To Örebro University

Trends like the Cloud, Internet of Things and 5G are pushing for an increase in connectivity, but, introducing a new type of network in an industrial distributed control system is a big investment with high risks. Time to market with sufficient quality is crucial. However, when getting through the Research and Development (R&D) phases, a lot of time is spent on isolated activates, e.g., simulations, collecting requirements, design, coding, debugging, creating testbeds, and performing various tests. Therefore, there is a need to improve efficiency when moving between the R&D phases. For verification and validation of communication software, the most common network evaluation method in industry are real testbeds, mostly since a testbed can be very similar to the deployed system. Testbeds are, however, hard to debug and costly to maintain. Other network evaluation methods like simulators, have some strengths that testbeds are lacking, like repeatability, control over the network, and lower cost. However, code from simulators can seldom be reused, especially in industrial time-sensitive target systems, due to different abstraction levels, run-time behavior and system timing. This paper presents findings from a case study that targets improved efficiency, getting from research theories, to deployed devices in a homogeneous Industrial Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network (IWSAN). We propose a small subset of network simulators features which eases changeability, reuse, and debugging of communication software. The selected simulator features are evaluated with a proof of concept implementation that is customized to a research platform. The findings indicate improved efficiency when moving back and forth between activities in different R&D phases.

Testing in realistic environments is often overlooked in the early development of new technology. This paper describes a test to evaluate the whole chain from an accelerometer mounted on a motor to a sensor node sending wireless data to an access point. A pilot gives a great opportunity to get input from end-users (which could be very useful at the initial stages of a project), and provide potential contacts for next pilots.

The goal of the pilot was to get a better understanding of the targeted environment and possible interference It may also lead to the discovery of issues not yet thought of, issues important for the resulting design of the end product.

Wireless communication has gained more interest in industrial automation due to flexibility, mobility, and cost reduction. Wireless systems, in general, require additional and different engineering and maintenance tasks, for example cryptographic key management. This is an important aspect that needs to be addressed before wireless systems can be deployed and maintained efficiently in the industry. In this paper, we take an holistic approach that addresses safety and security regardless of the underlying media. In our proposed framework we introduce security modules which can be retrofitted to provide end-to-end integrity and authentication measures by utilizing the black channel concept. With the proposed approach, we can extend and provide end-to-end security as well as functional safety using existing automation equipment and standards, such as Profisafe, Profinet IO, and WirelessHART. Furthermore, we improve the WirelessHART standard with periodic and deterministic downlink transmissions to enable efficient usage of wireless actuators, as well as improving the performance of functional safety protocols.

In this paper we describe a method to integrate WirelessHART networks in Distributed Control Systems (DCS)using PROFINET IO. By modeling the WirelessHART network in the Generic Station Description file, that describes a PROFINET IO device, the WirelessHART related configuration can be distributed from the central engineering stations. In this way, both process controller configuration and WirelessHART network configuration is engineered and maintained from a central location. Thus the end-user do not need any additional tool-specific training, as the existing tools are used to engineer the WirelessHART networks. We base the method of integration on the keywords simple deployment and maintenance, and flexible topology. A proof-of-concept implementation of the proposed method shows that it is possible to download WirelessHART configuration both to the WirelessHART network managers, as well as the WirelessHART sensors. By integrating WirelessHART in this way, maintenance is greatly simplified as the actual configuration will be downloaded automatically by the DCS when faulty field devices are replaced.

Wireless sensor and actuator networks bring many benefits to industrial automation systems. However, unreliable wireless and multihop communications among sensors and actuators cause challenges in designing such systems. Wireless HART is the first standard for wireless real-time industrial applications. However, current Wireless HART standard does not provide services for efficient usage of actuators, which are an essential part of automation. In this paper we focus on Wireless HART and propose a periodic and deterministic downlink transmission functionality which enables efficient usage of actuators and control applications. Furthermore, we define new HART commands extending the interface, without affecting available services, to support the integration of actuators. This can be achieved with minor changes in the current standard.