Introduction

About this page

This page describes the changes between the different releases of PROFINET IO-Device Firmware V5 over time. For each new release the major differences compared to the previous release are shown. Specific topics like tag list or Packet API are handled here.

References to documents

The following documents shall be consulted. They contain newest definitions of API services:

PROFINET IO-Device Protocol API (Revision 6 - V4.6.0 and V5.4.0)

...

Changes introduced with V5.5.0 - INTERMEDIATE information for next upcoming version

...

This section shows changes introduced with firmware V5.5.0.

General changes and remarks

• netX90 feature SecureBoot is now useable due to usage of a new version of integrated operating system
• netX90 with Datecode > 1910 is required, firmware will not work properly when used on older netX90 chips
• if I&M5 functionality is enabled, the firmware no longer automatically adds the additional "OEM ID" block to DCP frames
  • A new ParameterTypes of PNS_IF_SET_OEM_PARAMETERS_REQ was added to explicitly activate this block
• Profinet related IP frames are now sent with a VLAN tag to give these frames the priority recommended by Profinet specification
  • IP frame generated by other instances (integrated webserver, Socket API) are not affected
• if feature SecurityClass 1 is enabled, the behavior regarding SNMP has changed (off by default) to match new revision of Profinet specification
  
  • please check Protocol API Manual for more details regarding Profinet Security
• the integrated webserver now offers possibility for User authentification
• a dedicated technical datasheet document is delivered for each individual firmware stating the capabilities and limitations of the specific firmware
• Support of ReductionRatio which is not a power of 2 was removed and is no longer useable. This limits possible network update times.

Packet handling (API changes)

The following services have changed starting with firmware V5.5.0.

...

Support for the following parameter types have been added:

• ParameterType 21

Tag list

No tag list changes with firmware V5.5.0 compared to V5.4.0.

Changes introduced with V5.4.0

This section shows changes introduced with firmware V5.4.0.

General changes and remarks

• netX 90 use case A firmware for single port use (only one PHY active) has been added.
• netX 90 use case C firmware for single port use (only one PHY active) has been added.
• Firmware offers supports for PROFINET Security Class 1 features

  • As no certification exists for the required features, we cannot guarantee a completely correct implementation. Our own tests show expected behavior.

  • Use at your own risk.

• Socket API quantities can now be configured via tag list.

• DDP (Device Data Provider) OEM parameter usage has been modified in such a way that now ALL defined values in OEM section need to be set by the application. If not all flags are set, the firmware will reject the configuration.

• Some unsupported ParameterTypes of PNS_IF_SET_OEM_PARAMETERS_REQ have been removed from API header.
• In case of error, some services no longer return any data in the confirmation packet.
• A major update of the integrated operating system and IP stack has been done.

• New service for Isochronous Applications has been added allowing to generate a user defined signal. Independent from this new feature, this firmware supports applications with the following scenarios:

  • Use case A: 500 µs network update time and DPM update time, up to 2 submodules each 4 byte.

  • Use case C: 1 ms network update time and DPM update time, up to 2 submodules each 4 byte.

• The sync signal now is “high active” instead of “low active”.

Packet handling (API changes)

The following services have changed starting with firmware V5.4.0.

In general, the check for the packet header field “ulLen” of request packets has been intensified in this version. Only the exact packet length is accepted now. Previous released versions accepted request packets with values for ulLen larger than required for the service.

...

Support for the following parameter types have been added:

• ParameterType 19

...

Config Trigger Event Service

...

If the service is used with the same USI as an already existing Generic Diagnosis, the old diagnosis entry is silently updated by the new one as indicated by the PROFINET specification.
The service only accepts GenericDiagnosis entries with a severity “fault” and rejects all other severities as this is required by the PROFINET specification.

Tag list

The following changes have been done for firmware V5.4.0 compared to V5.3.0:

...

Socket API quantity Structures

...

This tag has been added. This tag allows you to modify the quantities related to Socket API services in the Network Service Communication Channel. The values set with this tag will not interfere with the resources of the PROFINET communication protocol which uses its own dedicated resources.

Changes introduced with V5.3.0

This section shows changes introduced with firmware V5.3.0.

General changes and remarks

• netX 90 use case C firmware (scenario with SDRAM)
  

  • File system handling was incompatibly changed (by introducing WearLeveling). This firmware is incompatible with Maintenance Firmware < V1.3.0.0. When updating to firmware V5.3.0, the Maintenance Firmware needs to be updated as well. In addition the file system needs to be formatted.

  • Only MinDeviceInterval 1 ms is supported

  • Only SendClock 32 and above is supported. SendClock 16 and 8 are not supported by use case C.

• netX 90 use case A firmware (scenario without SDRAM):

  • After upgrading a firmware from V5.1.x/5.2.x to V5.3.x the Flash area storing the remanent data will be adjusted. If later a firmware downgrade to V5.1.x or 5.2.x is done, the remanent data is lost on downgrade and again is lost on upgrade back to V5.3.x.

