On Integrated Wired and Wireless Time-Sensitive Networking using SDN

IEEE Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) Task Group has standardized enhancements for Ethernet networks to ensure high reliability, deterministic latency and minimal jitter for time-critical traffic. However, TSN capabilities have not yet been extended to wireless standards. We discuss the inherent characteristics of wireless communications that currently limit TSN performance. We argue for the development of a framework for an integrated wired and wireless TSN using Software-Defined Wireless Networking (SDWN) to address this gap. Our approach focuses on addressing the mobility of wireless stations by dynamically adjusting the wireless channel bandwidth through SDWN. This adaptive approach takes into account the proximity of wireless stations to the access point and configures the wireless channel bandwidth to meet the stringent latency requirements of time-sensitive wireless applications. In this paper, we sketch a general architecture for the framework. Furthermore, we present the development of a TSN-enabled network emulator testbed, leveraging a suite of open-source tools including Mininet, Mininet-WiFi, a modified version of Open Virtual Switch (OVS), Linux TAPRIO, RYU SDN controller, and SDWN controller. Our experimental evaluation demonstrates an average one-way latency of approximately 14 mu s, achieved through the utilization of a modified version of the OVS software switch.