Part Number:
PROCESSOR-SDK-AM64X
PROCESSOR-SDK-AM62X
Hi TI Expert,
Question1: Is there any open source code to recommend for EtherCAT MainDevice in Linux ?
Answer:
There is an constrained open source EtherCAT MainDevice at https://etherlab.org/en/ethercat/ and https://github.com/OpenEtherCATsociety/SOEM .
We would not recommend these for multiple reasons, including feature set and incompatibility with Linux upstream. But with a significant development team owning the implementation at the customer they can make sense.
See https://www.acontis.com/en/ethercat-master-options-ec-master-vs-open-source-etherlab-SOEM.html for a overview of the open source EtherCAT solutions compared to a commercial EtherCAT MainDevice solution.
Question2: Do we really need a third party for this ?
Answer:
Yes. We recommend looking at the following solutions
- Codesys https://www.codesys.com/products/codesys-fieldbus/industrial-ethernet/ethercat.html , further optimized drivers are possible see for example https://be-services.com/en/control/ethercat-with-ti-sitaras-pru
- Acontis https://www.acontis.com/en/ethercat-master.html
- IBV https://www.ibv-augsburg.de/en/products/icnet/ethercat-master/ .
Question3: Does TI have a demo on TI AM64 family for both EtherCat MainDevice and SubDevice configurations ?
Answer:
Please refer below sections:
- https://software-dl.ti.com/mcu-plus-sdk/esd/AM64X/latest/exports/docs/industrial_protocol_docs/am64x/ethercat_slave/example1.html
- and the same in the MCU+ academy https://dev.ti.com/tirex/explore/node?node=A__ACqUTUss0K9VTMGSAa81xA__com.ti.MCU_PLUS_ACADEMY_AM64X__n6QeJt5__LATEST
Note:
1. Customer can take IgH or Simple Open EtherCAT Master (SOEM) for free. TI does not directly support this so requires customers to invest in SW and updates etc.
2. On AM64 with the on chip Cortex R5 cores, IBV offers the lowest latency stack based on R5
3. Acontis Linux stack is very competitive on latency.
Thanks