A wireless gateway for fieldbus

Abstract

We study wireless communications within the context of industrial applications [Gerla and Lessard 1994]. The question of interest is whether or not wireless connections can be used for accessing distant sensors and actuators through fieldbus [Pleinevaux and Decotignie 1993]. The question of interest is where the bandwidth of available wireless connections allows access to distant sensors/actuators through a fieldbus protocol. The paper describes a gateway design for the extension of a FIP standard fieldbus through a narrowband radio channel. The performance limit is evaluated and an example given for a 9600 bps channel.