Data exchange

Data exchange between the EtherCAT^® master and the EtherCAT^® slaves takes place "on the fly". The EtherCAT^® telegram circulates within the network, thus passing each slave twice, but is only processed once. When the telegram passes through, the slaves take the data that is intended for them and put the data for the master into the telegram.

What are referred to as Distributed Clocks (DCs) are used for synchronization. This mechanism is not mandatory for pure EtherCAT^® communication and can be optionally implemented in the EtherCAT^® slaves. This allows the slaves in a network to be synchronized with one another by synchronizing the individual clocks. The first slave in the network is normally used as the reference clock. This function can also be taken over by any other slave.