 |
AM243x INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS SDK
2026.00.00
|
|
|
AM243x INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS SDK
2026.00.00
|
|
This example is a EtherCAT SubDevice application based on EtherCAT SubDevice Stack Code (SSC) version 5.13 from Beckhoff.
The example does the following:
In the E1/E2 revision of am243x-lp board, there are following issues which impact enhanced link detection and RX_ER monitor by ICSSG. Therefore EtherCAT cable redundancy can not be supported in E1/E2 revision.
In E3 and above revisions, the following connections are available. SDK example enables cable redundancy and will work on E3 and above revisions only. For running it on E1/E2 revision, few changes are required. For more details, see Supported Combinations.
This example supports ESI (EtherCAT SubDevice Information) EEPROM emulation over OSPI/QSPI SPI Flash, eliminating the need for a dedicated I2C EEPROM. The ESI data is stored in a dedicated 2KB region of the SPI Flash and accessed via a memory-mapped interface.
The ESI region is placed beyond the maximum FoE firmware boundary to prevent any overlap during firmware updates:
| Region | Offset (AM64x / AM243x / AM263x) | Offset (AM261x / AM263Px) | Size | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBL | 0x00000 | 0x00000 | ≤512KB | Second-stage bootloader |
| FoE Application | 0x80000 | 0x81000 | ≤1MB | Firmware via FoE download |
| ESI EEPROM | 0x180000 | 0x181000 | 2KB | EtherCAT SubDevice config |
FOE_APPL_MAX_SIZE) compile-time guard in tiesceoefoe.h. Any FoE download that exceeds this limit is rejected before it can reach the ESI region.The ESI EEPROM region is carved out as a dedicated section in the generated linker.cmd via the SysConfig Memory Configurator. This ensures the flash programmer does not overwrite ESI data when reflashing the application.
In Memory Configurator → Memory Region → ADD:
| Field | AM64x / AM243x / AM263x | AM261x / AM263Px |
|---|---|---|
| Name | FLASH_ESI | FLASH_ESI |
| Type | FLASH | FLASH |
| Start Address | 0x60180000 | 0x60181000 |
| Region Size | 0x800 | 0x800 |
In Memory Configurator → Section → ADD:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | ESI EEPROM over SPI Flash |
| Type | NOLOAD |
| Group Section | Unchecked |
| Load Memory | FLASH_ESI |
| Run Memory | FLASH_ESI |
| Output Section Name | .esieeprom |
| Start Section | __esieeprom_start |
| End Section | __esieeprom_end |
The SysConfig tool generates the following entries:
.appimage). The flash programmer skips this region entirely when programming the application. ESI content is managed at runtime by tiesc_ospiEepromWrite() / tiesc_ospiEepromRead().In the EtherCAT SysConfig module, set the ESI EEPROM Storage option to OSPI/QSPI Flash. This generates #define TIESC_ESI_EEPROM_OSPI_ENABLE into ti_drivers_config.h, which routes the BSP EEPROM callbacks to the SPI Flash implementation.
OSPI_ESI_DATA_OFFSET (the physical flash offset used by Flash_read/Flash_write) is derived from the __esieeprom_start linker symbol in tiescsoc.h:
This means the ESI flash address is single-sourced from SysConfig — if the FLASH_ESI memory region origin is changed in SysConfig, OSPI_ESI_DATA_OFFSET picks up the new value automatically without any code change.
Write Flow:
eeprom_cache)tiesc_ospiEepromWrite() is called:Read Flow:
bsp_eeprom_emulation_init() reads ESI from Flash into RAM cacheEnable debug logging by defining TIESC_ESI_EEPROM_OSPI_DEBUG:
Example output:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| CPU + OS | r5fss0-0 freertos |
| ICSSG | ICSSG1 |
| Toolchain | ti-arm-clang |
| Boards | am243x-evm, am243x-lp (E3 and A Revision) |
| Example folder | examples/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice_beckhoff_ssc_demo |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| CPU + OS | r5fss1-0 freertos |
| ICSSG | ICSSG0 |
| Toolchain | ti-arm-clang |
| Boards | am243x-evm, am243x-lp (E3 and A Revision) |
| Example folder | examples/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice_beckhoff_ssc_demo |
As mentioned above, SDK example will work on E3 and above revisions of am243x-lp only. For running it on E1/E2 revision, following changes are needed.
tiesc_socParamsInit() function present in "${SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/examples/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice_beckhoff_ssc_demo/am243x-lp/tiescsoc.c", set bspInitParams->enhancedlink_enable to TIESC_MDIO_RX_LINK_DISABLE.
