Instrument Area Network

December 2019 Industrial Wireless

Modern plant managers and operations professionals can save time and money through a robust condition and preventative maintenance model enabled by wireless Instrument Area Network devices. Instrument Area Network from Schneider Electric is an ultra-reliable wireless sensor network that gives actionable insight into the condition of high-value assets, allowing users to best protect and optimise their operations.

System architecture

Instrument Area Network comprises physically separated wireless end nodes for measurement and control, wireless concentrators for relaying data to or from a plant area wireless network (upstream network), and an administrative node, which is a customer supplied user interface such as a tablet or smartphone with WiFi capability and a standard web browser.

Extended autonomy

Instrument Area Network is a unique IIoT solution that maximises battery life and optimises wireless mesh network data flow. The network of transmitters is enabled with ultra-low-power BLE (Bluetooth low energy) radios that provide increased reach into challenging areas, reducing power requirements and extending battery life and reliability.

Increased flexibility

Instrument Area Network increases free path communications and installation flexibility by communicating with installed sensors via a hybrid network of WirelessHART on the mesh and BLE at the local transmitter locations. Unlike other mesh networking solutions, the Instrument Area Network architecture optimises radio paths to ensure deterministic data flow through all network nodes.

Users gain efficiency, reliability and cost effectiveness with Schneider Electric’s Instrument Area Network through:

• Access to data points that were previously too costly to consider.

• Quick insight into asset health for more timely response and scheduled maintenance.

• Substantial cost savings through implementing a preventative wireless monitoring program.

Further reading:

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