The rapid evolution of digital technologies, including Industrial 4.0, intelligent manufacturing, autonomous driving, telemedicine, Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR), has elevated the demands for real-time performance, reliability, and Quality of Service (QoS) within networks. To support these advancements, a deterministic networking infrastructure with ultra-low latency, minimal jitter, and exceptional reliability has become imperative. As various industries undergo digital transformation, the adoption of large-scale deterministic networking is inevitable.
Large-scale determinacy refers to the capability of supporting millions of data streams, such as industrial-level controls and sensors, across IP networks with numerous devices while ensuring deterministic services and meeting strict latency and jitter requirements. This emerging networking paradigm exhibits three key features: expansive deterministic networks, increased deterministic connections, and diverse types and mechanisms of deterministic connections. Addressing these challenges, ZTE introduces the Enhanced Deterministic Networking (EDN) system, designed to precisely transmit diverse services across layers and domains within large-scale networks.
The EDN system focuses on enhancing resource, routing, and time determinacy within the network. “Resource determinacy” involves unified planning and modeling of network resources to form enhanced deterministic links, mitigating discrepancies between resources like various forwarding and queue mechanisms. “Routing determinacy” establishes deterministic paths, orchestrating timeslots and delivering deterministic routes across domains for reliable transport. “Time determinacy” ensures end-to-end deterministic services by planning traffic features, identifying deterministic QoS, and mapping services to appropriate resources and routes for forwarding.
In line with the need for high-capacity deterministic services in 400GE transport networks, ZTE introduces a new generation of evolvable chips and products. The inclusion of the EDN solution in a 6-in-1 network processor marks an industry first for wide-area deterministic networking. Combined with existing mechanisms like TQF and Deadline, this chip ensures high-speed forwarding and determinacy on router ports, akin to precise scheduling in high-speed railways. By guaranteeing end-to-end latency and jitter, these advancements enable large-scale deployment and protect investments against future uncertainties.
The EDN system has garnered significant attention, with ZTE and industry partners collaborating on over 20 draft standards across various IETF working groups. These standards cover EDN requirements, architecture, data-plane encapsulation, queue mechanisms, Traffic Engineering (TE), and control-plane protocol extensions. Looking ahead, ZTE remains committed to advancing deterministic technology systems, driving their application across industries, and fostering new business models to realize the vision of a connected intelligent world.
