IC solution reduces IO-Link development time and costs

Arrow Electronics has announced a new family of IC devices that enable companies to quickly add IO-Link Master functionality to their products without the addition of royalties or licence fees.

Arrow joined the IO-Link Consortium in April.

The first device launched is a fully integrated STM32 microcontroller with an IO-Link Master software stack, IOLM4P-STM32L, which can control up to four IO-Link Devices via various IO-Link transceivers.



The all-in-one IO-Link Master 4-port solution, will help to simplify designs, accelerate development schedules, reduce software development efforts and cut down on non-recurring engineering costs.

Arrow created the IOLM4P with TEConcept, a German engineering company that is an accredited IO-Link competence and test centre. TEConcept develops IO-Link protocol stacks for masters and devices as well as tools for conformance tests.

Industry 4.0 and smart factory requirements have resulted in integration of IO-Link (IEC 61131-9) connectivity becoming increasingly important when developing products for the industrial market.

Manufacturers designing an IO-Link multiport Master typically implement the interface protocol on a dedicated microcontroller.

The protocol stack is usually licensed from a third-party technology provider as the development of a new stack can be expensive and time consuming.

Nevertheless, this approach still introduces considerable NRE costs and requires porting the stack to a microcontroller and an IO-Link transceiver.

To help developers reduce time to market, Arrow worked with TEConcept to produce a new family of devices based on STM32L-Series  microcontrollers and IO-Link ICs like the L6360 and L6362 from STMicroelectronics.

The first offering, IOLM4P-STM32L, includes the proven TEConcept IO-Link Master stack and supports the connection of up to four independent IO-Link Devices at cycle times down to 400 µs.

It is controlled via a simple SPI-based command interface by host systems that typically connect to field busses or proprietary backplane busses.

Arrow awarded Best Performing Distributor for Standard Products by STMicroelectronics

Arrow Electronics has been honoured by STMicroelectronics by being named Best Performing Distributor for Standard Products in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in 2017.

The award, which was bestowed at an event in Munich in May, recognises the exceptional growth achieved by Arrow in the sales of ST’s commodity products during the past year.

Mauro Mandara, group vice president EMEA Channel at STMicroelectronics said: “Arrow’s results with our standard products in the past year were so outstanding and we wanted to mark the achievement with a formal recognition.

“As part of that effort, we would especially like to thank all the dedicated members of Arrow’s sales and technical teams who contributed to such a successful year with ST.”