A new transport network level protocol in the e-manufacturing environment

In this paper, we are interested in the study and analysis of how the control of the CIM and e-manufacturing can be improved by the SCTP transport level protocol. Transport network means that the network applications are linked independently of the physical network technologies. The multihoming, multistream and chunk capabilities, present in the SCTP can be used for the guarantee of the aspects of temporal and spatial consistence, and redundancy. The SCTP protocol introduces a new network layer able to handle multimedia applications. The monitoring of many activities in the industry nowadays is provided by graphical simulation of the process. The SCTP can provide access to the process real time image by the use of cameras, which can send the image stream through the network using the SCTP multistream property. The multihoming feature is a valuable capability for the redundancy aspect. This feature uses the physical available networks without the application be concerned in a network fail. The chunk feature maximizes the use of the lower network layers by sending much kind of application packets (chunks) into the same network frame. The goal of this paper is to introduce the SCTP protocol and show how it can be used in the CIM and e-manufacturing environment.