Effect of delay jitter on quality of control in EIA-852-based networks

The popularity of network-based control systems (NBCS) is continuously growing. One of the most intriguing aspects is the transportation of control network data over IP-based networks as standardized in EIA-852. To a large extent the actual quality of control (QoC) in such systems depends on the network timing such as delay and delay jitter. This work focuses on the effect of delay jitter at a fixed mean delay on the QoC. Two sources of delay jitter are identified in EIA- 852-based systems: (i) network traffic induced, and (ii) protocol induced. At the example of a simple control-loop it is investigated how the induced jitter affects the QoC using a time-discrete simulation model. Concepts to reduce the effect of jitter on QoC are presented and conclusions are drawn how the findings in the EIA-852 system can be extended to a generalized NBCS.