Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) Task Group

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Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is a set of standards specified by IEEE 802.An IEEE SA TSN webinar series and further introductory presentations are available, e.g.: an overview, basic concepts, further technical details (from slide 27), a one-page summary, and see more in the latest news.

The Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) Task Group (TG) is a part of the IEEE 802.1 Working Group (WG). For general information, see the IEEE 802.1 home page.

The charter of the TSN TG is to provide deterministic connectivity through IEEE 802 networks, i.e., guaranteed packet transport with bounded latency, low packet delay variation, and low packet loss. The TSN TG has been evolved from the former IEEE 802.1 Audio Video Bridging (AVB) TG. The TSN TG includes the former IEEE 802.1 Interworking TG. The original work on AVB was done as part of the “Residential Ethernet Study Group” of IEEE 802.3.

Base standards for TSN:

Profile standards:

Published TSN standards and ongoing TSN projects are listed below. Archived and withdrawn projects are available in the archives.

The TSN standards can be applied in many verticals. Some of them are listed in the application of TSN page.

The IEEE SA TSN webinar series, the papers in the TSN feature topic of the June 2018 Issue of IEEE Communications Standards Magazine, an overview paper,  and workshop presentations may provide a useful background.

Meetings are open and conducted on individual basis.

Agendas and minutes are publicly accessible.

TSN Standards

Published IEEE standards are available for purchase from the IEEE or (after 6 months following publication) are available free through the IEEE Get Program. The TG has completed the following projects:

  • IEEE Std 802.1AS-2020: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Timing and Synchronization for Time-Sensitive Applications
  • IEEE 802.1ABcu-2021: IEEE Approved Draft Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery — Amendment: YANG Data Model (It amends IEEE Std 802.1AB-2016.)
  • IEEE 802.1ABdh-2021: IEEE Approved Draft Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery — Amendment: Support for Multiframe Protocol Data Units (It amends IEEE Std 802.1AB-2016.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1CB-2017: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability
  • IEEE Std 802.1CBcv-2021: IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area networks — Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability – Amendment 1: Information Model, YANG Data Model, and Management Information Base Module (It amends IEEE Std 802.1CB-2017.)
  • IEEE 802.1CBdb-2021: IEEE Approved Draft Standard for Local and metropolitan area networks — Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability – Amendment 2: Extended Stream identification functions (It amends IEEE Std 802.1CB-2017.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1CM-2018: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Time-Sensitive Networking for Fronthaul
  • IEEE Std 802.1CMde-2020: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Time-Sensitive Networking for Fronthaul – Amendment 1: Time-Sensitive Networking for Fronthaul Amendment: Enhancements to Fronthaul Profiles to Support New Fronthaul Interface, Synchronization, and Syntonization Standards (It amends IEEE Std 802.1CM-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1CS-2020: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Link-local Registration Protocol
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qca-2015: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 24: Path Control and Reservation. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2014 and it has been rolled into IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qbv-2015: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 25: Enhancements for Scheduled Traffic. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2014 and it has been rolled into IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qbu-2016: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 26: Frame Preemption. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2014 and it has been rolled into IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qci-2017: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 28: Per-Stream Filtering and Policing. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2014 and it has been rolled into IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qch-2017: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 29: Cyclic Queuing and Forwarding. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2014 and it has been rolled into IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qcp-2018: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 30: YANG Data Model. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qcc-2018: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 31: Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP) Enhancements and Performance Improvements. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qcx-2020: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 33: YANG Data Model for Connectivity Fault Management. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qcr-2020: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 34: Asynchronous Traffic Shaping. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qcw-2023: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Bridges and Bridged Networks – Amendment 36: YANG Data Models for Scheduled Traffic, Frame Preemption, and Per-Stream Filtering and Policing. (It amends IEEE Std 802.1Q-2022.)

The following standards are also referred to as AVB standards:

  • IEEE Std 802.1AS-2011: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Timing and Synchronization for Time-Sensitive Applications in Bridged Local Area Networks. It provides a Layer 2 time synchronizing service that is appropriate for the most stringent requirements of consumer electronics applications. This was done in cooperation with the IEEE 1588 working group, and so the point-to-point 802.3 sublayer of 802.1AS is a specific profile of IEEE Std 1588-2008. See also IEEE 802.1AS-2011/Cor1-2013 and IEEE 802.1AS-2011/Cor1-2015. Note the revision: IEEE Std 802.1AS-2020.
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qat-2010: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks – Amendment 14: Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP). (It is part of IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.) Note IEEE Std 802.1Qcc, which specifies enhancements to SRP.
  • IEEE Std 802.1Qav-2009: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks – Amendment 12: Forwarding and Queueing Enhancements for Time-Sensitive Streams, which specifies the Credit Based Shaper. (It is part of IEEE Std 802.1Q-2018.)
  • IEEE Std 802.1BA-2011: Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Audio Video Bridging (AVB) Systems. It specifies a set of usage-specific profiles to help interoperability between networked devices using the AVB specifications. See also IEEE 802.1BA-2011/Cor1-2016. Note the revision: IEEE Std 802.1BA-2021.

Ongoing TSN Projects

Access to the draft standards, ballot comments, and dispositions of comments referenced on this website is restricted to IEEE 802.1 WG participants. Presentations and other input documents are publicly accessible and also linked from the project pages. (Project pages are manually updated by the Editor of the project. Please contact the Editor if you have comments to a TSN project page.)

Note that project IDs are sequentially increasing double letters. Capital letters are used for stand alone documents, e.g., P802.1CS. Lower case letters are used for amendments, e.g., cw in case of P802.1Qcw (capital letter indicates the base standard being amended, e.g., 802.1Q). P upfront of the ID indicates project as opposed to published standards without P.

Meetings

The TSN TG meets at the IEEE 802 Plenary Sessions and at the Interim Sessions of the IEEE 802.1 WG. Electronic meetings are held weekly, see upcoming meetings and further details.

Participation in IEEE 802.1 meetings and conference calls is open to all, and not limited to IEEE or IEEE SA members. Voting membership and effective participation requires regular attendance at our face to face meetings, but the 802.1 Working Group has a long standing policy of considering comments from non-members, who are welcome to participate by joining the email list and submitting “Comments (with abstain)” ballots.

Proposed agendas (based on agenda requests) are announced in advance on the Agendas & Minutes list (you can subscribe here).

Details on meetings are described on the TSN TG meetings page. The meetings of the TSN TG are also collected in the TSN TG Calendar.

All meeting and conference call attendees are expected to review the IEEE-SA patent policy prior to participating, and to act accordingly.

Please contact the TSN TG Chair (János Farkas) if you have questions, comments to this page.

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