Device-related modeling of wireless components for industrial automation systems

For several years many applications are using wireless communication in industrial automation, although wireless solutions (WS) are not yet fully integrated into the life cycle (LC) process of automation systems. Since several wireless technologies are candidates to fulfill given automation communication requirements, it is almost impossible for automation engineers to select the appropriate solution, to plan wireless solutions, or to perform diagnosis or fault analysis of a wireless network. Wireless specialists and specific tools are necessary for each potential WS. To overcome this problem, an information model for handling wireless systems throughout the life cycle (LC) has been developed in order to support automation engineers accessing the appropriate information when required. This paper presents the results of the project.