System properties

Protocol

The EtherCAT protocol is optimized for process data and is transported directly within the Ethernet frame thanks to a special Ether-type. It may consist of several sub-telegrams, each serving a particular memory area of the logical process images that can be up to 4 gigabytes in size. The data sequence is independent of the physical order of the Ethernet terminals in the network; addressing can be in any order. Broadcast, Multicast and communication between slaves are possible. Transfer directly in the Ethernet frame is used in cases where EtherCAT components are operated in the same subnet as the control computer.

However, EtherCAT applications are not limited to a subnet: EtherCAT UDP packs the EtherCAT protocol into UDP/IP datagrams. This enables any control with Ethernet protocol stack to address EtherCAT systems. Even communication across routers into other subnets is possible. In this variant, system performance obviously depends on the real-time characteristics of the control and its Ethernet protocol implementation. The response times of the EtherCAT network itself are hardly restricted at all: the UDP datagram only has to be unpacked in the first station.

Protocol structure: The process image allocation is freely configurable. Data are copied directly in the I/O terminal to the desired location within the process image: no additional mapping is required. The available logical address space is with very large (4 GB).

Topology

Line, tree or star: EtherCAT supports almost any topology. The bus or line structure known from the fieldbuses thus also becomes available for Ethernet. Particularly useful for system wiring is the combination of line and junctions or stubs. The required interfaces exist on the couplers; no additional switches are required. Naturally, the classic switch-based Ethernet star topology can also be used.

Maximum wiring flexibility:
with or without switch, line or tree topologies, can be freely selected and combined.

Wiring flexibility is further maximized through the choice of different cables. Flexible and cost-effective standard Ethernet patch cables transfer the signals in Ethernet mode (100Base-TX). The complete bandwidth of the Ethernet network - such as different optical fibers and copper cables - can be used in combination with switches or media converters.

Distributed Clocks

Accurate synchronization is particularly important in cases where spatially distributed processes require simultaneous actions. This may be the case, for example, in applications where several servo axes carry out coordinated movements simultaneously.

The most powerful approach for synchronization is the accurate alignment of distributed clocks, as described in the new IEEE 1588 standard. In contrast to fully synchronous communication, where synchronization quality suffers immediately in the event of a communication fault, distributed aligned clocks have a high degree of tolerance vis-à-vis possible fault-related delays within the communication system.

With EtherCAT, the data exchange is fully based on a pure hardware machine. Since the communication utilizes a logical (and thanks to full-duplex Fast Ethernet also physical) ring structure, the mother clock can determine the run-time offset to the individual daughter clocks simply and accurately - and vice versa. The distributed clocks are adjusted based on this value, which means that a very precise network-wide timebase with a jitter of significantly less than 1 microsecond is available.

However, high-resolution distributed clocks are not only used for synchronization, but can also provide accurate information about the local timing of the data acquisition. For example, controls frequently calculate velocities from sequentially measured positions. Particularly with very short sampling times, even a small temporal jitter in the displacement measurement leads to large step changes in velocity. With EtherCAT new, extended data types are introduced as a logical extension (time stamp and oversampling data type). The local time is linked to the measured value with a resolution of up to 10 ns, which is made possible by the large bandwidth offered by Ethernet. The accuracy of a velocity calculation then no longer depends on the jitter of the communication system. It is orders of magnitude better than that of measuring techniques based on jitter-free communication.

Performance

EtherCAT reaches new dimensions in network performance. Protocol processing is purely hardware-based through an FMMU chip in the terminal and DMA access to the network card of the master. It is thus independent of protocol stack run-times, CPU performance and software implementation. The update time for 1000 I/Os is only 30 µs - including terminal cycle time. Up to 1486 bytes of process data can be exchanged with a single Ethernet frame - this is equivalent to almost 12000 digital inputs and outputs. The transfer of this data quantity only takes 300 µs.

The communication with 100 servo axes only takes 100 µs. During this time, all axes are provided with set values and control data and report their actual position and status. Distributed clocks enable the axes to be synchronized with a deviation of significantly less than 1 microsecond.

The extremely high performance of the EtherCAT technology enables control concepts that could not be realized with classic fieldbus systems. For example, the Ethernet system can now not only deal with velocity control, but also with the current control of distributed drives. The tremendous bandwidth enables status information to be transferred with each data item. With EtherCAT, a communication technology is available that matches the superior computing power of modern Industrial PCs. The bus system is no longer the bottleneck of the control concept. Distributed I/Os are recorded faster than is possible with most local I/O interfaces. The EtherCAT technology principle is scalable and not bound to the baud rate of 100 Mbaud – extension to Gbit Ethernet is possible.

Diagnostics

Experience with fieldbus systems shows that availability and commissioning times crucially depend on the diagnostic capability. Only faults that are detected quickly and accurately and which can be precisely located can be corrected quickly. Therefore, special attention was paid to exemplary diagnostic features during the development of EtherCAT.

During commissioning, the actual configuration of the I/O terminals should be checked for consistency with the specified configuration. The topology should also match the saved configuration. Due to the built-in topology recognition down to the individual terminals, this verification can not only take place during system start-up, automatic reading in of the network is also possible (configuration upload).

Bit faults during the transfer are reliably detected through evaluation of the CRC checksum: The 32 bit CRC polynomial has a minimum hamming distance of 4. Apart from breaking point detection and localization, the protocol, physical transfer behavior and topology of the EtherCAT system enable individual quality monitoring of each individual transmission segment. The automatic evaluation of the associated error counters enables precise localization of critical network sections. Gradual or changing sources of error such as EMC influences, defective push-in connectors or cable damage are detected and located, even if they do not yet overstrain the self-healing capacity of the network.

Integration of standard Bus Terminals from Beckhoff

In addition to the new Bus Terminals with E-Bus connection (ELxxxx), all Bus Terminals from the familiar standard range with K-bus connection (KLxxxx) can be connected via the BK1120 or BK1250 Bus Coupler. This ensures compatibility and continuity with the existing Beckhoff Bus Terminal systems. Existing investments are protected.