Industrial TSN Stream Reservation Sleep Mode for Fast Reactivation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

In industrial Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) environments, the scaling problem arises due to increased network control information and limited memory and processing power in nodes like bridges or switches, leading to inefficient resource usage when stream participants are temporarily inactive, causing reserved bandwidth to be unused and requiring lengthy recalculation upon reactivation.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a 'sleep mode' where stream participants send a sleep message to release reserved resources for lower-priority data transmission, allowing these resources to be reused without delaying their availability when the participant resumes activity, while maintaining reservation settings for quick reactivation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If reserved resources are maintained for inactive stream participants, then quick reactivation is enabled, but network resource utilization deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvequick reactivationVSAvoidnetwork resource utilization
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts resource allocation based on stream participant activity state. When a participant enters sleep mode, resources are temporarily released for lower-priority traffic; upon waking, resources are rapidly re-allocated through a streamlined process that preserves reservation settings while freeing bandwidth during the interim period.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Loss of energy

If reserved resources are released for lower-priority traffic, then network resource utilization improves, but reactivation time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenetwork resource utilizationVSAvoidreactivation time
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of energyVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by maintaining reservation settings and configuration data in a suspended state during sleep mode. This preliminary preservation of booking settings allows for rapid resource re-allocation upon wake-up, avoiding full recalculation while enabling other traffic to use released resources during the inactive period.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Loss of energy

If complete stream configuration is deleted upon participant removal, then resources become available immediately, but recalculation overhead increases upon reconnection

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresource availabilityVSAvoidrecalculation overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of energyVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system selectively discards active resource allocations when participants enter sleep mode, allowing resources to be recovered and used by other traffic. Upon reactivation, the system recovers the discarded resources through a simplified re-allocation process that leverages preserved reservation settings, avoiding complete recalculation while ensuring resources are properly assigned.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #34Discarding and recovering

Data Source

PatentEP3695576B1Method for communicating data in an industrial network in particular, control method, device, computer program and computer-readable medium
Publication Date: 2021.09.22 SIEMENS AG
  • EP3695576B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP3695576B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

The invention relates to a method for data communication in a particularly industrial network, in which a stream (6) is created between at least two stream subscribers (1, 4), where resources are reserved on at least one node point, particularly bridges (2) and/or switches between the at least two stream subscribers (1, 4), and subsequently data is transmitted between the at least two stream subscribers (1, 4), via the stream, and at least one subscriber (4) of the stream (6) interrupts the emitting and/or receiving of data via the stream (6) and resources that are reserved on at least one node point (2) for the at least one subscriber (4) of the stream (6) are released for use for a data transmission which is lower priority than the data transmission via the stream (6), the reservation of the resources being maintained for the at least one subscriber (4). The invention further relates to a control method, a device, a computer program and a computer-readable medium.