Deterministic and Modular Architecture for Embedded Vehicle Systems

The next generation of Army ground vehicle systems aim to provide the warfighter with advanced capabilities while ensuring cyber resiliency. One key technology, Ethernet, has enabled the modernization of military ground vehicles by providing a broad range of beneficial features. The scalability and high bandwidth of an Ethernet based system provides the ability to process large volumes of sensor data with low latency, however its inherent lack of determinism represents a significant disadvantage. A deterministic network requires that communication assurance is provided through bounded message latency, and this is required for many ground vehicle weapon and crew stations functions.

Traditional Ethernet based networks are unable to satisfy the strict safety and functional requirements for Army vehicle systems due to this lack of determinism. Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) initiatives such as the Ground Combat System Common Infrastructure Architecture (GCIA) seek to leverage open-standards such as Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) to achieve real-time, deterministic communication over Ethernet. TSN provides enhancements to regular Ethernet which enable logical segmentation of deterministic and traditional best-effort network traffic while simultaneously be transmitted on the same physical media.