Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0

With the deployment of data-driven assembly and production factories, challenges arise in sensor data acquisition and gathering. Different wireless technologies are currently used for transferring data, each with different advantages and constraints. In this paper, we present a hybrid network archit...

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Main Authors: Brecht De Beelde, David Plets, Wout Joseph
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-11-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/23/11248
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author Brecht De Beelde
David Plets
Wout Joseph
author_facet Brecht De Beelde
David Plets
Wout Joseph
author_sort Brecht De Beelde
collection DOAJ
description With the deployment of data-driven assembly and production factories, challenges arise in sensor data acquisition and gathering. Different wireless technologies are currently used for transferring data, each with different advantages and constraints. In this paper, we present a hybrid network architecture for providing Quality of Service (QoS) in an industrial environment where guaranteed minimal data rates and maximal latency are of utmost importance for controlling devices and processes. The location of the access points (APs) is determined during the initial network-planning action, together with physical parameters such as frequency, transmit power, and modulation and coding schemes. Instead of performing network-planning just once before the network rollout, the network is monitored continuously by adding telemetry data to the frame header of all data streams, and the network is automatically reconfigured in real-time if the requirements are not met. By not using maximum transmit powers during the initial roll-out, more APs are needed, but coverage is guaranteed when new obstructions such as metallic racks or machinery are added. It is found that decreasing the transmit power by 6 dB gives the best trade-off between the number of required APs and network robustness. The proposed architecture is validated via simulations and via a proof-of-concept setup.
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spelling doaj.art-ecc3b1e2f4f44349bc70866414a6dc692023-11-23T02:04:59ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-11-0111231124810.3390/app112311248Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0Brecht De Beelde0David Plets1Wout Joseph2Department of Information Technology, Ghent University/IMEC, 9052 Ghent, BelgiumDepartment of Information Technology, Ghent University/IMEC, 9052 Ghent, BelgiumDepartment of Information Technology, Ghent University/IMEC, 9052 Ghent, BelgiumWith the deployment of data-driven assembly and production factories, challenges arise in sensor data acquisition and gathering. Different wireless technologies are currently used for transferring data, each with different advantages and constraints. In this paper, we present a hybrid network architecture for providing Quality of Service (QoS) in an industrial environment where guaranteed minimal data rates and maximal latency are of utmost importance for controlling devices and processes. The location of the access points (APs) is determined during the initial network-planning action, together with physical parameters such as frequency, transmit power, and modulation and coding schemes. Instead of performing network-planning just once before the network rollout, the network is monitored continuously by adding telemetry data to the frame header of all data streams, and the network is automatically reconfigured in real-time if the requirements are not met. By not using maximum transmit powers during the initial roll-out, more APs are needed, but coverage is guaranteed when new obstructions such as metallic racks or machinery are added. It is found that decreasing the transmit power by 6 dB gives the best trade-off between the number of required APs and network robustness. The proposed architecture is validated via simulations and via a proof-of-concept setup.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/23/11248network-planningsensor networkswireless communicationIIoTPHY layerMAC layer
spellingShingle Brecht De Beelde
David Plets
Wout Joseph
Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0
Applied Sciences
network-planning
sensor networks
wireless communication
IIoT
PHY layer
MAC layer
title Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0
title_full Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0
title_fullStr Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0
title_full_unstemmed Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0
title_short Wireless Sensor Networks for Enabling Smart Production Lines in Industry 4.0
title_sort wireless sensor networks for enabling smart production lines in industry 4 0
topic network-planning
sensor networks
wireless communication
IIoT
PHY layer
MAC layer
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/23/11248
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