Abstract
In this paper, a novel Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for industrial Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) is proposed and studied. The main challenge in industry automation systems is the ultra-low network latency with a target upper bound in the order of 1 ms while maintaining high network reliability and availability. The novelty of the proposed wireless MAC protocol resides in its similar latency performance as its counterpart in wired industrial LAN. First, the functional design of the MAC protocol is introduced. Then its performance results gained from hardware implementation (SystemC and VHDL) on an FPGA platform are presented. Finally, a real-time communication module which achieves the ultra-low latency required in industrial automation is described.
Highlights
The recent advances in wireless networking have witnessed the emergence of new wireless applications in different areas of the society
The novelty of the proposed wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol resides in its similar latency performance as its counterpart in wired industrial Local Area Networks (LAN)
The real challenge of the wireless automation is the traffic structure: packet size is quite low, packet loss rate shall be in the order of 10−9, and traffic is very regular
Summary
The recent advances in wireless networking have witnessed the emergence of new wireless applications in different areas of the society. It is built on an existing PHY layer Both protocols are based on the “CSMA/CA” (carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance) principle, which does not really allow fast channel access (i.e. low latency) due to the “Listen before Talk” requirement. A high-reliability and ultra-low-latency wireless MAC protocol for industry automation applications is proposed and studied. Our solution is a wireless extension of the wired Field Bus systems used in the industry automation to support easy device installation and mobility It is named DEAL MAC and is the core part of a large collaborative research project called DEAL, which is a German acronym standing for “Drahtlose zuverlässige Echtzeitkommunikation für Automatisierung, Produktion und Logistik in der Industrie” (in English: “Wireless Reliable Real-time Communications for Automation, Production and Logistics in Industry”) [11] [12].
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