in expanding opportunities for Microsemi and TRINAMIC with industrial automation and communications customers who require an EtherCAT industrial Ethernet solution to support SmartFusion2-based designs."

EtherCAT is a widely adopted deterministic communication protocol for industrial applications. Its flexible topology is uniquely suited for complex industrial deployments and offers an exceptionally stable standard that industrial developers can utilize for long life cycle products. Customers can use TRINAMIC's EtherCAT solution as an FPGA-based application specific standard product (ASSP) to avoid designing a specific industrial Ethernet ASSP/ASIC for each industrial Ethernet board. TRINAMIC also offers customization services based on the company's deep motor IP experience for motion control ASSPs.

Analysts at Technavio, a technology research and advisory company, forecast the global industrial Ethernet market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 10 percent. This is in range of IMS Research's prediction that the cumulative portfolio of industrial Ethernet protocol standards will grow by a CAGR of 10 percent. 

"Our EtherCAT solutions benefit from the flexibility of using SmartFusion2's technology to support multiple industrial Ethernet protocols and motor drive/motion control on a single FPGA platform, simplifying customers' design flow and lowering their total cost of ownership," said Michael Randt, CEO of TRINAMIC. "Customers also benefit from straight-forward licensing and non-recurring engineering fees for design services."

The new EtherCAT solution lowers total cost of ownership and accelerates time to market with ready-to-design and customized EtherCAT blocks as a stand-alone industrial Ethernet solution, or with integrated motor control and other interface IP on one SmartFusion2 or Igloo2 SoC FPGA platform. To enable wide interoperability, the TRINAMIC IP blocks have been verified as 100 percent compatible with the existing Beckhoff EtherCAT slave controllers through extensive interoperability testing. In addition, the IP blocks include a stand-alone mode that enables direct mapping of integrated peripherals to bus registers, while enabling an external or internal multipoint control unit (MCU) to perform higher layer protocol operations.  Microsemi's highly secure SmartFusion2 SoC FPGA offers layered hardware and software solutions to protect the IP, platform, manufacturing flow and data layer based on a customer's specific needs.

TRINAMIC's EtherCAT solution is suitable for a variety of applications in the industrial and communications markets, including factory automation applications like programmable logic controller (PLC), motor drive/motion drive control, safety input/output (IO) modules, and other applications where EtherCAT communications are required. Should customers need to connect their industrial Ethernet board to a larger network, Microsemi offers switch products, Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) integrated circuits (ICs) and midspan products to complement the EtherCAT IP and chip solution.

TRINAMIC Motion Control is now offering its EtherCAT customizing and chip solution to its customers. For more information on the company's solutions leveraging Microsemi's SmartFusion2 technology, visit http://www.microsemi.com/products/fpga-soc/design-resources/partners/trinamic-motion-control. For more information on Microsemi's industrial Ethernet networking solutions, visit http://www.microsemi.com/applications/industrial/industrial-ethernet.

About Microsemi's SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs
SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs integrate inherently reliable flash-based FPGA fabric, a 166 megahertz (MHz) ARM Cortex-M3 processor, advanced security processing accelerators, DSP blocks, SRAM, eNVM and industry-required high performance communication interfaces, all on a single chip. Microsemi's SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs are designed to address fundamental requirements for advanced security, high reliability and low power in critical communications, industrial, defense, aviation and medical applications.

About TRINAMIC
Based in Hamburg, Germany, privately-held TRINAMIC Motion Control GmbH & Co. KG is a recognized global leader in motor and motion control technologies. Leveraging its extensive portfolio of internally developed IP, TRINAMIC motor control products emphasize efficiency, quality and ease-of-use.

The company sells ICs, modules and integrated mechatronics to market leading manufacturers worldwide. The company's products have been integrated into a wide range of applications in biotechnology, lab automation, materials handling, CCTV and factory automation. More information about TRINAMIC can be obtained on the company website: http://www.trinamic.com.

About Microsemi
Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for communications, defense & security, aerospace and industrial markets. Products include high-performance and radiation-hardened analog mixed-signal integrated circuits, FPGAs, SoCs and ASICs; power management products; timing and synchronization devices and precise time solutions, setting the world's standard for time; voice processing devices; RF solutions; discrete components; security technologies and scalable anti-tamper products; Ethernet solutions; Power-over-Ethernet ICs and midspans; as well as custom design capabilities and services. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif, and has approximately 3,600 employees globally. Learn more at www.microsemi.com.

Microsemi and the Microsemi logo are registered trademarks or service marks of Microsemi Corporation and/or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks and service marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Any statements set forth in this news release that are not entirely historical and factual in nature, including without limitation statements to the availability of a plugfest-tested EtherCAT IP and chip solution from TRINAMIC for Microsemi's SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs, and the potential effect of the foregoing on future business, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, such factors as rapidly changing technology and product obsolescence, potential cost increases, variations in customer order preferences, weakness or competitive pricing environment of the marketplace, uncertain demand for and acceptance of the company's products, adverse circumstances in any of our end markets, results of in-process or planned development or marketing and promotional campaigns, difficulties foreseeing future demand, potential non-realization of expected orders or non-realization of backlog, product returns, product liability, and other potential unexpected business and economic conditions or adverse changes in current or expected industry conditions, difficulties and costs of protecting patents and other proprietary rights, inventory obsolescence and difficulties regarding customer qualification of products. In addition to these factors and any other factors mentioned elsewhere in this news release, the reader should refer as well to the factors, uncertainties or risks identified in the company's most recent Form 10-K and all subsequent Form 10-Q reports filed by Microsemi with the SEC. Additional risk factors may be identified from time to time in Microsemi's future filings. The forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and Microsemi does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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SOURCE Microsemi Corporation; TRINAMIC

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