A monolithic integrated circuit that supports multiple industrial Ethernet protocols, fieldbus protocols, and industrial application processing, providing a single hardware platform usable to build different automation devices/equipment implemented in an industrial network, such as controllers, field devices, network communication nodes, etc. The monolithic integrated circuit includes: one application processor core operable to execute an industrial application and Ethernet connectivity/management code, including standard Ethernet connectivity/management code and industrial Ethernet connectivity/management code; a real time processor configured to support a plurality of industrial Ethernet data link layers; an interface configured to be coupled to an external non volatile memory from which the at least one application processor is configured for execute in place processing; and an on-chip RAM having a capacity sufficient to eliminate the need for external RAM in execution by the at least one application processor core of an operating system, the industrial application, and the Ethernet connectivity/management code.