Product category:
Wireless data transmission
News Release from: Frost and Sullivan | Subject: Market forecasts
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 05 December 2005
Sensors and Sensor Networks - 'Going
Wireless'
Wireless sensors provide a momentum in the sensor market that cuts across most sensor technologies: and adoption is forecast to grow
Wireless technology has transitioned from being an option, to a desired product attribute in most cases Wireless technology has exhibited a great potential for industrial, commercial, and consumer applications
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 11 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Wireless transmission of data has been in use for over ten years in applications such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA).
However, it was only in the late nineties that wireless sensing for other applications and wireless communication combined with sensors was researched and yielded commercially viable products.
Even when there have been compelling benefits to the adoption of wireless technology, a cautious approach was adopted by the technology leaders due to a variety of challenges at the end-user level.
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The market is increasingly witnessing a shift from a wired sensor to a wireless sensor.
For ease of operation, most end users, especially those who use sensors for high-end applications, are increasingly opting for wireless devices.
This is resulting in an increase in the prices of sensors even though the advantages they accrue are immense.
End-user preference, to a large extent, depends on the type of application the wireless sensor is used in.
Process control and power generation end-user segments do not see many of the advantages in installing the wireless smart sensors.
They cite three main reasons against wireless sensors.
1) Cost considerations.
2) Non-use of existing infrastructure.
3) Security concerns.
Most process plants already use fibre optic wiring, thus enabling them to install wired sensors without any additional cost.
In fact, the wiring in process control is very detailed that even connects small and insignificant equipments too.
Installing a wireless sensor adds to the cost further.
This additional cost is incurred irrespective of the embedded level of intelligence in the system or the sensor itself.
Hence, process control and power generation end users have no visible cost saving by shifting to wireless smart sensors.
Instead, their capital costs are likely to increase.
In installing or replacing the legacy systems with the smart wireless sensors, the process control plants do not have any additional benefit.
Therefore, the installation of a wireless system does not appear to be of much concern to them.
Major End-user Concerns.
Despite some hesitation from end-users, there is a great deal of research and development being conducted across the entities mentioned above.
Hence the type, the extent and sharing of research findings that is seen in these areas has the potential to shorten the R and D cycle for this technology.
Wireless sensing is not likely to be adopted by these enterprises simply because it is the latest technology.
Instead, it is expected to be adopted when it can be demonstrated as a reliable, cost effective tool that solves real problems in industrial scenarios.
Companies that have entered this market early are already addressing some of those applications.
However the current researches going on the technology front offers even more interesting possibilities in the wireless sensor space.
Traditionally, sensor networks used simple, twisted shielded-pair implementations for each sensor.
As the technology improved industry started adopting multidrop buses, which includes lately the high speed Ethernet (HSD).
The present trend has been the use of Web-based networks (world wide Web).
These Web-based networks are being deployed at the shop-floor levels.
After the commoditisation of wireless sensors, the technology leaders are considering the deployment of network strategies, which seemed to be once forbidden.
There are three major network types.
* Point-to-point System.
* Multidrop Networks.
* Web Enable Networks.
These networks have both strengths and weaknesses as discussed below.
Point-to-point System Strength: Point -to-point technology is most reliable.
It is based on a single point of contact.
Weakness: Although theoretically point -to-point technology is backed up as the most reliable because there is only one single point of failure in the topology, which happens to be the host itself.
However every sensor node in these systems requires a separate twisted, shielded pair wire connection.
The configuration management is difficult and the host does nearly all the information processing.
Also, the cost of point-to-point networking systems is high.
Multidrop Networks.
The sensor network scenario has undergone a drastic and irreversible change with the onset of intelligent sensors and microcomputers capable of operating in industrial environments.
Strength: This network reduces the number of wires required to connect field devices to the host.
Weakness: They also introduce another single point of failure, the cable.
Web-enabled Networks.
Web-enable technology got delayed until vendors developed a way to interconnect nodes without the required wiring connections.
A network of any appreciable size becomes unfeasible if all wires have to be connected specifically for the network.
Strength: The advantages of Web connectivity for sensor networks are becoming clear as the level of intelligence in each sensor increases.
The Web-based networks provide the potential of individual nodes being constantly connected with many other nodes in the network.
Weakness: Although the telecommunication and electronic markets adopted wireless technology very fast, wireless sensors are lacking widespread support of the manufacturing industrial sector.
