Gateways
For integration of existing fieldbus components (e.g., CANopen, DeviceNet, Profibus) into EtherCAT networks gateway devices are available. Also other Ethernet protocols can be used in conjunction with EtherCAT: The Ethernet frames are tunneled via the EtherCAT protocol, which is the standard approach for internet applications (e.g. VPN, PPPoE (DSL) etc.). The EtherCAT network is fully transparent for the Ethernet device, and the real-time characteristics are not impaired since the master dictates exactly when the tunneled transfers are to occur and how much capacity of the 100Mbit/s media the tunneled protocols can use. All internet technologies can therefore also be used in the EtherCAT environment: integrated web server, e-mail, FTP transfer etc.
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