Research on Automated Testing of In-Vehicle Time-Sensitive Network Time Synchronization Mechanism

With the development of automotive intelligence and networking, the communication architecture of automotive network is evolving toward Ethernet. To improve the real-time performance and reliability of data transmission in traditional Ethernet, time-sensitive network (TSN) has become the development direction of next-generation of automotive networks. The real-time advantage of TSN is based on accurate time synchronization. Therefore, a reliable time synchronization mechanism has become one of the key technologies for the application of automotive Ethernet technology. The protocol used to achieve accurate time synchronization in TSN is IEEE 802.1AS. This protocol defines a time synchronization mechanism suitable for automotive Ethernet. Through the master clock selection algorithm, peer link delay measurement, and clock synchronization and calibration mechanism, the time of each node in the vehicle network is synchronized to a reference master clock. In addition, the protocol clearly states the requirements for node synchronization accuracy in the vehicle network. In this article, it is proposed that an automated test methodology for time synchronization mechanism in the case of multi-device network topology for the IEEE 802.1AS protocol in TSN is applicable to in-vehicle environments. The test methodology automates the process of achieving time synchronization and automatically tests the time synchronization mechanism. In addition, a corresponding test system was designed and developed, and a physical test platform was built to physically test and verify the time synchronization mechanism of the protocol. The results show that the test method proposed can realize the automated testing of the time synchronization mechanism in the case of automotive Ethernet networks. The presented results can contribute to the practical application of automotive TSN technology.