PNOZ m EF EtherCAT FSoE is a secure bus communication module from PILZ that supports the FailSafe over EtherCAT (FSoE) protocol. As a new member of the PNOZ multi 2 family, the module can function as an FSoE master station with a maximum cycle time of 10ms, coupled with the PNOZ mB1 base unit for data interaction with the FSoE slave station, and the module includes standard EtherCAT fieldbus functionality. PNOZ mB1 integrates the ETH interface and supports Modbus/TCP and TCP/IP communication protocols.

What is Safety over EtherCAT?

Functional safety is an indispensable part of modern network structure and communication system. With the Safety over EtherCAT protocol (FSoE = FailSafe over EtherCAT), EtherCAT can transmit standard and safety-related data in parallel on the same network. With Safety over EtherCAT, the communication system becomes part of the black channel (below) rather than part of data protection. Safety over EtherCAT is a technology developed based on IEC61508, certified by TUV and internationally standardized by IEC61784-3.

– Based on the black channel principle, the standard communication interface can be used

The safety data is embedded in the standard process data as a container and is combined with additional data to ensure its integrity. During each security cycle, the secure connection between the FSoE master and FSoE slave stations is fully monitored. The security frame check, connection ID, and watchdog time of each FSoE frame transmission are checked.

– FSoE frames (secure containers) Embed process data for periodic communication

The following figure shows the software architecture of FSoE. The FSoE protocol is an application-layer communication protocol on the EtherCAT communication interface, which is still based on the standard EtherCAT. The “safe container” can be transmitted via a fieldbus system, Ethernet, or other similar technology, and the physical medium can be copper, fiber, or even wireless.

– Software Architecture –

FSoE uses the master/slave communication model, and FSoE EtherCAT slave stations can be divided into FSoE master and FSoE slave stations according to their functions. Connections between FSoE devices can be established through EtherCAT network configuration. FSoE data exchange is limited to the configured FSoE master /FSoE slave station.

– PNOZ m EF EtherCAT FSoE Support System Architecture –

As shown in the figure above, a non-safety-related control system (standard PLC) with an EtherCAT interface acts as an EtherCAT master to support the use of FSoE devices in the EtherCAT network. The PNOZ multi2 control system integrated with the PNOZ mEF EtherCAT FSoE module is integrated with the FSoE device as the EtherCAT slave device as the FSoE master device.

N/A PNOZ m EF EtherCAT Network features of FSoE –

As shown above, with the PNOZ m EF EtherCAT FSoE module, PNOZ multi2 enables the parallel transmission of security functions and standard functions on the same network in FSoE networks. There may be multiple FSoE security masters in a single FSoE network, which makes “master-master” communication possible and plant interconnection easy to implement.