IIOT Wireless

Wireless IOT = M2M + End Point technology

Using WIreless to connect to the real world is so commonplace now, there are complete technology methods for almost an device now.

There are the various standards that exist ZigBee point to point, and also Zigbee mesh, Wifi is very common plus Bluetooth.

All these wireless methods used 2.4 or 5GHZ connections which have relatively short range

In NZ and Aus you can use 433 MHZ, 900MHZ for longer distances

Once the RF Method is decided, it is necessary to find the manufacturer that makes the correct IOT hardware with IO built in.

IIOT adds another layer in that it defines the wirless and software services requires for building an IIOT system.

So MQTT is the standard for getting data in to and out of sites and into Industrial Controllers, Servers and Clouds transparently with little programming.

For example you have a Linux based IIOT Controller appliance and it wants to link wirelessly to a remote site to do some IO. What is required is an appropriate Wireless system to an IIOT endpoint.

MasTec has this type of technology. IIOT Linux Appliances and even Edge Computers, the Wireless IOT and end points.

End Point is as it says – at the end of the transmission thread and is the interface to the real world system being monitored or controlled.

End Points therefore can be almost any device. Some examples:

• A CCTV camera
• An RTU on Modbus RS-232
• A Monitored Alarm
• Building Control system
• An Embedded microprocessor in a xyz machine
• A Zigbee Wireless Temperature probe
• A Pump Controller
• A Level Switch
• An Irrigation controller
• A Security sensor
• An Swipe card access point
• A PAC System in a factory
• A DAQ system at the end of an Ethernet or Wireless link
• A remote reboot system
• IT Room temperature monitoring and alarm
• A controlled and monitored Hot Water cylinder in a house
• A Remote Alternative Power System with Solar panels and Wind Turbine

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Connections to Endpoints

These can be localised Serial or USB or even DSL Broadband, but are most commonly by Wireless Mesh, Wifi, Direct RF, 3G etc.

One of the most common end point connection is with Zigbee Mesh, with hundreds of endpoints. A good example is a Zigbee Mesh in a suburb reading electricity meters and controlling load.

A system like this will have DAQ or Controller End Points feeding into Zigbee Mesh, exiting via a 3G or WiFi Wireless Gateway, where all the data is concentrated and then sent via a router function to a corprorate server running an SQL database and from there to billing software and load centers etc.

When the corporation wants to push control info out through the system into the Mesh and turn hot water and air conditioners off or on, this is done by a Zigbee Mesh Switching End Point.

End points can be single inputs or outputs. These types of End points are single function and hard wired and can’t be adjusted, reprogrammed or reflashed remotely, they just get plugged in and do a simple task, say read a temperature, or close a switch, or read humidity or read a tank level.

Other End Points, and this is a growing trend, are smart, programmable, remotely configurable, firmware flash upgrades remotely or over the air if it is radio.

Powerful End points have all of this but also have the ability to be autonomous if the comms link is lost and these End Points will continue to do their job monitoring and log data until comms is recovered.

Programmable and Autonomous End Points

The next progression for End Point development is a device that has all the previous features but adds the ability to monitor and control locally using a program installed. It will be autonomous or stand alone but can be adjustable remotely for new set points. The new Zigbee programmable Mesh IO units have this.

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Multitasking & Multipersonailty End Points

The most sophisicated End Points are multitasking, multipersonailty end points that can do several jobs at the same time. This is just more software and larger micros, and are available.

The current trend with end points

Data from End Points feed to a either a IIOT Edge Computer or systems and from there to a cloud based database with clients having access to this data.

Alarms from the End Point can be managed by the Cloud Database System. Alarms will generate SMS or email response. Data can be sent by ftp if needed.

However for critical sites, sophisicated endpoints will generate SMS directly, by-passing the cloud, if the cloud is down