Safety over EtherCAT

The protocol enhancement called Safety over EtherCATClosedEtherCAT is an open, high-performance Ethernet-based fieldbus system. The development goal of EtherCAT was 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 (FSoE) enables safety-related communication and control communication on the same network. The safety protocol is based on the application layer of EtherCAT, with no influence on the lower layers. It is certified according to IECClosed"International Electrotechnical Commission" IEC is a not-for-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies 61508 and meets the requirements of Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3.

Software architecture with black channel approach

Figure 6-55: Safety over EtherCAT Software Architecture

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