Cyber-Physical Co-Design of Wireless Control Systems

Wireless sensor-actuator network (WSAN) technology is gaining rapid adoption in process industries because of its advantages in lowering deployment and maintenance cost in challenging environments. While early success of industrial WSANs has been recognized, significant potential remains in exploring WSANs as unified networks for industrial plants. This thesis research explores a cyber-physical co-design approach to design wireless control systems. To enable holistic studies of wireless control systems, we have developed the Wireless Cyber-Physical Simulator (WCPS), an integrated co-simulation environment that integrates Simulink and our implementation of WSANs based on the industrial WirelessHART standard. We further develop novel WSAN protocols tailored for advanced control designs for networked control systems. WCPS now works as the first simulator that features both linear and nonlinear physical plant models, state-of-art WirelessHART protocol stack, and realistic wireless network characteristics. A realistic wireless structural control study sheds light on the challenges of WSC and the limitations of a traditional structural control approach under realistic wireless conditions. Systematic emergency control results demonstrate that our real-time emergency communication approach enables timely emergency handling, while allowing regular feedback control loops to effectively share resources in WSANs during normal operations. A co-joint study of wireless routing and control highlights the importance of the co-design approach of wireless networks and control

Spectrum handoff strategy for cognitive radio-based Mac in industrial wirless sensor and actuator networks

