New challenges in wireless sensor networks: fault tolerance and real time

The wireless communications field is in continuous growth and revolution. The current trend toward the use of distributed wireless systems is due to these systems have demonstrated to be a good option due to its flexibility and power. In this line, nowadays there is an enormous demand of wireless connectivity for any industrial control applications, included critical systems. In this paper we discuss the possibilities and necessary developments to set up wireless communication for industrial applications in general and critical systems in particular. Furthermore, an abstract definition of a layered architecture for the development of intelligent and distributed control systems based on wireless sensor networks is proposed