October 24, 2019 – The Technical Committee of the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) has accepted EtherCAT G as an addition to the EtherCAT standard. Moving forward, EtherCAT G, which extends EtherCAT technology to 1 and 10 Gbit/s, will be supported and promoted by the ETG.
EtherCAT G was introduced by Beckhoff Automation in 2018 as an extension of the EtherCAT standard. Beckhoff recently presented the gigabit technology addition to the ETG, and after thorough review, the organization’s Technical Committee accepted it. Right now, the ETG is working to add EtherCAT G to the corresponding technology specifications.
The 100 Mbit/s EtherCAT technology remains a solution for the majority of applications. However, EtherCAT G offers additional user advantages, especially in applications where particularly large amounts of process data must be transported per device. This can include, for example machine vision, high-end measurement technology or complex motion applications that go beyond the scope of classic drive control. As an extension of standard EtherCAT technology, EtherCAT G is fully compatible; existing devices designed for 100 Mbit/s can be integrated into an EtherCAT G system, and EtherCAT G devices in a 100 Mbit/s EtherCAT system behave like classic EtherCAT devices.
The central element of EtherCAT G is the use of EtherCAT Branch Controllers, which essentially fulfill two main functions: On the one hand, they act as a kind of node for the integration of segments from 100 Mbit/s devices; on the other hand, they enable parallel processing of the connected EtherCAT segments.
Typical for EtherCAT: The integration of EtherCAT G is simple, as the extension is fully compatible with the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard and no software adaptions in controllers are required for the standard mode.