Introduction

This application note describes the Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA) based Industrial Edge demonstration. This solution runs on PolarFire® SoC, which is configured as an OPC UA server and/or client. The design demonstrates communication over OPC UA between the PolarFire SoC Video Kit, the PolarFire SoC ICICLE Kit, and the Stepper 7 Click using the UAExpert (a full-featured OPC UA client).

Microchip's PolarFire SoC devices combine RISC-V based 5x core Microprocessor Subsystem (MSS), capable of running Linux®, and the PolarFire Fabric in a single device. This combination enables the partitioning of user designs between the MSS (C Source code) and the Fabric (RTL). Microchip's Libero® SoC enables the rapid development of RTL based designs for PolarFire SoC, and many other device families. Libero SoC provides a wide range of IPs for a variety of applications such as video and imaging, signal processing, wired and wireless communications, and networking. Microchip's SoftConsole enables the rapid development of C/C++ source code based applications targeted for all Microchip FPGA and SoC device families.

Stepper 7 Click is a bipolar step motor driver, and features an H-bridge bipolar step motor driver. It supports the Full and Half-Step Control modes. Stepper 7 Click also carries a port expander so that the communication can be done with a minimal number of pins, through the mikroBUS™ SPI bus.