Time synchronization and performance analysis of the openSAFETY protocol via UDP over Ethernet
Shoaib Zafar, Salvatore Sabina, Alessandro Biondi, Giorgio Buttazzo · Journal of Systems Architecture · 2025
The growing demand for Ethernet-based Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is changing the shape of modern industrial systems and emphasizing the need for high-speed, reliable, scalable, and safe communication among industrial devices. Ethernet-based networks provide the basis for seamless device integration, real-time data exchange, and increased operational efficiency, making them the key to Industry 5.0 applications. As industrial automation becomes increasingly complex, the importance of functional safety grows exponentially. The openSAFETY protocol is a fieldbus-independent, scalable, and robust protocol for implementing functional safety. Our contribution is twofold. First, we analyze time synchronization in the openSAFETY to fully understand the interrelated timing parameters and give some practical guidelines to tune the safety application. We have proposed the parameter tuning approach, which is better in terms of performance and ensures continuous, safe operations. Second, we analyze the protocol’s performance via UDP over Ethernet under normal and degraded network conditions. We found the protocol resilient to network impairments under certain levels during the experiments. Under normal working conditions, the cycle time was successfully achieved in the microsecond range, even at full payload capacity. • Importance of functional safety and role of openSAFETY Protocol in industrial automation. • In-depth analysis of the time synchronization mechanism in the openSAFETY protocol. • Deriving the Configuration Parameters for tuning the Safety Application. • Performance analysis of the protocol under normal and degraded network conditions via UDP over Ethernet.