IEC 61131-3 is the de facto programming language for industrial controllers, hence it is essential that there is an IEC 61131-3 environment for the processor platform used to create the industrial controller. A standard language like IEC 61131-3 provides many benefits, including:
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Code re-use
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The ability to purchase code
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A wide development tool offering
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Lower costs
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Better quality
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A larger pool of available engineering resources
Building an industrial controller using a single FPGA offers many advantages—for example, reduced size, power and cost, as well as the flexibility of FPGAs and the protection they offer from obsolescence. To create a fully integrated system you must be able to add a microprocessor to the FPGA design. For this purpose, Altera offers the Nios® II 32-bit RISC processor, which has fully verified IEC 61131-3 environments from our partners 3S - Smart Software Solutions and KW Software.
For more information on 3S - Smart Software Solutions and KW Software and their products, please see our industrial partners page.