In this thesis, a Cognitive Radio(CR)-based MAC for Industrial Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network (IWSAN) applications is proposed. IWSANs are typically used for closed-loop control applications, and they demand strict requirements in terms of time and robustness. Low latency and low error rates are required in order not to endanger persons or machinery. Moreover, these applications operate in industrial environments such as factories or transport scenarios (as aeronautics or railway) where multipath fading and shadowing are present due to metal surfaces. Furthermore, interference from other communication systems or industrial machinery is also common in these environments. The proposed MAC, based on the CR paradigm, is capable of ensuring time and robustness requirements in industrial channels. In the process of designing the CR-based MAC for IWSAN applications, a comparison between several non-CR-based MACs and CR-based MACs has been carried out. This comparison, which allows stating the benefits of CR for these applications, is presented in this thesis. The performance of every MAC is determined theoretically using Network Calculus, and it is validated through OPNET simulations. CR solutions, due to their adaptability characteristics, are capable of avoiding interference and ensuring robustness in industrial environments. However, none of the selected MACs are capable of ensuring robustness without comprising time requirements, since interference is avoided but not in a bounded time. On the other hand, the MAC proposed in this thesis is capable of avoiding interference ensuring time and robustness requirements at the same time. This MAC is therefore suitable for IWSAN applications. To ensure a deterministic behavior against interference, a novel handoff algorithm, which detects interference and hops to another channel, has been proposed. This algorithm has been designed to be used jointly with one of the evaluated MACs. The detection of the interference and the hop to another channel is done in a bounded time, because the proposed algorithm detects interference while the system is transmitting. The performance of this proposal is evaluated using Network Calculus and OPNET simulations, and the results are compared with the system without the proposed handoff algorithm. The comparison of the results shows how the evaluated MAC is only capable of ensuring both time and robustness requirements when the proposed handoff strategy is used. Moreover, the spectrum sensing algorithm used to obtain information about the environment is delved and its performance is measured through MATLAB simulations. An energy detector has been chosen due to its simplicity. Also, a cyclostationary Modulation Classifier is presented and a simplification has been carried out allowing its implementation on real hardware. The Modulation Classifier is capable of distinguishing between OFDM, QPSK and GFSK signals. The performance of the algorithm is presented in this thesis for different signals and for different receiver impairments such as frequency offset, DC offset and I/Q imbalance. Finally, a cognitive platform to validate the spectrum sensing algorithms is presented. This platform has been designed using a Xilinx Virtex 6 FPGA by a working group composed of researchers from IK4-Ikerlan and Mondragon Unibertsitatea. The platform, which uses both spectrum sensing algorithms, is an Ethernet-to-RF bridge. It has been designed to replace an Ethernet wired link by a wireless one for IWSAN applications. The proposed platform ensures a reliable communication link against interference. In the proposed implementation, the energy detector is used by the transmitter in order to find a free channel to transmit data, whereas the modulation classifier is used by the receiver in order to distinguish between the signal transmitted by the RF-Ethernet bridge and other signals. In this way the receiver can find the channel where the transmitter is carrying out the communication.En esta tesis se propone una MAC basada en el paradigma de la Radio Cognitiva (RC) para redes de sensores y actuadores inalámbricos industriales. Estas redes se suelen utilizar para aplicaciones de control en lazo cerrado, que exigen requisitos estrictos de tiempo y robustez. Para no poner en peligro la salud de las personas o la maquinaria es necesario que la red asegure una baja latencia y una tasa baja de errores. Además, al trabajar en ambientes industriales como fábricas o transportes (trenes, aviones, etc.), estas redes tienen que hacer frente a canales con mucho desvanecimiento por multitrayecto y efecto sombra debido a las superficies metálicas. También es común en estos entornos que haya interferencias de otros sistemas de comunicaciones o de la propia maquinaria industrial. La MAC propuesta en esta tesis es capaz de asegurar los requisitos temporales y de robustez demandados trabajando en este tipo de entornos. En el proceso de diseño de la MAC basada en RC para redes de sensores y actuadores inalámbricos industriales, se ha llevado a cabo una comparación de diferentes MACs diseñadas para estas redes. Se han evaluado tanto MACs basadas en RC como no basadas en ella, estableciendo las ventajas de la RC para estas aplicaciones. La evaluación se ha llevado a cabo haciendo un estudio teórico mediante Network Calculus, cuyos resultados se han validado mediante simulaciones en OPNET. Los resultados muestran como la RC es capaz de evitar interferencias y asegurar robustez en ambientes industriales. Sin embargo, ninguna de las MACs seleccionadas ha conseguido asegurar ambos requisitos, temporales y de robustez, al mismo tiempo; se puede evitar las interferencias pero no sin comprometer los requisitos temporales de la aplicación. Sin embargo, la MAC propuesta es capaz de evitar interferencias asegurando al mismo tiempo los requisitos temporales y de robustez. Por lo tanto, la MAC propuesta es apropiada para este tipo de redes. Para asegurar el comportamiento determinista del sistema, se ha propuesto un novedoso algoritmo de handoff que es capaz de detectar una interferencia y saltar a otro canal. Este algoritmo se ha diseñado para ser utilizado conjuntamente con una de las MACs previamente evaluadas. La detección de la interferencia y el salto a otro canal se hace en un tiempo determinado de tiempo, ya que es posible detectar interferencias mientras el sistema está