A TSN demo system and a test environment with various IoT and TSN devices - this construct forms the exemplary fog landscape that Kontron is presenting at the trade fair. An embedded industrial computer from the KBox-C series controls three independent motors via TSN, which run synchronously even under high network loads. The industrial computer takes over the central control of the motors via the TSN card and TSN switches and communicates on the other side with a higher-level server using the standardized OPC UA protocol, which takes over the management functions. "This on-premise implementation can also be moved to the cloud or developed as a hybrid solution in which time-critical tasks are performed on-premise and data analyses are carried out in the cloud," says Norbert Hauser, explaining a possible future scenario. "In such a case, the IPC serves as a fog computer for edge analytics on the one hand and as a gateway to the higher-level cloud on the other."

Various functional evaluation platforms, which can be used as scalable embedded servers in the company's embedded cloud concept, round off the demo concept. Equipped with TSN control technology, the embedded servers can "also operate in the direction of virtual PLC", says Hauser, as the performance allows several control tasks to be carried out in parallel and quasi fieldbus connectivity is provided. From 2018, these systems will finally be included in the embedded experts' portfolio. Kontron will be showcasing the following devices in this context:

• The HPW410 workstation as an embedded server: It includes a dual socket Intel Xeon processor and 6 PCIe slots. With GPU plug-in cards, it is suitable for analytics tasks as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in an industrial environment.
• The 'Cube' functional model serves as an example of a compact and cost-optimized design in the IT environment. The Cube is also part of the TSN live demo at the trade fair stand and includes a single-socket Intel Xeon processor. It has extended storage functions.
• Scalable servers based on COMeType 7 modules with Intel Xeon or Intel Atom Server Class processors. These servers are predestined with expansion options for analytics, artificial intelligence or machine learning, with high data throughput thanks to integrated 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.