Product Editions and Requirements

The difference between product editions and the hardware, software requirements for KINGSTAR are listed below:

Product Editions 

The features of the product depend on the licenses you purchase. To learn more about the KINGSTAR licenses, see KINGSTAR Runtime components.

Hardware Requirements 

This section lists hardware requirements for KINGSTAR and the considerations about processors.

Drives and I/O 

KINGSTAR supports many servo drives, stepper drives, EtherCAT I/O modules and EtherCAT couplers. For the up-to-date list, see the KINGSTAR Supported Hardware PDF file available from the Customer Center.

Network Interface Cards (NIC) 

KINGSTAR requires a dedicated NIC. This NIC is configured when the Install Wizard is run. For the up-to-date list of supported NICs, see the KINGSTAR Supported NIC PDF file available from the Customer Center.

EtherCAT 

KINGSTAR uses EtherCAT technology for communication. The set-up of the EtherCAT network consists of the following steps below: 

1. Make sure your computer and devices have network interface cards (NICs), or chips that support the EtherCAT protocol. To know whether your hardware supports EtherCAT: 
   

• Computers: In Windows, go to Device Manager and find the NIC under Network adapters. Make a note of the model number of the NIC. Check the KINGSTAR online help from kingstar.com > Support > Help > Network Interface cards, or check the offline help by clicking Start> KINGSTAR Runtime > Help System > Network interface cards. If your NIC is listed in the document, it supports EtherCAT. 
  
• Devices: See the manual of your device, or contact the device manufacturer. 

2. Prepare the Ethernet cables that are CAT-5 (Category 5) or higher. The transmission rate needs to be at least 100 Mbps. 
   
3. Connect your computer and devices using the Ethernet cables. Technically, the EtherCAT protocol allows up to 65,535 devices to be connected, but rarely an EtherCat master supports so many devices, which take large memory. By default, KINGSTAR support up to 256 devices, but you can increase the maximum number of supported devices by adding a registry key. For more information about how to increase the maximum number, see Product TechNotes > KINGSTAR Fieldbus > General > Increase the maximum number of supported devices. Product TechNotes are on the KINGSTAR website. Go to Support > Support Login.

Hardware Considerations 

KINGSTAR requires a multiprocessor platform, which supports 64-bit Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. Uniprocessor systems are not supported. A minimum, two cores are required; one core must be dedicated to Windows and another core must be dedicated to the KINGSTAR Subsystem. Systems with up to 64 cores are supported. 

NOTE:  If your system is hyper-threaded, you should assign an even number of processors between Windows and KINGSTAR real-time components. The Windows logical processor and real-time logical processor must not share the same physical processor.

Some hardware configurations are not supported by the KINGSTAR Runtime installations. Although KINGSTAR runs on most x64 platforms, unique attributes of certain processors require special consideration before using them.

• For a comprehensive list of approved and supported hardware, see the Windows hardware certification web page: 
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/dashboards/windowscertified-product-list
  
• For a comprehensive list of system requirements for Windows 10, see the Windows 10 System Requirements web page: 
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-specifications  
• For a comprehensive list of system requirements for Windows 11, see the Windows 11 System Requirements web page: 
  
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications 

Software Requirements 

This section lists software requirements for KINGSTAR and things to know before you install the software. 

Operating System Requirements 

KINGSTAR is supported on 64-bit multiprocessor configurations for the following operating systems: 

• Windows 11 September 2022 Update Version 22H2
• Windows 11 October 2021 Update Version 21H2
• Windows 10 October 2022 Update Version 22H2
• Windows 10 November 2021 Update Version 21H2
• Windows 10 May 2021 Update Version 2105
• Windows 10 October 2020 Update Version 2009
• Windows 10 May 2020 Update Version 2004
• Windows 10 November 2019 Update Version 1909
• Windows 10 May 2019 Update Version 1903
• Windows 10 November 2018 Update Version 1809
• Windows 10 IoT Entreprise Long Term Servicing Channel: LTSC 2021, LTSC 2019, LTSB 1607

Microsoft Visual Studio 

Microsoft Visual Studio 2022, 2019 or 2017 must be installed in your system if you want to develop KINGSTAR applications.

Microsoft .NET Framework 

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 is required. If the client is not detected; the Install Wizard installs the client for you.

Real-Time Subsystem 

KINGSTAR requires, at minimum, the RTX64 4.0.2 Runtime. If it is not already installed in your system, the product installer installs and configures the RTX64 real-time Subsystem for you. 

Real-Time Software Development Kit 

KINGSTAR SDK is required for the KINGSTAR application development.

Administrator Privileges 

Administrator privileges are required for installing and uninstalling KINGSTAR, which provides local Windows groups to control user access to KINGSTAR features. By default, all users can access the KINGSTAR features. You should modify the groups if you wish to limit the access to specific users. 

Request a Free Trial

For access to evaluation kits, go to https://kingstar.com/download-trial. In the form that appears, select KINGSTAR from the product choices, fill out the contact information, and then click Start Trial.