transmitiendo. Su rendimiento se ha evaluado mediante Network Calculus y simulaciones en OPNET, y se ha comparado con los resultados obtenidos con la MAC cuando no se utiliza el esquema propuesto. De la comparación se deduce que el esquema de handoff añade a la MAC la capacidad de asegurar a la vez los requisitos temporales y de robustez. Además, en la tesis se explica el algoritmo de spectrum sensing que la MAC utiliza para obtener información del entorno, y su rendimiento se ha estudiado mediante simulaciones en MATLAB. Debido a su simplicidad, se ha optado por un detector de energía para este propósito. También se presenta un clasificador de modulaciones cicloestacionario. Este clasificador ha sido simplificado todo lo posible para posibilitar su implementación en hardware real. El clasificador de modulaciones es capaz de distinguir entre señales OFDM, QPSK y GFSK. Su rendimiento se detalla para diferentes señales y para diferentes deficiencias presentes en el receptor, como son offset de frecuencia, offset de continua o desequilibrios I/Q. Por último, se presenta una plataforma cognitiva que se ha utilizado para validar los algoritmos de spectrum sensing. Un grupo de trabajo compuesto por investigadores de IK4-Ikerlan y Mondragon Unibertsitatea ha diseñado esta plataforma sobre una FPGA Virtex 6 de Xilinx. La plataforma, que utiliza los dos algoritmos de spectrum sensing, es un puente Ethernet-RF. Su objetivo es reemplazar un enlace cableado de Ethernet por uno inalámbrico para aplicaciones de redes de sensores y actuadores industriales. Gracias a los algoritmos de spectrum sensing, la plataforma es capaz de asegurar un enlace robusto ante interferencias. El detector de energía se utiliza en el transmisor para encontrar los posibles canales libres donde transmitir la información. Mientras que el clasificador de modulaciones se utiliza en el receptor para distinguir entre la señal del transmisor y otras posibles señales. Esto permite al receptor saber en qué canal de todos los posibles está el transmisor.Tesi honetan proposatzen da Irrati Kognitiboaren (IK) paradigman oinarritutako MAC bat industriako haririk gabeko sentsore eta eragingailuen sareetarako. Sare horiek begizta itxiko kontrol aplikazioetarako erabili ohi dira, denbora eta sendotasunaren aldetik baldintza ugari eskatzen dute eta. Pertsonen osasuna eta makinak arriskuan ez jartzeko, beharrezkoa da sareak latentzia eta hutsegite tasa txikiak bermatzea. Gainera, industri giroetan lan egiteko direnez, esaterako, lantegietan edo garraioetan (trenak, hegazkinak, etab.), sare horiek gai izan behar dira gainazal metalikoek eragiten dituzten ibilbide aniztunaren eta itzal efektuaren ondorioz asko barreiatzen diren kanalei aurre egiteko. Ingurune horien ohiko ezaugarria da, baita ere, beste komunikazio sistema batzuen edo industriako makinen beraien interferentziak egotea. Tesi honetan proposatzen den MACa gai da honelako inguruetan lan egiteko denborari eta sendotasunari dagokienez eskatzen dituen baldintzak ziurtatzeko. IKan oinarrituta haririk gabeko sentsore eta eragingailu industrialen sareetarako MACa diseinatzeko prozesuan, horrelako sareetarako aurkeztu diren hainbat MAC alderatu dira. IKan oinarritutako MACak zein bestelakoak ebaluatu dira, eta IKak aplikazio hauetarako dituen abantailak ezarri dira. Ebaluaziorako Network Calculus erabili da, zeinaren bidez azterketa teoriko bat egin baita, eta azterketaren emaitzak OPNETen simulazioak eginda baliozkotu dira. Emaitzek erakusten dutenez, IKa gai da industriako inguruneetan interferentziak ekidin eta sendotasuna ziurtatzeko. Halere, aukeratu diren MACetatik batek ere ez du lortu baldintza biak, denborari buruzkoa zein sendotasunari buruzkoa, aldi berean ziurtatzea; interferentziak ekidin daitezke, baina ez aplikazioaren denborari buruzko baldintzak arriskuan jarri gabe. Dena dela, proposatu den MACak portaera determinista bat ziurtatzen du interferentziekiko, eta aldi berean denborari eta sendotasunari buruzko baldintzak ere ziurtatzen ditu. Hortaz, MAC hau egokia da sare mota honetarako. Sistemaren portaera determinista ziurtatzeko, handoff algoritmo berritzailea proposatu da, zeina interferentzia bat antzeman eta beste kanal bat igarotzeko gai den. Algoritmo hori aurretik ebaluatutakoa MACetako batekin batera erabiltzeko diseinatu da. Interferentzia antzeman eta beste kanal batera salto egitea denbora jakin batean egiten da, izan ere, sistema transmititzen ari dela antzeman baitaitezke interferentziak. Network Calculusen bitartez eta OPNETeko simulazioen bitartez ebaluatu da sistemaren errendimendua, eta proposatutako eskema erabiltzen ez denean MACak ematen dituen emaitzekin alderatu da. Alderaketa horretatik ondorioztatzen denez, handoff eskemak denborari eta sendotasunari buruzko baldintzak batera ziurtatzeko ahalmena ematen dio MACari. Gainera, tesiak azaltzen du inguruneari buruzko informazioa eskuratzeko MACak erabiltzen duen spectrum sensing algoritmoa, eta bere errendimendua MATLABen simulazioak eginez aztertu da. Bere sinpletasuna dela eta, energia detektore bat aukeratu da asmo honetarako. Modulazio sailkatzaile zikloegonkor bat ere aurkezten da. Sailkapen hori ahalik eta gehien sinplifikatu da benetako hardwarean inplementatu ahal izateko. Modulazioen sailkatzaileak OFDM, QPSK eta GFSK seinaleak bereizi ditzake. Bere errendimendua hargailuan dauden seinale eta akats desberdinetarako zehazten da, esaterako maiztasunaren offset-a,zuzenaren offset-a edo I/Q desorekak. Bukatzeko, spectrum sensing-eko algoritmoak baliozkotzeko erabili den plataforma kognitibo bat aurkezten da. IK4-Ikerlaneko eta Mondragon Unibertsitateko ikertzailez osatutako lantalde batek diseinatu du plataforma hori Xilinxen Virtex 6 FPGA baten oinarrutz. Plataformak spectrum sensing-eko bi algoritmo erabiltzen ditu eta Ethernet-RF zubi bat da. Bere helburua da Etherneteko kable bidezko lotura bat haririk gabeko batekin ordeztea industriako sentsore eta eragingailuen sareetan aplikatzeko. Spectrum sensing-eko algoritmoei esker, plataformak lotura sendoa bermatu dezake interferentziak gertatzen direnean. Energia detektorea transmisorean erabiltzen da informazioa transmititzeko erabilgarri egon daitezkeen kanalak aurkitzeko. Modulazioen sailkatzailea, berriz, hargailuan erabiltzen da transmisorearen seinalea eta egon daitezkeen beste seinale batzuk bereizteko. Horri esker, hargailuak badaki posible diren kanal guztietatik non dagoen transmisorea