This example, configured to run on r5fss_1_0_freertos uses PRU_ICSSG0 instance in PRU_ICSSG peripheral. On EVMs supported by TI (AM64X-EVM, AM243X-EVM), it is not possible to use PRU_ICSSG0, as the PRG0_RGMII1 and PRG0_RGMII0 pins are not connected to Ethernet PHYs. This example would require a dedicated custom board to use the PRU_ICSSG0 instance of ICSSG peripheral. This example, with the custom board, is compatible for PRU_ICSSG0 and it provides full support out of the box.
See ICSSG0 Usage Guide for more details
TwinCAT MainDevice was used as the EtherCAT MainDevice for these tests.
Lowest cycle time tested is 31.25 us (microseconds) with Distributed Clock (DC) Synchronization mode.
Following is the interrupt processing time for PDI and Sync ISRs with 50 us cycle time. The RxPDO size is 5 bytes and TxPDO size is 7 bytes in this example.
| Scenario | PDI ISR Processing Time (microseconds) | SYNC0 ISR Processing Time (microseconds) | SYNC1 ISR Processing Time (microseconds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC mode with SYNC0 enabled | 2.7 | 3.2 | 0 |
| DC mode with SYNC0 and SYNC1 enabled | 2.7 | 0.8 | 2.6 |
{SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/source/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice/beckhoff_stack/stack_sources/ folder.${SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/source/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice/beckhoff_stack/patch which contains TI_ECAT.patch.- **Using Beckhoff SSC Tool**
- Install SSC tool version 1.5.3.0. This configuration tool facilitates working with the EtherCAT SubDevice Stack Code (SSC), as it allows reducing the size of the EtherCAT SubDevice stack code by removing unused code parts depending on the desired configuration. Objects should be defined in a .xlsx file. Please refer to [EtherCAT SubDevice Design - Quick Guide](https://download.beckhoff.com/download/document/io/ethercat-development-products/ethercat_slave_design_quick_guide.pdf) for details.
- Each SoC has its own configuration folder under `${SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/source/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice/beckhoff_stack/patch/<soc>/` (e.g., `am64x`, `am243x`, `am263x`, `am263px`, `am261x`). Each folder contains two XML configuration files:
- `TI_ESC_8i3.xml` — Standard EtherCAT sample demo. Use this for the default SDK example.
- `TI_ESC_CiA402_8i3.xml` — CiA402 drive profile. Use this when building the CiA402 demo.
- Click on "Import" button and select the desired XML file from the SoC-specific folder inside `${SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/source/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice/beckhoff_stack/patch` folder.
- Make sure "Custom" is selected in the dialog box and select the matching TI configuration from the list.
- Set DC_SUPPORTED to 1 if not set.
- Save the project.
- Click "Project->Create new SubDevice Files". This will generate the EtherCAT Source files specific to the the selected TI device.
- Copy all the generated files except tiescappl.c, tiescappl.h and tiescapplObjects.h to `${SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/source/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice/beckhoff_stack/stack_sources/`.
\note
- For the SDK example, tiescappl.c and tiescappl.h files are used from "${SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/examples/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice_beckhoff_ssc_demo/" folder, and not from the SSC Tool generated files.
- If you want to modify the object dictionary for the standard demo, you can update `${SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/source/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice/beckhoff_stack/patch/<soc>/tiescappl.xlsx` and then the SSC tool will generate the application code accordingly.
- `TI_ESC_CiA402_8i3.xml` intentionally omits the `ApplicationFile` xlsx reference. This is required so that the SSC Tool respects the `CiA402_SAMPLE_APPLICATION=1` setting and generates `cia402appl.c` / `cia402appl.h`. If `tiescappl.xlsx` is referenced, the tool overrides this setting to 0 and skips CiA402 file generation.
{SDK_INSTALL_PATH}/source/industrial_comms/ethercat_subdevice/beckhoff_stack/stack_sources/ecat_def.h, if required for your application. Please ensure that TIESC_HW is set to 1, and TIESC_APPLICATION is set to 1.Shown below is a sample output when the application is run:
1.8.20