To help automation device vendors adopt Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), Profibus& Profinet International (PI) has released the Profinet Community [software] Stack. This portable software stack provides core functions required by Profinet-enabled devices. These core functions can then be adapted to the specific hardware upon which the stack is being implemented, and to the application software that will utilize it. From the outset, the Profinet Community Stack has been developed and released with TSN integration in mind.
Available to PI members, the stack can be downloaded for free from the PI website (www.profibus.com). It is intended primarily for Profinet solution providers or technology partners, and secondarily for the device vendors. It gives our technology partners a foundation upon which to build their software stacks that make it easy for device vendors to add Profinet to their products. They are the experts in helping add Profinet to a device and can be consulted at any point during the integration process.
Easy Profinet + TSN testing
Every Profinet-enabled device is required to pass
conformance testing and certification before it can
be released on the market. The same test tool used
by PI test labs to put devices through their paces is
available for download and use by device vendors. It
is an automated tester that steps through test cases
and gives clear results with each test case performed.
Because TSN requires clock synchronization, hardware
support is needed in the devices via TSN-capable
Ethernet chips. This means the hardware employed
by the test tool must also have such hardware support.
To ease the TSN integration process, the latest version of the Profinet test tool has been developed to use a widely available, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) development kit for the TSN functionality. The test tool runs on any laptop and initiates the test cases via the connected TSN dev kit. This ensures that device vendors can easily run through test cases themselves via this COTS hardware.
Functionality focus
Automation component makers should focus their
efforts on building out the features and functionality
of their devices. Meanwhile, integration of a
communication interface should be as painless as
possible. With the Profinet Community Stack and
COTS hardware for automated TSN testing, PI is
helping device vendors do just that. We want to
enable adoption of TSN by end users by easing its
integration for device vendors.
