As outlined in the recent Anybus white paper, Time Sensitive Networking -what is it and how will it affect automation, there is a lot of excitement in the industry about the TSN standards and how the standards will enable industries to transmit time-sensitive data over deterministic networks and thereby realize the benefits of Industry 4.0.
But what’s happening now? To find out we catch up with Thierry Bieber who tells us about the ongoing work with PROFINET over TSN and the next steps.
The digitalization of our industry and production processes requires the consolidation of information from diverse sources. TSN is a set of standards that define real-time communication mechanisms across multiple infrastructures and communication technologies. Implementing TSN is essential for industrial networks to realize the benefits of Industry 4.0, which is why PROFINET included TSN capabilities in its specification 2.4.
At the Hannover Messe 2022, there was a PROFINET over TSN demonstration showing some of the key TSN mechanisms. Several technology providers, including Anybus, have worked together to test the interoperability of some TSN mechanisms, and a Proof of Concept (POC) of the Anybus CompactCom module was included in the display.
The PROFINET over TSN demonstration ran on an Ethernet gigabit communication to increase the bandwidth and so adapt to the increasing expectations for data exchange and showed the following:
How the synchronization TSN mechanism synchronizes application data across the network.
How the preemption TSN mechanism interrupts longer TCP/IP frames to send shorter real-time frames and thereby ensures that real-time frames are not delayed by the best effort TCP/IP frames.
Anybus is continuing to work, based on its NP40 platform, to develop and integrate fully the TSN mechanism. The aim is to integrate the high complexity of the TSN mechanisms into the Anybus CompactCom solution and provide our customers with a tested and ready-to-use interface that supports TSN over PROFINET networks.
Existing Anybus CompactCom customers will also find the transition to the new TSN solution smooth and transparent. The Anybus CompactCom interface will remain compatible so the new device can be used as an alternative to the existing PROFINET IRT CompactCom, keeping implementation costs to a minimum.
Anybus is committed to this new technology and is working closely with PROFINET during the ongoing implementation and test phases.
Further activities are happening in IEC/IEEE 60802, a joint working group between the IEC and the IEEE. The target is to define a TSN profile for industrial automation which will ensure that the TSN mechanisms are defined consistently across the different industrial communication technologies.
There is also the TSN Industrial Automation Conformance Collaboration (TIACC) that aims to develop a single common conformance test plan for the IEC/IEE 60802 TSN profile for industrial automation. The PROFINET organization is part of this process and is also updating the specification with the basis for creating test cases and implementing the PROFINET Tester for certification
Both aspects are key to allowing the coexistence of the different industrial technologies and automation equipment on one single TSN infrastructure, to avoid the duplication of TSN infrastructures as well as the duplication of interface development for automation devices.
These steps are paving the TSN path. Anybus is working to be at the front of the TSN Technology and be ready with a solution as soon as the maturity of the different technologies is ready and a first Anybus CompactCom module for the CC-Link IE TSN technology will be released at the end of 2022.
Thierry Bieber is the Industry Segment Manager at HMS Networks Market Unit in Central Europe. Thierry has over 20 years of technical and market experience in industrial communication and machine infrastructures applications as well as participation with various standardization organizations like PROFINET International.
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