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TMS320F28388D: UDP Frame over EtherCAT

Armageddon
Prodigy 50 points
Part Number: TMS320F28388D

Tool/software:

Hello,

I'm new to ethernet communication and the TMS320F28388D has an EtherCAT module and an Ethernet module (only on the CM).


I've read a lot about EtherCAT in the last few days and I don't understand what would prevent me from sending UDP frames via the Ethernet Slave Controller (ESC) module.


So I'd like to have your opinion before embarking on this subject and testing. Is it possible to send a UDP frame to a PC using the Ethernet Slave Controller module (and without third-party equipment)?

Thank you for your opinion !

  • 0
    TI__Expert 8470 points

    Hello,

    The EtherCAT expert will get back to you with a response in the next 1-2 days.

    Best Regards,

    Delaney

  • 0 in reply to Delaney Woodward
    TI__Mastermind 40585 points

    Hi,

    I think the below answers your question. This is the answer I got from ETG in the past.

    In general, EtherCAT slave devices cannot be used as standard (i.e. MAC-based) Ethernet nodes and operate on the same network infrastructure together with MAC-based devices.

    It is true that EtherCAT uses standard IEEE 802.3 Ethernet frames, and that the physical layer as well as the lower part of the datalink layer are compliant to the Ethernet IEEE 802.3 standard. Yet, the MAC is replaced with the ESC (EtherCAT Slave Controller) functional unit within EtherCAT slave devices, and this operates in a completely different way: instead of working according to the switch-like, store-and-forward principle of standard Ethernet nodes, the ESC is not provided with a MAC address and processes the content of Ethernet/EtherCAT frames according to the on-the-fly principle.

    Best,

    Kevin

  • 0 in reply to Kevin Allen18
    Prodigy 50 points

    Hello,

    Thank you for your explanation.

    Best regards,

  • +1 in reply to Armageddon
    TI__Mastermind 40585 points

    Hi,

    I should add the details below I received on EoE as well:

    EoE (Ethernet over EtherCAT) means that standard TCP/IP or UDP/IP traffic can be tunneled in the form of acyclic mailbox EtherCAT traffic between the source and the destination using EtherCAT as physical backbone. For example, if an EtherCAT slave integrates a webserver for configuration and diagnostic purposes, this can be reached from the controller PC or even for the internet by fragmenting+tunneling the HTTP protocol over EtherCAT and extracting+reassembling it on receiver side. Yet, the IP-based traffic is not transmitted in parallel to the EtherCAT frames, therefore the requirements on the hardware infrastructure of the EtherCAT network do not change. If the device you are developing were always an EtherCAT slave (connected to an EtherCAT infrastructure and controlled by an EtherCAT master) and additionally required the possibility to exchange standard Ethernet traffic, then EoE could be an option (in this case, you should expect effective bandwidth values ranging between several hundreds of kbit/s and 3-4 Mbit/s). Yet, “for users who just want standard Ethernet”, I understand that your device could sometimes need to be operated only as standard Ethernet node, and maybe connected to a standard switch-based Ethernet/LAN network infrastructure: in this case, EoE would not be a feasible solution, as the whole underlying EtherCAT on-the-fly functional principle and according network infrastructure would be missing.

    Best,

    Kevin

  • 0 in reply to Kevin Allen18
    Prodigy 50 points

    Thank you for all those informations !