Features of the IgH EtherCAT Master 1.4
- EtherCAT master implementation conforming to IEC/PAS 62407.
- Runs as kernel module for Linux 2.6.
- Multiple masters possible on one machine.
- EtherCAT-capable versions of standard Linux drivers for wide-spread Ethernet devices included.
- Interrupt-less operation of Ethernet devices.
- Easy implementation of additional Ethernet drivers through common device
interface.
- Operation possible with any device supported by the standard drivers,
including PCMCIA devices.
- Supports any realtime environment through independent architecture.
- RTAI, Xenomai, etc.
- Operation possible without any realtime extension at all.
- Common API for Realtime-Applications in kernelspace.
- Requesting and releasing masters.
- Dynamic slave configuration, even for slaves that are offline.
- Detailed configuration of the slaves' Pdos and Sdos.
- Creation of process data domains (see below). Registration of Pdo entries
for exchange within a domain.
- Monitoring the states of masters, slave configurations and domains.
- Sdo handlers for application-triggered CoE transfers (see below).
- Avoidance of unnecessary copy operations for process data.
- Separating slave groups through domains.
- Handling of multiple slave groups with different sampling rates.
- Automatic calculation of process data mapping, FMMU- and sync manager
configuration within the domains.
- Process data exchange can be monitored via a per-domain mechanism.
- Master finite state machine (FSM).
- The same state machine runs both in idle mode and in realtime
operation.
- Bus monitoring: Slave states are read cyclically. Automatic scanning of
the bus after a topology change.
- Automatic configuration of slaves, if a application-layer state change is
requested.
- Implementation of the CANopen-over-EtherCAT (CoE) mailbox protocol.
- Configuration of CoE-capable slaves.
- Sdo information service (dictionary listing).
- Sdo transfers both via the application interface and the command-line
tool.
- Implementation of the Ethernet-over-EtherCAT (EoE) mailbox protocol.
- Virtual network interface for any EoE-capable slave.
- Both a switched and a routed EoE network architecture is natively
supported and configurable with standard tools.
- Userspace command-line tool "ethercat".
- Detailed information about master, slaves, domains and bus
configuration.
- Reading/Writing alias addresses.
- Listing slave configurations.
- Viewing process data.
- Sdo download/upload; listing Sdo dictionaries.
- Slave SII (EEPROM) access.
- Controlling application-layer states.
- Generation of slave description XML from existing slaves.
- Seamless integration in any GNU/Linux distribution.
- "Linux Standard Base"-compatible init script for master
control.
- Master and Ethernet device configuration via sysconfig file.
- Virtual read-only network interface for debugging and traffic monitoring
purposes (using Wireshark, etc.). No
additional hardware necessary.