The Verson

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the M2M issue April 2014 ANYWHERE YOUR NETWORK NEEDS TO GO What’s Inside 4 CONNECTING THE PAST THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE ON THE INTERNET OF THINGS 6 WHERE ARE THINGS CONNECTED NOW 8 Industrial Automation 10 Monitoring and Managing Mobile Assets 12 Fleet Management 14 Remote Monitoring and Control 16 Energy & Natural Resources 18 Transportation 20 Transaction Management 22 Security 24 Enterprise IT 26 WHERE WILL THINGS CONNECT IN THE FUTURE 28 BUILD IT TODAY WITH TOMORROW IN MIND 30 Evolve, Adapt, Adopt 32 Re-imagine Your Wired Connections 34 Extend Your Network Edge 36 Extending the Life of Useful Equipment 38 RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER 40 WHEREVER YOUR NETWORK NEEDS TO GO 40 DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS 2 Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 3 Connecting the Future, the Past and the Present on the Internet of Things 4 M2M Issue News stories about innovation in data communications tend to emphasize consumer products. They focus on the human experience and the ways in which we interact with new technologies when they become available in the marketplace. But consumer tech is only one part of the story. In the industrial world, the focus isn’t on human beings. It’s on increasingly intelligent machines that speak directly to other machines, and on increasing the efficiency and productivity of industrial processes by making machines more capable and more autonomous. Rather than creating new human interactions with machines, industrial networking engineers seek to make human intervention less important, reducing or eliminating it wherever possible. Unlike the consumer world, where new technologies quickly drive their predecessors out of the picture, industry can’t casually discard existing networking infrastructure. Much of it is far too valuable and far too complex to be cast aside. As new industrial data networking technologies continue to appear, they’ll be expected to co-exist with earlier technologies for as long as those older technologies remain useful. The new technologies will add new layers of sophistication to our existing M2M data networks and provide them with dramatic new capabilities. But no single technology is yet the best for every purpose. So our industrial networks will have to aggregate, convert and transmit multiple data networking protocols, from Modbus to TCP/IP. They will have to move data across fiber, copper, cellular and wireless connections. They will have to take advantage of new opportunities when they become available, but they’ll need to let older equipment remain connected as well. Instead of eliminating the data networking technologies of the past and the present, the industrial networks of the future will absorb and incorporate them. Where Does Your Network Need to Go? Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 5 WHERE ARE THINGS CONNECTED NOW? 6 M2M Issue Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 7 INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION 8 M2M Issue M2M on the Floor Every M2M network is a work in progress. When a bakery in Massachusetts discovered that communications glitches in their RS-485 connections were altering the conveyor belt speed in the ovens, they didn’t panic and replace the entire system. They simply deployed optically isolated RS-422/485 repeaters and solved the problem. When the operators of a coal delivery SCADA system in Indiana observed that motion and vibration were disconnecting their data cables, they replaced the copper cables with 900 MHz serial radio modems. A manufacturer of laboratory instruments in Illinois builds reliable, timetested serial equipment. When USB became available, they stuck with their successful designs and upgraded them with USB-to-serial converters. Every data networking technology has its own strengths and weaknesses. If an existing system is quite capable of doing the job, and there are proven, easy answers that will resolve problems as they arise, it only makes economic sense to keep using them. You don’t need to uproot your existing installations simply because there are newer ways to achieve the same results. You can budget for new technology when you need to add new capabilities and pursue new opportunities. In the meantime, why not let useful equipment keep working? Make k tthe he R Right ight C ight Connections onne on nect ctio tio ions ns | ww www.bb-elec.com www w.bb w.bb bb-e elec.com 9 THE INTERNET OF MOBILE THINGS MANAGING YOUR MOBILE ASSETS Mobile assets present network engineers with unique challenges. As forklifts move around a facility, they may move in and out of network range. Delivery and service vans may be dozens of miles from headquarters, and the big rigs roam across the entire country. Wired connections aren’t an option, so operators use Wi-Fi, satellites and the cellular networks. FACILITIES One doesn’t often think of forklifts as vehicles, but large plants often contain enough of them that equipping the fleet with mobile wireless connections confers great advantages. Central control can ensure that only authorized operators are using the equipment. Collisions and accidents can be reduced. Processes like checklist inspection can be automated. And, as with any telematics operation, vehicle maintenance event codes can be tracked and monitored at all times. All of this is easy to do with dual-band, wireless device servers that provide all of the necessary RF technology, networking stacks, and advanced security features in a single box solution. Equipping the forklifts with wireless device servers turns them into Wi-Fi enabled mobile network nodes. The dual band Wi-Fi feature lets operators choose the Wi-Fi band that is the most reliable under local conditions. 