Design and proof of concept of a centralized controller for time-sensitive networks

Abstract

TSN (Time Sensitive Networking) is a set of standards created in order to deliver time-sensitive transmission of data in Ethernet networks. This thesis describes both the current TSN standards, focusing on the central configuration aspect, and a proposal to build a centralized controller (CNC) prototype for TSN based on the study of real TSN hardware and software implementation. This document includes in a section describing the state of the art on the TSN technology and the main projects related to centralized network control in TSN networks, a section describing all the proposed elements needed in order to create the CNC, and lastly a section describing the practical experience with real TSN-enabled hardware on the EETAC laboratory. This project is an initiative based on the previous study of TSN trends, summarized in the first chapter of the thesis, that helped the TSN team at EETAC decide that CNC is the most interesting subject of study at this moment from the ongoing TSN-related projects. The final goal of the thesis is to provide an overall view of the requirements on the centralized configuration in order to help new development teams to have a comprehensive starting point to continue evolving this technology into the future and integrate of the well-known Ethernet networks into the Operational Technology (OT), Internet of Things (IoT) and time-sensitive Information Technology (IT) environments. The results from this thesis are both the setup and test of a small TSN network environment and the proposal of the design of the next step to create a real CNC will be the development of the software tools identified in this thesis.