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EtherCAT master in AM335x

Will Hsiung
Prodigy 10 points

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: AM3359

The white paper on using EtherCAT in the AM335x processors (spry187.pdf) indicates that the processors can used as an EtherCAT slave but made no mentioning of it as an EtherCAT master.  At least for the AM3359, which we are planning to use in an upcoming product, can the processor act as an EtherCAT master?  I noticed in other forum messages and in http://www.ti.com/general/docs/datasheetdiagram.tsp?diagramId=5372&genericPartNumber=AM3359&isFunctional=Y&isFunctional=Y that it could, but I want to make sure.

  • 0
    Intellectual 810 points

    Conceptually, almost any Ethernet-enabled device (standard PC etc.) can act as an EtherCAT master with the appropriate driver.  An EtherCAT slave is much more difficult to implement, and therefore usually requires an ASIC or something similar (like FPGA or PRU implementation).  So from a hardware perspective an EtherCAT master is pretty trivial.  But from a software perspective, well, that may be a different story depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

    Darrin

  • 0 in reply to Darrin Hansen
    TI__Intellectual 1835 points

    Yes, Darrin is right.

    EtherCAT master is possible to implement on practically any TI ARM processor (AM18xx, AM35xx, AM335x, etc) where the device includes an Ethernet MAC. Even if not, an external Ethernet MAC/PHY can be used on devices such as AM37xx which do not include on-chip Ethernet.

    Usually, EtherCAT master is used in a PLC class system. In such an application, a softPLC (such as CoDeSys from 3s Software) would also be integrated. A soft PLC runtime such as CoDeSys includes a EtherCAT master module. Otherwise, EtherCAT master stacks are available from several other vendors as well and are compatible with Linux, RTOS and Windows.

    Considering the simple hardware requirements and good third party availability of EtherCAT master software, TI does not provide EtherCAT master as a part of the software SDK at this time. 

    Thanks.

  • 0 in reply to Darrin Hansen
    Prodigy 90 points

    Hello Darrin,

    I use the AM3359 to develop an EtherCAT master,But I have some trouble,I can't find the sending function of the mac layer. As you say the AM3359 can act as an EtherCAT master with the appropriate driver,I want to ask where is the driver of the AM3359?

     

    Xerxez

  • 0 in reply to xerxez huang
    Intellectual 810 points

    Xerxez -

    I would suggest first confirming your system via a standard example program (like an HTTP server or something like that).  The low-level "driver" for an EtherCAT master is just a regular TCP/IP stack (sockets): no magic there.  The hard part would be the application-layer of such a driver: this is not trivial and probably not worth your time unless selling this sort of thing is the type of business you are in.  As Maneesh indicated, you are probably better off using an off-the-shelf master unless you have a year or two of spare time on your hands.

    Darrin