EtherCAT data exchange

A range of components are available for implementing direct synchronous data exchange between two EtherCAT systems. Depending on the application requirements, the appropriate method can be selected based on the following criteria. The characteristic features are:

synchronous data exchange with predefined process data that are specified in the configuration
asynchronous data exchange
support for ADS over EtherCAT (AoE)
support for synchronization of the distributed clocks (DC) in the two systems

Some characteristics are listed in the following table. This information is only intended as a guide. The actual specification can be found in the respective online component documentation.

	EL6692	Publisher / subscriber	EL6601	FC1100	CX50x0-B110
Maximum synchronous data quantity	480 bytes, bidirectional	unlimited	1024 bytes, bidirectional (publisher/subscriber method)	1024 bytes, bidirectional
Maximum asynchronous data quantity	-	-	unlimited	-
AoE support	yes	yes	-	yes	yes
DC support	yes	-	-	-	-
Note	recommended for synchronization of EtherCAT systems TwinCAT 2.11 required	use of an Ethernet port in both systems as real-time device recommended for synchronous data exchange	transfer of the RT devices into an EtherCAT Terminal recommended for synchronous data exchange	requires free PCI slot in the IPC TwinCAT 2.11 R2 required	CX5000 as subordinate autonomous controller with its own I/Os is integrated in the higher-level system as an EtherCAT slave option B110 required TwinCAT 2.11 R2 required