A cross-layer approach for optimizing the efficiency of wireless sensor and actor networks

Recent development has lead to the emergence of distributed Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks (WSAN), which are capable of observing the physical environment, processing the data, making decisions based on the observations and performing appropriate actions. WSANs represent an important extension of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and may comprise a large number of sensor nodes and a smaller number of actor nodes. The sensor nodes are low-cost, low energy, battery powered devices with restricted sensing, computational and wireless communication capabilities. Actor nodes are resource richer with superior processing capabilities, higher transmission powers and a longer battery life. A basic operational scenario of a typical WSAN application follows the following sequence of events. The physical environment is periodically sensed and evaluated by the sensor nodes. The sensed data is then routed towards an actor node. Upon receiving sensed data, an actor node performs an action upon the physical environment if necessary, i.e. if the occurrence of a disturbance or critical event has been detected. The specific characteristics of sensor and actor nodes combined with some stringent application constraints impose unique requirements for WSANs. The fundamental challenges for WSANs are to achieve low latency, high energy efficiency and high reliability. The latency and energy efficiency requirements are in a trade-off relationship. The communication and coordination inside WSANs is managed via a Communication Protocol Stack (CPS) situated on every node. The requirements of low latency and energy efficiency have to be addressed at every layer of the CPS to ensure overall feasibility of the WSAN. Therefore, careful design of protocol layers in the CPS is crucial in attempting to meet the unique requirements and handle the abovementioned trade-off relationship in WSANs. The traditional CPS, comprising the application, network, medium access control and physical layer, is a layered protocol stack with every layer, a predefined functional entity. However, it has been found that for similar types of networks with similar stringent network requirements, the strictly layered protocol stack approach performs at a sub-optimal level with regards to network efficiency. A modern cross-layer paradigm, which proposes the employment of interactions between layers in the CPS, has recently attracted a lot of attention. The cross-layer approach promotes network efficiency optimization and promises considerable performance gains. It is found that in literature, the adoption of this cross-layer paradigm has not yet been considered for WSANs. In this dissertation, a complete cross-layer enabled WSAN CPS is developed that features the adoption of the cross-layer paradigm towards promoting optimization of the network efficiency. The newly proposed cross-layer enabled CPS entails protocols that incorporate information from other layers into their local decisions. Every protocol layer provides information identified as beneficial to another layer(s) in the CPS via a newly proposed Simple Cross-Layer Framework (SCLF) for WSANs. The proposed complete cross-layer enabled WSAN CPS comprises a Cross-Layer enabled Network-Centric Actuation Control with Data Prioritization (CL-NCAC-DP) application layer (APPL) protocol, a Cross-Layer enabled Cluster-based Hierarchical Energy/Latency-Aware Geographic Routing (CL-CHELAGR) network layer (NETL) protocol and a Cross-Layer enabled Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Minimum Preamble Sampling and Duty Cycle Doubling (CL-CSMA-MPS-DCD) medium access control layer (MACL) protocol. Each of these protocols builds on an existing simple layered protocol that was chosen as a basis for development of the cross-layer enabled protocols. It was found that existing protocols focus primarily on energy efficiency to ensure maximum network lifetime. However, most WSAN applications require latency minimization to be considered with the same importance. The cross-layer paradigm provides means of facilitating the optimization of both latency and energy efficiency. Specifically, a solution to the latency versus energy trade-off is given in this dissertation. The data generated by sensor nodes is prioritised by the APPL and depending on the delay-sensitivity, handled in a specialised manor by every layer of the CPS. Delay-sensitive data packets are handled in order to achieve minimum latency. On the other hand, delay-insensitive non critical data packets are handled in such a way as to achieve the highest energy efficiency. In effect, either latency minimization or energy efficiency receives an elevated precedence according to the type of data that is to be handled. Specifically, the cross-layer enabled APPL protocol provides information pertaining to the delay-sensitivity of sensed data packets to the other layers. Consequently, when a data packet is detected as highly delay-sensitive, the cross-layer enabled NETL protocol changes its approach from energy efficient routing along the maximum residual energy path to routing along the fastest path towards the cluster-head actor node for latency minimizing of the specific packet. This is done by considering information (contained in the SCLF neighbourhood table) from the MACL that entails wakeup schedules and channel utilization at neighbour nodes. Among the added criteria, the next-hop node is primarily chosen based on the shortest time to wakeup. The cross-layer enabled MACL in turn employs a priority queue and a temporary duty cycle doubling feature to enable rapid relaying of delay-sensitive data. Duty cycle doubling is employed whenever a sensor node’s APPL state indicates that it is part of a critical event reporting route. When the APPL protocol state (found in the SCLF information pool) indicates that the node is not part of the critical event reporting route anymore, the MACL reverts back to promoting energy efficiency by disengaging duty cycle doubling and re-employing a combination of a very low duty cycle and preamble sampling. The APPL protocol conversely considers the current queue size of the MACL and temporarily halts the creation of data packets (only if the sensed value is non critical) to prevent a queue overflow and ease congestion at the MACL By simulation it was shown that the cross-layer enabled WSAN CPS consistently outperforms the layered CPS for various network conditions. The average end-to-end latency of delay-sensitive critical data packets is decreased substantially. Furthermore, the average end-to-end latency of delay-insensitive data packets is also decreased. Finally, the energy efficiency performance is decreased by a tolerable insignificant minor margin as expected. The trivial increase in energy consumption is overshadowed by the high margin of increase in latency performance for delay-sensitive critical data packets. The newly proposed cross-layer CPS achieves an immense latency performance increase for WSANs, while maintaining excellent energy efficiency. It has hence been shown that the adoption of the cross-layer paradigm by the WSAN CPS proves hugely beneficial with regards to the network efficiency performance. This increases the feasibility of WSANs and promotes its application in more areas.Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009.Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineeringunrestricte

