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.
