During the development of Single Pair Ethernet (SPE), a large ecosystem has emerged in recent years, within which numerous companies collaborate on new standards and products. Matthias Fritsche, senior Ethernet connectivity expert at HARTING, will be present during the online Industrial Ethernet knowledge weeks go into this in more detail and highlight the benefits of SPE.
By: Dimitri Reijerman
According to Fritsche, the SPE standard is as good as complete and it is now time for companies to develop SPE components. “The development of SPE originated from the automotive industry. Initially, therefore, the cable lengths were limited. But with further development, lengths of up to a thousand meters have become possible,” says Fritsche.
Because an SPE cable only has one copper pair, the biggest challenge is increasing throughput speeds, says HARTING's network specialist: “We had to increase the bandwidth for SPE to a maximum of 4 to 5GHz, because SPE must be sufficiently future-proof. Then you can achieve speeds of up to 10Gbps. But a lot of focus is still on lower speeds, which are often sufficient within the industry.”
Another hurdle that had to be overcome during SPE standardization in developing a good connector, says Fritsche: “In any case, we want to develop as few types of connectors as possible. Ultimately, the SPE Foundation opted for the IEC 63171-6 standard. This can be placed in six different types of housing, such as IP20 or M8 connectors.”
What should not be forgotten is that SPE also offers Power over Data Line to power sensors, for example. According to Fritsche, the process industry still needs some adjustments due to the high safety requirements.
All in all, Fritsche is optimistic and sees a bright future for SPE, with more and more applications based on Single Pair Ethernet being rolled out in the coming years. “SPE will be a key player in the Industrial Internet of Things in particular enabler also compared to wireless technologies such as WiFi 6 and 5G. Because with SPE you can also supply the power and the security of physical networks is better.”
Would you like to attend Matthias Fritsche's lecture? Register free of charge via Industrial Ethernet website.
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