A C++20 PROFINET IO Controller stack for Linux.

The project provides the building blocks required to discover, configure, connect to, operate and release connections to PROFINET IO-Devices. It is intended as a reusable controller stack rather than as a device-specific application.

The primary focus is protocol correctness, interoperability with real PROFINET devices, deterministic resource management and testability.

The stack currently includes:

PROFINET DCP discovery and configuration
PROFINET DCE/RPC communication
Application Relation (AR) establishment and release
Expected submodule configuration
IOCR configuration
Alarm CR configuration
Parameterization lifecycle support
Application Ready handling
Cyclic RTC1 process-data communication
RTA alarm reception and acknowledgement
Acyclic implicit read/write operations
GSDML XML parsing and device configuration support
Diagnosis and topology parsing
I&M record access
Raw Linux Ethernet transport
RPC transport abstractions
Asio-based transport infrastructure
GoogleTest and GoogleMock based tests
Wire-format and conformance-oriented regression tests

Project status: Active development. The main current interoperability objective is reliable, generic AR establishment against real PROFINET IO-Devices, followed by robust cyclic RTC1 communication.

Why This Stack Exists

PROFINET IO communication requires considerably more than sending cyclic Ethernet frames.

A controller must first discover or identify a device, establish its communication endpoint, negotiate an Application Relation, provide the expected device configuration, configure cyclic communication, complete parameterization and transition the device into application operation.

The intended lifecycle is broadly:

Discover device
      |
      v
Obtain device information
      |
      v
Resolve PROFINET RPC endpoint
      |
      v
Establish Application Relation
      |
      v
IODConnectReq / IODConnectRes
      |
      v
Parameterization
      |
      +--> PrmBegin
      |
      +--> ExpectedSubmodule configuration
      |
      +--> IOCR configuration
      |
      +--> Alarm CR configuration
      |
      +--> PrmEnd
      |
      v
ApplicationReady
      |
      v
Start alarm handling
      |
      v
Start cyclic RTC1 communication
      |
      v
Read inputs / write outputs
      |
      v
Release AR

The goal of this repository is to make this lifecycle available through a C++20 implementation with explicit protocol serialization and clear separation between:

PROFINET protocol logic
device configuration
connection lifecycle
cyclic communication
alarms
acyclic communication
networking and transport

Architecture Overview

The high-level architecture is:

Application / CLI
       |
       v
ProfinetDevice
       |
       +-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
       |                   |                   |                   |
       v                   v                   v                   v
      DCP             RPC / AR           Cyclic RTC1        Alarm Handling
       |                   |                   |                   |
       +-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
                           |
                           v
                   Transport Abstractions
                    |               |
                    v               v
             Raw Ethernet        RPC / UDP
                    |               |
                    v               v
             Linux AF_PACKET    Asio / UDP

GSDML configuration feeds the controller configuration used during AR establishment and cyclic I/O setup.

The architecture is evolving toward using Asio for asynchronous I/O and timeout management, while retaining native Linux packet-socket creation and configuration where AF_PACKET functionality is required.

See:

ARCHITECTURE.md

for editable architecture and lifecycle diagrams.

Repository Layout

profinet-io-controller-stack/
├── include/profinet/       Public C++ API
├── src/                    Implementations
├── tests/                  GoogleTest / GoogleMock tests
│   └── gsdml/              GSDML test data
├── examples/               Example applications
├── tools/                  Hardware and development tools
├── scripts/                Repository maintenance and generation scripts
├── documentation/          Documentation configuration
├── .cmakecommon/           Shared CMake helpers
├── .devcontainer/          Development container configuration
├── CMakeLists.txt          Main build definition
├── CMakePresets.json       Standard build configurations
├── vcpkg.json              Dependency manifest
├── .clang-format           Formatting configuration
├── .clang-tidy             Static analysis configuration
└── README.md               Project documentation

The build defines the ProfinetIoController library and example/test executables. The current CMake configuration builds the core stack from DCP, RPC transport, RPC, RT, cyclic, alarms, blocks, diagnosis, device and GSDML implementations.

Main Components

include/profinet/device.h / src/device.cpp

The high-level controller front.

ProfinetDevice is intended to provide application-facing operations for:

device discovery
connection lifecycle
AR ownership
acyclic read/write operations
I&M access
diagnosis access
topology and slot discovery
alarm integration
cyclic communication startup
connection cleanup

Typical application code should normally use ProfinetDevice rather than manually coordinating every lower-level component.

include/profinet/dcp.h / src/dcp.cpp

Implements PROFINET DCP communication.

Responsibilities include:

device discovery
DCP Identify requests and responses
station name operations
IP configuration
DCP Set requests and responses
device description parsing
filtering unrelated Ethernet traffic
transaction handling
malformed frame handling

DCP operates over Layer 2 Ethernet.

include/profinet/IRawEthernetSocket.h

Defines the raw Ethernet transport boundary used by Layer-2 protocol components.

This interface is important because it allows:

DCP logic to be tested independently of real sockets
cyclic communication to use mock transports
alarm reception to be tested using deterministic frames
production transport implementations to evolve without rewriting protocol logic

The repository also contains mock socket implementations used by protocol and conformance tests.

include/profinet/IRpcTransport.h / src/rpcTransport.cpp

Defines and implements the transport boundary for PROFINET RPC communication.

The direction of the architecture is to isolate:

RPC protocol state
        |
        v
IRpcTransport
        |
        v
Asio-based UDP transport

This keeps socket and timeout handling separate from RPC packet construction, response parsing and AR state.

include/profinet/rpc.h / src/rpc.cpp

Contains PROFINET DCE/RPC and AR connection logic.

Responsibilities include:

endpoint discovery
station information retrieval
UUID handling
RPC packet construction
RPC response parsing
session and activity handling
IODConnect communication
AR establishment
parameterization requests
ApplicationReady handling
AR release and disconnect
acyclic record operations

This is one of the most important parts of the stack because correct AR establishment is required before cyclic IO communication can operate against real devices.

include/profinet/IRPCCon.h

Defines the connection operations required by higher-level components.

The interface allows device orchestration and lifecycle tests to use mocked RPC behavior rather than requiring real UDP sockets or devices.

include/profinet/protocol.h

Contains PROFINET protocol structures and constants used across the stack.

This includes wire-level structures for major protocol operations.

Network protocol serialization should remain explicit. Correct C++ object layout must never be assumed to imply correct wire layout.

include/profinet/wire.h

Provides byte-level serialization and parsing helpers.

PROFINET protocol fields are primarily represented in network byte order. This layer centralizes:

big-endian integer reads
big-endian integer writes
buffer handling
offset-based parsing support

Explicit byte serialization is preferred over sending C++ structures with memcpy. This will be updated to C++ 20 std::copy and std::bit_cast.

include/profinet/blocks.h / src/blocks.cpp

Implements PROFINET block parsing and serialization.

Responsibilities include parsing and representing block-oriented protocol structures such as:

block headers
multiple block headers
real identification data
interface and port data
module differences
expected submodule configuration
write-multiple support

Parser robustness is particularly important here because block length fields and nested structures must always be validated against the remaining input buffer.

include/profinet/rt.h / src/rt.cpp

Contains RT_CLASS_1 cyclic communication structures.

