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PRU-ICSS for EtherCAT application

Jean Iwanowski
Prodigy 20 points

I'm currently evaluating the AM 335 7/9 for EtherCAT communication. Here are two questions related to that matter :

  1. Is it possible to toggle between TI EtherCAT master/slave stacks at runtime in the PRU?
  2. Is it likely that EtherCAT capable PRU will be integrated in some MCUs designs in the near future?
Thanks,
Jean
  • 0
    Intellectual 810 points

    1. EtherCAT masters just use "normal" Ethernet MACs (i.e. they don't use ASICs like the ET1100 which is typically required for the slave).  So to implement a master via the PRUs, the PRUs would need to be loaded with firmware that implements a standard Ethernet MAC (which doesn't exist).  Of course, you can run EtherCAT master code on the built-in EMAC if you wish (e.g. on the beaglebone).

    2. I'm not sure if I understand this second question, as the Sitara PRU's already are EtherCAT capable (or do you mean some MCU's other than the Sitara line?)

    Darrin

  • 0 in reply to Darrin Hansen
    Prodigy 20 points

    Thanks for your reply, Darrin.

    Regarding my second question, it is exactly what I meant : the Sitara is quite oversized for a lot of industrial applications (graphical controller, display controller) while it lacks some features common to smaller micro controllers (internal Flash for instance). I was wondering if something like a stellaris MCU with a PRU would be likely to show up at some point in the future...

    Regards,

    Jean

  • 0 in reply to Darrin Hansen
    TI__Mastermind 44306 points

    Jean,

    Darrin is right on 1). There is currently no EtherCAT master solution from TI but it won't require PRU anyway. The use case for switching between EtherCAT master and slave at runtime (!) is not clear to me and it might lead to an non-conformant solution. But if you are in a closed environment you might not care. Otherwise I don't see an issue except that we haven't tried this yet...

    2) yes, we have a clear roadmap for further use of the PRU-ICSS in future devices. Most of that info is not public yet I assume so please contact your local TI sales or distribution partner.

    Regards.