Wireless Market Consolidation

Back to business. I thought wireless sensor networks would be a big boost of creativity and new business in our market. There's been some--but not much business for magazines since the business model seems to be selling. Here is a representative article I've found about Arch Rock selling to Cisco. Supposedly for the connected smart grid work going on. I've interviewed the founders and technical people at Arch Rock in the past. I guess not so much now.

Another Milestone for WirelessHart

The Hart Communication Foundation has announced that the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) has approved the WirelessHart specification as a European National Standard (EN 62591). CEN released the standard to CENELEC, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, whose members are the national electrotechnical committees of 31 European countries. CENELEC approved the WirelessHART European Standard on 01 June 2010.

“In March, the WirelessHart specification was approved by the International Electrotechnical Commission as a full international standard (IEC 62591Ed. 1.0),” says Ron Helson, Executive Director of the Hart Communication Foundation. “Approval as a European National Standard further confirms acceptance of the technology by users and suppliers as a technically sound, reliable and secure solution for wireless communication in process automation.”

The IEC Standard was approved by CENELEC as a European Standard without any modification. According to the announcement of approval issued by CENELEC, “members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration”.

A growing number of WirelessHart compatible products are available today from major global suppliers including ABB, Emerson, Endress+Hauser, MACTek, Nivis, Phoenix Contact, Pepperl+Fuchs, Siemens and others.

Released in September 2007, WirelessHart is an open and interoperable wireless communication standard designed to address the critical needs of industry for reliable, robust and secure wireless communication in real-time industrial process measurement and control applications.

WirelessHart is a backward compatible, evolutionary enhancement to the Hart Communication Protocol, the leading communication technology for intelligent process measurement and control field devices and systems with more than 30 million devices installed and operating in process plant applications around the globe.

The CEN was founded in 1961. Its 30 national members work together to develop European Standards (ENs) in various sectors to build a European internal market for goods and services and to position Europe in the global economy. CENELEC is a non-profit technical organization set up under Belgian law. CENELEC members have been working together in the interests of European harmonization since the 1950s, creating both standards requested by the market and harmonized standards in support of European legislation.

The Hart Communication Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit membership organization that provides global support for the application of Hart technology. The Foundation is the technology owner, standards setting body and central authority on the Hart Communication Protocol, establishing and controlling new technology developments and enhancements that support the needs of the process automation industry. Founded in 1993, Foundation membership includes more than 230 companies worldwide.

IP based wireless adopted for data center sensors

Here's another example of using wireless sensor networks to easily implement data gathering. IBM's Systems Director Active Energy Manager (AEM) will support Arch Rock's PhyNet IP (Internet protocol)-based wireless sensor network technology to monitor and manage energy usage in corporate data centers. The integrated products, now available, will transmit a set of power and thermal data gathered by strategically-placed Arch Rock wireless sensors. The data will be displayed on the AEM Web interface, presenting users with a comprehensive view of their data centers' energy consumption and environmental health.

Arch Rock's IP-based PhyNet platform implements a tiered, scalable wireless sensor network architecture that includes what Arch Rock calls "the first WSN router," interconnecting IETF 6LoWPAN wireless mesh networks with IPv4 or IPv6 enterprise networks.


Getting Wireless Together

I knew it would happen, and here it is already. While some moan about the fact that ISA rejected the existing WirelessHart standard as it adopted its ISA100.11a standard (still awaiting ANSI acceptance the last I heard), I knew that this was just an opportunity for networking companies to build interoperable devices that would help end users implement the systems they wanted.

So, Apprion has announced a new version of its IONizer industrial wireless networking appliance that seamlessly integrates wireless sensor network gateways based on either ISA100.11a or WirelessHart standards with 802.11 (WiFi) radios to support other industrial wireless applications such as mobility, location, video, and communications and to enable efficient backhaul of sensor data wirelessly.

"Without standards like ISA100 and WirelessHart, creating scalable applications based on wireless sensor networks would create islands of automation that would never deliver their full potential value," said Doug Donzelli, Apprion's President and CEO. “The only way wireless applications get traction in the industrial world is through the adoption of appropriate standards and the integration of those standards through platforms like our ION System that allow these wireless sensor networks to deliver data to the full range of operational, safety, and security applications."

As Apprion describes its system: IONizers supporting ISA100 and WirelessHart wireless sensor networks are integrated with the Apprion IONosphere as part of Apprion’s ION System. This integration allows transmission of real-time sensor data from devices instrumented with ISA100 or WirelessHart sensors to the ION Condition Monitoring application. Combine the ION Condition Monitoring application with other ION applications such as ION Video and/or ION Asset Tracking to create operational dashboards customized to each individual’s role in the plant. Integrate ION Applications with other applications to provide manufacturing facilities with a single, customizable interface that uniquely meets the application requirements for safety, security, engineering, logistics, and maintenance personnel.

As the two wireless sensor networks gain traction, expect other suppliers to release products designed to get them to work together at some level.

NAMUR Confirms WirelessHart

NAMUR, an international user association of 121 member companies in the chemical/pharmaceutical processing industry, confirms that WirelessHart technology meets the requirements for wireless sensor networks in process applications. After conducting an extensive multi-vendor field test, NAMUR reports that WirelessHart Communication provides the flexibility, security, robust performance, coexistence with other radio technologies and device interoperability within a WirelessHART network that its members should expect.

The NAMUR field test used WirelessHart products from ABB, Emerson Process Management, Endress+Hauser, MACTek, Pepperl+Fuchs and Siemens to evaluate and verify WirelessHart compliance with NAMUR Recommendation NE124, "Requirements for Wireless Automation" and NAMUR Working Document NA115, "IT Security for Process Automation Systems." The field test conducted at the BASF facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany, included laboratory evaluation of performance characteristics and several implementations in operating process plant environments.

"Our tests prove that WirelessHart is an appropriate technology for applications within the NAMUR use class 'Monitoring' for wireless sensor networks," reports Martin Schwibach, Senior Automation Manager for BASF and Chairman of the NAMUR AK4.15 Wireless Automation Working Group responsible for the field test. "WirelessHart technology provides a good alternative where wired networks are too expensive or too difficult to install. This field test verified the alignment of the WirelessHart standard with the NAMUR requirements for wireless automation in process applications."

"We are delighted that the NAMUR field test showed WirelessHart meets user needs," says Hart Communication Foundation Executive Director Ron Helson. "Other user installations have also proven the capabilities of WirelessHart, a technology designed specifically for process applications that builds on experience gained with millions of wired Hart devices installed around the world. We look forward to working with NAMUR and others to continue improving the technology and extend its benefits to even more users worldwide."