HMS Industrial Networks, Inc. (www.hms.se) has announced that it will release an all-new Anybus X-gateway series that connects CANopen networks with 10 other industrial Ethernet and fieldbus networks.

At the SPS/IPC/Drives fair in Nuremberg, Germany, HMS will launch a major enhancement to the X-gateway family, unveiling 10 completely updated design of CANopen master (manager) gateways in small slim-line housing. Any CANopen enabled device with slave functionality can communicate with any other industrial Ethernet or fieldbus network through the new and powerful CANopen X-gateways. The CANopen gateway family includes versions for all well-known fieldbusses such as DeviceNet, Profibus, ControlNet, Modbus and for industrial Ethernet with EtherNet/IP, Profinet, Modbus-TCP and EtherCAT protocol. CANopen-based networks are typical applications that need to be incorporated into higher functional industrial Ethernet or fieldbus networks. Target markets include transportation, machine building, medical, infrastructure and other types of energy distribution, as well as control applications such as renewable energies.

The CANopen X-gateways, which are embedded into a small plastic housing, are slim-lined devices for 24 Volt power supply and standard DIN rail mounting. These are based on the Anybus communication modules and act as intelligent link between two industrial networks. They always function as a master (manager) on the CANopen side and work as slaves (servers) on the uplink network side. Based on HMS NP30 microprocessor, the implementation is certified by CIA (CAN in Automation) for conformance to the CANopen DS 301 v4.0.2 standard.

For the CANopen master interface’s configuration, any standard CANopen configuration tool can be utilized. The Ethernet slave or uplink fieldbus interface is configured with the standard engineering tool of the programmable logic controller (PLC) and a standard device description file (GSD/EDS). The Anybus X-gateway series transmits I/O data completely transparent into the two networks – I/O data from the uplink fieldbus/Ethernet network is mapped into the CANopen PDOs and vice versa.