10 - - MONITORING AND M2M Issue MINING Komatsu, the international manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, had a rather unique problem. Their OBDII system could report vehicle diagnostics via satellite. But, in areas where satellite communications were unlicensed or unavailable, the service technicians needed to hard-wire a PC to the OBDII port if they wanted to access vehicle data. And some of the mining machines were 30 feet tall. Komatsu needed a solution that would work in extreme environments, and that would spare the technicians from the need to climb vehicles that were as high as a three story building. Komatsu installed heavy duty Ethernet to Wi-Fi bridges in their mining trucks. Where satellite communications are unavailable, their technicians can now access vehicle data with both feet firmly on the ground. Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 11 Fleet Management 12 Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com M2M Issue Fleet managers have relied on mobile networking technologies for a long time. Whether it’s service vehicles, delivery vans or the big 18-wheelers, fleet managers can cut costs and increase efficiency by monitoring the on-board diagnostics interfaces (OBDII) that have been standard equipment in vehicles since 1996. OBDII data parameters include everything from seat belt usage and brake pedal application to fuel consumption and emissions status, giving fleet managers the ability to monitor and manage key factors like driver behavior and maintenance requirements. 13 How does it work? volcano Cellular Wireless seismome ters, GPS etc. connecte d to Ethe rnet 10/100, R S232 rou ter DA TA PC data vizualization and processing REMOTE MONITORING AND CONTROL WHEN THE EDGE OF YOUR NETWORK IS THE EDGE OF THE WORLD 14 Sometimes there’s a need to monitor conditions in extremely hazardous locations. Sometimes it’s a steel mill. Sometimes it’s a live volcano. M2M Issue Volcanic eruptions in Iceland can interrupt flight schedules and cargo service all over Europe. It’s useful to have some advanced warning about what to expect. So the Icelandic government and the European Union have installed a variety of sensors to monitor Iceland’s live volcanos. Seismometers look for ground motion. GPS sensors use satellite technology to detect movements in the earth’s crust that indicate magma build-up below. Multi-gas meters watch for changes in gas emanations, another sign of intruding magma. Volumetric strain meters observe the displacement in a liquid when pressure from surrounding rock deforms the canister that contains it. Infrasound arrays listen for shock waves in the atmosphere generated by eruptions or quakes. Sensors can even detect “inflation”, the curving of the Earth’s surface around volcanic sites that indicates magma build-up. All of these devices need network connections. But – thanks to lava flows, ash fall and earth tremors – installing and maintaining a reliable cable run on a live a volcano would be a very expensive proposition. The Icelandic Meteorological Office answered the question with cellular routers. The cellular routers aggregate input from multiple generations of sensor technology and transmit the data to the control center via the cellular data network. Whether the connected devices spoke Modbus or TCP/IP, the routers translated it all and sent it back to headquarters. There was no need to run cables out to the volcano monitoring sites. Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 15 ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES 16 M2M Issue MULTIPLE VENDORS; MULTIPLE HEADACHES Arizona’s Salt River Project (SRP) provides electrical power for much of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Different substations on the grid use a variety of SCADA systems from multiple vendors, and each vendor implements its own circuits and makes its own recommendations about how to wire, ground, bias and terminate RS-485 ports. Predictably, communication glitches caused erroneous data errors and trouble reports, and threatened to mask real substation problems. SRP dealt with it by installing RS-232 to RS4-22/485 converters with switchable biasing and termination resistors that let them use equipment from virtually any vendor. IS FIVE NINES UPTIME ALWAYS CRITICAL? The United States Geographical Survey (USGS monitors water conditions all over the country with an array of automated sensors that test water at fixed intervals and transmit the data back to the USGS. Many of their sensors are placed in locations that are so remote that there is no practical way to access the power grid or any wired Internet infrastructure. So the USGS equipped the sensors with solar panels, maintenance-free batteries and small, smart, IP67-rated outdoor radio transmitters. The system doesn’t need much power, and it doesn’t require five nines uptime, either. Its embedded intelligence allows it to overcome distance and interference by storing and retransmitting data until an Internet connection becomes available and reception has been confirmed. Every data networking question has its own answer. SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO THORNY PROBLEMS The sedimentation tanks, activated sludge reactors and other equipment at a wastewater treatment plant were spread out over a wide area. Their cable runs were lengthy, so rogue currents and ground loops were wreaking havoc with their RS-485 network and interfering with communications between the control system and the remote sensors. It was dangerous, it was messy, and – thanks to troubleshooting, overtime and EPA fines – it was expensive. The operators resolved the problem by installing RS-485 isolators at key points around the network. Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 17 TRANSPORTATION DATA ON THE MOVE An increasing number of municipalities monitor and remotely manage traffic controllers at their intersections, which lets them make more efficient use of existing road infrastructure while improving overall safety. Toll road authorities are switching over to open road tolling and adding remote monitoring and management capabilities to their remaining automated cash toll booths. Traffic cameras are multiplying, sometimes as enforcement tools, sometimes to help traffic managers spot congestion and bottlenecks. Remote digital traffic signage is becoming increasingly commonplace. Buses, trains and other forms of public transportation are providing riders with Wi-Fi hotspots, and providing them with updated travel information as well. All of these device applications call for Ethernet connections. In many places, fiber optic connections have replaced the traditional leased Telco lines, which were slow and expensive. But fiber isn’t the only way to connect Ethernet to remote traffic equipment. There are plenty of other ways to achieve the same thing. Let’s say you wanted to install some temporary traffic signage in a construction zone. If there was any existing copper wire in place, like some old telephone lines, you wouldn’t need to invest in a fiber installation. You could install Ethernet Extenders, which use DSL technology to repurpose any copper pair for high speed Ethernet communications. Typical connections speeds would be 50 Mbps at up to 300 meters, 10 Mbps at up to 1400 meters and 1 Mbps at up to 1900 meters. Another option would be a cellular router. Cellular routers can Ethernet-enable traffic equipment anywhere there’s cell phone service. 18 M2M Issue Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 19 CONNECTING TO THE CUSTOMER When your customers interact with equipment like ATM machines and card readers, the locations are typically chosen for their convenience to the customer. Ease of installation won’t always be a primary concern. The location may be perfect for a remote bus ticketing machine or a vending machine, but local circumstances or the distances involved may make fiber or copper cable impractical or prohibitively expensive. So how do network designers cope with these issues? Poland’s national lottery is an excellent example. Their lottery machines were positioned to be convenient for the customers rather than the cable installers. So the network designers decided to dispense with cable entirely. They connected the lottery machines with cellular routers. Cellular routers can aggregate multiple data networking protocols from a wide variety of equipment and provide secure Internet backhaul anywhere there’s cell phone service. The remote equipment may connect to the routers via any combination of Wi-Fi, Ethernet, serial, wired I/O and even Modbus. Where wired infrastructure is available, cellular routers can connect to that as well, providing redundant backhaul that will keep remote devices operating in emergencies. 3G routers already provide ample bandwidth for most industrial applications, including video. 4G LTE cellular routers and the 4G LTE networks make cellular networking even more capable, as they add low latency and high bandwidth that rival fiber optics. Cellular networking will have an expanding role in the networks of the future, but it’s also a tool that we can use today. You may never have a reason to install an ATM machine in the middle of the desert – but it could be done. 20 Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com M2M Issue TRANSACTION MANAGEMENT 21 SECURITY A single security agent with a bank of video monitors can replace a small army of watchmen on foot patrol. Modern security systems take advantage of everything technology has to offer, from RFID tags and readers to cameras, access control systems, integrated servers, video analytics, facial recognition systems, card scanners and even biometrics. Data may be collected in multiple locations, and it may need to be available to multiple recipients. Different devices will use different device networking protocols, yet it all needs to get where it’s going. 22 REAL TIME OBSERVATION AND CONTROL M2M Issue A European toy manufacturer wanted to establish 24/7 video surveillance for the facility. But IP cameras are typically installed in inconvenient locations -- you’ll see them on top of light poles, for example. They’ll need a power supply of some sort and, in a large network that is based upon a fiber backbone, they’ll also need media conversion. The toy manufacturer solved it with Power over Ethernet (PoE) media converters. Copper RJ-45 cable has four wires, but only two support the data stream. A PoE device can use the other two to power remote Ethernet equipment. New network installations will typically use switches as PoE sourcing equipment. But older networks can also be upgraded. By inserting “midstream” devices like the toy manufacturer’s PoE media converters, any portion of a network can be upgraded to PoE. Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 23 ENTERPRISE IT 24 M2M Issue Enterprise IT makes no use of protocols like Modbus, and Enterprise IT data networking equipment is not normally built to the rugged standards demanded in industrial M2M networking. But Enterprise IT and M2M industrial networking do make use of many of the same basic technologies. Sometime the line between Enterprise IT and M2M industrial networking can be rather blurry, especially when an Enterprise network is scaled up to a very large size. The luxurious Dubai Mall, for example, is one of the world’s largest shopping, leisure and entertainment destinations. It includes, among other things, approximately 1,200 shops, an ice skating rink and an underwater zoo. It also includes numerous LED monitors that are used for retail marketing. The monitors are 12 meters long by 1 meter high, they are situated throughout the mall and they needed to be networked. Like so many Enterprise IT networks, this was an indoor application. But the ranges involved, along with the required bandwidth, demanded the same solutions that you’d expect to find in a large industrial facility. The mall ran fiber cables to the monitors and connected them with fiber to copper media converters. Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 25 WHERE WILL THINGS CONNECT IN THE FUTURE? 26 M2M Issue SMALLER, SMARTER, SELF SUFFICIENT Engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a low-power, smart sensor system that demonstrates many of the principles that we’ll be putting to work in the smarter, “thinking” networks of the future. At just nine cubic millimeters it’s the size of a Vitamin C tablet. But it’s solar powered, it has an internal battery and radio, and it is equipped with its own processor. Called the “Phoenix”, the processor employs a unique power gating architecture and an extreme sleep mode to achieve ultra-low power consumption. At the University of Washington they’re working on a data communications system that requires no power source and needs no cables. Using a technique that the engineers call “ambient backscatter”, the new communication technology lets devices communicate with each other by reflecting the cellular and TV signals in the immediate environment, while drawing power from those signals at the same time. Connection speeds are only about 1 kbit/s at a range of two feet and the technology is still in its infancy. But the eventual implications for M2M networking are very exciting. As remote devices continue to become smaller, smarter, less power hungry and more autonomous, they will also become more robust, more scalable, and easier to deploy. There will be more and more opportunities to distribute more local intelligence around the network. These thinking networks will extend their range to include locations and applications that would previously have been completely inaccessible. Where Will Your Network Need To Go? Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 27 BUILD IT TODAY WITH TOMORROW IN MIND 28 M2M Issue Whether you’re designing a new network or upgrading an existing system, you’ll want to ask yourself how long the installation will need to remain viable. If, as is likely, your intention is that it should remain in place well into the foreseeable future, you’ll want to consider the steps you can take now to make sure that your network is not only the right installation for the present, but that it can be upgraded to meet future needs as well. We are in the process of adding billions of new network nodes to our networks. New applications will deploy new kinds of remote sensors. More and more applications will involve video. Network nodes will become more intelligent, and SCADA applications will take advantage of their new capabilities. New mobile network nodes will come on line, and in vast numbers. The network’s edge will continue to expand to include increasingly remote locations. The need for bandwidth will escalate, as will the need to incorporate devices of multiple data networking generations. Will your network be ready? There are steps you can take now that will improve existing networks while future-proofing them as well. Where Will Your Network Go Next? Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 29 EVOLVE, ADAPT, and ADOPT UPGRADE AS YOU GO 30 M2M Issue The Pinal County, AZ, well owner’s coop operates a water tank monitoring system in the Arizona desert. Among other things, the system predicts system failures by measuring and aggregating pump current and other data. In its current incarnation it can make decisions based on changes detected over time and SMS a technician to schedule preemptive maintenance before catastrophic failures occur. But the site has been upgraded many times, and in various ways. The original system used I/O radios to transmit data from pressure sensors, current sensors and level sensors to a radio modem. The radio modem then connected to an onsite HMI. There was no Internet connection, so reading the data meant that someone would have to visit the site in person. But