TSN and OPC UA - status quo
"Practical suitability has been achieved!"
About five years ago, B&R was one of the co-initiators of the "Shapers" - in other words, a supporter of the TSN movement for the industry from the very beginning. What has happened since then in terms of TSN at B&R? Elmar Zimmerling provides an overview.
Mr. Zimmerling, in your opinion, what progress has been made with TSN in recent years and where is it still stuck?
Elmar Zimmerling: The nucleus of the Shapers with a handful of founding members became today's FLC, the Field Level Communications Initiative, within the OPC Foundation. Today, we are no longer a small seedling, but rather a stately young tree - to stay with this analogy. Today, more than 320 experts from 65 companies, including the largest automation companies in the world, are involved in the FLC, pursuing the major common goal of extending OPC UA to the field level in order to create an open, standards-based IIoT communication solution between sensors, actuators, controllers and the cloud - this is what OPC UA FX, the extensions for Field eXchange, stands for.
The work in the FLC is now bearing fruit - the OPCF now has an impressive FLC multivendor demo - the likes of which have never been seen before. Controllers, controllers and network components from more than 20 manufacturers demonstrate how interoperability will work on a common network in the future.
But you also asked me what can still be improved. We, the FLC members, must become even faster in the implementation of our milestones. The Controller-2-Controller use case I mentioned is just the basis for further groundbreaking specification enhancements. I would like to mention the motion profile, the OPC UA safety solution and the prompt finalization of the remaining Controller-2-Device activities. Because this gives us all an unbeatable future technology for the IIoT and Industry 4.0
What is the current status of the practical suitability of TSN, especially in combination with OPC UA?
Zimmerling: Let me give you a short answer: it is fully operational. And I am also including the perfect symbiosis of OPC UA (FX) with TSN.
The reason: We have long since moved on from the phase of doubt, philosophizing and experimentation. The new Ethernet is here. The new TSN standards, such as time synchronization, scheduling, traffic shaping and bandwidth reservation, are already working at product level.
At B&R, we have designed OPC UA over TSN with PubSub into our latest control technology and are in the process of implementing the Network Configuration Protocol required for centralized management. The results achieved in extensive test environments have already proven their suitability for practical use.
What will you be launching on the market in this respect and when?
Zimmerling : Our latest controller generation X20 and the industry-based APC family are already prepared for OPC UA FX in terms of hardware, especially with regard to determinism with OPC UA (FX) over TSN. Our new X20 bus controller is "OPC UA FX ready" and is currently going into series production.
The controller runtime for the required extensions will be ready next year. Our engineering tool - Automation Studio - will then enable our customers to use convergent Ethernet-based networks at the same time. Time-synchronized, deterministic communication with OPC UA (FX) over TSN can then take place here in parallel to regular IT data traffic.
You might also be interested in
Not against, but with MQTT!
MQTT is an established protocol for edge/cloud communication. However, the OPC Foundation also wants to use OPC UA not only in the field, but also for edge/cloud communication. Their appeal: Avoid a proliferation of MQTT assignments with OPC UA!
read more...BSI updates security analysis on OPC UA
In its study "Security analysis on OPC UA", the BSI evaluates the specified and implemented security functions of OPC UA. Among other things, the focus was on the search for security vulnerabilities.
read more...On the way to becoming an Industry 4.0 enabler
The PNO has long been trying to expand its range of tasks beyond the fieldbus topic. The development of the Omlox positioning service points the way in a direction that is now being continued with the projects on MTP and a robot interface.
read more...Multi-vendor demo celebrates its premiere
Three years after its launch, the OPC Foundation's Field Level Communications (FLC) initiative has now completed the second release candidate - a multi-vendor installation demonstrates the progress made.
read more...From TSN testbed to convertible production
With the TSN Testbed, the ISW in Stuttgart is supporting the establishment of a deterministic and open network standard in production facilities. Florian Frick describes the status quo.
read more...TSN profiles in comparison
Work on TSN profiles is in full swing in a wide range of sectors. This article in the TSN series highlights the ongoing work on the profiles for the industrial, ProAV, automotive and aerospace sectors.
read more...Global TSN certification program
The Avnu Alliance is now announcing globally scaled testing capabilities and a comprehensive update to its certification testing procedures at newly authorized commercial test houses around the world.
read more...It's the combination that does it!
Although TSN can be used to implement cross-manufacturer and cross-platform networking, it is only in combination with 5G that end-to-end real-time communication is also possible for mobile applications and cloud connectivity.
read more...CC-Link certification for modular I/O system
Weidmüller has received the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) certificate for its modular I/O system 'u-remote'. This makes u-remote the first modular I/O system with official CC-Link IE safety certification for CC-Link IE TSN.
read more...