Optimizing linear routing in the ToLHnet protocol to improve performance over long RS-485 buses

As the adoption of sensing and control networks rises to encompass the most diverse fields, the need for simple, efficient interconnection between many different devices will become ever more pressing. Though wireless communication is certainly appealing, current technological limits still prevent its usage where high reliability is needed or where the electromagnetical environment is not really apt to let radio waves through. In these cases, a wired link, based on a robust and well-consolidated standard such as an RS-485 bus, might prove to be a good choice. In this paper, we present an extension to the routing strategy originally implemented in the recently proposed “tree or linear hopping network” (ToLHnet) protocol, aimed at better handling the special but important case of linear routing over a (possibly very long) wired link, such as an RS-485 bus. The ToLHnet protocol was especially developed to suit the need of low complexity for deployments on large control networks. Indeed, using it over RS-485 already makes it possible to overcome many of the traditional limitations regarding cable length, without requiring segmenting the bus to install repeaters. With the extension here proposed, it will also be possible to simultaneously reduce latency (i.e., increase throughput, should it matter) for short-distance communications over the same cable, largely increasing the overall network efficiency, with a negligible increase in the complexity of the nodes’ firmware.