Responsibilities include:

RT frame representation
IOCR configuration
IO data object mapping
cyclic frame serialization
cyclic frame parsing
process-data layout construction
IOPS/IOCS handling
Ethernet frame construction

IOCR correctness is a primary interoperability concern because incorrect field ordering, offsets or data lengths can cause AR establishment failures.

include/profinet/cyclic.h / src/cyclic.cpp

Implements cyclic RTC1 process-data operation.

Responsibilities include:

cyclic lifecycle management
transmit scheduling
cyclic receive handling
input process-data updates
output process-data updates
IOPS/IOCS processing
cycle counters
cyclic statistics
frame loss, duplicate and ordering detection
controlled shutdown

The next major development objective after generic AR establishment is reliable operation of this path against real PROFINET hardware.

include/profinet/alarms.h / src/alarms.cpp

Implements alarm data structures and parsing.

Supported responsibilities include:

alarm notification parsing
alarm item parsing
diagnosis-related alarm information
maintenance information
USI-based alarm data interpretation

Alarm parsing must remain bounds-checked because notifications may contain nested or variable-length data.

include/profinet/IAlarmListener.h

Defines the alarm listener boundary used by higher-level components.

This allows alarm lifecycle behavior to be tested independently from real Layer-2 traffic.

include/profinet/alarmListener.h / src/alarmListener.cpp

Handles PROFINET alarm reception and acknowledgement.

Responsibilities include:

RTA frame reception
VLAN-aware frame handling where required
alarm notification parsing
callback registration
AlarmAck generation and transmission
listener lifecycle and shutdown

include/profinet/gsdml.h / src/gsdml.cpp

Implements GSDML parsing.

GSDML is now part of the stack and is used to transform PROFINET device descriptions into C++ configuration data.

The intended configuration flow is:

GSDML XML
    |
    v
Parsed device model
    |
    v
Selected modules / submodules
    |
    v
IO configuration
    |
    +--> ExpectedSubmoduleBlock
    |
    +--> IOCR configuration
    |
    +--> cyclic data mapping

A key architectural objective is to avoid maintaining separate, manually duplicated descriptions of module identifiers, submodule identifiers and I/O lengths.

include/profinet/diagnosis.h / src/diagnosis.cpp

Implements diagnosis parsing and interpretation.

Responsibilities include:

channel diagnosis parsing
extended diagnosis handling
qualified diagnosis handling
diagnosis block parsing
protocol-specific error decoding

include/profinet/indices.h / src/indices.cpp

Contains standardized PROFINET record indices and lookup helpers.

It provides symbolic access to protocol indices and related metadata rather than spreading raw numeric constants throughout application code.

include/profinet/exceptions.h / src/exceptions.cpp

Defines the project's protocol and transport error hierarchy.

Errors should preserve enough context to identify:

operation
protocol phase
block or request type
device
timeout or socket failure
expected versus actual data where relevant

include/profinet/vendors.h / src/vendors.cpp

Provides PROFINET vendor ID lookup.

The vendor table is generated rather than manually maintained.

Vendor map generation

The only remaining Python-related workflow documented by this project is the generation of the PROFINET vendor map.

The generation script reads the authoritative vendor mapping source and produces C++ data for lookup.

For example:

python3 scripts/gen_vendors.py \
    /path/to/vendors.py \
    include/profinet/vendors_data.h

The generated output should be committed when the vendor table is intentionally updated.

Python is not required to build or use the PROFINET IO Controller stack itself.

Examples

The repository builds several example applications when PROFINET_BUILD_EXAMPLES is enabled:

pn_discover
pn_set_name
pn_read_im0
pn_cyclic_demo
pn_alarm_demo
pn_diagnosis_demo
pn_device_demo
pn_hw_control

These targets are defined by the current CMake build configuration.

Building

Requirements

The project uses:

CMake 3.27 or newer
a C++20 compiler
vcpkg
the dependencies declared in vcpkg.json

The current dependency manifest includes:

GoogleTest
OpenSSL
Asio
LibXml2

with Asio pinned through the manifest configuration.

vcpkg

Set VCPKG_ROOT to your vcpkg installation.

For example:

export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

The project uses the vcpkg CMake toolchain through CMakePresets.json.

Do not manually duplicate dependency include paths or library paths when using the supplied presets.

CMake Presets

CMakePresets.json is the preferred way to configure the project.

The base preset configures:

the vcpkg toolchain
C++20
output directories
install directories
vcpkg overlay configuration
optional Linux raw-socket capability setup

The current presets include:

MSVC64-v143-Release
MSVC64-v143-Debug
 
linux-clang-19-release
linux-clang-19-debug
linux-clang-19-debug-coverage

The Linux presets use Ninja and Clang 19, while the coverage preset enables the repository's coverage configuration.

Linux Debug build

cmake --preset linux-clang-19-debug
cmake --build --preset linux-clang-19-debug
ctest --preset linux-clang-19-debug --output-on-failure

Linux Release build

cmake --preset linux-clang-19-release
cmake --build --preset linux-clang-19-release
ctest --preset linux-clang-19-release --output-on-failure

Coverage build

cmake --preset linux-clang-19-debug-coverage
cmake --build --preset linux-clang-19-debug-coverage
ctest --preset linux-clang-19-debug-coverage --output-on-failure

Raw Ethernet Permissions

Layer-2 PROFINET operations use Linux raw Ethernet capabilities.

Depending on the configured environment, raw socket operations may require:

CAP_NET_RAW

The CMake build contains optional setcap support for test executables when ENABLE_SETCAP is enabled and passwordless access to setcap is available.

Avoid running the entire development environment as root when Linux capabilities provide the required access.

Usage Examples

Discover devices

#include "profinet/dcp.h"
 
const auto localMac = profinet::GetMac("eth0");
 
// Create the configured raw Ethernet socket implementation.
profinet::EthernetSocket socket("eth0");
 
profinet::dcp::SendDiscover(socket, localMac);
 
const auto responses = profinet::dcp::ReadResponse(socket, localMac, 5);
 
for (const auto& response : responses)
{
    // Process discovered devices.
}

The exact returned types and available fields should be taken from the current public header.

High-level device usage

ProfinetDevice is intended to provide the high-level application-facing API.

Conceptually:

#include "profinet/device.h"
 
auto device = profinet::device::ProfinetDevice::Discover("my-device", "eth0");
 
device.Connect();
 
// Perform supported acyclic operations.
// Read device information.
// Configure cyclic I/O.
 
device.Close();

The public API uses CamelCase naming. New examples and documentation should use the names currently defined in the C++ headers rather than historical snake_case names.

Acyclic record access

Acyclic communication is performed after the device connection and AR state allow the requested operation.

Conceptually:

device.Connect();
 
const auto value = device.Read(/* API */, /* slot */, /* subslot */, /* index */);
 
// Or write a record:
device.Write(/* API */, /* slot */, /* subslot */, /* index */, data);
 
device.Close();

For production code, the API, slot, subslot and record index should originate from device configuration or explicit application configuration rather than unexplained literals.

