IEEE 1588 (802.1AS) and Time-Sensitive Networks (TSN): What Sets Them Apart?

IEEE 1588 (802.1AS) and Time-Sensitive Networks (TSN): What Sets Them Apart?

1588 Soft Synchronization
IEEE 1588-2008, also known as IEEE 1588v2, is a synchronization method designed specifically for wired networks. It facilitates clock sharing among devices by allowing the automatic selection of a grandmaster device, which then distributes timing packets to nodes in the network, synchronizing their system clocks. With 1588 soft synchronization, timing is guaranteed to be within 1 millisecond or less, although less stringent compared to hardware-timed synchronization due to latency introduced during packet transmission, reception, and data processing. IEEE-1588 exhibits robustness; in the event of the removal of a grandmaster from the network, an election process occurs to select a new grandmaster, ensuring continued operation.
While any industrial switch can support 1588 soft synchronization, a switch compliant with 1588 may exhibit tighter synchronization among devices.

Time-Sensitive Networks (TSN)
TSN is a timing and synchronization standard built upon the Ethernet standard, utilizing a profile of IEEE-1588 hardware synchronization. TSN shares hardware considerations with 1588 hardware-timed sync, requiring a direct connection from the Network Interface Card (NIC) to the timing source. TSN, however, differs from 1588 hardware sync in that TSN networks generate an error if synchronization deviates from expected bounds. Additionally, TSN timing packets feature priority scheduling, meaning they are sent from the grandmaster and TSN-enabled switching devices without waiting for other packets in the buffer. This ensures tight synchronization regardless of network traffic. TSN and 1588 networks are not interoperable and require bridging with compliant hardware.
TSN necessitates switches that comply with 802.1AS to enable priority packet scheduling.

Recently, in response to client requests, our engineers are actively researching the integration of 1588v2 and TSN features into our DR6018 – IPQ6010 Wifi6 and DR9574 – IPQ9574 Wifi7 target hardware, respectively.

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