Wireless I/O systems are gaining in popularity as plant operators understand the benefits of costs, reliability and flexibility associated with switching from traditional wiring. Moore Industries has responded to this trend by developing and marketing innovative wireless I/O products such as the WNM Wireless Network Module, which brings wireless functionality to distributed I/O systems such as the NCS NET Concentrator System®.

Moore Industries has created a new YouTube video highlighting the advantages of wireless I/O and the benefits of using our WNM. Now available at Interface Solution Video Library, journalist and industry expert Peter Welander shows how the WNM Wireless Network Module from Moore Industries provides a robust and versatile wireless I/O solution.

Using straight talk and animated diagrams, Welander explains how the WNM works in a Point-to-Point System to send wireless signals from a Remote to a Master or in a Point-to-Multipoint System with multiple WNM units configured as repeaters to relay signals when a direct line of sight does not exist between a Master and Remote module or to significantly extend the transmission distance allowable within a WNM network. After watching the video, you'll have a better understanding about how the WNM can extend a plant's control and monitoring system.

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The EDS-210A series 10-port industrial Ethernet unmanaged switches provide up to 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and are ideal for applications that require high-bandwidth data convergence. In particular, the EDS-210A-1GSFP-1SFP is equipped with 1 Gigabit fiber SFP slot, whereas the EDS-210A-1GTX-1GSFP-4SFP is equipped with 1 Gigabit fiber SFP slot and 1 Gigabit copper port.

The EDS-210A unmanaged switches are also equipped with multiple 100M ports, up to 4 100BaseSFP slots, and 8 100BaseTX copper ports for maximum flexibility in port combinations and long-distance communications.  The EDS-210A series provides 12/24/48 VDC redundant power inputs, rugged IP30-rated metal housing, DIN rail mounting, and high level EMI/EMC capability. In addition to its compact size for space-saving installation, each EDS-210A has passed a 100% burn-in test to ensure its quality. Moreover, the EDS-210A series has an operating temperature range of -10 to the 60°C with wide temperature (-40 to 75°C) models also available.

All of these features make the EDS-210A ideal for applications that require high-bandwidth transmission and data converge for uplink, such as video surveillance, tolling systems, ITS, and factory automation..

A group of nationally recognized industrial communications experts helped attendees at ISA’s 2013 Communications Division Symposium, held last week in Washington, D.C., sort out the maze of communications-related changes and challenges occurring in the marketplace.

Highlighted by a workshop on passive wireless sensor technologies, the symposium provided an opportunity to explore—and provide sought-after perspective on—new trends, equipment, software and protocols involved with transmitting, reporting and processing real-time data.

Delivering critical insight and facilitating a brisk exchange of questions, answers and ideas was a group of renowned subject matter experts and technical contributors comprised by: Peter Fuhr, Ph.D., scientist at the Measurement Science and Systems Engineering (MSSE) Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Wayne Manges, program manager at the ORNL; Ian Verhappen, director of Industrial Automation Networks, Inc.; Larry O’Brien, Fieldbus Foundation Global Marketing manager; Dan Sexton of RF Instrumentation and Systems Laboratory at GE Global Research; George Studor, senior project engineer for technology applications in the Structural Engineering Division at the Johnson Space Center; and Penny Chen, Ph.D., of Yokogawa Corporation of America.

Specific session topics covered at the symposium, which was sponsored by the ISA Communications Division, included industrial wireless, supervisory control and data acquisition, Smart Grid, wireless backhaul networks, fieldbuses (including the latest developments in FDT and FDI), field network troubleshooting, industrial Ethernet and cybersecurity.  The symposium also served as the venue for a meeting of the ISA100 Committee, which establishes standards, recommended practices, technical reports, and related information that define technologies and procedures for implementing wireless systems in the automation and control environment.

ISA’s third Passive Wireless Sensor Workshop, which also was held in conjunction with the symposium, brought developers, manufacturers and potential end-users together to examine passive wireless sensor technologies and their practical applications.

The keynote speaker at workshop was Donald C. Malocha, a Pegasus-Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Malocha, a member emeritus of the Electronics Industries Association (EIA) who has authored more than 200 technical publications and been awarded 12 patents, discussed his latest research initiatives in solid-state devices, surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technology, sensors and wireless radio frequency identification systems.

“The workshop added significantly to the excellent set of contacts for and reference material on passive wireless sensor technology that can be used as an alternative to wired connectivity,” reports George Studor, the senior project engineer at the Johnson Space Center who specializes in in-space wireless health monitoring and inspection systems. “I believe it made all participantsmore aware of how wireless sensors are changing almost every aspect of our world. We are on the verge of something very big when sensors can be ‘stamped out’ just like cell phone components, when every cell phone in the world can be used to interrogate passive sensors of all types, and when every cell phone tower can be used to collect data from tens of thousands of nodes located all over a city.”

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that its subsidiary Yokogawa America do Sul Ltda. has signed a partnership agreement with Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) on the evaluation of field wireless technology based on the ISA100.11a*1 industrial automation wireless communications standard.

Through this partnership, Yokogawa will provide Petrobras technical support on the use of field wireless communications and have the opportunity to demonstrate its field wireless products at this company’s test plant. To broaden the use of ISA100.11a-compliant products and related services in plant-wide wireless communications applications, Yokogawa is aggressively promoting its “Wireless Anywhere” business concept. Petrobras, on the other hand, wishes to gather more data about the use of this technology in its production processes with the aim of assessing wireless communication robustness and performance. In so doing, it will be able to properly apply this technology and fully explore its benefits.

Yokogawa will provide Petrobras technical support in the area of field wireless communications. Our wealth of knowledge and experience in this field will allow Petrobras to accelerate the introduction of this technology at its facilities.  Yokogawa will also support the Petrobras technology development and application group in the conduct of large scale tests of field wireless systems at a Petrobras test plant. Data on device installation conditions and system configuration as well as insights into user needs that are acquired through these tests will be used to advance Yokogawa’s development and promotion of field wireless products.

The ISA100.11a standard ensures high reliability, application flexibility, network expandability, and compatibility with a variety of wired communication standards such as FOUNDATION™ fieldbus, HART®, and PROFIBUS. “ISA100.11a full functional” field wireless network systems and devices make use of state-of-the-art dual redundant technologies that enable a much higher level of reliability, and allow massive scalability and long-range communications.