at least the data was being collected in a single location, which greatly simplified site inspections. If there was trouble anywhere in the system, the operators could spot it before it spiraled out of control. Data networking continued to evolve. Eventually it became possible to transmit remote data via Internet TCP/IP. The coop concluded that running cable out to the well site would have been prohibitively expensive, so they installed a 3G cellular router. The cellular router provided Internet backhaul via the cellular telephone network, making it unnecessary to visit the site in person. The router had built-in firewalls and powerful security protocols, and when combined with Virtual Private Networking (VPN) it let the operators use the cellular system as securely as if it were proprietary infrastructure. An additional improvement included the addition of an IP security camera, which connected to the router’s Ethernet port. But the world doesn’t stand still. The well owner’s coop is now looking at upgrading to 4G LTE cellular networking. Even farther down the road, they’re thinking about replacing their Modbus sensors with remote Wi-Fi sensors. Wi-Fi sensors would be able to bypass the I/O radios and report directly to the cellular router, which would streamline things. What began as a small set of Modbus data feeds to an HMI would become a complete data networking solution that collects sensor data at its source and carries it all the way to the appropriate applications via the Internet. Note, however, that the coop has never needed to eliminate any of their older equipment simply because they were adding new data networking devices to the mix. Instead, they’ve made changes when it suited them to do so, and they’ve kept existing equipment on line wherever and whenever they felt that it was still useful. Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 31 REIMAGINE YOUR WIRED CONNECTIONS Wireless data communications technologies certainly have some wonderful features, but they’re not the best solution for every application. In military installations, for example, it’s not unusual to run fiber all the way to the desktop. Wireless transmissions can be monitored, and history tells us that when communications can be intercepted there will inevitably be security breaches. Fiber doesn’t have that vulnerability. And, unlike copper cable, fiber is immune to EMI, ground loops and other electrical transients. There are many data networking questions that are best answered by fiber, and it has become ubiquitous in both IT and industry. Single and Multi-mode Fiber As new applications come on line it is becoming necessary to collect and transmit increasingly vast quantities of data. Fiber optics, with their massive bandwidth, have long served as the backbone infrastructure for large networks, and will continue to be important in the future. The cheaper option, multi-mode fiber optic cable, typically employs lower-cost electronics such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and can carry data several kilometers. It is often used as the backbone infrastructure for office building and factory networks. The telephone and cable companies, with their need for great range, are more likely to use single-mode fiber optic cable. Single-mode cable transmits with more powerful lasers. It lets the telcos transmit data across entire continents. Just as multi-mode fiber and its associated equipment is more expensive than copper wire, single-mode fiber optic installations are more costly than multi-mode. But many network designers still specify the more expensive single-mode fiber optics at the outset, reasoning that labor costs always represent a large part of the installation expense in any case, and that the great bandwidth and range provided by single-mode fiber ensure that the installation won’t become obsolete at any time in the foreseeable future. 32 CDWM Fiber M2M Issue Another fiber option, Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) technology, enables the transmission of multiple optical signals on different wavelengths over a single strand of fiber. You can add up to eight CWDM channels to an existing 1310nm service line. Service providers and enterprise network managers can use it to leverage investments in existing fiber infrastructure, multiplying their fiber capacity without investing in additional fiber optic cabling. Power Over Ethernet Future networks will include many new wireless nodes, but wired connections will still represent much of the network backbone. Older wired devices will be tasked to keep doing their jobs while new wired Ethernet devices continue to appear, adding new functions and new capabilities. You won’t want your installation options to be limited by the availability of AC power outlets or the costs associated with installing new outlets, either now or at some point farther down the road. Power Over Ethernet (PoE) equipment can solve the problem. PoEenabled network switches and “injectors” carry power to connected devices over the same Ethernet cables that provide their network connections. The original IEEE 802.3af-2003 PoE standard provided up to 15.4 W DC (minimum 44 V DC and 350 mA) to each device, with 12.95 W available at the powered device after cable loss. But some devices, such as heated remote cameras, needed more. The updated IEEE 802.3at-2009 PoE standard (referred to as either PoE+ or PoE plus) nearly