Breaking the Tether
Given a choice, most engineers would opt for a wired connection instead of a wireless connection. The satisfying sound of a connector latching with a socket provides a certain level of comfort and, if things don’t work, at least there are connections to probe. However, wireless connections do offer many advantages in the world of industrial automation. Due to their untethered nature, Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) require a wireless solution to enable them to remain connected to central systems as they make their way around the factory.
Field engineers also need to install and test equipment. Armed with a smartphone or tablet, wireless connectivity is the only option for connectivity. Using Bluetooth®, sensors can be configured and tested at the installation location without returning to a central control panel. Another often-quoted adage is “never change a running system”. Older installations may not offer the connectivity required to integrate the installations into an IIoT platform, but in such cases, wireless sensors and gateways can offer a method for increasing the intelligence of such systems without breaking into the existing installation.
Although wireless connectivity used to be considered a black art that became more complex with an increase in frequency, development teams can now easily deploy gigahertz radio transceivers while focusing on the features of their application. The WBZ451 is an excellent example of a highly integrated radio module with global regulatory certification. Available in two versions, one with an integrated antenna and the other fitted with a U.FL connector for an external antenna, these devices are powered by the PIC32CX-BZ2, a family of MCUs with Arm Cortex-M4F cores.
The 2.4-GHz radio transceiver is certified for Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) 5.2, Zigbee 3.0 and IEEE 802.15.4 protocols. Thanks to a hardware arbiter, time division coexistence between Bluetooth and 802.15.4 networks can be achieved, meaning both can operate reliably in parallel. This allows smartphones featuring Bluetooth to be used for device provisioning and configuration while the networked IIoT functionality operates over Zigbee or other 802.15.4 Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs).
Learn More About PIC32CX-BZ2 Family
The MPLAB Harmony v3 framework simplifies software development by offering drag-and-drop code generation and a broad range of application examples.
2.4 GHz has proven to be very popular but in offices and factories, this bandwidth suffers from overcrowding due to the number of devices operating in this bandwidth. Sub-GHz radios, such as the AT86RF215, provide an alternative with support from 389 to 1020 MHz in bands suited for use in Europe, China, North America, Korea and Japan. A second transceiver that operates simultaneously is also included in the 2.4 GHz band. Thanks to the fulfillment of multiple 802.15.4 modulation modes, this radio can be deployed with a range of physical layers, including Zigbee, 6LoWPAN and Microchip’s proprietary MiWi™ networking protocol.
Of course, any data collected needs to be fed back to central systems for analysis and display on dashboards. The typical wireless interface that supports this is Wi-Fi® and developers will usually require a gateway solution to provide a bridge from 802.15.4-WPAN implementations. The WFI32E01 integrates industry-leading, low-power Wi-Fi connectivity in a highly integrated SoC powered by a 200-MHz MIPS® processing core. Explicitly designed for IIoT applications, the module is provided with either an integrated antenna or U.FL connector. An optional Trust&GO hardware secure element is also available, preprovisioned to streamline secure network authentication with popular cloud providers.
Learn More About MPLAB X IDE
Naturally, these solutions are supported with a range of evaluation boards and example code easily accessible through MPLAB X IDE, Microchip’s free embedded software development environment. Most of Microchip’s development boards also include an integrated debugger to simplify the first steps taken on the path to application creation. Developers can also make use of the many real-life code examples provided on GitHub.
Microchip Technology on GitHub
Bluetooth LE
Wi-Fi
Zigbee
Sub-GHz
MiWi