GSDML-driven configuration

The intended usage model is:

Load GSDML
    |
    v
Parse device/module/submodule definitions
    |
    v
Select the configuration required by the application
    |
    v
Build controller I/O configuration
    |
    v
Use configuration for AR / ExpectedSubmodule / IOCR

This is preferable to manually duplicating module and submodule identifiers and I/O lengths throughout application code.

Cyclic IO

The intended cyclic flow is:

Application updates output process data
                |
                v
        CyclicController
                |
                v
         RTC1 Ethernet frame
                |
                v
          PROFINET IO-Device
 
          PROFINET IO-Device
                |
                v
         RTC1 Ethernet frame
                |
                v
        CyclicController
                |
                v
Application reads input process data

or more linear:

Cyclic communication should only start after the AR and required parameterization/application-ready lifecycle have completed successfully.

Testing

The repository uses GoogleTest and GoogleMock.

The test target includes coverage across:

utilities
protocol serialization
vendor lookup
RPC transport
RPC behavior
RT frames
cyclic communication
cyclic conformance behavior
received IOPS handling
alarms
alarm listener behavior
DCP wire format
DCP behavior
RPC conformance
protocol blocks
diagnosis
device wrappers
device cyclic startup lifecycle
GSDML parsing
real-device-oriented GSDML data
exception handling

The current CMake target lists these tests explicitly.

Testing principles

For PROFINET protocol code:

Exact bytes matter.
A test should verify complete serialized output for critical protocol blocks.
Parsers should be tested with malformed and truncated input.
Every protocol fix should add a regression test.
Lifecycle tests should verify rollback after partial startup failure.
Mock transports should verify complete transmitted frames where practical.
Real-device captures should be used as references when available (we currently only have Auma, sort of).

Important regression validation candidates include:

DCP Identify
DCP Set
ExpectedSubmoduleBlockReq
IOCRBlockReq
AlarmCRBlockReq
IODConnectReq
PrmBegin
PrmEnd
ApplicationReady
AlarmAck
RTC1 cyclic frames
implicit read/write requests and responses

File Header Script

The repository contains:

scripts/add_file_headers.py

This script adds Doxygen-compatible headers to C++ source and header files.

It scans recursively for:

.cpp

.h

files and adds:

when a compatible file header is not already present.

Usage:

python3 scripts/add_file_headers.py .

Or target a specific directory:

python3 scripts/add_file_headers.py include/profinet

Use --force to replace an existing compatible @file / @brief header:

python3 scripts/add_file_headers.py include/profinet --force

The script deliberately avoids silently adding a second header when a file already starts with a different @file declaration.

Architecture Diagrams

The diagrams provide:

component architecture
transport boundaries
GSDML configuration flow
planned Asio transport direction
complete happy-path lifecycle from discovery through AR release

See:

ARCHITECTURE

The lifecycle sequence covers:

Discover
    |
    v
DCP Identify
    |
    v
Device information
    |
    v
Endpoint resolution
    |
    v
IODConnectReq
    |
    v
IODConnectRes
    |
    v
PrmBegin
    |
    v
ExpectedSubmodule / IOCR / Alarm CR
    |
    v
PrmEnd
    |
    v
ApplicationReady
    |
    v
Start alarms
    |
    v
Start cyclic RTC1
    |
    v
Cyclic operation
    |
    v
Stop cyclic operation
    |
    v
Stop alarms
    |
    v
Release AR

Glossary

The following table explains the abbreviations and protocol terminology used throughout the project and its implementation.

