A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol

Jürgen Dobaj; Matthias Seidl; Thomas Krug; Michael Krisper; Georg Macher

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-56441-4_28

A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol

Jürgen Dobaj^*, Matthias Seidl, Thomas Krug, Michael Krisper, Georg Macher

^*Corresponding author for this work

Institute of Technical Informatics (4480)

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper › peer-review

Abstract

The ever-increasing demand for system autonomy in all kinds of applications is accompanied by the need for increased fault-tolerance to build highly-reliable systems. EtherCAT technology is one of the most widely used industrial Ethernet solutions for process control and automation. While EtherCAT provides some fault-tolerance mechanisms, it does not protect an industrial control system against the malfunction of its master node. In this paper, we present a software-based master redundancy protocol for EtherCAT, which enables an EtherCAT network to seamlessly recover from master node failures within the same communication cycle. Moreover, the protocol integrates seamlessly into new and existing applications without the need to re-implement functionality and without running into compatibility problems. Experimental results showed that communication cycles in the sub-millisecond range are supported. Hence, the presented master redundancy protocol provides an easy to use, scalable, and cost-effective solution to increase the reliability of EtherCAT networks.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement
Subtitle of host publication	27th European Conference, EuroSPI 2020, Proceedings
Editors	Murat Yilmaz, Paul Clarke, Jörg Niemann, Richard Messnarz
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	381-395
Number of pages	15
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-030-56441-4
ISBN (Print)	978-3-030-56440-7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56441-4_28
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2020
Event	27th European Conference on System, Software, and Service Process Improvements and Innovations - Düsseldorf, Germany, Virtuell, Germany Duration: 9 Sept 2020 → 11 Sept 2020 Conference number: 27 https://2020.eurospi.net/

Publication series

Name	Communications in Computer and Information Science
Publisher	Springer
Volume	1239

Conference

Conference	27th European Conference on System, Software, and Service Process Improvements and Innovations
Abbreviated title	EuroAsiaSPI 2020
Country/Territory	Germany
City	Virtuell
Period	9/09/20 → 11/09/20
Internet address	https://2020.eurospi.net/

Keywords

Automation
EtherCAT
Fault-tolerance
Industrial ethernet
Process control
Real-time
Reliability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Mathematics(all)
Computer Science(all)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-56441-4_28

Cite this

Dobaj, J., Seidl, M., Krug, T., Krisper, M., & Macher, G. (2020). A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol. In M. Yilmaz, P. Clarke, J. Niemann, & R. Messnarz (Eds.), Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement : 27th European Conference, EuroSPI 2020, Proceedings (pp. 381-395). (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 1239). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56441-4_28

A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol. / Dobaj, Jürgen; Seidl, Matthias; Krug, Thomas et al.
Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement : 27th European Conference, EuroSPI 2020, Proceedings. ed. / Murat Yilmaz; Paul Clarke; Jörg Niemann; Richard Messnarz. Cham: Springer, 2020. p. 381-395 (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 1239).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper › peer-review

Dobaj, J, Seidl, M, Krug, T , Krisper, M & Macher, G 2020, A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol. in M Yilmaz, P Clarke, J Niemann & R Messnarz (eds), Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement : 27th European Conference, EuroSPI 2020, Proceedings. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol. 1239, Springer, Cham, pp. 381-395, 27th European Conference on System, Software, and Service Process Improvements and Innovations, Virtuell, Germany, 9/09/20. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56441-4_28

Dobaj J, Seidl M, Krug T , Krisper M , Macher G. A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol. In Yilmaz M, Clarke P, Niemann J, Messnarz R, editors, Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement : 27th European Conference, EuroSPI 2020, Proceedings. Cham: Springer. 2020. p. 381-395. (Communications in Computer and Information Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-56441-4_28

Dobaj, Jürgen ; Seidl, Matthias ; Krug, Thomas et al. / A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol. Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement : 27th European Conference, EuroSPI 2020, Proceedings. editor / Murat Yilmaz ; Paul Clarke ; Jörg Niemann ; Richard Messnarz. Cham : Springer, 2020. pp. 381-395 (Communications in Computer and Information Science).

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AU - Seidl, Matthias

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AU - Macher, Georg

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AB - The ever-increasing demand for system autonomy in all kinds of applications is accompanied by the need for increased fault-tolerance to build highly-reliable systems. EtherCAT technology is one of the most widely used industrial Ethernet solutions for process control and automation. While EtherCAT provides some fault-tolerance mechanisms, it does not protect an industrial control system against the malfunction of its master node. In this paper, we present a software-based master redundancy protocol for EtherCAT, which enables an EtherCAT network to seamlessly recover from master node failures within the same communication cycle. Moreover, the protocol integrates seamlessly into new and existing applications without the need to re-implement functionality and without running into compatibility problems. Experimental results showed that communication cycles in the sub-millisecond range are supported. Hence, the presented master redundancy protocol provides an easy to use, scalable, and cost-effective solution to increase the reliability of EtherCAT networks.

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KW - Fault-tolerance

KW - Industrial ethernet

KW - Process control

KW - Real-time

KW - Reliability

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Y2 - 9 September 2020 through 11 September 2020

ER -

A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Industrial Informatics

27th European Conference on System, Software, and Service Process Improvements and Innovations

Cite this

A Seamless Self-configuring EtherCAT Master Redundancy Protocol

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Industrial Informatics

Activities

27th European Conference on System, Software, and Service Process Improvements and Innovations

Cite this