National Instruments, Industrial Internet Consortium Partner

National Instruments has entered a collaboration with the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), Bosch Rexroth, Cisco, Intel, KUKA, Schneider Electric and TTTech. The partnership will develop the first Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) testbed. According to a press release, these organizations aim to advance the network infrastructure to support the future of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0. To support new digital capabilities, connected manufacturing, designers and users need more reliable and secure access to smart edge devices.

The developed testbed aims to:

• Combine different critical control traffic (such as OPC UA) and best-effort traffic flows on a single, resilient network based on IEEE 802.1 TSN standards
• Demonstrate TSN’s real-time capability and vendor interoperability using standard, converged Ethernet
• Assess the security value of TSN and provide feedback on the ability to secure initial TSN functions
• Show ability for the IIoT to incorporate high-performance and latency-sensitive applications
• Deliver integration points for smart real-time edge cloud control systems into IIoT infrastructure and application

“We are excited to host the new IIC TSN testbed. TSNs are a critical attribute of a standard Internet model that enables the convergence of real time control applications and devices onto open, interconnected networks. This technology is necessary for the future of the IIoT and the IIC is providing a community, as well as enabling real-world testbeds, where industry leaders can collaborate to make this a reality,” said Eric Starkloff, executive vice president of global sales and marketing at NI.

For more information, visit the Industrial Internet Consortium.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.