EtherCAT Master Settings tab

This tab includes configurations for the EtherCAT Ethernet ofr Control Automation Technology. EtherCAT® is an open, high-performance Ethernet-based fieldbus system. The development goal of EtherCAT is to apply Ethernet to automation applications which require short data update times (also called cycle times) with low communication jitter (for synchronization purposes) and low hardware costs. bus master.

Figure 1: EtherCAT Master Settings

Item	Description
Cycle Time (µs)	Duration of one cycle in microseconds to define the time base period Motor systems having a reciprocating or oscillating motor that operates synchronously with the periodicity of the source which supplies the electrical energy. The period of execution of a pipe is the time spent between two successive computations of set values for the same pipe. The period of execution of a pipe is specified by the PERIOD parameter of the input pipe block. for scheduling the motion and the PLC Programmable Logic Controller - A digital computer used for automation of industrial processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines. Used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events. programs The act of performing a sequence of instructions or commands.. Available times include: 250 500 1000 2000 4000 See Tasking Model / Scheduling for more information about scheduling.
Frame Size	The total size (in bytes) of the EtherCAT frame In networking dialect, a message is called a frame. sent cyclically. The size is proportional to the number of EtherCAT slaves (and consequently the PcDO data) on the network. The EtherCAT frame size is between 84 to 1500 bytes.
Transmit Time	The time (in microseconds) that it takes to send a frame.
Bandwidth Usage	An estimation of the percentage of the cycle time used to transmit a frame of data. Bandwidth In computer networking, bandwidth refers to a data rate measured in bits per second (e.g., network throughput). The reason for the connection of data rate with the term bandwidth is that the limit to the data rate of a physical communication link is related to its bandwidth in hertz. In a servos system, the frequency at which the small signal response begins to drop off. Stage performance is enhanced by increasing the servo bandwidth. Structural resonances typically limit the achievable bandwidth. value goes up when cycle time decreases (see calculation below)
Working Counter Error Limit	A configurable threshold for generating an E30 error and shutdown of EtherCAT communication. The default setting is 3 Errors in 1000 frames. Other options are: Trigger on 1st Error 2 Errors in 1000 frames 10 Errors in 1000 frames 100 Errors in 1000 frames Disabled Removal of the ENABLE signal. Disables power stage. If the Disabled option is selected, the Master keeps the EtherCAT network running in op mode. It is up to the application to decide if it is appropriate to shut down the Master’s EtherCAT communication (MLMotionStop). The slave device state for EtherCAT communication errors is determined by the manufacturer. AKD drives In electrical engineering, a drive is an electronic device to provide power to a motor or servo. Control device for regulating the speed, torque and position of a motor. A unit controlling a motor using the current and timing in its coils. transition to Init state when 7 consecutive packet failures are encountered and the drive executes a controlled stop. See EtherCAT Error Messages for more information about working counter.

The read-only fields show (unknown) when the Use imported file check box is selected.

Otherwise, they are recalculated and refreshed GUI command that re-loads the data from the drive and redraws the display. each time:

A device is added or removed.

A device simulation state changes.
See EtherCAT Devices tab for more information.

The Use imported file check box is cleared.

See ENI File tab for more information.

Bandwidth Calculation Algorithm

The Bandwidth (BW) usage calculation takes into account the calculated frame size and the Ethernet Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operate at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). speed Speed is the absolute value of the velocity without direction. (100 Megabits per second).

BW% = Transmission time / Cycle Time

With Transmission time (μsec) = (Frame Size in bytes * 8) bits / 100 * 10⁶ bps

Example

If Frame Size = 100 bytes
then Transmission Time = 100*8 / (100*10⁶ ) = 8 μsec

If cycle time = 1000 μsec
then BW% = 8/1000 = 0.8 %