How Wireless Automation will Help your Industry

About OneWireless™

Wireless technology is changing every aspect of industrial process control in the same way it is changing our everyday lives. Today you can check your email, download documents, read articles, locate people, upload video to a social networking site and check your bank records, all while communicating with your friends safely and securely from your smart phone. Similarly, in an industrial plant, you can now monitor the status of equipment, view process trends, locate assets and other colleagues, and use video collaboration to troubleshoot equipment from a single industrial handheld device connected to your Process Control Network (PCN). You can also quickly and easily install wireless field instruments to temporarily or permanently monitor and control processes.

OneWireless Solutions are turnkey offerings that enable you to take advantage of wireless technology to reach and even surpass your plant’s safety, reliability and efficiency goals in the fastest and most cost-effective way. The solutions are based on Honeywell’s customer-focused approach to wireless; i.e., secure robust and cost-effective industrial wireless solutions that are easy to manage.

From the field to the control room, Honeywell offers solutions for every situation in your plant—from a simple field instrument, wireless mesh network used to improve the efficiency of a burner to a plant-wide wireless infrastructure including security cameras, industrial handheld devices running maintenance and operator efficiency applications, and hundreds of wireless field instruments used by monitoring, regulatory and control applications.

A Technical Overview

The heart of Honeywell’s OneWireless solutions is the OneWireless Network. Just as a smart phone cannot function on its own, for wireless plant applications to be viable you need a network that is reliable, fast and capable of supporting hundreds of devices and applications. The OneWireless Network is the only solution that allows you to incorporate your wireless field instruments as well as any Wi-Fi enabled device, including laptops, cameras, communication devices and more, into a single and secure network. This interoperability puts Honeywell’s OneWireless light years ahead of the competition by enabling comprehensive plant-wide business solutions that improve operational efficiency and plant reliability as well as worker and environmental safety.

The OneWireless Network allows you to easily scale up from a handful of wireless field instruments (such as field devices and actuators) to hundreds of field instruments, Wi-Fi devices and other IP-enabled applications, such as handheld devices and security cameras. The OneWireless Network features the security, reliability, speed and simplicity needed to support ISA100 standard-based wireless transmitters and 802.11-based applications. With OneWireless, PCN administrators don’t have to worry about managing different single-purpose, single-standard wireless networks; one network is capable of supporting all of your wireless and IP-based devices.

OneWireless Network

OneWireless offers you the choice to design the network that best fits your needs:

Meshing Field Instruments – Each ISA100 field instrument can communicate with other field instruments to form a mesh network. In other words, field instruments can transmit their own data as well as route data received from neighboring field instruments. The data can jump though multiple field instruments before reaching the host gateway. This type of network is typically recommended for users who only want to implement a handful of battery-operable field instruments for non-critical monitoring purposes, and do not require fast update rates.

Mesh Network for Field Instruments Only – Access points for wireless field instruments enable users to build a plant-wide wireless mesh network for field instruments capable of supporting hundreds of field instruments sending data at fast update rates. This type of network is typically recommended for users who want wired-like performance from their battery operable field instruments for critical monitoring and control purposes. This network does not provide wireless coverage for Wi-Fi devices, such as laptops and handhelds, or Ethernet devices, such as digital security cameras.

Mesh Network for Field Instruments and Wi-Fi Devices – Multi-application access points capable of communicating with ISA100.11a field instruments and IEEE 802.11 devices enable users to design a plant-wide multi-application wireless network. This industrial wireless local area network is typically recommended for users who want wired-like performance from their battery operable field instruments for critical monitoring and control purposes, as well as the ability to implement handhelds for their mobile workforce, and personnel safety and other plant security systems.

Users will implement these different types of network devices in their plant based on the type of coverage needed, and monitor the network via a single network management application. The network is composed of three interconnected elements: Multinodes, Field Device Access Points, and the Wireless Device Manager.

A multinode is an industrial meshing access point providing secure and reliable wireless coverage for Wi-Fi and ISA100.11a field instruments. It includes three multi-band radios: an IEEE 802.11a/b/g radio providing wireless coverage for Wi-Fi clients, an IEEE 802.15.4 radio providing wireless coverage for ISA100.11a clients, and another IEEE 802.11a/b/g radio providing connectivity to neighboring multinodes. Multinodes self-discover and form a high speed IEEE 802.11-based wireless mesh network that routes data between wireless clients (WiFi, Ethernet based devices and wireless field instruments) and the process control applications.

