W H I T E PA P E R

Scalable Solutions
Stephanie Pearson,
Strategic Marketing Manager
Mike Hannah,
Sitara™ Processors Systems Architect
Texas Instruments
for HMI

Executive summary Introduction

The demand for increased quantity, quality, HMI, also referred to as a user interface, operator panel or terminal, provides a means of con-
environmental protection and economic effi- trolling, monitoring, managing and/or visualizing device processes. An example is an operator
ciencies has led to an increasingly connect- panel which allows an industrial machine operator to interact with a machine in a graphical,
ed factory floor and process flow. This, in visual way. With controls and read-outs graphically displayed on the screen, the operator can
combination with decreased personnel, has use either external buttons or the touch screen to control the machinery. Ranging from simple
led to increased information to be processed segmented displays to high-resolution LCD panels, HMIs can be located on the machine, in
by fewer and less field-specific operators in battery-operated, portable handheld devices, and also in centralized control rooms. They are
the control center. A well designed HMI sys- used in machine and process control to connect the operator with the programmable logic
tem decreases that gap between the produc- controller (PLC) application systems which control the sensors, actuators and machines on
tion process and operator through an intui- the factory floor.
tive visualization system, layers of detail to HMI system applications include:
allow for a bird’s eye view down to the min-
ute details, as well as training material and • Industrial automation such as factory and production process automation
documentation at the operators’ fingertips. • Building automation including HVAC control, lighting temperatures (energy), elevator moni-
The overall benefits to a well-designed toring, crowd control (occupancy) and video security through video overlay
HMI system are numerous and include in- • Product advertising
creased safety, quality, quantity and eco- • Vending machines
nomic efficiencies. HMI systems also mini- • Automotive and marine industrial clusters
mize the risk of disruption in the production • Household appliances
process, reduce overall downtime and allow
for fewer operators to manage more infor- An industrial HMI system’s usability is determined by its processing power, ability to render
mation with less field-specific knowledge. complex and reality-like screens, fast response time to user input and its flexibility to handle
various levels of operator interactions. HMIs require dynamically changing graphics which,
in turn, require a high-performance solution that can support high refresh rates with varying
resolutions and displays. They also have to support multiple connectivity and communica-
tion protocols to communicate between the operator and numerous machines and control
systems.
2 Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments (TI) offers a comprehensive range of HMI solutions with the right mix of performance
and peripherals to meet the needs of each application category. In many cases, they are also optimized and
tested to work together as well as scale up in performance and integration for decreased costs and time to
market. The four market tiers in HMI systems are:

HMI Form Factor Requirements

• Up to WUXGA display
• 2D/3D graphics
High end • User interface application
• Video playback
• HTML5
• Up to XGA display
Mid end • 2D graphics
• User interface application
• Up to XGA display
Base
• Light-weight user interface
• Up to QVGA display
Entry
• Simple user interface

With a wide range of Embedded Processing

HMI solutions, TI’s processing and control solutions offer a breadth of performance, key industrial peripherals, and robust
TI has product to fit
software development kits to enable product family scalability, value through integration, and fast time to
every need.
market. TI’s Tiva™ ARM® Cortex®-M MCUs are perfect for the entry-level tier of the HMI market supporting
up to WVGA displays, simple user interfaces and key industrial connectivity options. TI’s scalable Sitara™
ARM Cortex-A series of processors are the best fit for the base, mid- and high-end markets with speeds
ranging from 300 MHz to 1 GHz. The processor portfolio includes unique combinations of industrial interfac-
es, communication protocol capabilities and accelerators to drive down system cost and expand connectivity
options.

Graphics and Video

For mid- to high-end HMI systems, the need for high-performance graphics increases to improve the intui-
tive and visual interfaces, simplify the operators’ awareness of system status and improve decision-making
capabilities when needed. Graphic hardware accelerators integrated in TI’s Sitara™ ARM Cortex-A8-, A9-
and A15-based SoCs (system on chips) support these optimized HMI systems through 2D/3D acceleration,
alpha blending, picture in picture, chroma keying, images with texture, special effects, on screen display and
layers of graphics and windows.

Software
TI supports a wide variety of operating systems, such as Linux®, Windows® CE and Android™, as well as
multiple real-time operating systems like QNX®, Green Hills Integrity®, Wind River VXWorks®, and TI’s
SYS/BIOS. TI’s Code Composer Studio™ integrated development environment can also be used for develop-
ment and debug across most of the platforms.