Abbreviation / Term	Meaning	Explanation in this project
AF_PACKET	Linux Address Family, Packet	Linux socket family used for direct Layer-2 Ethernet frame access. Used by the raw Ethernet transport for DCP, RTC1 and RTA traffic.
ALARM CR / AlarmCR	Alarm Communication Relation	PROFINET communication relation used for alarm transport between an IO Controller and IO Device. The project establishes an `AlarmCRBlockReq` during AR setup and uses it for alarm notifications and acknowledgements.
API	Application Process Identifier	PROFINET identifier used to associate protocol objects and IO configuration data with an application process. The project currently uses API `0` for the standard application process and carries API values in ExpectedSubmodule and IOCR structures.
AR	Application Relation	Logical PROFINET connection between an IO Controller and IO Device. The AR is established using DCE/RPC and contains the configured communication relations such as IOCRs and AlarmCR.
ARBlock	Application Relation Block	Block used during AR establishment/release to describe or control an Application Relation. The project handles AR-related request/response blocks through the RPC layer.
ARUUID	Application Relation UUID	UUID uniquely identifying an Application Relation. Generated by the controller when establishing a connection to an IO Device.
Asio	Asynchronous I/O library	Standalone C++ Asio library used/planned for asynchronous networking and event-driven socket handling. The project is moving toward using Asio for transport integration while retaining Linux-specific raw-socket functionality where required.
Acyclic IO	Non-cyclic IO communication	Communication that does not occur at the cyclic RTC interval. Used for configuration, diagnostics, identification and record read/write operations.
Acyclic record	Acyclic record data	PROFINET record identified by API, slot, subslot and index. The project exposes operations such as `Read`, `ReadImplicit` and `Write` for record data.
AR	Application Relation	The complete logical connection between controller and device, including parameterization and communication relations.
C_SDU	Common Service Data Unit	Service-data portion carried by a communication service. In PROFINET RPC terminology this represents application/service data passed through the RPC protocol structures.
Cyclic IO	Cyclic Input/Output	Periodic exchange of process data between an IO Controller and IO Device. In this project it is implemented using PROFINET RTC1 Ethernet frames and `CyclicController`.
CR	Communication Relation	Logical communication channel within a PROFINET Application Relation. An AR may contain multiple CRs, for example IOCRs and an AlarmCR.
DCP	Discovery and Configuration Protocol	PROFINET Layer-2 protocol used for device discovery and basic configuration. The project uses DCP Identify to discover devices and DCP Set to configure station names and related information.
DCE	Distributed Computing Environment	RPC framework/protocol family on which PROFINET's connection-management RPC communication is based.
DCE/RPC	Distributed Computing Environment / Remote Procedure Call	RPC protocol used by PROFINET for connection establishment, parameterization, record access and Application Relation management. The project implements the required DCE/RPC structures and transport.
DAP	Device Access Point	Special GSDML-defined module representing the device access point. Typically occupies slot 0 and provides the device-level entry point into the IO configuration.
DI	Data Interface	Generic term for an interface carrying data. In this project the term is primarily relevant when discussing protocol/data-layout interfaces rather than as a dedicated PROFINET protocol object.
EPM	Endpoint Mapper	DCE/RPC Endpoint Mapper. Used to resolve the RPC endpoint/interface information required to communicate with the PROFINET IO Device. The project defines the EPM interface UUID and lookup operations.
EtherType	Ethernet Type field	Ethernet header field identifying the payload protocol. PROFINET RT/RTA uses EtherType `0x8892`; the project preserves and validates this field in raw Ethernet frames.
GSD	General Station Description	Generic term for the device description mechanism used by PROFINET. Modern PROFINET device descriptions are represented using GSDML.
GSDML	General Station Description Markup Language	XML-based format used to describe a PROFINET device, including modules, submodules, IO sizes, identities and configuration capabilities. The project contains a native C++ GSDML parser.
I&M	Identification & Maintenance	PROFINET identification and maintenance data. The project supports reading I&M records, including I&M0 and additional I&M records where supported by the device.
I&M0	Identification & Maintenance record 0	Mandatory basic identification record containing device identification information.
I&M1	Identification & Maintenance record 1	Identification/maintenance record containing tag-function and location information.
I&M2	Identification & Maintenance record 2	Identification/maintenance record containing installation-date information.
I&M3	Identification & Maintenance record 3	Identification/maintenance record containing descriptive/free-text information.
I&M4	Identification & Maintenance record 4	Identification/maintenance record associated with PROFIsafe-related information.
I&M5–I&M15	Identification & Maintenance records 5–15	Additional/reserved identification and maintenance records. The project models and can probe/read these records where supported.
IOD	IO Device	PROFINET IO Device. The term appears in protocol block names such as `IODControl`, `IODConnect` and `IODRelease`.
IODConnect	IO Device Connect	DCE/RPC operation used to establish the PROFINET Application Relation and its associated communication relations.
IODControl	IO Device Control	PROFINET control operations used during AR lifecycle transitions such as `PrmBegin`, `PrmEnd`, `ApplicationReady` and release.
IODRelease	IO Device Release	Operation used to release an established Application Relation.
IO	Input/Output	Process input/output data exchanged between the IO Controller and IO Device.
IOCR	Input/Output Communication Relation	Communication Relation responsible for cyclic IO data exchange. A typical AR contains an input IOCR and an output IOCR.
IOCRBlockReq	IOCR Block Request	PROFINET request block used to configure an IOCR during AR establishment. It contains the IOCR properties, frame ID, timing parameters and IO data object layout.
IOCRBlockRes	IOCR Block Response	Response to an `IOCRBlockReq`.
IOCS	Input/Output Consumer Status	Status byte associated with IO data consumed by the receiving side. It indicates whether the consumer considers the associated IO data valid.
IOPS	Input/Output Provider Status	Status byte associated with IO data provided by the sending side. The project uses IOPS to determine whether received process data is valid before exposing it to the application.
IODataObject	IO Data Object	Description of an individual process-data element inside an IOCR. It identifies its slot/subslot, data length and offsets for process data and IOxS bytes.
IOxS	IO Provider/Consumer Status	Generic notation for either IOPS or IOCS. `x` represents the provider/consumer role.
IP	Internet Protocol	Network-layer protocol used by the UDP transport for DCE/RPC and other IP-based communication.
IPv4	Internet Protocol version 4	IP version used by the project's UDP/RPC communication.
MAC	Media Access Control	Ethernet hardware address. The project uses source and destination MAC addresses for DCP, RTC1 and RTA Layer-2 communication.
PDU	Protocol Data Unit	A protocol-specific unit of transmitted data. The project uses the term for DCE/RPC, RTA and other protocol payloads.
PNIO	PROFINET IO	PROFINET IO protocol/application layer. The project uses `PNIO` in protocol status/error handling, interface identifiers and RPC structures.
PNIO-CM	PROFINET IO Connection Manager	PROFINET connection-management error/diagnostic domain used in PNIO error decoding.
PNIORW	PROFINET IO Read/Write	PROFINET IO read/write service domain used when decoding record-access errors.
PrmBegin	Parameterization Begin	AR lifecycle operation indicating the beginning of the parameterization phase.
PrmEnd	Parameterization End	AR lifecycle operation indicating that parameterization is complete and the controller is moving toward runtime operation.
PROFINET	Process Field Network	Industrial Ethernet communication technology standardized and maintained by PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI).
PROFINET IO	PROFINET Input/Output	PROFINET system architecture for cyclic process data, acyclic records, alarms and device configuration.
RTA	Real-Time Acyclic	PROFINET real-time alarm/acyclic communication carried directly over Ethernet Layer 2. The project implements RTA alarm notification and AlarmAck handling.
RTA-PDU	Real-Time Acyclic Protocol Data Unit	Protocol data unit carrying PROFINET RTA traffic, particularly alarms, over Ethernet.
RTC	Real-Time Cyclic	PROFINET terminology for cyclic real-time communication.
RTC1	Real-Time Cyclic Class 1	Standard software-based cyclic PROFINET real-time communication. The project uses RTC1 Ethernet frames for cyclic IO.
RTC2	Real-Time Cyclic Class 2	Higher-performance real-time cyclic communication class with more deterministic timing requirements than RTC1. It is not currently the project's primary cyclic transport.
RTC3	Real-Time Cyclic Class 3	Isochronous/highly deterministic real-time communication class associated with advanced PROFINET real-time operation. It is outside the current RTC1 implementation scope.
RT	Real-Time	Generic abbreviation used throughout the cyclic implementation for PROFINET real-time communication.
RT frame	Real-Time frame	Ethernet frame carrying PROFINET cyclic real-time process data. In this project, this normally refers to an RTC1 frame containing IO data and IOxS status bytes.
RT_CLASS_1	Real-Time Class 1	Software-based PROFINET real-time communication class used by the project's `CyclicController`.
RT_CLASS_2	Real-Time Class 2	PROFINET real-time communication class with stronger timing characteristics than RT_CLASS_1.
RT_CLASS_3	Real-Time Class 3	PROFINET real-time communication class used for highly deterministic/isochronous communication.
