Site planning and wireless network installation
January 2014
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
By Paul Hsu, Moxa product manager.
Building a wireless network can be quite an undertaking. Compared to wired networks, wireless networks require a great deal more planning to install and deploy. In addition to marked differences between wired and wireless LANs, there are currently no standardised procedures for wireless network planning and installation.
So before you begin site planning your network, you need to decide which technologies will be the most beneficial and whether or not consumer-grade products can meet the needs of your mission-critical application. This white paper explains the important factors you should consider in planning and installing a wireless network.
Why choose industrial wireless?
The convenience of connecting devices without the use of wires has led to the unprecedented success of wireless technologies in the consumer sector. Due to this success, these same technologies are beginning to appear in various other settings including industrial applications. Wireless technologies offer a number of key benefits including mobility, flexibility, wide coverage, and cost savings.
Mobility and efficiency: improved data communication leads to faster and more efficient transfer of information between people in your organisation, as well as between you and your customers. Members of your sales team, for example, can remotely check stock levels and prices while on a sales call.
Flexibility and easy relocation or expansion: in a factory setting, stationary systems can be connected over a wireless network to mobile subsystems or robots to achieve a level of connectivity that would otherwise be impossible. Furthermore, wireless technology can make it much simpler to gain temporary access to plant machinery for diagnostic or programming purposes.
Wider coverage: because wireless technology allows you to communicate wherever you are, you can send and receive information at any time without being limited by physical wires.
Saving time and money: wireless networks can be easier and cheaper to install and implement than wired networks. There is no need to purchase metres and metres of wire or to pay additional installation costs to wire your environment. The average time required to deploy a wireless solution is also significantly shorter than for a wired solution.
However, these advantages also come with additional factors you need to take into consideration when adopting wireless technologies in industrial applications.
Before installing your wireless network, consider the important factors associated with site planning. Download the full Moxa White Paper at http://instrumentation.co.za/+C18494
Further reading:
Comprehensive solutions for the food and beverage sector
RS South Africa
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
RS South Africa is reinforcing its commitment to the country’s dynamic food and beverage sector, backed by a comprehensive portfolio of over 800 000 products, extensive technical expertise and end-to-end service capabilities.
Read more...
Case History 198: Cascade control overcomes valve problems
Michael Brown Control Engineering
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
A large petrochemical refinery asked me to perform an audit on several critical base layer control loops. This article deals with a problem found on a valve controlling the flow of fuel to a heat exchanger.
Read more...
Improved networking technology for fire and gas detection
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Critical alarm and event management technology supplier, Omniflex has worked with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation to upgrade equipment providing digital and analogue signals for its safety critical fire and gas alarm systems.
Read more...
PC-based control for fertiliser
Beckhoff Automation
Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
On a farm in the USA, valuable ammonia is extracted from slurry and processed into ammonium sulphate. NSI Byosis has transformed this complex process into a flexible modular system. This modular approach requires an automation solution with flexible scalability in both hardware and software, which this Dutch company has found in PC-based control from Beckhoff.
Read more...
Loop signature 28: Things to consider when tuning.
Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
I was giving a course at a remote mine in the middle of the Namibian desert. We were discussing tuning responses, and as I always do on my courses, I mentioned that in my opinion ¼ amplitude damped tuning is not desirable, and is in fact not good.
Read more...
How industrial network design impacts ESG commitments
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
In safety-critical industries like nuclear, petrochemical and oil and gas, installing a new industrial cable network is an extremely complicated task. Gary Bradshaw, a director of industrial network specialist, Omniflex explains why this is often unnecessary as plants are likely to have existing cabling capable of being used to create new industrial networks.
Read more...
Minelert industrial solutions
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Profitek provides cutting-edge industrial networking, automation and IoT solutions for harsh environments.
Read more...
The ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The GW-101-LORA-4AO is the ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway, combining advanced IoT connectivity with expandable I/O.
Read more...
Industrial Power-over-Ethernet DC injector
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The ML-NET-INJECT series sets the standard for industrial PoE, featuring IP68-rated RJ45 connectors and military-grade components for extreme reliability.
Read more...
Industrial networking IO-Link
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Balluff IO-Link Network Modules enable seamless, intelligent communication between sensors, actuators and control systems. Designed for Industry 4.0, they provide real-time data exchange, simplify wiring, and enhance diagnostics.
Read more...
printer friendly version