This trend is expected to have long-term impact on the smart sensors market because, although the telecommunication and electronic markets have rapidly adopted wireless technology, the sensors industry is still somewhat hesitant about implementing this innovative technology in their sensing devices.
Constraints of Wireless Sensor Systems and Networks.
Wireless technology is making inroads into the sensors market, albeit at a slow pace.
There are certain inherent difficulties in the adoption of wireless technology.
The wireless network has a number of shortcomings such as.
* Network interference Channel errors.
* Speed delays.
* Data packet losses.
* Power constraints.
* Topology constraints.
* Data security.
* Operational security.
In order to have a trouble-free network design, dealing with the above-mentioned handicaps is imperative.
After installation, the first action for a sensor network is to determine its topology.
Such action is essential and is generally carried out, as most of the traditional routing protocols need topological information for initialisation.
It is specifically true for link state routing, which forms the basis for the open shortest path that is needed to reduce delays and ensure operational efficiency of the system.
Solutions to Deal with Delays, Channel Errors, and Data Packet Loss.
Constraints: Toward the end of 2003, ABB developed a number of solutions to overcome some of the major constraints discussed above.
The company successfully introduced a wireless sensor, which has overcome the constraints of delays, channel errors, and data packet losses.
The new wireless proximity switch fitted to this system carries a wireless communication protocol that ensures reliable delivery of messages within the short time frames required by modern and discrete automation systems.
It operates in the 2.4 GHz band that is open to industrial usage.
Solutions to Power Constraints.
The ABB proximity sensor is basically an inductive system.
This sensor uses inductive coupling as a means of obtaining operating power and needs no external power.
It uses low-power sensor electronics and an energy source derived from magnetic fields.
The self-contained energy supply completely eliminates the need for cables or periodic battery replacement.
The sensor typically provides feedback to a programmable logic controller (PLC) that is the controlling positioning equipment inside a manufacturing cell.
The manufacturing cell is bathed in a magnetic field (at about 120 kHz) that the sensor picks up through inductive coils and converts into electrical power.
Dealing with Network Data Security.
One of the most difficult concerns has been tackling network data security restraints.
This issue has been overcome by developing proprietary protocols, which are difficult to penetrate.
However, individual companies or the service providers should have the in-house capability to develop and maintain such protocols.
Although certain proprietary protocols have been developed to prevent security breaches in the network, the multiplicity of wireless networks around the plants that presents chances of signal interference, remains a major concern.
Wireless Sensors - End User Adoption.
Wireless sensors are the future of communication and control networks in the following areas.
* Process control.
* Manufacturing plants.
* Military/aerospace.
* Power generation plants.
* Medical devices.
* Test and measurement instrumentation.
* Water/wastewater.
* Original equipment manufacturers (OEM).
There are other fields that also use these networks that include agriculture, environmental, product monitoring, and utilities.
Smart and intelligent sensors are capable of automatically adapting their behavior with a certain degree as the conditions change fast.
Such accommodations include adaptation for internal as well as external parameters.
Self-calibration is the most common type of adaptive behaviour.
Even after using the adaptive technology, certain major factors are still a great concern in the market.
Security of the networks is one of them.
There can be a plant or a process control on one smart sensor network.
The plant security uses radio frequency, the plant managers use their cell phones, and the maintenance staff may use push-to-talk systems.
The existence of these island networks pose great operational problems, which are likely to grow with the increasing number of process control and plants.
PowerTouch, which is a US-based company, has successfully been working on developing software that brings together multiple forms of wireless communications.
These include cell phones, text messages, radio frequency (RF) sensors, MHz radios, and push-to-talk radios.
Although a number of solutions are being developed to address various sensor issues related to wireless networks and their operations, the fact remains that not many market participants are its keen recipients.
Future Market Growth.
The rate of adoption of the wireless intelligent and smart sensors is anticipated to be at a very low rate over the forecast period till 2010.
The market share of smart wireless sensors in 2003 is put at 5.0 percent.
This is low considering the size of the market.
By 2010 this is likely to reach 12.0 percent.
The reasons for a low adoption at the plant level are security concerns, longer battery lives or the use of uninterrupted power supply, and the existence of large legacy systems that remain unutilised.
These systems are most difficult to integrate with new wireless smart sensor systems and networks.
However, this is not the case with new installations.
It is anticipated that these new installations will drive the growth of the wireless sensor systems and networks globally over the forecast period till 2010.
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