Wi-Fi TSN Redundancy Using 802.11 Frame Replication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing TSN redundancy protocols are restricted to wired Ethernet networks, limiting the integration of time-critical industrial applications over wireless links, which are essential for emerging markets like software-defined machines and autonomous systems.
Innovation Solution
Extending the 802.1CB redundancy protocol to support Wi-Fi interfaces by adding a redundancy tag in the 802.11 frames and using dual-band or multiple NICs for simultaneous channel operations to ensure frame replication and elimination, enabling seamless integration of wireless devices into TSN networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If TSN redundancy protocols are extended to support Wi-Fi interfaces, then wireless integration and adaptability are improved, but protocol complexity and device configuration complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary translation mechanism that converts 802.1CB redundancy frames into 802.11 wireless frames and vice versa. This intermediary layer handles the protocol adaptation, allowing TSN redundancy functionality to work over Wi-Fi without requiring fundamental changes to the core TSN protocol stack. The intermediary translator bridges the wired Ethernet and wireless Wi-Fi domains, resolving the complexity issue by isolating protocol-specific details.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables a single TSN redundancy protocol (802.1CB) to serve multiple transmission media - both wired Ethernet and wireless Wi-Fi interfaces. By making the protocol universal across different physical layers, the system achieves wireless integration without creating separate redundancy protocols for each medium, thereby improving adaptability while controlling complexity through protocol unification.
2Reliability
If frame replication and elimination is implemented over wireless channels, then reliability is improved, but processing overhead and time delay increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs frame replication in advance at the transmitter side, creating multiple copies of time-critical frames before transmission. By preparing redundant frames beforehand and using wireless channel bonding or simultaneous transmission on multiple channels, the system ensures that if one transmission fails, another copy is already available or can be quickly transmitted, thereby improving reliability while minimizing the time penalty through pre-positioning of redundant data.
3Reliability
If multiple NICs or dual-band operation is used for redundancy, then communication reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent exploits parameter changes in the wireless domain - specifically frequency band changes (dual-band operation between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and channel changes - to create redundant transmission paths. Instead of requiring multiple physical NICs, the system uses a single NIC that can operate on different frequency bands and channels, achieving hardware-level redundancy through parameter variation. This reduces hardware complexity while maintaining reliability through diverse transmission paths.
Data Source
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AI summary
This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to wireless time sensitive networking (WTSN) redundancy. A circuitry may include a processing circuitry configured to establish a plurality of wireless communication paths to a bridge of a time-sensitive networking (TSN) network, and encode a plurality wireless communication frames based on an Ethernet frame according to a redundancy procedure within the TSN network, wherein each wireless communication frame is encoded for a transmission using one of the plurality of communication paths.