RPC	Remote Procedure Call	Communication mechanism allowing the controller to invoke PROFINET device services remotely. The project uses DCE/RPC for AR establishment, parameterization and acyclic services.
RPCCon	RPC Connection	Project-specific class representing the DCE/RPC connection to a PROFINET IO Device. It manages RPC operations and the AR lifecycle.
RPC_PORT	PROFINET RPC UDP port	UDP port `34964` (`0x8894`) used for PROFINET DCE/RPC communication by the project.
RPC_BIND_PORT	RPC local bind port	UDP port `34965` (`0x8895`) defined for the local RPC bind side.
RT_CLASS_1	Real-Time Class 1	PROFINET cyclic communication using standard Ethernet networking without the special hardware scheduling requirements of higher real-time classes.
SDU	Service Data Unit	Data supplied by a higher protocol/service layer to a lower protocol layer for transmission. `C_SDU` is used in the DCE/RPC/protocol context.
Subslot	PROFINET subslot	Addressable logical IO component inside a slot. A subslot can contain input data, output data, both, or no process data.
Slot	PROFINET slot	Logical position in an IO Device's modular configuration. The project models slot/subslot/module/submodule relationships and derives IO configuration from them.
ModuleIdentNumber	Module Identification Number	Numeric identifier describing the expected module at a slot. Supplied by GSDML/device configuration and encoded into the ExpectedSubmodule configuration.
SubmoduleIdentNumber	Submodule Identification Number	Numeric identifier describing the expected submodule within a slot.
ExpectedSubmodule	Expected Submodule configuration	PROFINET configuration structure describing which module/submodule the controller expects at a slot/subslot. Used during AR establishment.
ExpectedSubmoduleBlock	Expected Submodule Block	Block sent during parameterization to tell the IO Device which modules and submodules the controller expects to be present.
VLAN	Virtual Local Area Network	Ethernet frame tagging mechanism defined by IEEE 802.1Q. The raw Ethernet implementation can receive and process VLAN-tagged PROFINET frames.
VID	VLAN Identifier	Identifier contained in an IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tag.
PCP	Priority Code Point	IEEE 802.1Q VLAN priority field. Relevant when analysing VLAN-tagged PROFINET Ethernet frames.
TPID	Tag Protocol Identifier	Ethernet VLAN tag identifier. Commonly `0x8100` for IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging.
UUID	Universally Unique Identifier	128-bit identifier used by DCE/RPC and PROFINET to identify interfaces and Application Relations.
EPM UUID	Endpoint Mapper UUID	UUID identifying the DCE/RPC Endpoint Mapper interface.
PNIO Device UUID	PROFINET IO Device interface UUID	DCE/RPC interface UUID identifying the PROFINET IO Device service.
PNIO Controller UUID	PROFINET IO Controller interface UUID	DCE/RPC interface UUID identifying the PROFINET IO Controller service.
USI	User Structure Identifier	Identifier describing the structure/format of diagnostic or alarm data following a diagnosis header. The project uses USI values such as channel diagnosis, extended channel diagnosis and qualified channel diagnosis.
Channel Diagnosis	Channel-level diagnostic data	PROFINET diagnosis describing a problem associated with a particular channel. The project identifies this using USI `0x8000`.
ExtChannelDiagnosis	Extended Channel Diagnosis	Extended channel diagnostic information. The project identifies this using USI `0x8002`.
QualifiedChannelDiagnosis	Qualified Channel Diagnosis	Qualified form of channel diagnosis. The project identifies this using USI `0x8003`.
MultipleDiagnosis	Multiple Diagnosis	Diagnostic structure used when multiple diagnosis items are represented. The project identifies this using USI `0x8001`.
PNIO Error	PROFINET IO error	Four-byte PROFINET status/error representation used by the RPC and record-access implementation. The project decodes PNIO-CM, PNIORW and related error domains.
ErrorCode	Error Code	First component of a PNIO error/status representation identifying the broad error source.
ErrorDecode	Error Decode	PNIO error field identifying how the remaining error fields should be interpreted.
ErrorCode1	Error Code 1	First detailed PNIO error-code component.
ErrorCode2	Error Code 2	Second detailed PNIO error-code component.
AlarmAck	Alarm Acknowledgement	PROFINET response acknowledging receipt/handling of an alarm notification. The project's `AlarmListener` generates and transmits AlarmAck messages.
AlarmNotification	Alarm Notification	PROFINET alarm message sent by an IO Device to the IO Controller. The project receives and parses these in `AlarmListener`.
AlarmCR	Alarm Communication Relation	Communication relation used to transport alarms between controller and device.
AR release	Application Relation release	Shutdown sequence in which cyclic IO and alarms are stopped and the Application Relation is released.
DataStatus	IO Data Status	Status information associated with cyclic IO data, indicating validity and related state information.
IOPS status	IO Provider Status	Provider-side validity indication for an IO data object. The project uses it to decide whether received input data may be consumed by the application.
IOCS status	IO Consumer Status	Consumer-side status indication associated with an IO data object.
Frame ID	Ethernet Frame Identifier	Identifier assigned to a PROFINET IOCR and used to associate cyclic Ethernet frames with the configured communication relation.
SendClockFactor	Send Clock Factor	PROFINET cyclic timing parameter defining the base timing relationship for cyclic communication.
ReductionRatio	Reduction Ratio	PROFINET cyclic timing parameter controlling how often an IOCR is transmitted relative to the configured send clock.
WatchdogFactor	Watchdog Factor	Parameter defining the tolerance for missed cyclic frames before the communication is considered timed out.
DataHoldFactor	Data Hold Factor	Parameter controlling how long previously valid process data may be retained following a communication interruption.
RTC data	Real-Time Cyclic data	Process data carried by RTC frames.
Ethernet	Ethernet LAN technology	Layer-2 networking technology used directly by DCP, RTC1 and RTA in this project.
UDP	User Datagram Protocol	Transport-layer protocol used for DCE/RPC and IP-based PROFINET services.
TCP	Transmission Control Protocol	General IP transport protocol. It is not the primary transport used by the PROFINET RPC implementation.
IP	Internet Protocol	Network-layer protocol used by UDP-based communication.
Layer 2 / L2	OSI Data Link Layer	Ethernet frame layer. DCP, RTC1 and RTA can operate directly at this layer.
Layer 3 / L3	OSI Network Layer	IP networking layer. Used by the UDP/IP transport for RPC-related communication.
AF_PACKET	Linux packet socket family	Linux-specific mechanism allowing applications to send and receive Ethernet frames without going through normal TCP/IP sockets.
CI	Continuous Integration	Automated build, test, static-analysis and coverage workflows used by the repository.
ASan	AddressSanitizer	Runtime instrumentation used to detect memory errors such as buffer overflows and use-after-free.
UBSan	UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer	Runtime instrumentation used to detect undefined C++ behaviour.
TSan	ThreadSanitizer	Runtime instrumentation used to detect data races and other threading errors.
CMakePresets	CMake Presets	Standardized CMake configuration mechanism used by the project to provide reproducible build configurations.
vcpkg	Microsoft C++ package manager	Dependency manager used by the project for third-party C++ dependencies.
XML	Extensible Markup Language	Markup language used by GSDML device description files.
Doxygen	Documentation generator	Tool used to generate API documentation from the project's C++/Doxygen comments.
CLI	Command-Line Interface	Command-line application interface. A project-specific CLI suitable for device discovery/configuration/control is currently under development.
RAII	Resource Acquisition Is Initialization	C++ resource-management idiom used throughout the project for sockets, threads and other owned resources.
PDU	Protocol Data Unit	Encapsulated unit of data belonging to a particular protocol layer. Used throughout the RPC, alarm and real-time protocol implementations.
SDU	Service Data Unit	Data passed between adjacent protocol layers before protocol-specific encapsulation.
L2	Layer 2	OSI Data Link Layer, corresponding to Ethernet framing in this project.
L3	Layer 3	OSI Network Layer, corresponding to IP communication.
I/O	Input/Output	Generic term for process data flowing between controller and device.
HW	Hardware	Used in names such as hardware-check/cyclic test tools for tests requiring a physical PROFINET device.
SW	Software	Generic abbreviation used when distinguishing software behaviour from hardware behaviour.
TX	Transmit	Direction in which the controller sends a frame or packet. The cyclic controller contains a TX path for output frames.
RX	Receive	Direction in which the controller receives a frame or packet. The cyclic controller contains an RX path for input frames.
Src MAC	Source MAC Address	Ethernet address of the frame sender.
Dst MAC	Destination MAC Address	Ethernet address of the intended Ethernet frame recipient.
MTU	Maximum Transmission Unit	Maximum payload size supported by a network interface without fragmentation at the relevant layer. Relevant when constructing Ethernet/IP frames.
NIC	Network Interface Controller	Network interface used by the controller to transmit/receive PROFINET Ethernet frames.
FD	File Descriptor	Linux integer handle representing an open socket or other kernel resource. The networking implementation uses socket FDs and is planned to integrate them with Asio descriptors.
I&M	Identification & Maintenance	PROFINET device identification and maintenance records.
RPC activity UUID	RPC Activity Universally Unique Identifier	UUID identifying an RPC activity/request context. Used in DCE/RPC request/response processing.
Session Key	RPC session key	PROFINET RPC connection/session value associated with the established Application Relation.
XID	Transaction Identifier	Identifier used to correlate DCP requests and responses. The DCP implementation uses transaction/request identifiers when filtering received frames.