doubles the available power, providing up to 25.5 W. But PoE+ also remains compatible with the older 802.3af PoE standard. PoE+ switches and injectors will recognize 802.3af powered devices and source power to them accordingly. The reverse is also true; PoE+ powered devices will recognize 802.3af PoE switches or injectors, and are designed to restrict how much power they draw. PoE Standard 802.3af-2003 802.3at-2009 Maximum power sourced by PSE 15.40 W 34.2 W Power available at PD 12.95 W 25.50 W Voltage range (at PSE) 44.0 to 57.0 V 50.0 to 57.0 V Voltage range (at PD) 37.0 to 57.0 V 42.5 to 57.0 V Maximum current 350 mA 600 mA Power management Power classes 1,2 and 3 negotiated at initial connection Dynamic power can be negotiated down to 0.1 W Supported cabling CAT 3, CAT 5, CAT5e, CAT 6 CAT 5, CAT5e, CAT 6 Supported modes Alternative A (endspan) Alternative B (midspan) Alternative A (endspan) Alternative B (midspan) Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 33 EXTEND YOUR NETWORK EDGE ETHERNET EXTENDERS Ethernet extenders use DSL technology to extend Ethernet range up to 1900 meters; or nearly two kilometers. And Ethernet extenders will work with all sorts of copper wire, which makes them very cost-effective. Ethernet extenders cut down labor and cabling costs by making use of any legacy cable that is already in place, like Cat5 cable or even old telephone lines. The savings can be substantial. Ethernet extenders are set up in pairs. The first extender converts the Ethernet data for transmission over DSL. The second converts it back again. Throughput may be up to 85 Mbps, depending upon the range. Data signals attenuate over copper wire, of course, but even at the full 1900 meters Ethernet extenders can still provide throughputs of 1 Mbps. Some Ethernet extenders are also equipped to provide Power over Ethernet (PoE), which overcomes the challenge of powering remote devices that have no nearby power source. PoE provides power directly from the Ethernet extender’s Ethernet port. Ethernet extenders are a very useful tool in applications that don’t require immense bandwidth. 34 DUAL BAND Wi-Fi M2M Issue Wi-Fi airwaves are already crowded, and more Wi-Fi devices join our networks every day. Installing dual band Wi-Fi routers, bridges and wireless serial servers lets operators respond to local conditions by choosing either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands, depending upon which frequencies work best at a specific location. Dual band serial servers can Ethernet-enable even very old serial devices, either by using Wi-Fi to connect to the network, or by providing the serial equipment with Wi-Fi hotspots that allow technicians to connect via handheld devices like smart phones and tablets. CELLULAR NETWORKING The 2G cellular networks, which introduced the first generation of cellular data networking, will soon be a thing of the past. Carriers are rapidly eliminating them to free up bandwidth for 4G LTE. Eventually, 3G will fade away as well, once 4G LTE coverage has expanded to the point where it can serve all of the same potential customers. But it won’t happen overnight, and 3g cellular networking equipment is still less expensive than its 4G LTE counterparts. 4G LTE routers are backwards compatible with the 3G networks. If they’re operating on a 3G network, of course, they’ll have to function as 3G devices. But when 4G LTE network coverage becomes available they’ll switch over to 4G, with its low latency and excellent bandwidth. Every cellular application has its own needs and requirements. If you were only using cellular data networking for Internet backhaul, for example, you might not need or want a router that supported Wi-Fi. If a feature is irrelevant to the application, why spend extra money to include it? But do plan ahead. Choose a router model that not only includes the configuration options that you need immediately, but also the features that you may require in the future, like Wi-Fi and 4G capabilities. MOBILE PLATFORM Mobile platforms are also becoming an increasingly effective element in M2M networking. Some HMIs are being replaced by smart phones and tablets. One option is to equip industrial devices with internal or external Wi-Fi access points that allow mobile devices to connect with them wirelessly, much the way a laptop connects to a hotspot at your local coffee shop. Low energy Bluetooth (Bluetooth LE) is also generating new interest. The latest versions of our mobile operating systems already support it, and its low energy needs will make it quite useful in wireless Internet of Things applications. Many mobile devices have a USB port as well. Adding a USB On The Go (OTG) cable gives users a full-sized USB port, and the ability to create temporary wired connections to equipment like serial converters, routers and switches. Handheld devices will play an increasingly important role in industrial networking. Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 35 EXTENDING THE LIFE OF USEFUL EQUIPMENT In the city of Prague, the capitol and largest city in the Czech Republic, Pražská Teplárenská a.s operates a district heating system with 265,000 customer connections, 49 heating plants and 696 km of pipeline. District heating systems like this are not new technology; many are more than a century old. But when they are large enough, they’re still surprisingly cost effective. Rather than seeking to replace them, many operators are actively expanding them. Pražská Teplárenská a.s is no exception. They’ve added heating plants that burn waste rather than fossil fuels. They’ve installed gamma ash meters that analyze their coal in real time, letting operators apply efficient process control measures like coal homogenization. And they also wanted to add remote monitoring and metering all across the system. To do this, they would need to connect devices that used protocols ranging from Modbus to Ethernet. Inconveniently, Prague is more than 1000 years old. There are winding streets, irregular property lines and even some canals. Installing cable connections would have been a nightmare. Pražská Teplárenská a.s deployed cellular routers. With multiple built-in hardware interfaces as well as Wi-Fi capabilities, the cellular routers are able to aggregate disparate protocols and technologies that include Wi-Fi, Ethernet, RS232/422/485 and even Modbus. They communicate with the central control over the cellular data networks using TCP/IP. Cellular routers can provide wireless connections for both individual devices and remote LANs. Via their Ethernet ports they can also provide redundant backhaul over wired connections. Rather than abandoning their legacy infrastructure, Pražská Teplárenská a.s used newer technologies to make it more efficient. 36 M2M Issue Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 37 RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER As remote devices continue to become smaller, smarter and less power hungry, there will be opportunities to distribute more local intelligence around the network and to collect more data. One result will be that the early adopters who deploy large-scale M2M solutions with smarter remote sensors will find themselves swimming in data. Application providers are emerging in software solutions that can organize and present all of that data in useful ways, and that can take advantage of its full value. Wi-Fi has come a long way over the last few years and is steadily becoming a dominant player in wireless M2M, thanks to its lower costs, interoperability, low power chipsets and the ability to support IP standards and security. We’ll see more and more Wi-Fi sensors being deployed, and when combined with power harvesting techniques like solar panels, Wi-Fi will let network engineers move many applications entirely off the grid. If they are connected to cellular aggregators and routers, and using the cellular network for Internet backhaul, many remote LANs and sensors will be able to collect data out at the network edge and move it all the way up to the cloud with no need for cable connections. Cellular data networking, already incredibly useful in remote monitoring and control applications, will be able to take increasing advantage of the low latency and high bandwidth provided by the expanding 4G LTE coverage. By bringing enhanced capabilities and features like real-time video to applications ranging from remote diagnostics to security, cellular data networking will enable high bandwidth wireless sensor solutions in even the most remote locations. Mobile platforms will become an increasingly effective element in M2M networking. HMIs are being replaced by smart phones and tablets. One option is to equip industrial devices with internal or external Wi-Fi access points that allow mobile devices to connect with them wirelessly, much the way a laptop connects to a hotspot at your local coffee shop. Low energy Bluetooth (Bluetooth LE) will also become important. The latest versions of our mobile operating systems already support it, and its low energy needs will make it quite useful in wireless Internet of Things applications. Many mobile devices have a USB port as well. Adding a USB On The Go (OTG) cable gives users a full-sized USB port, and the ability to create temporary wired connections to equipment like serial converters, routers and switches. Handheld devices will play an increasingly important role in industrial networking. 38 M2M Issue Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 39 WHEREVER YOUR NETWORK NEEDS TO GO Cellular/Wireless/RF 40 Et M2M Issue thernet Switches, Routers, and Extenders Ethernet Media Converters USB Connectivity Serial Connectivity Ethernet Serial Servers & Gateways WE CAN GET YOU THERE Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 41 DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS Intelligent M2M networking starts with asking the right questions, talking to the right people and partnering with companies whose expertise, services and core competencies complement your own. B&B Electronics partners with system integrators, OEMs, carriers, applications software providers and distributors all around the globe to provide intelligent M2M solutions to customers in more than 60 different countries. We’d like to work with you as well. If you have questions or concerns about industrial data networking, we can help. Call us Monday through Friday, 7:00am - 7:00pm CST, at 1-800-346-3119 or 8:00am - 5:00pm, GMT, at +353 91 792444. 42 M2M Issue Make the Right Connections | www.bb-elec.com 43 World Headquarters Ottawa, IL, USA Phone: 1-815-433-5100 Fax: 1-815-433-5109 Email: [email protected] 1614 © 2014 B&B Electronics Mfg. Co. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. California Headquarters Lake Forest, CA, USA Phone: 1-949-465-3000 Fax: 1-949-465-3020 Email: [email protected]