Abstract

TI Sitara™ microcontrollers offer two types of Programmable Real-time Unit (PRU) subsystems: PRU-Industrial Communication Subsystem (PRU-ICSS) and PRU-Industrial Communication Subsystem - Gigabit (PRU_ICSSG). PRU-ICSS is available for the AM335x, AM437x, AM57x series and K2G devices. PRU_ICSSG is available on AM243x, AM65x, and AM64x, and can be independently programmed to achieve some custom requirements with high real-time requirements to achieve product differentiation.

In industrial applications, multiple devices are often required to communicate with each other in a fast, low-latency, and synchronized manner. For example, this requirement exists in the multi-axis servo control system architecture. The Fast Serial Interface (FSI) is a new communication peripheral created for TI's real-time control microcontrollers (MCUs) to extend the reliable high-speed communication capabilities to multiple devices in a system. This application report describes how to use PRU to increase FSI communication bandwidth, provides test performance based on FSI high-speed communication in different configurations and modes, and applies these concepts in a multi-axis servo control system.