Simulation and experimental evaluation of a flexible time triggered ethernet architecture applied in satellite nano/micro launchers

The success of small satellites has led to the study of new technologies for the realization of Nano and Micro Launch Vehicle (NMLV) in order to make competitive launch costs. The paper has the objective to define and experimentally investigate the performance of a communication system for NMLV interconnecting the End Systems as On-Board Computer (OBC), telemetry apparatus, Navigation Unit...we propose a low cost Ethernet-based solution able to provide the devices with high interconnection bandwidth. To guarantee hard delays to the Guide, Navigation and Control applications we propose some architectural changes of the traditional Ethernet network with the introduction of a layer implemented in the End Systems and allow for the lack of any contention on the network links. We show how the proposed solution has comparable performance to the one of TTEthernet standard that is a very expensive solution. An experimental test-bed equipped with Ethernet switches and Hercules boards by Texas Instruments is also provided to prove the feasibility of the proposed solution

Ethernet - a survey on its fields of application

During the last decades, Ethernet progressively became the most widely used local area networking (LAN) technology. Apart from LAN installations, Ethernet became also attractive for many other fields of application, ranging from industry to avionics, telecommunication, and multimedia. The expanded application of this technology is mainly due to its significant assets like reduced cost, backward-compatibility, flexibility, and expandability. However, this new trend raises some problems concerning the services of the protocol and the requirements for each application. Therefore, specific adaptations prove essential to integrate this communication technology in each field of application. Our primary objective is to show how Ethernet has been enhanced to comply with the specific requirements of several application fields, particularly in transport, embedded and multimedia contexts. The paper first describes the common Ethernet LAN technology and highlights its main features. It reviews the most important specific Ethernet versions with respect to each application field’s requirements. Finally, we compare these different fields of application and we particularly focus on the fundamental concepts and the quality of service capabilities of each proposal

The future roadmap of in-vehicle network processing: a HW-centric (R-)evolution

© 2022 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.The automotive industry is undergoing a deep revolution. With the race towards autonomous driving, the amount of technologies, sensors and actuators that need to be integrated in the vehicle increases exponentially. This imposes new great challenges in the vehicle electric/electronic (E/E) architecture and, especially, in the In-Vehicle Network (IVN). In this work, we analyze the evolution of IVNs, and focus on the main network processing platform integrated in them: the Gateway (GW). We derive the requirements of Network Processing Platforms that need to be fulfilled by future GW controllers focusing on two perspectives: functional requirements and structural requirements. Functional requirements refer to the functionalities that need to be delivered by these network processing platforms. Structural requirements refer to design aspects which ensure the feasibility, usability and future evolution of the design. By focusing on the Network Processing architecture, we review the available options in the state of the art, both in industry and academia. We evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each architecture in terms of the coverage provided for the functional and structural requirements. In our analysis, we detect a gap in this area: there is currently no architecture fulfilling all the requirements of future automotive GW controllers. In light of the available network processing architectures and the current technology landscape, we identify Hardware (HW) accelerators and custom processor design as a key differentiation factor which boosts the devices performance. From our perspective, this points to a need - and a research opportunity - to explore network processing architectures with a strong HW focus, unleashing the potential of next-generation network processors and supporting the demanding requirements of future autonomous and connected vehicles.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Time-Sensitive Networking for Industrial Automation: Challenges, Opportunities, and Directions

With the introduction of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Internet of Things (IoT) into industrial applications, industrial automation is undergoing tremendous change, especially with regard to improving efficiency and reducing the cost of products. Industrial automation applications are often required to transmit time- and safety-critical data to monitor and control industrial processes, especially for critical control systems. There are a number of solutions to meet these requirements (e.g., priority-based real-time schedules and closed-loop feedback control systems). However, due to their different processing capabilities (e.g., in the end devices and network switches), different vendors may come out with distinct solutions, and this makes the large-scale integration of devices from different vendors difficult or impossible. IEEE 802.1 Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is a standardization group formed to enhance and optimize the IEEE 802.1 network standards, especially for Ethernet-based networks. These solutions can be evolved and adapted into a cross-industry scenario, such as a large-scale distributed industrial plant, which requires multiple industrial entities working collaboratively. This paper provides a comprehensive review on the current advances in TSN standards for industrial automation. We present the state-of-the-art IEEE TSN standards and discuss the opportunities and challenges when integrating each protocol into the industry domains. Finally, we discuss some promising research about applying the TSN technology to industrial automation applications

A QoS Aware Approach to Service-Oriented Communication in Future Automotive Networks

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is about to enter automotive networks based on the SOME/IP middleware and an Ethernet high-bandwidth communication layer. It promises to meet the growing demands on connectivity and flexibility for software components in modern cars. Largely heterogeneous service requirements and time-sensitive network functions make Quality-of-Service (QoS) agreements a vital building block within future automobiles. Existing middleware solutions, however, do not allow for a dynamic selection of QoS. This paper presents a service-oriented middleware for QoS aware communication in future cars. We contribute a protocol for dynamic QoS negotiation along with a multi-protocol stack, which supports the different communication classes as derived from a thorough requirements analysis. We validate the feasibility of our approach in a case study and evaluate its performance in a simulation model of a realistic in-car network. Our findings indicate that QoS aware communication can indeed meet the requirements, while the impact of the service negotiations and setup times of the network remain acceptable provided the cross-traffic during negotiations stays below 70% of the available bandwidth

On application of least-delay variation problem in ethernet networks using SDN concept

The goal of this paper is to present an application idea of SDN in Smart Grids, particularly, in the area of L2 multicast as defined by IEC 61850-9-2. Authors propose an Integer Linear Formulation (ILP) dealing with a Least-Delay-Variation multicast forwarding problem that has a potential to utilize Ethernet networks in a new way. The proposed ILP formulation is numerically evaluated on random graph topologies and results are compared to a shortest path tree approach that is traditionally a product of Spanning Tree Protocols. Results confirm the correctness of the ILP formulation and illustrate dependency of a solution quality on the selected graph models, especially, in a case of scale-free topologies