Industrial switch aids reconfigurable networking

A novel eight-port industrial Ethernet switch features a bidirectional transceiver that enables a redundant ring topology to run on just a single fibre.

Westermo Data Communications has released the first eight-port industrial Ethernet switch with a bidirectional (BIDE) transceiver, enabling a redundant ring topology to run on just a single fibre.

Based on the Fast Reconfiguration of Networks Topology (FRNTv0), the concept ensures rapid return of network operations after a fibre break and is a highly efficient alternative to the usual duplex rings.

The Lynx 300 is part of the next generation of Westermo managed industrial Ethernet switches.

It uses the FRNTv0 single ring concept to provide 30ms reconfiguration of the network topology for rings containing up to 200 switches.

The Lynx 300 offers flexibility regarding port combinations, with copper, multimode and single-mode fibre options.

It has two ports for pluggable transceivers, which are both extremely flexible (giving a range from 2 to 85km) and quick to change.

Layer 2 and layer 3 priority support with four priority queues is incorporated, with a fault contact to indicate switch failures.

User configurable port alarms are also available.

The Lynx 300 meets the toughest industrial environmental requirements.

High MTBF numbers makes it the choice for applications where temperature, vibration and insolation are critical parameters.

The military design offers a full metal housing, IP40 protection and a wide operating temperature range (-40 to +70C).

Management of the switches is done using the Windows based IP configuration tool or via SNMP.

The IP configuration tool comes free with the package and any of the Ethernet ports can be used.

Thus, no serial port is required for configuring the switch.

This means that Lynx can be mounted and installed prior to configuration, another saving for the customer.

A wide DC power range (19 to 60V DC) is available and the unit has a low power consumption (typically 5W for the no fibre version, 5.7W for one fibre transceiver and 6.4W for two fibre transceivers).

It also has a redundant power input with polarity protection.

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