Investigation of the Optimal Scheduling Problem in Deterministic Passive Optical Networks for Industrial Applications

Passive Optical Networks (PONs) are emerging as a key technology for industrial networks, offering high bandwidth, low latency, and cost-efficient scalability. These features make PONs particularly suitable for time- sensitive applications such as process automation, robotics, and safety-critical systems. However, traditional scheduling methods often neglect the impact of propagation delays, a critical factor in ensuring deterministic communication, especially in asymmetric network topologies. In this work, we formulate an optimization problem for message scheduling in PONs that explicitly accounts for propagation delays, addressing a key limitation of existing approaches. Simulations demonstrate that our method significantly improves bandwidth utilization while eliminating message contention. In contrast, approaches that overlook propagation delays suffer from resource conflicts and degraded performance, particularly in scenarios with asymmetric communication paths. Our findings establish a robust framework for leveraging PONs in industrial environments with stringent real-time requirements, enhancing both reliability and efficiency.