SDN-based configuration solution for IEEE 802.1 time sensitive networking (TSN)

Abstract

Maintenance and update of Time-Sensitive Network (TSN) configurations pose an immediate challenge on the "Time-to-Integrate" aspect of new devices and traffics: adding new communicating sensors on production lines, adding new Engine Control Units (ECUs) or new software applications in a car. Meanwhile, the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) approach has proven its effectiveness to ensure proper quality of service for ongoing traffics even in evolving topologies and its ability to integrate a multitude of features (configuration parameters, specific metric computation, etc.). In this regard, this paper investigates a first step in the instantiation of the fully centralized IEEE 802.1Qcc model using the SDN approach targeting industrial and automotive contexts. We discuss how SDN can speed-up the Time-to-Integrate process by analyzing how one of the most important TSN standards, i.e., IEEE 802.1AS can be configured in such a framework.