The Industry 4.0 and IIoT place higher demands on modern industrial communication infrastructure. Traditional field-level wiring methods, due to their complexity, high implementation costs, and limited scalability, have become a critical bottleneck. To address this challenge, Hilscher, leveraging its deep expertise in industrial communication, officially launches a comprehensive solution based on Single Pair Ethernet (SPE). This solution is designed to help our clients and partners build more efficient, streamlined, and future-proof industrial networks. 

Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) is an innovative Ethernet physical layer technology that enables data transmission over a single twisted pair of wires, in compliance with the IEEE 802.3 standard. It not only breaks the 100-meter transmission distance limit of traditional Ethernet, extending the range significantly to 1,000 meters, but also greatly simplifies wiring complexity. Furthermore, it seamlessly extends standard, universal IP communication capabilities from corporate IT systems down to the sensors and actuators at the OT field level. A comparison between Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) and traditional industrial communication technologies is shown in the figure below. 

SPE technology brings several significant technical and business advantages to the field of industrial automation: 

• Optimized Wiring Architecture and Reduced Implementation Costs: By reducing the number of wire pairs and using smaller connectors, SPE significantly lowers overall costs related to materials, space, and installation time, thereby increasing the return on investment. 

• Miniaturization and High Flexibility: Slimmer cables and more compact connector designs make SPE ideal for integration into miniaturized, space-constrained field devices, providing device manufacturers with greater design flexibility. 

• Long-Distance Data Transmission: As mentioned, specific SPE standards support stable data transmission up to 1,000 meters without the need for additional repeaters, effectively solving data acquisition challenges in large plants or for remote devices. 

• End-to-End IP Communication: SPE breaks down the communication barriers between the field level and the enterprise level, enabling a fully IP-based network architecture from the sensor to the cloud. This lays a solid foundation for seamless data access, centralized monitoring, and predictive analytics. 

To help customers rapidly adopt SPE technology and shorten their time-to-market, Hilscher offers a series of developer-friendly hardware solutions: 

• netX 90 SPE Development Board: The Hilscher netX 90 supports the 10BASE-T1L standard. This platform provides a complete hardware and software environment for evaluation and development. It enables developers to quickly perform prototyping and functional validation, allowing them to focus their core R&D resources on the application innovation of their end products, significantly accelerating the development cycle. 

• SPE Media Switch: To address the challenge of integrating new and legacy equipment, Hilscher also offers an SPE media converter. This device flexibly connects traditional Industrial Ethernet devices with new SPE infrastructure without the need for an additional gateway, providing customers with a highly flexible and cost-effective expansion solution during system upgrades. 

Hilscher is committed to providing leading industrial communication technology, and our Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) solution is a concrete embodiment of this commitment. We provide not only the core technology but also comprehensive development tools and integration solutions, making us your ideal partner for achieving smart manufacturing and digital transformation in the era of Industry 4.0.