Wireless Networking for Control

Abstract

Wireless Networked Control Systems (WNCS) (Fig. 7.1) constitute a class of networked control systems where sensors, controllers and actuators exchange information over a wireless digital communication network. WNCS are based on networked wireless devices which have many advantages compared to their wired counterparts such as easy deployment, flexible architecture, low installation and maintenance cost, lack of cabling, and high mobility. There is not yet a widespread use of wireless technologies in industrial control applications despite their great potentials. One of the main reasons is that currently available wireless technologies do not have a framework that is applicable across several application domains. Expert knowledge about the whole protocol stack from the communication layer to the application layer is often required for each specific application development.