WINA PRESENTS: WIRELESS NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES - CO-EXISTENCE AND COMPATIBILITY

Wireless networking technologies are gaining rapid acceptance in the industrial automation market because of the ability to lower costs, use energy and materials more efficiently, improve process safety, and guarantee compliance. Example applications include monitoring equipment health, giving workers easy access to information from anywhere in the plant.

But concerns abound as to the ability for all these new wireless solutions to peacefully co-exist with one another, and for end users to feel confident that the RF technologies employed are compatible. These concerns include the potential for radio frequency (RF) interference between various wireless technologies – such as radios using the IEEE 802.11b/g and IEEE 802.15.4 protocols – and the possibility that the reliability of essential communications will be adversely affected.

Until recently, research on this issue has focused on static channel operation of both radio types. Information has not been available on real-world coexistence of devices using more recent advancements such as channel hopping and mesh network technology.

This webinar explored standards-based wireless architectures and the advancements made to provide high levels of communication reliability at both the field-network and plant-network levels. The results of extensive testing of multiple applications within these architectures have shown that these technologies can and do coexist very well even under the most difficult circumstances.