API	Application Process Identifier	PROFINET application-process identifier used when addressing configuration and record data.
Slot/Subslot	PROFINET address	Combined logical address identifying a module/submodule within an IO Device.
IOCR reference	IOCR identifier/reference	Controller-selected reference identifying an IOCR within the Application Relation.
IOCR type	IOCR direction/type	Identifies whether an IOCR carries input or output process data.
Input CR	Input Communication Relation	IOCR carrying data from the IO Device to the IO Controller.
Output CR	Output Communication Relation	IOCR carrying data from the IO Controller to the IO Device.
DAP	Device Access Point	Device-level module normally associated with slot 0.
NO_IO	No Input/Output	Project terminology for a submodule that does not carry process input or output data. Such submodules still participate in expected configuration but do not contribute cyclic process data.
I/O Data Description	IO data description	Structure describing the length and status information associated with a submodule's process data.
Record Index	Record data index	16-bit identifier selecting a particular acyclic record associated with a slot/subslot.
ReadImplicit	Implicit record read	Project API for reading a record using the implicit addressing/context defined by the PROFINET service.
PNRD	PROFINET Record Data	Project terminology/type used for PROFINET record-data responses exchanged through RPC.
CM	Connection Manager	Connection-management part of PROFINET IO, particularly visible in PNIO-CM error/status handling.
RMPM	RPC/PROFINET parameter-management error domain	Error-code grouping used by the project for connection/parameter-management failures such as missing IOCR blocks or incorrect AlarmCR configuration.
EPM Lookup	Endpoint Mapper Lookup	DCE/RPC operation used to resolve the endpoint associated with a requested interface.
RT timeout	Real-Time timeout	Condition in which expected cyclic real-time frames are not received within the configured watchdog tolerance.
IO watchdog	IO communication watchdog	Cyclic communication supervision mechanism detecting missing or stale RTC frames.
Wire format	On-the-wire representation	Exact byte-level representation transmitted over Ethernet/IP. The project contains wire-format regression tests for protocol structures and captured device traffic.
Wire-format regression test	Exact protocol serialization regression test	Test verifying that serialization/parsing remains compatible with previously validated packet representations or device captures.
DCP Identify	DCP Identify request/response	Layer-2 discovery mechanism used by the controller to find PROFINET devices.
DCP Set	DCP Set request/response	Layer-2 configuration operation used to set device properties such as station name.
RTC1 frame	Real-Time Cyclic Class 1 Ethernet frame	Ethernet frame containing cyclic process data exchanged at the configured cycle time.
RTA frame	Real-Time Acyclic Ethernet frame	Ethernet frame carrying PROFINET alarm/acyclic real-time information.
Alarm Data	Alarm payload	Application-specific data contained inside a PROFINET alarm notification.
Alarm Type	Alarm classification	PROFINET value identifying the type/category of an alarm.
Alarm Priority	Alarm priority	Priority associated with a PROFINET alarm and its communication relation.
Local Alarm Reference	Controller-side alarm reference	Reference used by the controller to identify its local AlarmCR endpoint.
MaxAlarmDataLength	Maximum Alarm Data Length	Maximum alarm payload size negotiated/configured for the AlarmCR.
RT Timeout Factor	Real-Time Timeout Factor	AlarmCR/real-time supervision parameter controlling timeout behaviour.
GSDML Module	GSDML-described module	Configurable device module defined in a GSDML file.
GSDML Submodule	GSDML-described submodule	Configurable device submodule defined in a GSDML file, including its IO data properties.
IO layout	Cyclic IO memory/frame layout	Calculated arrangement of process data, IOPS and IOCS bytes inside an IOCR frame. The project is working toward making one resolved IO layout authoritative for RPC configuration and runtime cyclic IO.
IOPS offset	IO Provider Status offset	Byte offset where an IODataObject's IOPS status is placed in the cyclic frame.
IOCS offset	IO Consumer Status offset	Byte offset where an IODataObject's IOCS status is placed in the cyclic frame.
Frame offset	IO data frame offset	Byte position of an IODataObject's process data within the cyclic Ethernet frame.
AR lifecycle	Application Relation lifecycle	Sequence of establishing, parameterizing, activating, operating and releasing an AR.
ApplicationReady	Application Ready	AR lifecycle transition indicating that the controller has completed parameterization and is ready for cyclic IO operation.
Prm	Parameterization	Abbreviation used in protocol block names such as `PrmBegin` and `PrmEnd`.
Req	Request	Suffix used for request protocol blocks, e.g. `IOCRBlockReq`.
Res	Response	Suffix used for response protocol blocks, e.g. `IOCRBlockRes`.
CR block	Communication Relation block	Protocol block configuring a particular Communication Relation during AR establishment.
BlockReq	Block Request	Protocol structure sent by the controller to request/configure a particular PROFINET service or relation.
BlockRes	Block Response	Protocol structure returned by the device in response to a block request.
UDP/IP	User Datagram Protocol over Internet Protocol	Network stack used for IP-based PROFINET RPC communication.
L2 Ethernet	Layer-2 Ethernet	Direct Ethernet communication without IP. Used by DCP and RTC/RTA traffic.
Endpoint	RPC communication endpoint	Network endpoint resolved/used by DCE/RPC to reach a specific PROFINET service.
Controller	IO Controller	PROFINET station responsible for configuring an IO Device and exchanging cyclic process data. This project implements the controller side.
IO Device / IO-Device	Input/Output Device	PROFINET station that provides/consumes process data and exposes configuration, diagnostic and acyclic services.
Provider	IO data provider	Station providing a particular IO data object. Its validity is represented by IOPS.
Consumer	IO data consumer	Station consuming a particular IO data object. Its status is represented by IOCS.
RTC cycle	Real-Time Cyclic cycle	Repeating time interval at which cyclic IO frames are transmitted and received.
Cycle counter	Cyclic sequence counter	Counter used by cyclic IO processing to detect duplicate, stale or out-of-order frames.
RT class	Real-Time class	PROFINET classification describing the real-time communication mechanism and timing requirements.
IRawEthernetSocket	Raw Ethernet socket interface	Project abstraction around Layer-2 Ethernet transmission/reception, allowing protocol components to be tested independently of the Linux socket implementation.
RpcTransport	RPC transport abstraction	Project abstraction separating DCE/RPC protocol handling from the underlying UDP transport.
RAII	Resource Acquisition Is Initialization	C++ ownership pattern used for deterministic resource lifetime, including sockets and threads.
CI	Continuous Integration	Automated build/test pipeline used to validate changes.
CLI	Command-Line Interface	Planned user-facing command-line interface for discovery and device operations.
XML	Extensible Markup Language	Underlying markup format of GSDML files.
POSIX	Portable Operating System Interface	Operating-system API family used by the Linux networking implementation, including socket/file-descriptor functionality.
Linux	Linux operating system	Current target operating system for the native raw-Ethernet and networking implementation.
ISO	International Organization for Standardization	Standards organization referenced by the broader industrial communication standards context.
IEC	International Electrotechnical Commission	Standards organization responsible for relevant international electrotechnical standards, including the IEC 61158 family covering fieldbus/industrial communication technologies.
PI	PROFIBUS & PROFINET International	Organization responsible for the PROFINET technology ecosystem, specifications, profiles and certification framework.
IEC 61158	IEC Industrial Communication Networks standard family	International standards family containing specifications relevant to PROFINET and related industrial communication technologies.
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers	Standards organization responsible for Ethernet and VLAN standards used by the underlying network.
IEEE 802.1Q	IEEE VLAN standard	Ethernet VLAN tagging standard relevant to VLAN-tagged PROFINET frames.
IRQ	Interrupt Request	Hardware/software interrupt mechanism. Not part of the project's normal PROFINET protocol model, but relevant when discussing network-driver and real-time behaviour.
RTT	Round-Trip Time	Time between transmitting a request and receiving its response. Useful for analysing RPC communication and timeout behaviour.
Jitter	Timing variation	Variation in actual cyclic frame timing relative to the configured cycle. Important when evaluating RTC1 scheduling.
Watchdog	Communication watchdog	Mechanism that detects missing cyclic communication and moves the controller/device state toward a fault condition.
TX	Transmit	Sending a network frame.
RX	Receive	Receiving a network frame.
IOCR DataLength	IOCR cyclic data length	Total data length represented by an IOCR, including the configured process-data/status layout required by the protocol.
Data Description	Process-data description	Description of a submodule's input/output data and associated status lengths within an ExpectedSubmodule structure.
Module Properties	Module configuration properties	Encoded PROFINET properties describing module/submodule behaviour.
Submodule Properties	Submodule configuration properties	Encoded PROFINET properties describing IO direction and related submodule behaviour.
NO-IO	No process IO	Submodule configuration with no cyclic input/output process data.
Input	Device → Controller process data	Cyclic process data generated by the IO Device and consumed by the IO Controller.
Output	Controller → Device process data	Cyclic process data generated by the IO Controller and consumed by the IO Device.
Provider Status	IOPS	Status associated with the station providing an IO data object.
Consumer Status	IOCS	Status associated with the station consuming an IO data object.

