EtherCAT – Ultra high-speed for automation

Highlights

• Ethernet up to the terminal – complete continuity
• Ethernet process interface scalable from 1 bit to 64 kbyte
• first true Ethernet solution for the field level

 

Performance

• 256 digital I/Os in 12 µs
• 1,000 digital I/Os in 30 µs
• 200 analog I/Os (16 bit) in 50 µs, corresponding to 20 kHz sampling rate
• 100 servo axes in 100 µs
• 12,000 digital I/Os in 350 µs
• throughput: 10 Mbyte/s, distributed to 1,500 devices

 

Topology

• line, tree or star topology
• up to 65,535 devices
• network size: almost unlimited (> 500 km)
• operation with or without switches
• cost-effective cabling: standard Ethernet patch cable (CAT5)
• twisted pair physical layer:
• Ethernet 100BASE-TX, up to 100 m between 2 devices
• alternative: fibre-optic cable variants 50 to 2,000 m
• hot connect/disconnect of bus segments

 

Address space

• network-wide process image: 4 Gbyte
• device process image: 1 bit to 64 kbyte
• address allocation: freely configurable
• device address selection: automatically via software

 

Protocol

• optimised protocol directly within the Ethernet frame
• fully hardware-implemented
• for routing and socket interface: UDP datagram
• processing while passing
• distributed clock for accurate synchronisation
• time stamp data types for resolution in the nanosecond range
• oversampling data types for high-resolution measurements

 

Diagnostics

• breaking point detection
• continuous “quality of line” measurement enables accurate localisation of transmission faults

 

Interfaces

• switch terminal for standard Ethernet devices
• fieldbus terminals for fieldbus devices
• decentralised serial interfaces
• communication gateways

 

Openness

• fully Ethernet-compatible
• operation with switches and routers possible
• mixed operation with other protocols also possible
• internet technologies (web server, FTP, etc.)
• compatible with the existing Bus Terminal range
• protocol is published completely
• EtherCAT is IEC specification.

 

EtherCAT Technology Group

• international pool of companies
• includes users and manufactures
• supports technology development
• guarantees interoperability
• integration of device profiles