Different ways to communicate wirelessly

Different ways to communicate wirelessly

Radios, radiating cables, antennas and many accessories: ProSoft Technology provides to its customers all kind of industrial communication solutions, along with support, training & consultancy services.

Being able to extract important data from the field, from I/O or from all kind of sensors, is essential for companies who intend to follow the concept of “Industry 4.0.” However, we all know that wires are one of the major obstacles for connecting equipment to a network in order to transmit the right data. If the application is inside a building, you will have to manage ducts and cables to reach the devices you want to connect to. And most of the time, this is very complex and expensive to put in place. For the outside applications, we need to dig trenches and bury cables first – so if there is a road to cross, it will generate extra costs for permits and waste a lot of time. You can also face another frequent issue: Locations of pumps, generators or chillers along the route may prevent the laying of the cables.

ProSoft Technology offers complete solutions to simplify the installation of your communication system, which allows you to access any equipment in the field, remotely, using any Web browser.

Andrea Mazzucchelli, Regional Sales Manager for Mediterranean countries at ProSoft Technology, has been interview by "Fieldbus and Networks". He shares his expertise about wireless products:

Question: Every day, we hear about the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the connections between all the buildings and equipment of a plant: How can someone combine the “old” wired application with this new trend?

Andrea Mazzucchelli: ProSoft Technology has always been customer-oriented: We search and develop new industrial communication solutions to help old factories or wired factories migrate. For example, the AN-X2 series of migration gateways was created especially to allow communication between old protocols and devices and the new generation of Ethernet devices.

Q: What will be the key technologies for wiring in industry?

AM: The Industrial Internet of Things concept is now a strong trend that will prevail over any other Ethernet fieldbus protocol. Every new-generation gateway provides or will soon provide Ethernet connectivity, and this path will be consolidated over the next 10 years.

Q: What will be the status of the wireless development?

AM: Wireless networks are becoming increasingly fast and powerful in terms of “data rate” and “power consumption” with new opportunities with the 802.11ac standard. The cloud platforms are also be increasing, to allow remote connections from everywhere in the world. Safety and ease of use are still key factors.

To read the whole interview in Italian, click here!

Source: Fieldbus and Networks, original article written by Ilaria De Poli