TSN @ Embedded World 2018

Automation and embedded systems are having more and more in common. This was again shown at the annual Embedded World trade fair, held in Nuremberg, Germany. The fair has become the world’s largest show for the embedded community.  According to the organizers, the fair was visited by more than 32,000 (+ 7.3% compared to 2017) people in 2018.  1,021 exhibitors from 38 countries were showcasing their latest products and solutions.  While the embedded market is fragmented into thousands of different application areas, the focus on automation has grown in recent years, as IIoT is picking up pace and automation suppliers put more and more intelligence into their field and edge devices. 

A special highlight at embedded world 2018 was the 'displays area, where everything revolved around display technologies such as flexible displays, graphical user interfaces, human-machine interfaces, touchscreens and 3D displays.  ARC recently published a study on industrial operator panels where you’ll find more insights and forecasts about the industrial operator panel market. 
In the M2M Area exhibitors showed their latest products and applications for machine-to-machine communication. Main topics here were safety and security aspects, as well as TSN.

Time-sensitive Networks (TSN)

TSN, an open standard network architecture, providing cross-vendor integration and interoperability was highlighted by several companies like National Instruments and Kontron.  The technology supports open, deterministic real-time communication over a single Ethernet network, e.g. between motor control applications and industrial robots.  The real-time aspect is necessary to optimize business processes and create new business models based on intelligent, interlinked networks, systems and machines.

National Instruments (NI) has unveiled a new controller with TSN-capable Ethernet ports and the NI-DAQmx driver for data collection. 

Kontron announced, a Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) expansion solution for Fog Computing. The core of Kontron’s solutions is an industrial computer, which has already pre-integrated a TSN network card with software and Real Time Linux operating system. 

TSN will play a significant role in the realization of the IIoT.  On ARC’s European Industry Forum in May 15th -16th 2018, we will discuss the current status of TSN and its impact on the automation industry with experts.  Please have a closer look at the agenda.