Wireless data transfer

Elpro Technologies has released a range of smart wireless gateway products to overcome the problems in extending a high-speed data bus. The Smart Wireless Gateway will connect at maximum data rate to the host fieldbus - 100 Mbps ethernet, 12 Mbps Profibus DP, 1 Mbps Modbus Plus, 0.5 Mbps DeviceNet - and it also provides firewall isolation between the data bus and the outside world.

The Wireless Gateway uses a high level exception-reporting wireless protocol to maintain high speed and response. Peer-to-peer networking not only allows the data bus to be extended, but also to be converted. Profibus LANs in different parts of the plant can be wireless connected - and also wirelessly interconnected to ethernet, DeviceNet or Modbus Plus buses. Wireless data transfer plus wireless protocol conversion - all in the one package.

Because only register values are transferred via an I/O memory interface, the Wireless Gateways provide a solid layer-7 firewall to prevent data access to the host data bus. Up to 95 Wireless Gateways can be interconnected in the one system, with each Gateway connected to a separate data bus. The units use an internal FHSS wireless transceiver with security data encryption. Reliable operating distances are 10 km line-of-sight or 500 to 1000 m in congested industrial environments.