EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool (CTT)

Mandatory for all EtherCAT device manufacturers

The Conformance Test Tool allows one to check protocol compliance of an EtherCAT SubDevice. The tool was demonstrated for the first time in September 2006 at the ETG Technical Committee meeting. Besides a standard PC with standard Ethernet adapter, the MS Windows based Conformance Test Tool does not require any special hardware. The EtherCAT frames to stimulate the Device under Test (DuT) are sent and received via a standard Ethernet port. The tool reads the test cases from a XML file, so that test enhancements can be generated without modifications to the test tool software itself. Test results and comments are shown in a test logger. The tool also tests the EtherCAT SubDevice Information (ESI) file. CiA402 tests for example allow one to check conformity of EtherCAT drives supporting the CiA402 drive profile: easy set up, identical behaviour and correct support of cyclic synchronous operation modes are part of these tests.

To meet minimum conformance requirements a device has to pass the protocol test using the Conformance Test Tool at the time of its first release to the market. Of course vendors are encouraged to keep up with the latest version of the Conformance Test Tool and also fix issues which only have been revealed after the initial release of their device. The Conformance Test Tool is a product of Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG and it is licensed on a subscription basis, in order to ensure long term availability of resources for maintenance, support and enhancement. EtherCAT device vendors have to maintain a valid subscription of the tool. The test cases are developed and maintained by the ETG Working Group Conformance.

More information about the tool can be found with the official EtherCAT Product Guide.