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.

We define a novel core network router scheduling architecture to carry and isolate time constrained and elastic traffic flows from best-effort traffic. To date, one possible solution has been to implement a core DiffServ network with standard fair queuing and scheduling mechanisms as proposed in the well-known “A Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) for Capacity-Admitted Traffic” from RFC5865. This architecture is one of the most selected solutions by internet service provider for access networks (e.g. Customer-Premises Equipment or satellite PEP). In this study, we argue that the proposed standard implementation does not allow to efficiently quantify the reserved capacity for the AF class. By using a novel credit based shaper mechanism called Burst Limiting Shaper, we show that we can provide the same isolation for the time constrained EF class while better quantifying the part allocated to the AF class.

Avionics implementation with less cables will clearly improve the efficiency of aircraft while reducing weight and maintenance costs. To fulfill these emerging needs, an innovative avionics communication architecture, based on Gigabit Full Duplex Ethernet ring, is proposed in this paper. To adapt this COTS technology to safety-critical avionics, an adequate tuning process of the communication protocol and the choice of reliability mechanisms to achieve timely and reliable communications are first detailed. Then, efficient timing analyses of such a proposal based on Network Calculus are conducted, accounting the impact of a ring topology and the specified reliability mechanisms. Third, these general analyses are illustrated in the case of a realistic avionic application, to replace the AFDX backup network with AeroRing, to reduce wires, while guaranteeing timely communications.

Space Wire is a standard of on-board networks for satellites promoted by the ESA. As the ESA plans to use Space Wire as the sole network for both critical and non-critical traffics, network designers need tools to check that all the critical messages meet their deadlines. We previously proposed two such tools to compute an upper-bound on the worst-case end-to-end delay of a packet traversing a Space Wire network. The main contribution of this paper is the comparison of those two methods on a network configuration provided by Thales Alenia Space that is representative of next generation large satellites. The goal is to identify the key parameters that affect the bounds computed by the methods. We then conduct a sensitivity analysis on simpler network configurations to study the impact of those parameters on the methods and determine which method works better in different situations.

Space Wire is a wormhole network standard scheduled to be used as the sole on-board network for future satellites by the ESA. As the network will be shared by real-time and non real-time traffic, network designers require a tool to check that temporal constraints are verified for all the urgent messages. Previously, we proposed a model for a best-effort worm-hole network based on Network Calculus theory. This model is based on new network element that we call the Wormhole Section. Here, we show how to combine Wormhole Section elements to compute the end-to-end service curve offered to a flow and illustrate its use on a industrial case study.

Current military communication network is a generation old and is no longer effective in meeting the emerging requirements imposed by the next-generation military embedded applications. A new communication network based upon Full Duplex Switched Ethernet is proposed in this paper to overcome these limitations. To allow existing military subsystems to be easily supported by a Switched Ethernet network, our proposal consists in keeping their current centralized communication scheme by using an optimized master/slave transmission control on Switched Ethernet thanks to the Flexible Time Triggered (FTT) paradigm. Our main objective is to assess the performance of such a proposal and estimate the quality-of-service we can expect in terms of latency. Using the Network Calculus formalism, schedulability analysis are determined. These analysis are illustrated in the case of a realistic military embedded application extracted from a real military aircraft network, to highlight the proposal's ability to support the required time constrained communications.

Over the last thirty years, the MIL-STD 1553B data bus has been used in many embedded systems, like aircrafts, ships, missiles and satellites. However, the increasing number and complexity of interconnected subsystems lead to emerging needs for more communication bandwidth. Therefore, a new interconnection system is needed to overcome the limitations of the MIL-STD 1553B data bus. Among several high speed networks, full duplex switched Ethernet is put forward here as an attractive candidate to replace the MIL-STD 1553B data bus. However, the key argument against switched Ethernet lies in its non-deterministic behavior that makes it inadequate to deliver hard time-constrained communications. Hence, our primary objective in this paper is to achieve an accepted QoS level offered by switched Ethernet, to support diverse "1553B"-based applications requirements. We evaluate the performance of traffic shaping techniques on full duplex switched Ethernet with an adequate choice of service strategy in the switch, to guarantee the real-time constraints required by these specific 1553B-based applications. An analytic study is conducted, using the network calculus formalism, to evaluate the deterministic guarantees offered by our approach. Theoretical analysis are then investigated in the case of a realistic "1553B"-based application extracted from a real military aircraft network. The results herein show the ability of profiled full duplex switched Ethernet to satisfy 1553B-like real-time constraints

Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet is a forecasted new technology for advanced military aircraft system interconnection. However, it was not originally developed to meet the requirements of real-time communications. Therefore, in this paper, we analyze traffic shaping and a priority handling approach over switched Ethernet to achieve reliable transmission with bounded delays that conform to the real-time constraints, required by military applications.