FactoRing: Asynchronous TSN-compliant Network with low bounded Jitters for Industry 4.0

Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) describes a set of features extending the functionalities and Quality of Service (QoS) of standard Ethernet to enable determinism, reliability and reconfigurability, key requirements for Industry 4.0. The TSN profile for industrial automation (IEC/IEEE 60802 standard) defines specific options to favor reliability and reconfigurability. Nevertheless, there are multiple possible options for scheduling to guarantee determinism. Today, the scheduling standards in TSN can be categorized according to the implemented communication paradigm: asynchronous or synchronous. This paradigm is of utmost importance to quantify the synchronization need and the reconfigurability effort. The main contribution of this work is the specification of an asynchronous TSN-compliant network for Industry 4.0, FactoRing, that bridges the gap between both paradigms to guarantee low bounded jitters and latencies, without the need of synchronization and complex network planning. Moreover, FactoRing supports ring-based topologies to significantly reduce installation wiring and costs. In this paper, we first present the main industry 4.0 requirements and assess the ability of recommended TSN mechanisms for industrial automation versus such requirements. Afterwards, we detail the main features of Factoring including QoS, reliability and reconfiguration management. Finally, preliminary results on performance metrics like jitters, latencies and buffer usage are discussed and the first conclusions on the promises of Factoring to meet Industry 4.0 requirements are derived.