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.
翻译:随着信息物理系统(CPS)和物联网(IoT)在工业应用中的引入,工业自动化正经历着巨大变革,尤其是在提升效率与降低产品成本方面。工业自动化应用通常需要传输时间关键型和安全关键型数据,以监控和控制工业过程,尤其是针对关键控制系统。目前存在多种解决方案来满足这些需求(例如基于优先级的实时调度方案和闭环反馈控制系统)。然而,由于不同设备(如终端设备和网络交换机)处理能力存在差异,各制造商可能提出不同的解决方案,这使得大规模集成来自不同厂商的设备变得困难甚至不可行。IEEE 802.1时间敏感网络(TSN)是一个标准化工作组,旨在增强和优化IEEE 802.1网络标准,特别是基于以太网的网络。这些解决方案可演进并适配至跨行业场景,例如需要多个工业实体协同工作的大型分布式工业工厂。本文全面综述了面向工业自动化的TSN标准最新进展。我们介绍了IEEE TSN标准的最新成果,并探讨了将各协议集成至工业领域时面临的机遇与挑战。最后,我们讨论了将TSN技术应用于工业自动化应用的相关前瞻性研究。