Product Description:

The EL6632-2000 is an EtherCAT-to-PROFINET gateway terminal produced by Beckhoff and supplied in the EL EtherCAT Terminals series. Acting as a PROFINET RT/IRT controller, the unit allows an EtherCAT network to command external PROFINET devices without an additional coupler. Within distributed control cabinets, it occupies a single terminal slot and exchanges cyclic process data between the two fieldbuses, supporting both RT and IRT transmission modes required for synchronized motion or high-speed I/O tasks. It can therefore connect PROFINET-based I/O blocks, drives, and other field devices to a machine that already uses EtherCAT as its internal terminal bus.

At the protocol layer, the terminal complies with Conformance Class C. Its two-port Ethernet interface provides 100BASE-TX connectivity on dual RJ45 sockets, enabling line or star wiring on the PROFINET side. Both connectors share the E-bus supply, and the module draws a typical current of 400 mA, so power budgeting must account for slot loading. The available process image is 1 kB input / 1 kB output, allowing mapped cyclic variables such as status words and parameter blocks. The unit has an IP20 protection class for use in enclosed control cabinets, and configuration uses the TwinCAT 2.11 R3 driver for integration in the control system.

In the deterministic domain, the terminal supports a minimum IRT cycle of 500 µs, which accommodates high-speed motion axes, while standard RT communication can be scheduled down to 1 ms for general I/O exchange. As a controller, it can coordinate up to 5 IRT devices and as many as 15 RT devices on the downstream PROFINET segment before expansion is required. Copper cabling up to 100 m between nodes is permitted, which suits typical cabinet-to-machine runs, and reliable service is maintained in ambient humidity levels up to 95 percent non-condensing.