The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) is now providing test services for three applications that all require time-sensitive Ethernet networking. They are automotive, industrial and professional audiovisual (proAV).

University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (IOL) gets funding through the consortium model. Members of each of the time sensitive networking (TSN) consortia will have access to the lab's test plans, tools and test beds, configured to evaluate deterministic performance within standard Ethernet for each specific application. The lab did not identify any participants, but its standard operating procedure is to announce consortia only if it already has formal interest from companies. (See UNH-IOL Sets Up SDN Test Consortium.)

Ethernet has long been a best effort network, but that has been changing as Ethernet becomes more pervasive. Companies with applications that demand guaranteed minimum performance have instigated changes in Ethernet to make it more suitable for mission critical applications. TSN features being added to Ethernet include time synchronization, ingress policing, seamless redundancy, frame preemption, scheduled traffic and stream reservation.

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As TSN standards mature, UNH-IOL consortium members will be able to support rapid development of conformance and interoperability solutions for emerging standards, validating their silicon and early products by gaining access to test solutions as well as multi-vendor test beds, the lab said.

Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), automotive infotainment systems and other elements of vehicle electronics need TSN. UNH-IOL said its Automotive Networking Consortium provides a setting for collaboration and participation in shaping the emerging standards through neutral, third-party conformance and interoperability testing.

The TSN Industrial Networking Consortium is designed to realize the benefits of TSN -- bandwidth, security, interoperability, latency and synchronization -- for industrial IoT, robotics, assembly plants and machines, as well as shape the standards and protocols for TSN in the industrial market.

Recent enhancements and certifications in the audio/video market have created a wider choice of compatible products and open technology that bring high-quality AV networking within the reach of any size Professional AV system, UNH-IOL explained. The Pro AV Networking TSN Consortium is a testing ground for the promises of seamless redundancy, low-latency and synchronization in the professional audio/video market.

"Standards-based precise time, guaranteed bandwidth and guaranteed worst-case latency in a converged Ethernet network is a game-changer to many industries," said Bob Noseworthy, chief engineer at UNH-IOL. "Through UNH-IOL's industry-specific TSN consortiums, companies can be at the forefront and drive the technology forward by validating their solutions with a full suite of testing services, which will allow applications such as self-driving cars and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to take off."

— Brian Santo, Senior Editor, Components, T&M, Light Reading

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