The standard EtherCAT profiles built in to the MC4 and MC6 range firmware have fixed mode operation that is defined at startup using DRIVE_MODE.

In some cases the user may want to change the axis mode without re-starting the EtherCAT network. Some drives allow mode change while in Operational State.

The Panasonic A5B is one such drive.

This document and the associated EC_EXTEND file allow the axes to be set up in a way that allows mode change by simply setting ATYPE.