A Field Device Access Point (FDAP) is an industrial meshing access point providing secure and reliable wireless coverage for ISA100.11a field instruments only. It includes two IEEE 802.15.4 radios for spatial diversity resulting in improved communication range and reliability in severe multi-path environments. Field Device Access Points self-discover and form an ISA100.11a-based wireless mesh network that routes data between wireless field instruments and the process control applications.

The Wireless Device Manager (WDM) manages the wireless field instrument network and all wireless field devices; i.e., ISA100.11a field instruments, Field Device Access Points, the field instrument radio embedded in the multinodes, and any wired field devices with an ISA100.11a Adapter.

OneWireless Applications

OneWireless applications leverage your site’s industrial wireless network by delivering real economic value beyond just avoiding wiring costs. The OneWireless flexible and open infrastructure allows you to take advantage of new and innovative applications as they arise. Wireless solutions provide a typical return on investment within six months and keep delivering financial benefits in increased productivity year after year. Continuing a long tradition of product support, Honeywell will protect your investment by ensuring that the network continues to support Honeywell’s existing products, upcoming ISA100 wireless I/Os and other IEEE 802.11-based third-party products. OneWireless already enables several devices and applications that are designed to improve manufacturing efficiency, reliability, safety and security, such as:

XYR6000 Transmitters – Wireless field I/O transmitters enable automated monitoring in areas where traditional hard-wired transmitters are too costly, difficult or time consuming to implement—for example, on off-shore rigs. Honeywell’s OneWireless network is ISA100-ready with hardware that is software upgradeable to the emerging ISA100.11a standards. This will allow it to be interoperable with sensors from multiple ISA100.11a suppliers. Honeywell’s XYR transmitter family includes devices that accurately monitor gauge pressure, absolute pressure, differential pressure, temperature, level and corrosion. The line also includes an analog input interface for adding wireless capabilities to 4-20 mA devices.

Field Advisor - An integrated software and hardware mobility solution for wireless field data collection and intelligent asset management to automate operator rounds.

Equipment Health Monitoring – A wireless vibration and temperature monitoring system that can be deployed on pumps, compressors, motors, turbines, and any rotating equipment. Instead of spending time on collecting data, staff can analyze the data and take immediate action when needed. The system is designed to monitor:

Machines in areas that are inaccessible or difficult to reach
Moving machine components where hard-wiring is not possible
Machines in areas where installing cables would be too expensive
Temporary installations
Equipment recently repaired

Mobile Station – A rugged Tablet PC, certified for use in hazardous environments, which allows a mobile workforce to view Experion process graphics and other critical process information such as historical data, graphics and asset management data directly in the field.

Wireless Gauge Transmitter - This unique device non-invasively clips to the front face of existing gauges to enable remote monitoring of gauge readings. Installation takes minutes and does not require removing old gauges, breaking pressure seals, performing leak checks, running wires or interrupting the underlying process. Adapters are available to fit most sizes and types of manual gauges for pressure, temperature, vacuum and other measurements.

Wireless Tank Gauging System - The Honeywell Enraf wireless SmartRadar FlexLine establishes new levels of precision and flexibility in tank inventory management. By combining new software algorithms with Honeywell Enraf’s planar antennae technology, the wireless SmartRadar FlexLine ensures the levels of precision demanded for custody transfer accuracy.

Experion Integration

For our Experion users, Honeywell has made the addition of wireless field instruments even easier. Users can manage their wireless field instruments from the Experion Control Builder and integrate them into their control strategy. All wireless field instrument network alarms can be accessed via the Experion Alarm and System summary. Finally, users can use Experion Detailed Display to view the point details. There is no difference between a wired or wireless field instrument.

OneWireless Services

You can easily install a small field instrument meshing system yourself. For a larger multi-application wireless local area network composed of multinodes, Honeywell offers a turnkey solution that includes network design and implementation. Our engineers have installed more than five hundred wide area networks and have sophisticated RF assessment tools that they use for the front-end engineering design of your wireless network. This gives you the peace of mind that the network will work reliably for the foreseeable future.

Summary

Wireless technology is changing the process industry. Being able to quickly and cost effectively obtain real-time process data from anywhere in the field at any time is now essential for plant efficiency. Honeywell’s OneWireless network is a cost-effective, multi-functional wireless infrastructure that is designed to extend process control applications and support both WiFi devices and wireless transmitters now and into the future. This award-winning solution supports the same level of security, robustness and scalability that you expect from your wired process control network. It is universal, safe and easy to implement and use.