RT-Thread Announces the Launch of EtherKit Open-Source Ethercat Hardware

3 min readDec 2, 2024

RT-Thread, in collaboration with Renesas Electronics, is set to unveil EtherKit, a high-performance, multi-functional Ethernet MPU development board. This innovative board is powered by the Renesas RZ/N2L chip, featuring an Arm® Cortex®-R52 core with a clock speed of up to 400 MHz. It’s now available to purchase in Aliexpress at $51.07, check it Here!

The EtherKit development board is equipped with a 3-port Gigabit Ethercat switch with TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking) support and offers compatibility with major industrial Ethernet communication protocols, including EtherCAT, PROFINET RT/IRT, EtherNet/IP™, Modbus, and OPC UA.

Designed to address the demanding needs of various industrial Ethernet applications, EtherKit provides a comprehensive solution for developers seeking robust performance and flexibility.

Chip Features

Main Chip: EtherKit is powered by the Renesas RZ/N2L, an Ethernet communication microprocessor (MPU) featuring an advanced 3-port Gigabit Ethernet switch with TSN support and an integrated EtherCAT® slave controller.
Arm® Cortex®-R52 Core: Delivers processing power of up to 400 MHz, ensuring efficient execution of real-time tasks.
3-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch: Natively supports protocols such as EtherCAT®, PROFINET® RT/IRT, and EtherNet/IP™, simplifying industrial Ethernet integration.
Memory Configuration: Equipped with 256KB tightly coupled memory (ATCM+BTCM) and 1.5MB internal RAM with ECC support, ensuring data integrity and system reliability.
Trigonometric Accelerator: Enhances computational speed for motor control algorithms.

Below is the CPU block diagram of EtherKit:

EtherKit Software Support

RT-Thread has fully adapted to the Cortex®-R52 architecture and now provides comprehensive support for EtherKit, including a Board Support Package (BSP) and SDK. Development is supported via RT-Thread Studio GCC and IAR. Additionally, a wide range of drivers and software packages, tailored for networking and industrial applications, have been integrated specifically for EtherKit.

Below is an overview of the software support for EtherKit:

EtherKit Hardware Resources

Let’s take a closer look at the hardware resources available on the EtherKit development board:

Core Components and Configuration

Main Chip: Powered by the Renesas RZ/N2L series (model: R9A07G084M04GBG).
External Memory: Includes a 32MB HyperRAM (Winbond W958D8NBYA), an 8MB QSPI-Flash, and a 16Kbit EEPROM.
Ethernet: Equipped with three Gigabit PHY chips and eight Ethernet status indicator LEDs.
Power Supply: Supports both 24V DC power input and USB Type-C power supply.
Onboard Controls: Includes a RESET button, two user buttons, three customizable user LEDs, and an EtherCAT communication indicator LED.

External Interfaces

Digital I/O and ADC: Four 24V digital input interfaces, four digital output interfaces, and eight ADC sampling interfaces.
Communication Ports: Features two CAN FD communication interfaces and one RS485 interface.
Debugging Interface: Comes with a 20-pin standard JTAG debugging interface.
USB Ports:
USB-TTL: Provides serial output functionality for easy logging.
USB-DEVICE: Can operate as a USB slave device.

This robust configuration ensures that EtherKit is well-suited for a variety of industrial and networking applications.

Additionally, EtherKit features a Pmod interface and a 40-pin expansion header, enabling the extension of functionalities such as I2C, SPI, UART, and timers.

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