The importance of TSN technology is reflected by the way that many standards bodies and industrial Ethernet organizations have quickly taken positions on incorporating it into their respective portfolios. Their work will provide a solid foundation for data and information integration between all the complex, disparate devices and applications that have previously been disconnected and which we think of as ‘islands’ of automation.

TSN is a platform that will provide many opportunities for convergence and interoperability and enable us to have devices and applications, which were previously disconnected, be part of a cohesive system.

So what does a company convinced of the benefits of TSN and wanting to adopt it now do? The answer is to look for a current technology that supports TSN now while also providing the necessary application functionality, such as safety and motion control. This will then address current project requirements, while providing future compatibility with other TSN-based technologies as they are introduced since multiple protocols will be able to share the same network.

In 2018, the CLPA introduced CC-Link IE TSN. This took the established open industrial Ethernet solution of CC-Link IE and added TSN compatibility to it. This delivered the world’s first open industrial Ethernet technology to combine gigabit bandwidth with TSN. As such, CC-Link IE TSN clearly provides the gateway to the future of open industrial Ethernet. The result is a proven technology that end users, machine builders and vendors should adopt now in their respective products and projects.

The ecosystem of development options that are available to vendors who want to offer CC-Link IE TSN certified products is broad and flexible. Compatible products and solutions from leading vendors such as Mitsubishi Electric are already available. Therefore, end users and machine builders can leverage this opportunity today. For device vendors, by developing CC-Link IE TSN compatible products now, it will be possible to help shape the future of automation by participating in this new market opportunity.

CC-Link IE TSN will benefit a wide variety of applications.

CC-Link IE TSN helps to deliver the promise of Industry 4.0 in three key ways:

• Performance: The only open industrial Ethernet currently available to combine gigabit bandwidth with TSN to provide the highest productivity via maximum bandwidth availability.
• Connectivity: Being an open technology maximizes the freedom of choice for end users and machine builders, while also providing implementation flexibility for vendors. TSN takes openness one step further by offering the ability to combine CC-Link IE TSN traffic with that of other protocols.
• Intelligence: Reduce engineering time and maximize uptime with a range of features intended to simplify system design and maintenance.

In summary, the risk is not in adopting TSN now, but rather in waiting several more years to implement it while possibly watching competitors move ahead in the meantime.