Time synchronization in a communications network with a plurality of network nodes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10082822-B2
Application number	US-201414897183-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2014
Priority date	Jun 10, 2013
Publication date	Sep 25, 2018
Grant date	Sep 25, 2018

Abstract

One or a plurality of sub-networks are defined in the communications network. Each of the sub-networks includes a plurality of network nodes from the communications network. One or a plurality of the sub-networks represent pre-determined sub-networks, in which respective pre-determined network nodes have both the function of a global slave node and the function of a local master node. The one or the other network nodes of the respective pre-determined sub-networks are local slave nodes. In addition to global synchronization using the global master node and the global slave nodes, local synchronization is also performed in the pre-determined sub-networks using the local master node and the local slave nodes. Thus, in the event of an error outside a pre-determined sub-network, the local synchronization may be continued, whereas the global synchronization is aborted. It is thus avoided that an erroneous synchronization is propagated into corresponding sub-networks.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for time synchronization in a communications network with a plurality of network nodes, wherein each network node of the plurality of network nodes comprises a clock, and a network node of the plurality of network nodes is a global master node to the clock of which the clocks of other network nodes of the plurality of network nodes are to be synchronized,
wherein, in the communications network, one or more subnetworks each comprise a subset of network nodes of the plurality of network nodes from the communications network wherein the communication network further comprises one or more single network nodes that do not belong to any of the one or more subnetworks, wherein at least one subnetwork of the one or more subnetworks or one single network node of the one or more single network nodes represents at least one predetermined subnetwork or predetermined single network node in which a respective predetermined network node of the plurality of network nodes functions as a global slave node and functions as a local master node, and one or more network nodes of the plurality of network nodes of the respective predetermined subnetwork are local slave nodes, the method comprising:
performing a global synchronization, the performing of the global synchronization comprising transmitting first synchronization messages between network nodes with time information that is based on a clock of the global master node, the predetermined network nodes of the plurality of network nodes, function as global slave nodes, becoming synchronized to the clock of the global master node;
performing, in each predetermined subnetwork, a local synchronization, the performing of the local synchronization comprising transmitting second synchronization messages between network nodes of the plurality of network nodes with time information that is based on the clock of the predetermined network node of the respective predetermined subnetwork function as the local master node, wherein the local slave nodes of the respective predetermined subnetwork become synchronized to the clock of the predetermined network node; and
aborting, by in the case that in a predetermined subnetwork, a fault caused outside the predetermined subnetwork is detected in the global synchronization, a respective predetermined network node of a predetermined subnetwork, aborts the synchronization of the clock of the respective predetermined network node to the clock of the global master node when in the predetermined subnetwork, a fault caused outside the predetermined subnetwork is detected in the global synchronization, the local synchronization being continued in the predetermined subnetwork.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the global synchronization, the local synchronization, or the global synchronization and local synchronization are based on the IEEE 1588, IEEE 1588v2, IEC 61158, or IEEE 802.1AS standard.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein, apart from the predetermined subnetwork or subnetworks, the communications network includes a further subnetwork of a plurality of network nodes, the further subnetwork comprising the global master node, which also has the function of the local master node, and the other network node or network nodes of the further subnetwork being local slave nodes, and
wherein the method further comprises performing the local synchronization in the further subnetwork, the performing of the local synchronization in the further subnetwork comprising transmitting second synchronization messages with the time information that is based on the clock of the global master node in function as the local master node between the plurality of network nodes, the local slave nodes of the further subnetwork becoming synchronized to the clock of the global master node.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein all subnetworks of the communication network, apart from the further subnetwork, are the predetermined subnetworks.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second synchronization messages are transmitted exclusively between network nodes of the respective subnetwork in which the local synchronization is performed.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in each of the second synchronization messages, it is specified which subnetwork the second synchronization message belongs to.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more subnetworks represent VLANs in the communications network.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting, in a predetermined subnetwork, a fault in the global synchronization when, in the predetermined network node of the predetermined subnetwork, no further first synchronization message is received within a predetermined time interval, when the predetermined network node determines that the received first synchronization message is faulty, when the predetermined network node determines that a deviation between a time resulting from the first synchronization messages and a time resulting from the second synchronization messages from the clock of the predetermined network node exceeds a predetermined threshold, or when any combination thereof occurs.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein in the case that in a subnetwork or in an individual network node belonging to no subnetwork a fault is detected in the global and/or local synchronization which is caused in the subnetwork or the individual network node, further comprising deactivating the subnetwork or the individual network node belonging to no subnetwork in the communications network is deactivated when, in the subnetwork or in the individual network node belonging to no subnetwork, a fault that is caused in the subnetwork or the individual network node is detected in the global synchronization, the local synchronization, or the global synchronization and the local synchronization.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a predetermined function is allocated to each subnetwork, the predetermined function being executed by the network nodes of the respective subnetwork.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network nodes of a respective subnetwork perform the predetermined function jointly or are redundant network nodes that perform the same predetermined function.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications network is a component of a transportation device, the plurality of network nodes representing control units in the transportation device.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more single network nodes comprise sensors, actuator, or sensors and actuators.

14. A communications network comprising:
a plurality of network nodes, each network node of the plurality of network nodes comprising a clock, wherein at least one of the plurality of network nodes does not belong to any of one or more subnetworks; and
a network node that is a global master node, wherein clocks of the plurality of network nodes are to be synchronized to a clock of the global master node, the one or more subnetworks being specified in the communications network, each subnetwork of the one or more subnetworks comprising a subset of network nodes of the plurality of network nodes from the communications network, at least one of the subnetworks representing a respective predetermined subnetwork in which a predetermined network node both functions as a global slave node and a local master node and the other network node or nodes of the respective predetermined subnetwork are local slave nodes,
wherein a global synchronization is performable with the plurality of network nodes, the global synchronization comprising transmission, between network nodes, of first synchronization messages with time inform

Assignees

• Siemens Ag

Inventors

• Armbruster Michael
• Buhl Michael Bernhard
• Obradovic Dragan

Classifications

• G06F1/10 Primary

  Distribution of clock signals {, e.g. skew} · CPC title

• H04J3/0667

  Bidirectional timestamps, e.g. NTP or PTP for compensation of clock drift and for compensation of propagation delays (arrangements for monitoring round trip delays in packet switching networks H04L43/0864) · CPC title

• H04J3/14

  Monitoring arrangements {(for SDH/SONET rings H04J3/085)} · CPC title

• H04J3/0673

  using intermediate nodes, e.g. modification of a received timestamp before further transmission to the next packet node, e.g. including internal delay time or residence time into the packet · CPC title

• H04J3/0638 Primary

  Clock or time synchronisation among nodes; Internode synchronisation (synchronization for ring networks H04L12/422; data switching networks with synchronous transmission H04L12/43) · CPC title