ABSTRACT
Ethernet POWERLINK (EPL) represents a prominent example of real-time Ethernet (RTE) communication networks. It belongs to the IEC 61784 International Standard, where it is referred to as the Communication Profile (CP) #1 within the CP Family #13. EPL is able to provide the real-time capabilities required by critical processes, control tasks, and management functions typical of the industrial scenario. As a matter of fact, EPL, which is compliant with the Industrial Automation Open Network Alliance (IAONA) real-time class 4 recommendations, is able to cope with communication cycles in the order of hundreds of microseconds, ensuring, at the same time, jitters below 1 µs. The EPL application layer is based on the popular and settled CANOpen standard. This feature ensures, at the high layer of the protocol stack, compatibility with several other industrial communication devices. The EPL application layer ensures data can be exchanged according to several communication models. This chapter explains the available relationships are master/slave, client/server, and producer/consumer.
