Design Aspects of Low-Latency Services with Time-Sensitive Networking

The aim of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is to provide determinism to IEEE 802 networks. With TSN, data streams of general background applications can share the same standards-based network infrastructure without impacting time-critical applications, also leading to cost savings by using a single network infrastructure. Deterministic ultra-low latency increases efficiency for operations that require consistent message exchange. The most stringent delay requirements are specified for industrial and fronthaul network applications; thus, we demonstrate network engineering aspects in these two networking scenarios. In industrial networking, deterministic delays are important, especially for real-time control processes. In fronthaul networks, the timely delivery of data units with minimum delay variations is required for efficient operation. In this article, we present two mature TSN tools: time gated queuing and frame preemption. Then we highlight their operational and design aspects when using them in industrial and fronthaul networks, investigating their applicability through different simulation scenarios.