Industrial networking

There are different aspects of TSN that these protocols deal with. They are as follows:

• Precision synchronisation - So that all of the clocks of different switches and endpoints in the network are consistent with one another and there are no discrepancies
• Traffic shaping - This is responsible for prioritising the data packets being transmitted according to their level of importance and time sensitivity. Data that is related to safety functions or motion control will be placed ahead of data that is not of a time sensitive nature, such as data concerning ongoing diagnostic reporting. If necessary, data packets that are categorised as not being critical can be held up to make bandwidth available for higher priority data
• Routing optimisation - To determine the shortest path for urgent transmissions to take, so that they will arrive on schedule

TSN will act as a protocol agnostic layer that supervises the data flows. This will mean that data from different legacy field bus protocols such as PROFINET, PROFIBUS, Modbus DeviceNet, and EtherCAT may be transported over Ethernet infrastructure in a synchronised and deterministic way.

Working In collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute, and using Layerscape processor technology provided by NXP, EBV has created a TSN Demonstrator. This has both time synchronisation and traffic shaping functionality. It has the capacity to deliver data from different connected controller units, running at different links speeds and using different protocols. The data packets being transported via these different protocols will not have any influence on ones from another protocol. Thanks to this demonstrator, our customers are presented with a valuable tool via which they can begin planning out their networking infrastructure in full and experiment with different potential TSN configurations. An interactive video illustrating how it can be used is available here.

Another concern with regard to a large proportion of applications arising out of Industry 4.0 and industrial IoT (IIoT) is how to provide the necessary connectivity. Densely packed automation systems and compact robots will have very little room in which cabling may be placed. That is why single pair Ethernet (SPE) will be a game changer. Rather than having multiple twisted conductor pairs, SPE relies on just one pair - but still allows adequate data rates to be supported over relatively long distances.

Initial uptake of SPE was in the automotive sector, where the weight savings that can be derived are of particular value. From an industrial perspective, SPE has several key advantages that have greater prominence. Foremost of these are that the cost of cabling and the space that it takes up can both be markedly reduced. As the cables are thinner, they can support more acute bend radii - which is once again beneficial in applications where there is very little room available. Through Power over Data Line (PoDL) technology, much like with PoE, power as well as data can be transported. Consequently, the need for additional electrical cabling is avoided - thereby simplifying infrastructure, as well as saving further expense and space utilisation.  

EBV is a member of industry associations relating to key industrial communication protocols - including those for PROFINET/PROFIBUS, EtherCAT and SPE. This means that we have the knowledge needed to help customers installing new industrial networks or making upgrades to existing ones.

There have been substantial advances in wireless connectivity for industrial use cases too. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) means that 10Gbit/s data rates can now be supported. The arrival of Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) will enable 30Gbit/s to be achieved, as well as bringing greater system robustness and much lower latency levels. Bluetooth Mesh is proving itself very useful to IIoT installations - permitting secure, power efficient and reliable networks to be established. Its self-healing properties are particularly appealing, with no single point of failure able to jeopardise the running of the network. This means that redundancy is built into the industrial operation. LoRa is a real value in scenarios where unlicensed long-distance transmissions, with only a small amount of data involved, are needed, while using only minimal power budget. 6LoWPAN has the ability to provide power frugal IP-based connectivity at the network edge, and this will therefore see increasing traction as IIoT networks are rolled out. Low power cellular protocols, namely NB-IoT and Cat-M1, are also certain to claim a lot of IIoT uptake. 5G mobile communication will be used for the creation of private networks across large industrial plants, attending to demands for both high data rates and low latency responsiveness.

Here are examples of the industrial networking products available from EBV.

Single Pair Ethernet - SPE

Ethernet TSN interoperability