• In case, the PROFINET IO-Device protocol stack is not configured, the firmware will no longer automatically enable the PHYs integrated in netX.

  • Once the PROFINET IO-Device protocol stack is configured, the PHYs will be enabled with parameters contained in remanent data. If Autonegotiation is used after protocol stack configuration it may take additional 3 seconds until the link is established.

  • A tag list is added to firmware that allows configuration of a timeout after which the PHYs shall be enabled even if PROFINET IO-Device protocol stack is not yet configured.

• The firmware supports Hilscher netIdent protocol by default. The IP port “25383” is thus active and reachable by port scans.

  • A tag list has been added to firmware to disable the netIdent protocol function.

• The firmware supports the OEM section in Device Data Provider (DDP) only if the DDP is configured to start in state “passive”.

• The IP stack integrated in the firmware will not be deconfigured if the PROFINET IO-Device protocol stack is switched to “bus state off”. Instead the IP parameterization is kept and all IP based services continue to work.

  • However, the PROFINET related protocols like DCP or RTA will be deactivated on “bus state off” as well as the integrated RPC Server used by PROFINET IO-Device protocol stack.

Packet handling (API changes)

The following services have changed starting with firmware V5.3.0.

...

Support for the following parameter types have been added:

• ParameterType 8

Support for the following parameter types has been removed. Instead the firmware will generally keep the IP configuration in bus state off:

• ParameterType 17

...

This service was added. The confirmation can only be evaluated by Hilscher and is only relevant in case of unexpected network problems.

Tag list

The following changes have been done for firmware V5.3.0 compared to V5.2.0:

...

LWIP netIdent behaviour

...

This tag was added. It allows to disable the integrated netIdent protocol function.

...

This tag was added. It allows to enable automatic PHY enabling after a specific timeout.

...

DDP mode after firmware startup

...

This tag was added. It allows to control whether the DDP (integrated in the firmware) starts in mode “active” (default) or “passive”. Only in mode “passive” the usage of Device Data Provider Set service API is possible.

...

This tag was added. It allows to configure up to two IP ports which can be used by an application via Socket API even if the integrated IP stack has no valid IP configuration.
Note that only Multicast communication is possible with these ports.

Changes introduced with V5.2.0

This section shows changes introduced with firmware V5.2.0.

General changes and remarks

• The firmware supports PROFIenergy ASE now. This feature has to be activated by the application if required.

• The firmware supports the OEM section in Device Data Provider (DDP) now.

• The firmware supports AssetManagment API for application now.

• If firmware tag list is set to "application is responsible for handling remanent data", the firmware will no longer work if the application does not set the required remanent data.
  Previous firmware versions accepted this application misbehavior.

• The evaluation of OrderID and HardwareRevision from SetConfiguration packet was removed. Instead the firmware will always use the values provided in Device Data Provider (DDP), which matches by default the values from Flash Device Label (FDL). The values can be changed using service HIL_DDP_SERVICE_SET_REQ (0x1EEC). The firmware expects the fields in SetConfiguration Request to be set to 0.

• The internal firmware start-up handling was reworked and allows better detection in case of firmware start-up errors.

• The PROFINET feature System Redundancy is supported now. However, a specific firmware is required which includes this feature.

• The System Redundancy enabled firmware uses Communication Class 0x1A as identifier in DPM Channel 0. This feature is (and will) not be supported by regular standard firmware (which uses Communication Class 0x0A as identifier in DPM Channel 0).

Packet handling (API changes)

The following services have changed starting with firmware V5.2.0.

...

The fields abOrderID and usHwRevision are no longer supported by the firmware and need to be set to 0. The firmware will always use the values stored in the Device Data provide (DDP).

...

Support for the following parameter types have been added:

• ParameterType 6
• ParameterType 9
• ParameterType 10
• ParameterType 16
• ParameterType 17
• ParameterType 18

Support for the following parameter types has been removed. Instead the newly introduced ParameterType 18 has to be be used:

• ParameterType 14
• ParameterType 15

...

This service was added. The application has to handle this service correctly in order to pass certification.

...

Read I&M Service

...

Support for I&M5 was added. Application has to handle this service correctly in order to pass certification.

...

This service was added. It is only available for System Redundancy enabled firmware.

...

SendAlarm (generic)

...

This service now supports sending ProcessAlarms with ChannelCoding (USI 0x8320).

...

Support for ParameterType PNS_IF_PARAM_PORT_STATISTIC was added.

Tag list

No tag list changes with firmware V5.2.0 compared to V5.1.0Migration Guide no longer provided via this knowledge base page. Instead, the Migration Guide is provided together with all other related documents individually for every firmware version.

Starting with firmware version V5.6.0.0, you can find the Migration Guide on each Version page free of charge as part of the file "DOC-PNS V5.x.x.x.zip".

All older versions of the Migration Guide are contained there, too.