EPBFCat – an EtherCAT master using eBPF and XDP

EBPFCat is a controller for the industrial field bus EtherCAT, written entirely in Python, that uses ePBF and XDP to achieve real-time responses. The eBPF code is generated on-the-fly using a built-in code generator, which can also be used for other purposes.

• A Python-base eBPF code generator
  • Getting started
  • Maps
  • Accessing the packet
  • Programming
  • Reference Documentation
• The EtherCAT master
  • Getting started
  • Writing a device
  • Four methods of control
  • Adding new terminals
  • Inspecting the bus via the command line
  • Using EBPFCat with the EPICS control system
  • Reference Documentation

Further reading

This project has been presented at ICALEPCS 2025, please cite this paper if you make use of EBPFCat.

There was also a talk at FOSDEM 2026.