Wireless industrial hotspot

ProSoft Technology has added its 802.11abg Industrial Hotspot to the growing line of RadioLinx products. The RLX-IHW functions as a wireless access point, repeater or client and is designed for global installations. It offers high-speed wireless ethernet communications including EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP/IP, and DNP over ethernet for linking automation systems, ethernet I/O, video cameras and plant network access for mobile workers. The RLX-IHW utilises orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) for multi-path interference rejection, RF multicast packet filtering and dual frequency bands which make it the ideal solution for demanding, high-speed industrial networks needing reliable performance.

For high-security applications, the RadioLinx 802.11abg Industrial Hotspot offers WPA2 (802.11i) advanced encryption standard (AES-CCM) encryption and MAC ID filtering. The RLX-IHW is also equipped with RF-based internet group management protocol (IGMP) snooping, a tool which allows multicast filtering at the wireless level, so that the transmitting radio, or producer, only transmits needed information to the receiving radio, or consumer, thus preventing crowding over the air from the re-broadcasting of data. The RLX-IHW at the consumer then sends a reply back to the RLX-IHW at the producer confirming receipt of data, and retransmits as necessary to minimise loss of data.

The 802.11abg Industrial Hotspot uses OFDM modulation on a dual-frequency band (2.4 and 5 GHz) for good noise immunity at maximum speeds. This technique distributes data over multiple carriers which are assigned individual frequencies, so that each carrier only sees its own, translating into less distortion or interference.