Abbreviations used in protocol block names

The project uses a number of compact suffixes and protocol naming conventions:

Abbreviation	Meaning	Example
Req	Request	`IOCRBlockReq`
Res	Response	`IOCRBlockRes`
AR	Application Relation	`ARBlockReq`
CR	Communication Relation	`AlarmCRBlockReq`
IOCR	Input/Output Communication Relation	`IOCRBlockReq`
IOD	IO Device	`IODControlReqPrmEnd`
Prm	Parameterization	`PrmBegin`, `PrmEnd`
App	Application	`IODControlReqAppReady`
RT	Real-Time	`RTClass3`
RTA	Real-Time Acyclic	RTA alarm PDU
IOPS	IO Provider Status	Cyclic input/output status
IOCS	IO Consumer Status	Cyclic input/output status
PNIO	PROFINET IO	PNIO status/error
EPM	Endpoint Mapper	DCE/RPC endpoint lookup
RPC	Remote Procedure Call	`RPCCon`, `RpcTransport`
DCP	Discovery and Configuration Protocol	DCP Identify
UUID	Universally Unique Identifier	AR UUID / interface UUID
USI	User Structure Identifier	Diagnostic/alarm structure identifier
I&M	Identification & Maintenance	`I&M0`, `I&M1`, etc.
MAC	Media Access Control address	Source/destination Ethernet address
UDP	User Datagram Protocol	RPC transport
IP	Internet Protocol	UDP/IP transport
VLAN	Virtual Local Area Network	Tagged Ethernet frames
PDU	Protocol Data Unit	RPC/RTA protocol unit
SDU	Service Data Unit	Service-layer data
TX	Transmit	Cyclic TX path
RX	Receive	Cyclic RX path
HW	Hardware	Hardware test utilities
CLI	Command-Line Interface	Planned controller CLI
CI	Continuous Integration	GitHub Actions
GTest	GoogleTest	Unit-test framework
GMock	GoogleMock	Mocking framework
Asio	Asynchronous I/O library	Planned/common asynchronous transport infrastructure

PROFINET communication classes

Term	Meaning	Project relevance
RT_CLASS_1 / RTC1	Real-Time Class 1	Primary cyclic IO mechanism currently implemented by `CyclicController`.
RT_CLASS_2 / RTC2	Real-Time Class 2	Higher real-time class; not the current primary implementation target.
RT_CLASS_3 / RTC3	Real-Time Class 3	Highly deterministic/isochronous real-time class. The protocol layer contains support for related control operations, but the current cyclic runtime is focused on RTC1.
RT frame	Real-Time Ethernet frame	Frame carrying cyclic process data.
RTA frame	Real-Time Acyclic frame	Frame carrying alarms and related real-time acyclic data.
Acyclic record	Non-cyclic record service	Used for configuration, diagnostics, I&M and device-specific data.
Cyclic IO	Periodic process-data exchange	Implemented using RTC1 frames.

Project-specific naming

A few names in the code are project types or identifiers rather than standards abbreviations:

Name	Meaning
`RPCCon`	Project class representing a PROFINET DCE/RPC connection and AR lifecycle.
`RpcTransport`	Transport abstraction used by the RPC implementation.
`CyclicController`	Runtime component responsible for cyclic RTC1 TX/RX processing.
`CyclicDataBuilder`	Component constructing and updating cyclic IO frame data.
`IODataObject`	Runtime description of a cyclic IO data object and its frame offsets/status bytes.
`IOCRSetup`	Project configuration describing the IOCR/cyclic configuration before connection.
`IOSlot`	Project representation of a configured PROFINET slot/subslot and its IO properties.
`GsdmlDevice`	Project representation/parser for a GSDML-described device.
`AlarmListener`	Background component receiving, parsing and acknowledging PROFINET alarms.
`IRawEthernetSocket`	Testable abstraction for raw Layer-2 Ethernet sockets.
`IRPCCon`	Interface abstraction for the RPC connection.
`Bytes`	Project alias for a byte buffer (`std::vector<std::uint8_t>`).
`PNIOError`	Project exception/type representing a decoded PROFINET IO error.
`PNRTAHeader`	Project representation of the PROFINET RTA header.
`PNInM0` … `PNInM15`	Project structures representing the corresponding I&M records.

Roadmap

Phase 1 — Generic AR correctness

Highest priority

The primary objective is reliable AR establishment with different real PROFINET IO-Devices.

Focus on:

IODConnectReq correctness
IODConnectRes handling
ExpectedSubmoduleBlockReq correctness
IOCR block layout and DataLength calculations
AlarmCR configuration
block ordering
API/slot/subslot/module/submodule mapping
DCE/RPC endpoint handling
timeout behavior
session/activity/UUID handling
deterministic rollback after failed connection stages
AR release correctness

Success criterion:

A supported device can establish an AR using configuration derived from the device/application configuration without device-specific protocol hacks.

