Introduction to EtherCAT

EtherCAT（ Ethernet for control automation technology ） yes Beckhoff（ Biff ） stay 2003 Real time Ethernet network developed in . It's based on CANOPEN Protocol and Ethernet , But with the Internet Communication or network communication differs in , It is specially optimized for industrial automation control . These standards are established by EtherCAT Technical team （ abbreviation ETG） Define and maintain .

Use OSI A network model , Ethernet and EtherCAT Rely on the same physical and data link layers . besides , Due to optimization for different tasks , So the two networks are different in design . for example , Ethernet is designed to send large amounts of data through many different nodes . It can route data back and forth with billions of individual addresses , This allows communication across large networks .

EtherCAT Is a fast deterministic network , Specialized hardware and software can be used to process data . It uses full duplex , Master slave configuration , And can accommodate any topology . It can be 30us Internal treatment 1000 individual I/O spot , Or in the 100us Internal and 100 Servo axis communication . The axis receives the set point and control data , And report the actual position and status . The axes are synchronized using distributed clock technology , The technology is IEEE 1588 A simple version of , The jitter can be reduced to less than 1us.

EtherCAT It is a very flexible real-time industrial Ethernet protocol . Data exchange follows “ Dynamic processing ” principle ,EtherCAT The protocol provides fast throughput , Because messages are processed in hardware before being forwarded to the next slave station . When the data frame passes , Read the data related to it from the device , Then they dynamically insert data into the same data stream . This does not depend on the runtime of the protocol stack , So the processing delay is usually only a few nanoseconds .

EtherCAT The transmission method is similar to Interbus Principle . Use EtherCAT, No longer receive Ethernet packets , Explain and deal with it , Then copy on each device . When the frame passes through the device ,EtherCAT The slave devices read the data nodes addressed to them . alike , When the telegram passes through the equipment , You can insert data into it , Just a few nanoseconds of frame delay . And because of EtherCAT The frame contains the data of many devices in both the sending and receiving directions , Therefore, the available data rate can be increased to 90% above . Make the most of it 100M Full duplex function of network card .

EtherCAT Nanosecond synchronization , It is basically the fastest industrial Ethernet Technology . For all applications that control or measure the target system through the bus system , This is a huge benefit .