9 | Looking for more information about EtherCAT?
STOBER
58
02/2020 | ID 443025.06
9.5
Synchronization
For spatially distributed processes that require simultaneous actions, the EtherCAT master and slaves absolutely must work
in synchronization with each other in the same cycle. EtherCAT provides two different methods for synchronizing the
master and slaves: a SyncManager event (SM-Sync) and distributed clocks (DC-Sync). The FreeRun state exists if the master
and slaves are not synchronized.
Each EtherCAT Slave Controller has a SyncManager that manages the memory units of a slave. The slave controller indicates
incoming process using an interrupt signal that is used to synchronize individual EtherCAT slaves for SM-Sync; an additional
interrupt signal is responsible for synchronization for DC-Sync.