Phase 2 — Cyclic RTC1 interoperability

After generic AR establishment is reliable:

validate frame IDs
validate IOCR mapping
validate process-data offsets
validate input/output direction
validate IOPS/IOCS placement
validate cycle counters
validate VLAN and priority handling
validate transmit timing
validate receive filtering
validate startup and shutdown
test against real hardware and packet captures

Success criterion:

Application output data reaches the device and device input data is received consistently during long-running cyclic operation.

Phase 3 — Asio migration

Move blocking and ad-hoc socket handling toward a coherent asynchronous architecture.

Recommended order:

3.1 RPC transport

Use:

IRpcTransport
    |
    v
Asio-based UDP transport

Move timeout handling toward:

asynchronous receive
asio::steady_timer
cancellation
explicit operation lifetime

Avoid mixing RPC state machines with low-level blocking recv() loops.

3.2 Raw Ethernet transport

Retain Linux AF_PACKET where required, but integrate the descriptor with Asio.

Target model:

Native AF_PACKET socket creation/configuration
                |
                v
asio::posix::stream_descriptor
                |
                v
Asynchronous readiness notification
                |
                v
Frame-oriented recv()

The protocol abstraction should remain frame-oriented.

3.3 DCP

Migrate DCP receive handling to the Asio-backed raw Ethernet transport.

3.4 Alarm reception

Move alarm receive loops toward Asio-managed descriptor readiness and cancellation.

3.5 Cyclic receive

Migrate cyclic receive handling after DCP and alarm transports are stable.

3.6 Cyclic transmit

Do not prematurely replace deterministic cyclic scheduling with an Asio timer.

First measure the existing timing behavior and establish real-device correctness.

Asio timers can be evaluated later if they meet the required timing characteristics.

Phase 4 — Configuration model

Strengthen the path:

GSDML
    |
    v
Device model
    |
    v
Selected configuration
    |
    v
Expected configuration
    |
    +--> ExpectedSubmoduleBlock
    |
    +--> IOCR configuration
    |
    +--> cyclic mapping

Goals:

eliminate duplicated module definitions
eliminate duplicated I/O lengths
validate configuration before network communication
provide clear diagnostics for invalid configurations
support the developing CLI workflow

Phase 5 — CLI

Develop a CLI suitable for operating and diagnosing the stack.

Potential capabilities:

discover devices
inspect DCP information
load and inspect GSDML
inspect available modules/submodules
select/configure I/O
establish AR
display AR state
start/stop cyclic communication
inspect cyclic statistics
inspect input/output data
receive alarms
perform acyclic read/write operations
release connections cleanly

The CLI should exercise the public controller API rather than duplicating protocol logic.

Phase 6 — Protocol hardening

Expand regression coverage for:

malformed Ethernet frames
truncated DCP packets
truncated RPC packets
malformed block lengths
unexpected block types
invalid nested lengths
invalid IOCR configurations
wrong transaction IDs
wrong source MAC addresses
wrong source UDP endpoints
rejected AR responses
socket failures
receive timeouts
cancellation during shutdown

Phase 7 — Tooling and CI

Strengthen automated quality gates with:

Clang builds
GoogleTest
GoogleMock
coverage
AddressSanitizer
UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer
ThreadSanitizer where practical
clang-tidy
clang-format verification
protocol regression validation tests
artifact collection for failures

The repository already contains CMake warning options and Clang-oriented preset configurations; the next step is ensuring these checks consistently protect protocol behavior.

Phase 8 — Performance

Only after correctness and interoperability are established.

Potential areas:

cyclic buffer reuse
allocation reduction
unnecessary copies
receive buffer ownership
frame construction
socket batching where appropriate
callback overhead
cyclic scheduling measurements

Correctness takes priority over micro-optimisation.

Caveats

Area	Current caveat	Impact	Recommended direction
AR establishment	Generic AR interoperability remains the highest-priority development area	Without a reliable AR, cyclic communication cannot be generally relied upon	Prioritize exact IODConnect, ExpectedSubmodule, IOCR and AlarmCR validation
IOCR	IOCR serialization and DataLength semantics are protocol-sensitive	Incorrect values can cause devices to reject AR establishment	Maintain exact byte-level regression validation tests and compare against captures
Cyclic RTC1	Real-device validation remains essential	Loopback/unit success does not prove interoperability	Validate against multiple physical devices and packet captures
Raw Ethernet	Layer-2 communication requires Linux capabilities	Deployment requires correct permissions	Use `CAP_NET_RAW`; avoid unnecessarily running applications as root
Linux packet sockets	`AF_PACKET` remains Linux-specific	Limits portability	Keep Linux-specific code behind meaningful transport boundaries
Asio migration	Migration is ongoing/architectural work	Mixing blocking and async models can complicate lifecycle management	Migrate incrementally: RPC, DCP, alarms, cyclic RX
Timing	Cyclic timing is sensitive	Generic event-loop timing may not satisfy all cyclic requirements	Measure before replacing dedicated scheduling
GSDML	Parsing is implemented, but configuration integration should continue to mature	Incorrect mapping can propagate into AR and IOCR configuration	Establish one configuration source of truth
Protocol serialization	Logical field correctness is insufficient	One incorrect byte or length can break interoperability	Prefer explicit serialization and exact regression validation tests
Parser robustness	All network input is potentially malformed	Unsafe parsing can cause crashes or invalid state	Validate every offset and length before reading
CLI	CLI functionality is under active development	Operational workflows are not yet fully consolidated	Build CLI on top of the public API
Device diversity	PROFINET devices may differ in accepted optional behavior	A flow working with one device may not be sufficiently generic	Test against multiple vendors and use captures as evidence

Design Principles

The stack should continue to follow these principles:

Explicit wire serialization

Do not rely on compiler structure layout for network protocols.

RAII

Sockets, descriptors, threads, timers and connection resources should have deterministic lifetime.

Meaningful ownership

Prefer std::unique_ptr when ownership is exclusive.

Avoid std::shared_ptr unless shared lifetime is genuinely required.

Meaningful interfaces

Interfaces should exist because they provide:

a real architectural boundary
testability
multiple transport implementations
lifecycle isolation

Do not add abstractions merely to increase abstraction.

C++20

Prefer:

std::span
std::string_view
constexpr
enum class
RAII
move semantics
explicit integer types
strong protocol types where they prevent accidental interchange

Protocol correctness first

For PROFINET:

Correct bytes
    >
Convenient abstraction
    >
Performance optimisation

Tests are first-class

Every protocol defect should result in a regression test.

Development Priorities

Current priority order:

Generic AR establishment
IOCR correctness
ExpectedSubmodule configuration correctness
Alarm CR correctness
Cyclic RTC1 interoperability
Robust AR rollback and release
GSDML-to-runtime configuration integration
Asio migration
CLI development
Protocol hardening and expanded golden tests
Performance optimisation

The most important success criterion is not simply that the stack builds or passes isolated unit tests.

The primary measure of success is:

A C++20 application can discover a real PROFINET IO-Device, derive or supply a valid configuration, establish a correct AR, complete parameterization, enter cyclic operation, exchange process data reliably, handle alarms and acyclic operations where configured, and release all resources deterministically.