The complete toolchain for integrating EtherCAT slave stacks, accelerating entry into the growing EtherCAT market.
KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack 2 is a next-generation EtherCAT Slave Stack that enables companies to bring products to market faster and with confidence.
The stack is highly portable: it runs on microcontrollers, CPUs, and DSPs – with or without an operating system – and is validated against the latest ETG standards.
Delivered as a source code, it allows straightforward integration and provides a future-proof foundation for your developments.
Features
Meets EtherCAT standards
KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack supports all features defined in the EtherCAT standards. Each new version is verified with the latest released and all internal versions of the EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool (CTT), as koenig-pa GmbH is a member of the Technical Working Group Conformance.
EtherCAT functions:
- Mailbox protocols: CoE, EoE, FoE, SoE VoE
- Distributed Clocks (DC)
- Different scan rates
Portability
KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack may be presented as a software stack with an embedded Hardware Abstraction Layer (typically implemented through OSAL and driver part), which can be used for simple support of any EtherCAT ASIC and communication interface (PDI) between ASIC and a microcontroller.
Interfaces
- Compatible with any Beckhoff EtherCAT Slave Controllers (ESC):
- ASIC ET 1xxx
- IP-Core
- IRQ-handling of hardware events
- Polling of mailbox and Process Image
- Static Object Dictionary (OD) with pointer given from application
- Supporting Intel- and Motorola-data formats
Optimized memory usage for embedded platforms
The amount of RAM used depends on the application design and the size of the Object Dictionary (OD). For example, in case of a static OD usage (a build based on source code):
RAM size:
>= 3 KB for Basic package
>= 8 KB for Standard package
ROM (flash) size:
>= 55 KB for Basic package
>= 64 KB for Standard package
Moreover, to minimize the final size of the application, KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack can be customized by editing the configuration file. For example, it is possible to deactivate Mailbox EoE, Mailbox VoE and Mailbox FoE.
Part of the KPA EtherCAT Ecosystem
KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack 2 includes KPA EtherCAT Studio 2 for configuring the system, giving you a complete toolchain for development, testing, and validation.
With this ecosystem, you can:
- Develop and debug EtherCAT devices faster
- Test interoperability in a real EtherCAT environment
- Validate conformance using the latest ETG standards
- Move confidently from prototype to production
Key Enhancements
Compared to its predecessor, KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack 2 provides:
- Extended portability across CPUs, DSPs, and microcontrollers
- Improved compliance with the latest ETG standards
- Optimized memory usage for embedded platforms
- A future-proof foundation for long-term developments
Solutions
KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack is an integration package with ready-to-use solution for specific platforms and operating systems such as:
- LP-AM243 (Texas Instruments) – FreeRTOS
- FC1100 PCI EtherCAT card (Beckhoff) – Linux (with/without RT-Preemption patch)
- XMC4800 (Infineon) – OS-less
We can tailor our solutions to meet your needs for other operating systems, such as Linux (Xenomai), RTX64, QNX, INtime, and others.
Integration packages allow you to start development immediately, reduce risks, and shorten the path to production.
Editions for Every Solution
KPA EtherCAT Slave Stack 2 is offered in different editions tailored to every stage of your journey:
-
TrialEvaluate quicklyRestricted, time-limited edition running in 1-hour sessions for first assessment and quick evaluation.
-
DevelopmentPrototype with confidenceRestricted, perpetual, non-production edition with core features (CoE Mailbox, Static Object Dictionary, Interrupt Service Routines (ISR)) for testing integration and performance before moving to production.
-
CommercialDeploy to marketFull source code tailored to OS and hardware, full-featured, access to updates and long-term support.
