Evaluation of a Real-Time Distribution Service

As control systems become more distributed and they are implemented with smaller hardware and software components, implementing the necessary communication links becomes challenging. There are considerable technical difficulties in guaranteeing upper bounds for latencies in motion or machine control, synchronizing the execution and communication of distributed components, taking corrective action in fault situations and reconfiguring the system. In this paper, we discuss the main communication requirements of distributed control systems and use them to evaluate a certain distribution service product.