TSN Ethernet Controller Cores Gain Frame Preemption and Linux Driver

By CAST, Inc.

August 27, 2020

Two recent additions have improved the endpoint controllers we offer for Time-Sensitive Networking over Ethernet:

• Frame Preemption makes them better for highly demanding real-time operation, and
• a Linux Driver and support package facilitate integrating TSN in a Linux environment.

Frame Preemption Support

Frame Preemption allows high-priority frames to interrupt low-priority frames. This reduces the delay or latency of the high-priority frames, making the network better able to handle the real-world demands of mixed high- and low-priority traffic.

In an automobile network, for example, emergency obstacle detection and braking are higher priority than a notification that the wiper fluid is low.

TSN support for frame preemption is governed by two standards:

• 802.1Qbu governs the TSN bridge management features, and
• IEEE 802.3br governs the Ethernet MAC elements.

The TSN-EP and TSN-SE cores now handle frame preemption through support for both of these standards.

Designers using these IP cores can now readily combine frame preemption with the TSN traffic shapers (IEEE 802.1av and IEEE 802.1bv) to enable flexibility sufficient for even the most demanding use cases.

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