Enhancing Schedulability and Throughput of Time-Triggered Traffic in IEEE 802.1Qbv Time-Sensitive Networks

Thanks to the standards being developed by IEEE Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) Task Group, the classical IEEE 802.1 Ethernet architecture is now enhanced to accommodate real-time and safety-critical requirements emerging in various cyber-physical systems. The deterministic nature of the communication is achieved through the time-triggered traffic, which requires introducing strict scheduling constraints that may be an obstacle in finding a feasible schedule. In this article, we propose a simple hardware enhancement of a switch along with a relaxed scheduling constraint that increases schedulability and throughput of the time-triggered traffic but maintains the deterministic nature and timeliness guarantees in a TSN network. We give a formal proof to justify the claims and an algorithm benchmarking and experimental validation to demonstrate the gains. The results show that the number of flows that can be scheduled in the model with the relaxed constraint is on average by 75.1 % larger than in the traditional model.

[1]  Lucia Lo Bello,et al.  Time-Sensitive Networking Standards , 2018, IEEE Commun. Stand. Mag..

[2]  Frank Dürr,et al.  No-wait Packet Scheduling for IEEE Time-sensitive Networks (TSN) , 2016, RTNS.

[3]  Petru Eles,et al.  Schedulability-Driven Communication Synthesis for Time Triggered Embedded Systems , 1999, Proceedings Sixth International Conference on Real-Time Computing Systems and Applications. RTCSA'99 (Cat. No.PR00306).

[4]  Christian Artigues,et al.  Line search method for solving a non-preemptive strictly periodic scheduling problem , 2016, J. Sched..

[5]  R. Macchiaroli,et al.  Modelling and optimization of industrial manufacturing processes subject to no-wait constraints , 1999 .

[6]  Alois Knoll,et al.  A graphical modeling tool supporting automated schedule synthesis for time-sensitive networking , 2017, 2017 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA).

[7]  Paul Pop,et al.  Routing optimization of AVB streams in TSN networks , 2016, SIGBED.

[8]  Gerhard Fohler,et al.  Size-based queuing: an approach to improve bandwidth utilization in TSN networks , 2019, SIGBED.

[9]  Jun Terada,et al.  Gate-Shrunk Time Aware Shaper: Low-Latency Converged Network for 5G Fronthaul and M2M Services , 2017, GLOBECOM 2017 - 2017 IEEE Global Communications Conference.

[10]  Zdenek Hanzálek,et al.  Makespan minimization of Time-Triggered traffic on a TTEthernet network , 2017, 2017 IEEE 13th International Workshop on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS).

[11]  Silviu S. Craciunas,et al.  Demo Abstract: Slate XNS--An Online Management Tool for Deterministic TSN Networks , 2018, 2018 IEEE Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (RTAS).

[12]  Karl-Erik Årzén,et al.  CONTROL AND EMBEDDED COMPUTING: SURVEY OF RESEARCH DIRECTIONS , 2005 .

[13]  Jürgen Schönwälder,et al.  Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) , 2011, RFC.

[14]  Alois Knoll,et al.  Time-sensitive networking (TSN): An experimental setup , 2017, 2017 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC).

[15]  Christian Fraboul,et al.  Improving the Worst-Case Delay Analysis of an AFDX Network Using an Optimized Trajectory Approach , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics.

[16]  Silviu S. Craciunas,et al.  IEEE 802.1Qbv Gate Control List Synthesis Using Array Theory Encoding , 2018, 2018 IEEE Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (RTAS).

[17]  Silviu S. Craciunas,et al.  Scheduling Real-Time Communication in IEEE 802.1Qbv Time Sensitive Networks , 2016, RTNS.

[18]  Wolfgang Mahnke,et al.  OPC UA - Service-oriented Architecture for Industrial Applications , 2006, Softwaretechnik-Trends.

[19]  Rolf Ernst,et al.  Formal worst-case timing analysis of Ethernet topologies with strict-priority and AVB switching , 2012, 7th IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Embedded Systems (SIES'12).

[20]  Silviu S. Craciunas,et al.  Design optimisation of cyber-physical distributed systems using IEEE time-sensitive networks , 2016, IET Cyper-Phys. Syst.: Theory & Appl..

[21]  Jürgen Jasperneite,et al.  Increasing flexibility of Time Triggered Ethernet based systems by optimal greedy scheduling approach , 2015, 2015 IEEE 20th Conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation (ETFA).

[22]  Silviu S. Craciunas,et al.  Formal Scheduling Constraints for Time-Sensitive Networks , 2017, ArXiv.

[23]  S. Korea,et al.  A Smart Message-scheduling Scheme for Arbitrary Topology PROFINET IRT Networks Applicable to Shipboard Real-time Communications , 2013 .

[24]  Silviu S. Craciunas,et al.  Worst-Case Latency Analysis for IEEE 802.1Qbv Time Sensitive Networks Using Network Calculus , 2018, IEEE Access.

[25]  Silviu S. Craciunas,et al.  Combined task- and network-level scheduling for distributed time-triggered systems , 2016, Real-Time Systems.

[26]  Feng He,et al.  Comparison of Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) and TTEthernet , 2018, 2018 IEEE/AIAA 37th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC).