Fraunhofer IPMS will promote a Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) IP Core with switch functionality, facilitating the integration of TSN functionalities into Ethernet network devices at the 2019 HANNOVER MESSE. Interested parties can inform themselves at the Fraunhofer IPMS Booth A11 in Hall 9.
Using standard hardware, time-sensitive data flows in parallel with other data over one and the same network - Time Sensitive Networking makes this possible. A converged network, from the sensor or machine to the management sytem level, makes integrating Industry 4.0 applications extremely easy. In industrial communications, this unified network infrastructure is usually Ethernet, as it is cost-effective, standardized and easily scalable.
Rather than a single technology, TSN is a set of different network standards developed in the context of IEEE802 standardization. These new sub-standards enable the universal transport of real-time critical data packets within an Ethernet network. Fraunhofer IPMS Business Unit Manager Wireless Microsystems Dr. Frank Deicke explains: "The synchronization of time is a key element of TSN. The IEEE 802.1AS-rev sub-standard achieves the basic requirement for deterministic data transmission, namely that all network participants have the same understanding of time." The prioritization of time-critical data packets compared to non-time critical packets, also called frames in network jargon, is, according to Dr. Deicke another important component implemented by IEEE 802.1Qav. "For applications requiring less jitter and latency, IEEE 802.12 Qbv provides cyclic transmission windows. Such applications are common in the automotive industry. "
At the HANNOVER MESSE, Fraunhofer IPMS will present a new version of the Ethernet TSN IP Core now with switch functionality. An FPGA system based on the IP Core has been successfully tested in interoperability trials of the TSN testbed of the Industrial Internet Consortium and Lab Network Industry 4.0 (LNI 4.0).
Interested visitors to the HANNOVER MESSE can learn more about TSN at the Fraunhofer IPMS partner pod at theOPC Foundation joint booth (Hall 9, Stand A11), where information about the interaction between TSN and OPC UA will also be available. In addition, implementation of the IP Cores can be viewed at the TSN demo-wall of the Industrial Internet Consortium in Hall 8, Stand D23.
Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems