Latency

Latency in industrial communication networks—specifically the time delay between sending and receiving data—can be influenced by several critical factors. Understanding and managing these factors is crucial for optimizing industrial communication networks to ensure minimal latency, which is especially critical in real-time control and automation applications. 

1. Network Architecture and Protocols

Network Topology: The structure of the network can significantly impact latency. Star, ring, mesh, and hybrid topologies each have their inherent latency characteristics influenced by the number of hops data must traverse. 

Protocols: The choice of communication protocol, such as Ethernet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus TCP, or Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), directly impacts latency. Protocols like TSN are designed to minimize latency by ensuring timely and deterministic data transmission. 

2. Hardware and Node Performance

Switches and Routers: The speed and efficiency of network switches and routers affect latency. High-performance devices with lower processing times reduce overall latency. 

Device Processing Delay: Time taken by individual devices (sensors, controllers, actuators) to process and forward data adds to latency. Faster and more efficient hardware minimizes this delay. 

Buffering and Queuing Delays: Congestion in the network can lead to data packets being buffered or queued, adding to the delay. Efficient buffer management and prioritization of critical data can help mitigate this. 

3. Network Traffic Load

Data Volume: High traffic load increases competition for network bandwidth, leading to congestion and higher latency. Efficient traffic management and scheduling are essential to handle varying data volumes. 

Quality of Service (QoS): Implementing QoS mechanisms ensures that critical data packets receive priority, thereby reducing latency for time-sensitive operations. 

4. Distance and Transmission Media

Physical Distance: Longer distances between communicating devices inherently increase latency due to the time it takes for signals to travel. 

Transmission Media: The type of cables or wireless technologies used (e.g., fiber optic, copper cables, Wi-Fi) influences signal propagation speed, with fiber optics generally offering lower latency. 

5. Network Configuration and Management

Network Configuration: Proper configuration of network settings, including IP addressing and subnet structuring, can optimize data flow and reduce unnecessary delays. 

Software Algorithms: Algorithms used for routing, load balancing, and error correction play a role in latency; optimized algorithms enhance performance and minimize delays. 

6. Environmental Factors:

Interference and Noise: In industrial environments, electromagnetic interference and physical obstacles can disrupt communication signals, increasing latency. Shielded cables and robust wireless protocols help in mitigating these issues. 

As a leading company in the field of industrial communication, Hilscher offers a broad portfolio of technologies and solutions to network industrial environments reliably and with low latency. 

This includes a wide range of interface solutions for connecting sensors, actuators and controllers to industrial communication networks. The communication controllers of the netX family form the basis for this. The multi-protocol-capable SoCs can be integrated into automation components as required and their extensive chip peripherals enable powerful, efficient and flexible solutions. A protocol change is achieved by simply reloading Hilscher's own netX firmware. Building on this, the company also offers embedded modules and PC cards in all form factors in order to realise the netX communication interface with less integration effort. 

Hilscher also offers a comprehensive managed industrial IoT range under the netFIELD brand. This ranges from edge gateways as an application-oriented computer platform with integrated container management and the Edge OS Runtime running on it to the central cloud portal, via which the docker containers are deployed to the edge devices, through to turnkey containers for communication applications. 

Gateways and switches, devices for network diagnostics as well as masters and bridges for the wireless connection of IO-Link sensors round off the automation portfolio.