Industrial Wireless as Mainstream Connection Method For Process Measurement

Establishing wireless connections for process control operations
is simple, effective, and inexpensive

Wireless connections to process instrumentation has evolved to a point where it is uncomplicated and inexpensive. Many facilities rely on wireless connections, either via a network (wifi) or point to point communications. The benefits of wireless are well known to those already among users of the technology.

• Safety: Wireless connections can reduce personnel exposure to hazardous environments or situations that previously required human intervention or a manual gauge or instrument reading.
• Easy Scale-up: Adding points on a network is generally a simple incremental process.
• Operational Advantage: When deployed to replace manual instrument or gauge readings, real time data for diagnostics and efficiency measurements are now available. Information that is more accurate, timely, and consistent will produce better results.
• Installation Savings: Installation of wireless connected assets has been reported to be up to 10 times less expensive than wired installation. The reduced space and planning for cables and conduit can make what were once complex and time consuming operations much quicker and easier.
• Mobility: Wireless technology allows for real time connections to mobile platforms. Whether within a plant, on the road, or on the high seas, there are wireless products that can make the connection.
• Distance: Don't just think WiFi, think radio, think satellite, think cellular. Connections can be established across very long distances using standard products from the industry.
• Conversion of Legacy Devices: Many existing in-place devices can have their wired connections replaced with a wireless version. This accommodates a staged transition from wired to wireless in facility.

The transmission is accomplished in either the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz band, delivering adequate range and power for most facility-wide applications. Obstructions can be overcome with the use of a strategically located repeater. Properly planned and configured, there are few limits to the distance a wireless connection can span.

Point to point wireless connections between, for example, a temperature transmitter and a recorder are easy to create. Most process sensors have very small power requirements, as do the Analynk transmission units. Power, if line voltage is not available at the location, can be provided by batteries, or combination of battery and photovoltaic. The 4-20 mA signal from the temperature transmitter serves as the input signal to the wireless transmitter. The analog signal is converted to a digital value and encrypted prior to transmission. A receiver at the recorder decrypts the digital signal and converts it back to a 4-20 mA analog output that serves as the input signal to the recorder. Wireless transmitter and receiver must be set to the same channel, but otherwise, the equipment handles all the work. If you can find your way around a smart phone, you can make a wireless point to point process connection.

There are likely many applications going unfulfilled because the cost or feasibility of making a wired connection is holding the project back. Reconsider the project using industrial wireless technology and you may find that the project becomes an attractive prospect.

Analynk Wireless designs and manufactures wireless communication equipment and systems for use in commercial and industrial settings. Share your connectivity challenges with the experts at Analynk, combining your own process knowledge and experience with their wireless communications expertise to develop an effective solution.

Wireless Communications Deliver Real Time Process Data From Remote Operating Sites

No distance is too near or far for industrial wireless
communications

Oil is where you find it, with many prospecting and production sites located where the communication options taken for granted in developed areas do not exist. Oil is big and serious business, with tremendous sums of money at risk on the prospect of reaping even greater returns. Every business operation, though, is of great importance to the stakeholders. Countless operations in little known industries and endeavors are located beyond the boundaries of modern communications infrastructure. 

If you want a data connection, bring your own.

Remote operating sites, whether for oil extraction or other purposes, will often be automated. Some decision making system or individual is responsible for the safe and effective operation of the remote site, or has a use or need for real time data being gathered at the remote site. Radio transmission is a viable, maybe the best, option for delivering real time data from a remote site to a central office.

• Transmission options for 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, cellular, and satellite systems are readily available.
• Equipment operates on low voltage, low power. Suitable for solar or other remote site power source.
• No special instrumentation needed. Radio transmitting and receiving equipment interfaces directly with analog signals from common industrial process transmitters.
• No "across the land" cabling needed.
• Equipment can be configured to resist extreme environmental conditions.

Analynk manufactures transmission and receiving equipment that builds the bridge between remote sites and the home office. From elemental componentry to integrated, ready to run systems, Analynk specializes in wireless communications for industrial process control. Contact us with your wireless challenges. Whether an expansive multipoint, or a single point application, the specialists at Analynk can combine standard or customized products into a practical solution for every application.

Wireless Communications For Process Control

The incidence of wireless connections between process measurement devices and their monitoring and control stations has been expanding for years, with costs receding and performance increasing. Designers, engineers, and operators of industrial processes and facilities continue to find new applications and create continuous wireless connections to devices and equipment that were previously isolated by distance or other barriers. They are also saving cost, promoting flexibility, and reducing "clutter" in facilities by eliminating cables, conduits, and junction boxes previously used to transmit measurement signals between instruments and control or recording gear.

Analynk Wireless builds the wireless transmission and receiving equipment needed to establish connections among your process measurement and control equipment and instruments. Transmitters, receivers, and repeaters that are rugged and uncomplicated in their application. Share your wireless connectivity challenges with the experts at Analynk, combining your process knowledge with their technical expertise to develop an effective solution.

Outlook for 2016

At Analynk, we are wrapping up a very good year, and extend our sincere thanks to our customers, vendors, and others that have supported our continued growth and success in the industrial wireless communications field.

We brought several new products to the market this year, including some new versions of the Hazardous Area Wireless Access Point Enclosure and our patented Explosion Proof Antenna. The coming months will see the release of some new products we have been working on this past year. Stay connected with us and you will be among the first to know about them.

We hope your year was as good as ours, and wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and prosperous New Year.