Impact of 5G Latency and Jitter on TAS Scheduling in a 5G-TSN Network: An Empirical Study

2026-03-07

AI Summary

This study addresses the challenge posed by stochastic delay and jitter in 5G wireless links, which can disrupt deterministic scheduling based on the IEEE 802.1Qbv Time-Aware Shaper (TAS) in Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), thereby compromising end-to-end communication reliability in industrial IoT applications. The authors construct the first experimental platform integrating a commercial private 5G network with TSN switches to empirically quantify the impact of 5G downlink timing variations on TAS scheduling. They propose a novel TAS transmission window offset configuration method grounded in high-order quantile-based delay measurements. Experimental results demonstrate that this approach effectively preserves bounded latency and low jitter, ensuring end-to-end determinism; without it, TAS scheduling may fail. This work presents the first quantitative analysis and innovative parameter tuning strategy for delay effects in a real-world 5G-TSN integrated environment.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Scheduling under Uncertainty
• Application Domains: Internet of Things, Sensor Networks & Smart Cities
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Distributed CSP/Optimization

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web measurements

Abstract

Deterministic communications are essential to meet the stringent delay and jitter requirements of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) services. IIoT increasingly demands wide-area wireless mobility to support Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) and dynamic workflows. Integrating Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) with 5G private networks is emerging as a promising approach to fulfill these requirements. In this architecture, 5G provides wireless access for industrial devices, which connect to a TSN backbone that interfaces with the enterprise edge/cloud, where IIoT control and computing systems reside. TSN achieves bounded latency and low jitter using IEEE 802.1Qbv Time-Aware Shaper (TAS), which schedules the network traffic in precise time slots. However, the stochastic delay and jitter inherent in 5G disrupt TSN scheduling, requiring careful tuning of TAS parameters to maintain end-to-end determinism. This paper presents an empirical study evaluating the impact of 5G downlink delay and jitter on TAS scheduling using a testbed with TSN switches and a commercial 5G network. Results show that guaranteeing bounded latency and jitter requires careful setting of TAS transmission window offset between TSN switches based on the measured 5G delay bounded by a high order p-th percentile. Otherwise, excessive offset may cause additional delay or even a complete loss of determinism.

Problem

• 5G latency
• jitter
• Time-Sensitive Networking
• TAS scheduling
• deterministic communication

Innovation

• 5G-TSN integration
• Time-Aware Shaper (TAS)
• deterministic networking
• latency and jitter
• empirical study