EtherCAT Implementation

EtherCAT was developed with very low cost devices in mind, like I/O terminals, sensors, and embedded controllers.

• EtherCAT only uses standard Ethernet frames according to IEEE 802.3.
  • These frames are sent by the master device, and the slave devices extract and/or insert data on the fly.
  • EtherCAT uses standard Ethernet MACs, where they really make sense: in the master device.
• EtherCAT slave controllers are used where such dedicated chips really make sense: in the slave device.
  • They handle the process data protocol in hardware and provide maximum real-time performance regardless of the local processing power or software quality.