Model-based Schedule Synthesis in Time-Sensitive Networks

Over the last two decades, various proprietary modifications have been applied to Ethernet technology to enable deterministic communication required for time-critical systems. Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) standards are under development by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and address hard timing requirements of Ethernet-based distributed applications. The main objective of these standards is to offer an open and vendor-independent networking infrastructure for mixed-critical applications. The support of mixed-criticality reduces heterogeneity of networking technologies and simplifies not only the development but also the integration of distributed applications. However, the scheduling and verification of these networks require advanced expertise and are time-consuming. In this paper, a graphical modeling framework is introduced which facilitates scheduling synthesis and configuration of TSN networks. The created graphical models are automatically translated into a network knowledge base, which is the core of the framework. It is used to process queries regarding infrastructural verification and selective information extraction in order to build scheduling constraints.