Reliable wireless Ethernet communication in utility and industrial automation.
In today’s automated world, communication infrastructure is central to the operation and should have the highest available amount of uptime. Old style communication typically made use of serial protocols and was limited in terms of distance and throughput. Category 5 UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable is common for its simplicity, pricing and operating span up to 100 metres according to IEEE. For communication further than 100 m fibre-optic cable would typically be used, which can span up to 90 km. Pricing, including installation, does become a consideration however.
Fibre is one of the best communication platforms for full duplex communication in high interference (EMI) environments. What can be done if it is not feasible to install fibre on a particular route due to cost or other constraints? In certain circumstances, wireless is the correct alternative. There are different forms of wireless communication available to suit the requirements of the application at hand.
IEEE802.11 a/b/g is the typical form of wireless standard found today due to its ease of use and lack of licensing requirements. The biggest downfall of wireless is that it relies on a shared medium – free space – for propagation. On cable/fibre, full duplex operation is possible. Wireless makes use of a technique called CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access collision avoidance), which by design does not allow two wireless hosts to transmit and receive simultaneously as in a dull duplex environment. This reduces throughput, but speeds up to 54 Mb/s are still possible. There is a fairly new standard – IEEE802.11n – which has double the throughput but it is not yet popular for mission-critical networks. Industrial vendors realise this and new hardware should see the standard become more popular in the future.
Before installing wireless for a mission-critical system a site survey should be conducted with a spectrum analyser to determine:
* Whether there are any interfering signals at the frequency that is to be used.
* Whether the line-of-sight distance will be sufficient or whether a line-of-sight access point will be required. (Depending on environmental surroundings, line-of-sight should reach up to 1,5 km.)
Only then can the best choice of wireless technology for the application be made, with Ruggedcom’s Zero Packet Loss Technology being one of the options for high EMI environments.
If distances further than 1,5 km are required for communication this is possible, but usually requires a licence from ICASA – the local telecommunications regulator. WiMAX is typically used for mission-critical communication or for long distances up to 12 km. Having to license a WiMAX frequency helps to ensure no other source will generate an interfering signal.
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