Do We Really Need TSN in Next-Generation Helicopters? Insights From a Case-Study

As Ethernet rapidly replaces legacy networks as the core high-speed network in helicopter’s avionics and mission systems, we ask in this paper the question of the technical benefits of migrating to Ethernet Time-Sensitive-Networking (TSN). Indeed, TSN has become a rich toolbox of mechanisms and protocols to address Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements pertaining to timing and reliability. TSN is quickly becoming the prominent technology for wired high-speed communications in a variety of application domains like automotive, industry 4.0 and telecom. In this context, this work explores the use of TSN timing QoS mechanisms for helicopter’s avionics and mission systems on a case-study representative of the communication requirements of next-generation systems. This study aims to provide quantified insights into what can be expected from TSN in terms of timing, memory usage and extensibility.