Kit media
NI, Bosch Rexroth, Cisco, Intel, KUKA, Schneider Electric and TTTech announce their collaboration with the Industrial Internet Consortium to develop a test bed dedicated to Time Sensitive Networking.
The main objective is to improve the network infrastructure to support the evolution of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0. The new digital capabilities call on designers and users to have more reliable and secure access to smart equipment at the edge of networks. Standard network technologies must evolve to meet the requirements of this new generation of industrial systems and to improve the management and operation of machinery, power grids and transportation systems.
The purpose of this test bed is to demonstrate the value of emerging Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, known as TSN, within an industrial-specific application ecosystem. The TSN applies to a standard and open network infrastructure that supports integration and interoperability between different manufacturers' equipment, ensuring better network performance. This technology supports real-time synchronization and control/control mechanisms - for example between axis control applications and robots - on a single Ethernet network.
The TSN can also carry data traditionally encountered in factories, facilitating the convergence of IT and operational technologies. Previously, many real-time control/control applications were deployed via custom, non-standard protocols, making data and devices much more difficult to access, or even completely inaccessible. TSN is a convergence factor that improves connectivity and provides access to the critical data needed to deliver on the promise of IIoT—improving operations through big data analytics strategies and promoting new business models based on connected and intelligent machines and systems.
"The test benches are at the heart of the concerns and activities of the IIC and its members. Their development is the starting point for innovations specific to the industrial Internet; it is at this stage that new technologies, new applications, new products, services and processes are thought out, studied and rigorously tested to determine their usefulness and viability before they enter the market," explains Dr Richard Soley, Executive Director of IIC.
This test bed:
- combine different critical control flows (OPC UA type) and Best Effort streams on a single resilient network based on TSN IEEE 802.1 standards;
- demonstrate the real-time capabilities of the TSN and the interoperability of equipment from different manufacturers using the standard Ethernet as a converged network;
- determine the safety benefits of the NST and demonstrate the performance of the initial functions of the NST;
- Show IIoT's ability to integrate high-performance, latency-sensitive applications;
- will enable the integration of intelligent real-time control/control systems forEdge computing applications in IIoT applications and infrastructure.
Find out more: https://www.iiconsortium.org/time-sensitive-networks.htm
