An Optimization Method for Jitter Minimization of Precision Timing Protocol With Asynchronous Traffic Shaping on Power Communication Networks

Abstract

This paper presents an asynchronous traffic shaping (ATS) optimization method to support precision timing in power communication networks. The IEEE 802.1Qbv time-aware shaper (TAS) is a standard time-sensitive networking solution. However, it relies heavily on global clock synchronization, resulting in the poor robustness and high deployment complexity. While standard ATS eliminates the dependency on globally synchronized scheduling mechanisms, it primarily focuses on absolute latency rather than timing jitter, making it difficult to balance precise timing and hard real-time constraints in mixed traffic environments. To solve this problem, we formulate a mathematical model to minimize jitter variance for precision time protocol (PTP) performance. We quantify the non-linear effects of ATS shaping rates and burst sizes on PTP queuing delays, and add constraints to ensure background traffic meets hard real-time requirements. To tackle this non-convex problem, we develop a gradient-based two-stage heuristic algorithm that effectively separates rate reservation from burst compression. Numerical results validate that the proposed method ensures deterministic quality of service and eliminates the dependency on global clock synchronization for traffic scheduling. It improves the time precision and robustness while reducing configuration complexity.