How to Synchronize Two cRIO-904x Series Using a Normal Hub?

Issue Details

I have two cRIOs (904x) Series, I wanted to synchronize time of both the cRIOs and I knew 1588(PTP) can be used. But as cRIOs are TSN Compatible, I don't have TSN compatible switch, can I connect ETH1 Port of both cRIOs and then cRIO becomes time Synchronized using TSN?

What is the best approach that can be done to sync to 904x series cRIOs?

Solution

Two cRIO-904x series can be synchronized using the line Topology as shown in the below image. For detailed information visit Designing Distributed TSN Ethernet-Based Measurement Systems.

As above, there is TSN network built when you connect two TSN-enabled port, which in turn synchronize both the cRIOs.

Note 1: Host PC is non-TSN, one cRIO will assume as a master, other cRIO as a slave and they will share time reference. Host PC will still have its own time reference, not shared with cRIOs.

Note 2: When you have only two cRIOs, they can be synchronized using a normal hub as mentioned above, if there are more than two cRIOs it is recommended to have a TSN hub to synchronize all the cRIOs.