Q: How to configure and debug the Linux network stack for real-time Ethernet applications?
Answer
For real-time Ethernet (IEEE 1588 PTP TSN): configure the network stack with proper socket buffers (net.core.rmem_max) and interrupt coalescing (ethtool -C). Use XDP (eXpress Data Path) for kernel bypass at the driver level. For PTP enable CONFIG_PTP_1588_CLOCK in kernel and use phc2sys for clock synchronization. Reduce latency by: disabling TCP checksum offload during development (ethtool -K rx off tx off) disabling interrupt moderation (ethtool -C 0 0) setting NIC ring buffer size (ethtool -G). Debug with perfetto or tcpdump with hardware timestamps. For cyclic real-time networking use TSN tools from the linuxptp project. For sub-100 us latency consider kernel bypass (DPDK/Solarflare OpenOnload).
Filed under: FAQ