What is the No. 1 concern when it comes to wireless solutions in the industrial world? While the answer might be debatable, if you’ve read some of my other blogs you know I feel passionately that it often comes down to one of two things – is it reliable enough and can I secure it?

In Part One of this series we explained how recent advances in technology and standards have revolutionized reliability for industrial wireless applications; they are no longer the Achilles heel of signal transmission. Specifically, Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP) as defined by IEC 62439, is helping in this revolution as it greatly improves wireless network performance in three important areas.

Several months ago we asked whether you have moved wireless projects off the back burner yet. The reason we asked is because new advances in technology and standards mean it’s probably time to take a fresh look at industrial wireless. One of the most common concerns about wireless for wide-ranging mission critical applications has always been – and still is – reliability. Will it work in your noisy environment? Will it be robust enough to ensure your data makes it to its destination? Can it ever provide you the assurance you need that it is stable enough?

Whether on the front burner or back burner, implementing wireless for your industrial application is probably somewhere on your stove top. Before you simmer, boil or decide to toss the whole concoction out, I urge you to take another look.

Looking back in time it might be fair to say that smoke signals used during America’s Wild West days were one of the original wireless communications. For their era, they were pretty effective. Sending information quickly across distances is still important. Traditionally, landlines and wired connectivity have provided the best communications solutions. If it is not possible to link systems by wires, communication has been very difficult, particularly for industrial applications.