Technology
Wi-Fi 6: boost in efficiency for industrial applications? SOURCE: SIEMENS
The question is not whether, but how IEEE 802.11ax (also known as Wi-Fi 6) and 5G are driving wireless mobile communications in the industrial environment. Siemens supports both technologies in order to offer optimal solutions for the most diverse requirements.
Thanks to shorter latency, automated guided vehicles can be safely operated in large numbers even at higher speeds. oriented additional functions, the so-called iFeatures – such as the industrial Point Coordination Function (iPCF) – Siemens already has augmented earlier WLAN standards with real-time capability and prepared them for the most demanding industrial applications. Applications with mobile participants such as crane trolleys, automated guided vehicles and shuttle systems, high-rack warehouses / rack feeders, overhead monorails, and increasingly mobile robots in modular SOURCE: SIEMENS
WI-FI 6 IS THE FIRST WLAN STANDARD TO NO longer mainly focus on greater bandwidth, but on the more efficient use of frequencies by each individual client as the number of participants increases. The standard provides functions that need to be implemented in industrial-grade components. Wireless LAN in the industrial environment has long been much more than the mere wireless connection of a few stationary participants. With proprietary industrial-
production environments are now established worldwide. The technology has become an integral part of the world of automation. Even more so in the end-to-end digitalized factory with more and more IIoT devices and mobile virtual/augmented reality devices for the visualization of data and processes, e.g., for assisted work. The number of participants in wireless networks continues to rise, and with it the need for even more flexible, efficient communication. Still handling and coordination, service and maintenance must remain easy to manage for the user. For this, the latest WLAN standard – IEEE 802.11ax – the sixth generation, succinctly dubbed Wi-Fi 6 by the Wi-Fi Alliance, brings a series of high-performance functions that can be expanded.
Communicating more efficiently
Thanks to shorter latency, automated guided vehicles can be safely operated in large numbers even at higher speeds. 09.202 1
i n d u str i a l e th e r n e t b o o k
A major step towards higher efficiency is made possible by the OFDMA (orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access) function, a method of data transmission already established in mobile communications but new for WLAN. Up to now, WLAN utilized the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) method. With it, only one client can communicate with the access point at a specific time and the client exclusively occupies the communication channel for data transmission.
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