Long-term availability & experience
Two decades of EtherCAT engineering and a proven commitment to long lifecycles — the assurance industrial and medical products need across STM32 generations.
The field-proven EtherCAT MainDevice stack for STMicroelectronics controllers
acontis technologies provides its EC-Master - the leading EtherCAT® MainDevice software for a large range of devices from STMicroelectronics. acontis EC-Master brings deterministic, real-time EtherCAT® control to the STM32 family — the same complete stack that runs on high-end IPCs, scaled to fit the smallest, most cost-sensitive devices. Proven in thousands of shipping products.
20+ years EtherCAT leadership
View partnersDeployed on thousands of STM32 deviced
View partnersExtreme fast cycle times
View partnersComplete Feature set
View partnersA long-standing partnership with STMicroelectronics
acontis has worked alongside STMicroelectronics for many years, tuning EC-Master to the real strengths of the STM32 architecture. The result is an EtherCAT MainDevice stack that treats STM32 as a first-class target — not an afterthought — with optimized link-layer drivers, zero-copy DMA transfers, and a bare-metal option that needs no operating system.
Why it matters
EtherCAT MainDevices are often assumed to belong on beefy industrial PCs. They don't have to. With EC-Master, the same MainDevice stack that drives a multi-core x86 controller also runs on a small Cortex®-M microcontroller — with the full feature set, not a stripped-down "lite" version.Everything you need to build EtherCAT controllers on STM32
Full ETG.1500 Class-A feature set
CoE, SoE, EoE, FoE and VoE mailbox protocols, Distributed Clocks, HotConnect, cable redundancy, and rich diagnostics — the complete stack, not a subset.
Adaptable for low-end devices
Disable features you don't need to keep ROM and RAM footprint lean. On the smallest STM32 parts you can trade a few capabilities while keeping core deterministic real-time communication.
Broad range of applications
From compact I/O controllers and drives to robotics, medical devices, and machine automation — one API spans your whole portfolio.
Strong cybersecurity
Built with security in mind and a documented security process, EC-Master helps you meet the demands of modern connected industrial systems.
Best-in-class usability & robustness
The most widely deployed EtherCAT MainDevice software interoperates reliably with the messy real world of SubDevices — including the quirky ones that trip up lesser stacks.
High performance, small footprint — no compromises
EC-Master is written in portable ANSI-C and built for embedded reality. Cycle times of 100 µs and below are achievable even on modest STM32 hardware, thanks to zero-copy DMA transfers and optimized link-layer drivers that talk directly to the Ethernet MAC.
One stack, scaled across the STM32 range
EC-Master runs on STM32 parts across generations. Pick the device that fits your cost and performance target — the API stays the same.
STM32F4
For the smallest, most cost-sensitive designs. Core deterministic real-time EtherCAT communication is fully present; a few features may be traded off depending on memory and MAC.
STM32F7
A strong balance of performance and cost for mainstream EtherCAT controllers, with headroom for the full ETG.1500 Class-A feature set.
STM32H7
High-performance Cortex-M7/M4 parts for demanding motion and multi-axis control, with the full feature set and multiple cyclic tasks.
STM32MP1
Cortex-A application processors for powerful, Linux-based controllers — including Preempt-RT — that combine EtherCAT control with higher-level application software.
Want to see EC-Master on your STM32 target?
Talk to us about bringing deterministic, real-time EtherCAT control to your STMicroelectronics controller.