EtherCAT master for embedded (real-time) operating systems
		Company acontis technologies GmbH www.acontis.com
AT-EM is an EtherCAT master stack especially designed for embedded (real-time) operating systems. Already available are ports to Windows CE, VxWorks, On Time RTOS-32 and for the KUKA real-time extensions CeWin and VxWin. Due to the modular design it is quite simple to port on other operating systems as well as on systems without an OS (e.g. on microcontrollers).   • Application Interface Layer Interface between the user application and the EtherCAT master. The interface layer may be adapted for the needs of the application if necessary. • EtherCAT Master Core The core component of the EtherCAT master stack where all EtherCAT functions like process data and mailbox communication etc. are handled. • Configuration Layer The EtherCAT configuration will usually be handled using an XML file. AT-EM is shipped with an OS-independent XML-Parser. • Ethernet Link Layer This layer is responsible for exchanging EtherCAT network packets with the slave modules. In case of hard real-time requirements this layer may be adjusted appropriately to the Ethernet hardware. Generic solutions as well as source code for Windows CE (NDISUIO) and VxWorks (etherLib/SNARF) are available as well as high performance Ethernet drivers. • Operating System Layer All operating system dependencies are handled in this layer. The OS-Layer is a quite small module, thus porting to other operating systems can be done within minimum effort.     The following features are supported: Configuration: EtherCAT Configuration Exchange Format (XML) Cyclic process data update Flexible user controlled master operation Memory provider interface for user application synchronization Error detection and diagnosis, e.g. Bus scan with bus topology/configuration check Lost cable connection or missing EtherCAT slave response Wrong EtherCAT slave reaction (not all slaves responded) Slave operation monitoring Ethernet link layer debug messages for run-time error diagnostics CanOpen over EtherCAT SDO Upload SDO Download SDO Information Service Emergency Request Distributed Clocks SYNC unit support Latch unit support Master sync support EtherCAT Bus Scan Slave detection without existing bus configuration Slave EEPROM information service Slave XML configuration information service Topology detection Slave Alias Addressing support Ethernet over EtherCAT (EoE) Modular software structure, easy portable Ethernet Link Layer (zero-copy and polling option to optimize performance and CPU load) OS-Layer Optional: Multiple Master Instances Fully independent configuration/operation Identical or different link layers Optional: Distributed Clocks: Master Synchronization PI drift controller Automatic actuator error compensation Support for PIC and APIC systems (x86 PCs) Optional: Remote Interface (TCP/IP) Identical API for remote and local operation CoE mailbox services Bus scan Diagnostic functions