Multi-Stream TSN Gate Control Scheduling in the Presence of Clock Synchronization

Abstract: With the advancement of technologies like Industry 4.0, communication networks must meet stringent requirements of applications demanding deterministic and bounded latencies. The problem is further compounded by the need to periodically synchronize network devices to a common time reference to address clock drifts. Existing solutions often simplify the problem by assuming either perfect synchronization or a worst-case error. Additionally, these approaches delay the scheduling process in network devices until the scheduled frame is guaranteed to have arrived in the device queue, inducing additional delays to the stream. A novel approach that completely avoids queuing delays is proposed, enabling it to meet even the strictest deadline requirement. Furthermore, both approaches can be enhanced by incorporating network-derived time-synchronization information. This is not only convenient for meeting deadline requirements but also improves bandwidth efficiency.