Suitability of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless communications in production processes

ArticleToday, it is increasingly modern to use wireless transmissions in production. It is possible to send information messages, control messages and it is often possible to access the technologies as IoT (the Internet of Things). The aim of this work was to find out which of the selected Wi-Fi frequencies is more suitable for use in syrup processing equipment. The evaluation was performed on the basis of attenuation and download speed at each frequency (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bandwidth). These frequencies have been chosen due to their massive deployment for wifi networks that currently dominate wireless communications. Measurements were made downloading files on different frequency bands. Mean and maximum data throughput and signal strengths were also measured. By measuring, it has been found that when using 2.4 GHz wireless Wi-Fi technology, you can very often encounter strong interference effects. Despite the theoretically worse 5 GHz frequency spread, you can achieve up to 30% better data throughput on average. The results show the suitability of 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi technology. The main finding is that, despite the worse frequency spread of 5 GHz, it is more appropriate. Not only due to speed but also in the future due to better transmission capacities and future channel expansion

Increasing Safety Levels in Human-Machine Interaction by Beyond-5G Wireless Redundancy

Factory automation in the context of Industry 4.0/5.0 requires safety levels to satisfy more stringent and tight limits than those available so far. This goal is further challenged by the extension to the wireless environment of industrial shop floor communications that were traditionally based on cabled networks. Starting with wireless LANs, the trend towards the use of industrial wireless is fostered by the advent of fifth Generation (5G) private connectivity and is bound to increase its pace in the evolution towards 6G. In particular, the interaction of human operators with industrial robots and autonomous vehicles on the shop floor is posing stringent safety requirements that in turn push forward the dependability and reliability limits of wireless connectivity. To help achieve these limits, this paper proposes a dynamic redundancy mechanism based on the real-time activation/deactivation of radio bearers instantiated between mobile devices carried by humans and machines and multiple base stations, to achieve guaranteed upper bounds on packet loss probability in the communication of data related to operational safety control loops. An optimization problem is posed, and suitable heuristics are evaluated by simulation in a 5G and beyond wireless environment, aiming to dynamically maintain the required reliability levels with small computational effort