ECS-M.2/FPGA

The ECS-M.2/FPGA EtherCAT SubDevice Interface card is particularly well suited for compact industrial PCs, Raspberry Pi carrier boards, and embedded systems where limited space and low power consumption are critical requirements.

The solution is based on an FPGA architecture with an integrated EtherCAT SubDevice Controller and supports the distributed clock functions inclusive Sync and Latch signals. These signals are routed directly to external connectors and can therefore be used as physical signals. This enables network-wide synchronization of drives or measurement modules, simultaneous acquisition of measurement data, and precise timestamping of events such as sensor edges or reference marks.

The interface provides direct access to a fully featured EtherCAT SubDevice Controller with 8 FMMUs, 8 Sync Managers, 60 kB DPRAM, and 64-bit Distributed Clocks. In addition, the FPGA architecture allows the implementation of customer-specific extensions.

Typical applications include edge controllers, IIoT gateways, and mobile automation solutions. A compact Raspberry Pi-based HMI panel shown at the trade fair served as an example application, illustrating how EtherCAT connectivity can be integrated into compact systems.