Increased efficiency for industrial applications
In the ever-evolving landscape of industrial manufacturing, the integration of wireless technologies plays a pivotal role in optimizing efficiency and flexibility. DetNetWiFiEdge represents the latest initiative by fortiss, specifically dedicated to advancing the research and implementation of wireless technologies, particularly Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7, in industrial environments. Built on the principle of Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), these new wireless standards offer significant advantages in terms of determinism and reliability, aspects particularly crucial in industrial settings.
This project not only facilitates the optimization of existing industrial IoT infrastructures but also unlocks innovative application possibilities, including dynamic reconfiguration and the deployment of mobile devices at the field level. The focus is on simplifying and enhancing the flexibility of production processes, with the aim of achieving efficiency gains and cost savings in the manufacturing sector.
The DetNetWiFiEdge project explored innovative approaches for integrating Wi-Fi 6 into industrial environments to facilitate Internet of Things (IoT) data exchange among different machines in production.
Unlike previous Wi-Fi standards, Wi-Fi 6 incorporates advanced features that offer enhanced support for critical applications in multi-user environments. This includes improved traffic isolation and more efficient frequency management.
As the Wi-Fi 6/Wi-Fi 6E/Wi-Fi 7 standard is currently in development, fortiss has been researching software-based solutions to alleviate interference and enhance support for critical requirements (bounded latency, low jitter, and zero packet loss), with a specific focus on multi-AP environments.
The DetNetWiFiEdge project marks the third phase of research and exploration into Wi-Fi 6 within the realm of industrial wired/wireless networks. The project focused on developing software-based solutions to:
Additionally, the project has contributed to a comprehensive review of existing industrial scenarios that already rely on wireless technologies across various vertical markets (manufacturing, mining, energy, public infrastructures, etc.). The implemented solutions can be observed in the IIoT Lab. Furthermore, the proposed mechanisms are accessible through a novel network simulation v3 framework DetNetWiFi.
The research developed by fortiss in the context of deterministic wireless solutions provides valuable contributions for manufacturing, as they assist in bringing a more resilient integration of wireless in critical environments.
The developed software is open-source and available to the community, to develop further improvements.
The two first phases of this project, named as TSNWiFi and DetNetWiFi have been supported by Huawei Technologies Düsseldorf GmbH. The final phase of the project (DetNetWiFiEdge) has been solely developed by fortiss.
