Sercos SoftMaster

Product features:

• No FPGA or ASIC needed
• A sufficient real-time performance can be ensured for a large number of applications
• A synchronization similar to that of a hardware-based master can be achieved using an Ethernet controller

By using a Sercos III SoftMaster, a Sercos III master device can be implemented without specific FPGAs or ASIC Sercos III hardware controller

Instead, a standard Ethernet controller is used and the Sercos III hardware functions are emulated in a host-based driver software. With this implementation approach, a sufficient real-time performance can be ensured for a large number of applications.

If an Ethernet controller is used that operates with multiple queues and a telegram scheduler (e.g., the INTEL i210™), a synchronization similar to that of a hardware-based master can be achieved.

The Open Source Sercos SoftMaster is available as a free download under this link.