Product/Service

EI Series of Industrial Ethernet Hubs and Links

Source: Contemporary Controls
The EI series of Industrial Ethernet hubs and links allows for the expansion of shared 10 Mbps Ethernet networks on the plant floor
The EI series of Industrial Ethernet hubs and links allows for the expansion of shared 10 Mbps Ethernet networks on the plant floor. A hub is necessary to expand a 10BASE-T system beyond two nodes or to increase network distances beyond the 100-meter limit of the 10BASE-T specification. Ethernet I/O products frequently use this popular twisted-pair cabling and therefore require companion hubs that were designed to operate in control panels.

The EI series features wide-range low-voltage AC or DC power requirements, provisions for redundant power connections, and panel or DIN-rail mounting. Both the four port EI4-10T and the eight port EI8-10T support the signaling requirements of 10BASE-T while conforming to the requirements for IEEE 802.3 repeater units. These requirements include preamble regeneration, symmetry and amplitude compensation. A repeater must retime signals so that jitter, introduced by transceivers and cabling, does not accumulate over EI8-10T Ethernet Hub multiple segments. It must be able to detect either runt packets or collisions and reinforce that detection by generating a Jam signal. Finally, it needs to automatically partition jabbering ports so that the complete network is not rendered useless.

The EI series supply the required digital pre-emphasis to its transmitting ports in order to compensate for the inherent roll-off of signal strength on the twisted-pair cable. Each twisted-pair segment can be up to 100 meters in length. Shielded RJ-45 connectors are used to accommodate either UTP or STP cabling. The Link Integrity function is supported confirming that a functioning adapter or hub is on the other end of the segment. Hubs can be cascaded using a null modem cable.

There are several LED indicators supplied that aid trouble-shooting. Besides one common Collision LED, each port has a pair of LEDs to indicate link status and port activity. Their definitions are compatible with the company's IEISA and IE104 series of Ethernet network interface modules.

The EI series is intended for Industrial Ethernet applications and complies with the EMC compatibility standards for immunity and emissions in an industrial environment. Units can be either panel or DIN-rail mounted.

Contemporary Controls, 2431 Curtiss Street, Downers Grove, IL 60515. Tel: 630-963-7070; Fax: 630-963-0109.