Local Area Networks (LANs) run on wire cable. Wire is expensive to install. It is difficult to reconfigure for changes in the production environment. It is susceptible to picking up electrical noise. It does not allow for mobility, and there are certain places it can’t go. Because of these limitations, many companies are not networked to the degree they would like. | 1495 Wireless Communications for Industrial Automation A Tutorial By Bob Hochreiter Com Table of Contents Executive The Demand on Today s The Task of Local Area Networks in The Limitations of Wire What is a WLAN .8 Advantages of Spread Spectrum Selecting the Right Spread Spectrum WLAN This is Not Your Father s Current and Emerging The Grayhill EZCom Wireless 2 Today s Reliable Wireless Local Area Networks An Executive Overview Until recently the networks which interconnect computers and equipment in industry have been seriously limited. The limitation Wire. Local Area Networks LANs run on wire cable. Wire is expensive to install. It is difficult to reconfigure for changes in the production environment. It is susceptible to picking up electrical noise. It does not allow for mobility and there are certain places it can t go. Because of these limitations many companies are not networked to the degree they would like. The wireless technology available today allows you to expand your wire network by the addition of radio transceivers. These transceivers send and receive signals across parts of the network which are not connected by wire. The transceivers do all the work of translating the electronic signals on the network into radio signals and send them over the airwaves. The radio signals are received by the transceiver at the other end which translates them back into network signals and sends them along that part of the network. To the computers PLCs controllers sensors and actuators on an industrial network wireless technology is totally transparent. A network which includes wireless technology operates exactly the same as one that is totally wire. No special hookups or programming are needed. There is more good news Wireless products used to expand a network often cost less than the expense of installing wire. .
