EtherCAT has established itself as a market leader with around 100 million nodes installed – and that’s not even counting the bus terminals. The technology developed by Beckhoff and introduced in 2003 wins customers over with its exceptionally good performance and unique simplicity. EtherCAT is considered the prime Ethernet fieldbus for good reason. Users appreciate the fact that an EtherCAT system is largely self-configuring: no node addresses need to be set, nor is the topology restricted as it is with switched Industrial Ethernet systems.

One of the main unique selling points of Beckhoff technology is its stability. Although new functions are constantly being added, the established features never change. This means that there are no versioning issues: today’s devices work perfectly in EtherCAT systems from 2005 – and vice-versa. This compatibility also extends to the new EtherCAT SubDevice Controller (ESC) chips and IP cores. They are backward and even drop-in compatible with their predecessors, though they boast significant improvements. A completely newly developed source code significantly increases the performance of the process data interface (PDI) to the host controller; a second PDI that can be used in parallel is also available.

In addition, energy consumption for the ET1150 chips has been reduced by up to 80%. This chip generation also continues to rely on the 100-Mbit physical layer, which is the foundation of EtherCAT technology. Thanks to its special functional principle, EtherCAT delivers higher performance than switch-based gigabit systems, even at 100 Mbit. In addition, 100BASE-TX is more robust, more resistant to interference, simpler, and more cost-effective than gigabit physical layers.

EtherCAT G, the gigabit extension of EtherCAT, is therefore reserved for the rare applications that require even more bandwidth – e.g. the intelligent XPlanar transport system from Beckhoff. However, EtherCAT G is not a new version and does not constitute a break in the technology. Thanks to the new branch controller technology, 100-Mbit segments can be seamlessly integrated into a gigabit network and benefit from improved performance thanks to parallel processing.

Beckhoff’s goal is to make EtherCAT fit for the next 20 years, and simultaneously benefiting from the growing global demand for the technology.

Beckhoff Automation