Scalable Solutions for HMI November 2013

 Texas Instruments 3

Industrial Communications
Real-time communications is the heart of industrial automation. With a unique architecture of an integrated
ARM core (or cores) and programmable Industrial Communication Subsystem (PRU-ICSS), TI supports many
popular, certified serial and Ethernet-based protocols. The PRU-ICSS is comprised of dual 32-bit RISC pro-
ces- sors with no cache and single-cycle instructions to enable 100% deterministic acceleration of protocols
such as PROFIBUS®, CANopen®, DeviceNET, EtherCAT®, EtherNet/IP™, PROFINET®, Modbus TCP/IP,
Sercos® and POWERLINK. The PRU-ICSS provides HMI manufacturers the flexibility to support multiple in-
dustrial communications protocols on one hardware platform without the need for external FPGAs and ASICs.
The PRU-ICSS can be found on many TI embedded processors scaling in performance and integration to offer
opportunities for design and software reuse.

Display
TI has the industry’s widest range of products to generate Haptics effects – a feedback technology that takes
advantage of a user’s sense of touch – by driving motor-based and piezo-based actuators to deliver vibration
and/or motion to the user interface. Haptics increases user confidence and decreases task completion time
for HMI tasks. TI also offers resistive-touch screen controllers which are cost-effective, robust solutions for
touch controls.

Power Management
TI provides power management units (PMU), specifically matched with corresponding processors as well
as other solutions, to deliver power such as DC-DC controllers, Low Drop Out regulators (LDO), Power over
Ethernet (PoE) devices, LCD bias (to deliver power to your display) and backlighting solutions such as white
LED drivers.

Wired Connectivity
TI has solutions to enable wired connectivity by communication standards such as CAN, UART, USB, RS-232,
RS-485 and 10-/100-Mbit Ethernet with integrated PHY. These interface options enable hooking up the
system to a myriad of external peripherals and accessories, depending on the need of the end application.

Wireless Connectivity
TI offers solutions for Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, Sub-1 GHz and WLAN networks to enable portable HMI solutions.
TI’s broad portfolio provides more options for maximum flexibility in wireless design. TI’s WiLink™ 8 solutions
can provide high-performance Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® low energy in one combo module, and TI’s
SimpleLink™ CC3000 module is an option for easy-to-integrate Wi-Fi. The Sub-1 GHz Performance Line
delivers the most reliable range and best coexistence in the industry and the CC253x ZigBee system-on-chip
(SoC) is the ideal SoC for high-performance ZigBee applications.

Scalable Solutions for HMI November 2013

4 Texas Instruments

Memory MS/MMC/
Power SD/SDIO/
Card

NAND DDR2/DDR3/
lrDA
Flash mDDR RAM
Output to Touch
Screen Monitor
Haptics
System
Embedded Processor
Touch Screen Backlight
Common Connectivity Control
Clock General-Purpose
Processor GbE
SPI
USB
I2C Hard Drive
LCD
UART
ARM® Cortex™ MMC/SD
CAN Power Management
Single to Multicore PCIe Microphone
Unit
Wireless PRU-ICSS (Industrial Audio/Video
Communication Subsystem) Speakers
Codec

Multimedia Accelerators Power

Audio In/Out
10/100 Manager
2-D/3-D
PHY Video
Graphics HS USB
Accelerator
LAN Port Engine Transceiver

PoE Keypad

System Low Noise Gas LED

Battery Charger
AC/DC Power Analog Gauge
On/Off
Supply Main Power Supply

Battery

HMI system block diagram of mid to high end system

TI is committed to offering robust and optimized industrial solutions to support a wide range of industrial
application needs, from sensors and I/Os, motor control, PLCs and advanced HMIs. By focusing on dif-
ferentiating low power, integration, high performance and advanced graphics, TI can offer a wide range of
devices designed to work together as well as provide a roadmap for compatibility and reuse. Moreover, with
numerous evaluation and development platforms available across the TI portfolio of embedded processors
for the industrial market, HMI manufacturers are given the tools to quickly move from concept to product and
provide operators with the right tools for their job.
For more information on TI’s HMI solutions, please visit ti.com/automation.

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Code Composer Studio, SimpleLink, Sitara, Tiva and WiLink are trademarks of Texas Instruments Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

© 2013 Texas Instruments Incorporated SPRY255

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