Study of algorithms to define the cabling plan of switched Ethernet for real-time applications

Ethernet networks are being used more and more in industrial environments, but this type of network uses nondeterministic protocols, and thus is not theoretically suitable for the control of real-time applications. However, its transmission rate is considered to be high enough that all the messages can be received within a pre-defined temporal window. In this paper, we propose a method based on the use of spectral algorithms to design the cabling plan of an industrial Ethernet architecture which limits the handling delays of messages inside the time cycle of the application. The topology is based on a two-level hierarchical network with redundant Ethernet links.