A Dual-Mode Adaptive MAC Protocol for Process Control in Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks

Doktorgradsavhandling ved Fakultet for teknologi og realfag, Universitetet i Agder, 2017Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consist of sensors and actuators operating together to provide monitoring and control services. These services are used in versatile applications ranging from environmental monitoring t oindustrial automation applications. Industrial Wireless Sensor Network (IWSN) is a sub domain of the WSN domain, focussing the industrial monitoring and automation applications. The IWSN domain differs from the generic WSN domains in terms of its requirements. General IWSN requirements include: energy efficiency and quality of service, and strict requirements are imposed on the quality of service expected by IWSN applications. Quality of service in particular relates to reliability, robustness, and predictability. Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols in an IWSN solution are responsible for managing radio communications, the main consumer of power in every IWSN element. With proper measures, MAC protocols can provide energy efficient solutions along with required quality of service for process control applications. The first goal of the thesis was to assess the possibility of creating a MAC protocol exploiting properties of the application domain, the process control domain. This resulted in the creation of the Dual-Mode Adaptive Medium Access Control Protocol (DMAMAC) which constitutes the main contribution of this thesis. The DMAMAC protocol is energy efficient,while preserving real-time requirements, and is robust to packet failure. This has been guaranteed by the thorough evaluation of the protocol via simulation, verification, and implementation with deployment testing. In parallel, we also investigated the possibility of using an alternative development approach for MAC protocols. Specifically, we have proposed a development approach based on MAC protocol model in CPN tools. The development approach consists of automatic code generation for the MiXiM simulation tool and the TinyOS platform. We used the related GinMAC protocol as a running example for the development approach. The generated code for MiXiM simulation platform and the TinyOS implementation platform are evaluated via simulation and deployment respectively. This results in a faster design to implementation time, and closely related protocol artifacts, improving on the traditional approach

