Introducing a preview of an upcoming release of KPA EtherCAT Analyzer. This release aims to provide a comprehensive environment for network validation, fault isolation, and configuration auditing through the planned addition of interactive topology visualization, master level diagnostics, segment specific error localization, and a dedicated slave inspection panel. These capabilities are intended to support both routine analysis and accelerated root cause investigation.
Interactive Topology Map
The upcoming release will automatically generate a visual representation of the EtherCAT bus based on the live configuration. Slaves will be displayed as labeled blocks showing their position numbers and configured aliases, while physical cable connections between port pairs will be represented as lines that reflect the actual wiring topology.
Master Diagnostics Integration
Direct interfaces to KPA EtherCAT Master are being implemented to provide system-level telemetry previously requiring separate register-level analysis. Working Counter statistics will be retrievable and displayed per slave and per port, enabling identification of communication degradation. Port status monitoring will present error counters in real time, and slave error registers including AL status codes will be readable directly from each slave.
Segment Error Localization
When a Physical Layer Error is reported, the system will correlate the error source with the physical bus topology to guide inspection. The specific cable segment between two slaves will be visually marked in red on the topology map, with port-specific error counters displayed adjacent to the highlighted segment. A plain-language recommendation will be generated to directly link diagnostic output to physical maintenance action.
Slave Deep Dive Panel
Selecting any slave from the topology map will open a dedicated panel providing detailed access to slave configuration and memory. Read and write operations for alias and station address will be supported, and the object dictionary of the selected slave will be navigable and inspectable interactively. Additionally, EEPROM content retrieval will display vendor identification, revision number, and other configuration settings stored on the slave.
