SharkNet-5G wireless link integration technology research

¹ State Key Laboratory of Extreme Environment Optoelectronic Dynamic Testing Technology and Instrument, North University of China
² Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Brunel University of London, UK

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Abstract

Intelligent manufacturing environment puts forward multi-dimensional requirements for industrial control networks, such as flexibility, mobility and dynamic adaptability, etc. SharkNet, as a high-performance fieldbus protocol, possesses significant advantages, such as strong real-time, low latency, and high reliability, but its wired connection method seriously limits its coverage, application flexibility and dynamic adaptability in complex industrial environments. Aiming at the above problems, this paper proposes for the first time a protocol depth adaptation scheme for SharkNet and 5G protocols. Firstly, by analysing the frame structure and communication timing characteristics of SharkNet and 5G protocols in detail, a protocol semantics-based conversion mechanism is designed to achieve a seamless connection between the two protocols; secondly, a wireless link system prototype containing a protocol adaptation module is developed, and its performance is evaluated through systematic experiments. The experimental results show that the protocol adaptation scheme has significant advantages over the transparent transmission method: when the number of packets increases from 500 to 5000, the end-to-end delay grows only 9.85 ms, which is reduced by 8-12 ms on average compared with the transparent transmission scheme; when the control command period is 100 ms, the transmission reliability is as high as 99.80%.