EtherCAT synchronization

The EtherCAT master sends EtherCAT telegrams to all connected EtherCAT slaves. In each slave an EtherCAT slave controller (ESC) is implemented. In order to achieve high positioning precision and meet stringent demands in terms of concentricity characteristics, it is necessary for the set value generation in the master and all connected drives to be synchronized. In the EtherCAT system the so-called distributed clocks are available for this synchronization task. For details see www.ethercat.org. The following description deals exclusively with the synchronization of the data.