Beckhoff EL3681 Documentation page 143

Commissioning
This is therefore a time multiplex. As a rule the ADC samples equally clocked, the time intervals of the
channels are therefore equal, whereby the start of channel 1 is usually done by the communication cycle
(EtherCAT) or DistributedClocks. For further details please refer to the device documentation.
Advantage: cheaper electronics compared to simultaneous setup.
Disadvantage: the measured values are no longer acquired simultaneously, but one after the other.
Both circuits have their technical and economic justification, for time demanding automation tasks
simultaneous circuits should always be chosen, because with them it is easier to keep the temporal
overview.
For analog outputs the same explanations apply, they can also be equipped with multiple simultaneous
DACs or output a multiplexed DAC to several outputs.
EL3681 Version: 3.0 143