May 15, 2017 - The EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) published a first draft of the official EtherCAT P technology specification last autumn. Now, the documents have been released to coincide with the last ETG Technical Committee Meeting. The specification provides device manufacturers with an official foundation to implement EtherCAT P technology, which enables data and power transmission on a single, standard cable.
Shortly after Beckhoff Automation introduced EtherCAT P as an extension of EtherCAT, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) initiated similar discussions on the topic. In a first step, the organization published a first draft of the official EtherCAT P technology specification last autumn, as well as the extension of all corresponding documents last autumn. In the frame of the recent ETG Technical Committee Meeting, these documents have now been officially released, with all corresponding documents now stable and available for ETG members. The Application Note which was published in conjunction with the specification draft, and further developed by Beckhoff, will continue to serve as additional support for EtherCAT P implementations.
In the upcoming weeks and months, the ETG will continue to develop the “EtherCAT P Testing” documentation. Work on the corresponding test specification, as well as test cases for the EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool, are nearly complete.