Wireless Sensor Networks

The aim of this book is to present few important issues of WSNs, from the application, design and technology points of view. The book highlights power efficient design issues related to wireless sensor networks, the existing WSN applications, and discusses the research efforts being undertaken in this field which put the reader in good pace to be able to understand more advanced research and make a contribution in this field for themselves. It is believed that this book serves as a comprehensive reference for graduate and undergraduate senior students who seek to learn latest development in wireless sensor networks

Active Fault-Tolerance in Wireless Networked Control Systems

In a Wireless Networked Control System (WNCS), several nodes or components of the system may communicate over the common network that connects them together. Thus, there may be communication taking place between the sensors and the controller nodes, among the controllers themselves, among the sensors themselves, among the actuator themselves, and between the controller and the actuator nodes. The purpose of this communication is to improve the performance of the control system. The performance may be a measurable quantity defined in terms of a performance criterion, as in the case of optimal control or estimation, or it may be a qualitative measure described as a desired behaviour. Each node of the WNCS may act as a decision maker, making control as well as communication decisions. The presence of a network brings in constraints in the design of the control system, as information between the various decision makers must be exchanged according to the rules and dynamics of the network. Our goal is to quantify some of these constraints, and design the control system together with the communication system so as both do their best given the constraints. This work in no way attempts to suggest the best way to design a communication network that suits the needs of a particular control system, but some of the results obtained here may be used in conjunction with other results in forming an understanding as to how to proceed in the design of such systems in the future. The work proposes a novel real-time communication protocol based on the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) strategy, which has built-in tolerance against the network-induced effects like lost packets, assuring a highly deterministic and reliable behaviour of the overall networked control system, thus allowing the use of classical control design methods with WNCS. Determinism in the transmission times, for sending and for receiving, is assured by a communication schedule that is dynamically updated based on the conditions of the network and the propagation environment. An advanced experimentation platform has been developed, called WiNC, which demonstrates the efficiency of the protocol with two well-known laboratory benchmarks that have very different dynamics, namely the three-tank system and the inverted pendulum system. Wireless nodes belonging to both systems are coordinated and synchronized by a master node, namely the controller node. The WiNC platform uses only open source software and general-purpose (commercial, off-the shelf) hardware, thus making it with a minimal investment (low cost) a flexible and easily extendable research platform for WNCS. And considering the general trend towards the adoption of Linux as a real-time operating system for embedded system in automation, the developed concepts and algorithms can be ported with minimum effort to the industrial embedded devices which already run Linux

Real-Time Sensor Networks and Systems for the Industrial IoT

The Industrial Internet of Things (Industrial IoT—IIoT) has emerged as the core construct behind the various cyber-physical systems constituting a principal dimension of the fourth Industrial Revolution. While initially born as the concept behind specific industrial applications of generic IoT technologies, for the optimization of operational efficiency in automation and control, it quickly enabled the achievement of the total convergence of Operational (OT) and Information Technologies (IT). The IIoT has now surpassed the traditional borders of automation and control functions in the process and manufacturing industry, shifting towards a wider domain of functions and industries, embraced under the dominant global initiatives and architectural frameworks of Industry 4.0 (or Industrie 4.0) in Germany, Industrial Internet in the US, Society 5.0 in Japan, and Made-in-China 2025 in China. As real-time embedded systems are quickly achieving ubiquity in everyday life and in industrial environments, and many processes already depend on real-time cyber-physical systems and embedded sensors, the integration of IoT with cognitive computing and real-time data exchange is essential for real-time analytics and realization of digital twins in smart environments and services under the various frameworks’ provisions. In this context, real-time sensor networks and systems for the Industrial IoT encompass multiple technologies and raise significant design, optimization, integration and exploitation challenges. The ten articles in this Special Issue describe advances in real-time sensor networks and systems that are significant enablers of the Industrial IoT paradigm. In the relevant landscape, the domain of wireless networking technologies is centrally positioned, as expected