Five Considerations When Choossing a Wireless Computer for Your IIoT Applications
Wireless connectivity is a key enabler in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications, escpacially in
industries that rely on distributed data acquisition from end devices deployed in remote areas. IIoT
gateway computers with built-in wireless capabilities are providing the computing power and
connectivity options required to make this happen. We discuss fice key things to consider when
choosing a wireless computer for your IIoT applications.
Industrial computers with sufficient processing power and mulitple connectivity options can be ideal IIoT gateways for data collection and
transmission. However, in industries that rely on distributed data acquisition in remote areas, such as energy, water and wastewater
management, oil and gas and utilities, wired infrastructure is often lacking or impractical. Although wireless computers provide an ideal solution
for these applications each scenario has diffferent requirements for communication distance, transfer speed, bandwidth, power consumption,
costs and more. Chossing the best wireless computer for your application requries taking these factors and their inherent trade-offs into consideration.
Data Volume
The volume of data collected, processed and transferred and the frequency of transmission of
edge data to applications in a cloud should determine the computer that you choose. Multiple
connection interfaces that support high-bandwidth data transfers simlify data qcquisition and
speed up data transfer. Other important considerations are the costs of bandwidth to transfer data
and the sensitivity of the data
Network Infrastructure
Whether you choose to build your own network or use an existing one from a local carrier
depends on the initial setup fees, data rates required and total cost of ownership.New cellular
connectivity options such as LTE-M and NB-IoT are yet to be deployed in every country. So it is
crucial to check whit your carrier about their availability.
Power Consumption
Choose a solution that best fits your power bduget. For example, power-hungry Wi-Fi solutions
are not well-suited for applications that rely on solar power or batteries. Technologies such as low-
power wide-area network (LPWAN) and low-power devices, including computers, can drastically
reduce your energy costs and help meet your green-power targets
Roaming
Carefully consider whether your field devices need obile connectivity throughhout the application
site. For example, collecting data for vehicular applications in intelligent transportation systems
would require cellular connectivity with connection failover capability for seamless roaming of end
devices that are mounted on moving vehicles.
Connection Redundancy and Reliability
To ensure reliability and availability, you may need dual-SIM redundancy or more than one
wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi LTE failover. Furthermore, to provide reliable Wi-Fi or LTE
connectivity in outdoor or harsh environments, it´s important to choose a device that can work
reliably in a wide operating temperature rnge such as -40 to 75°C (-40 to 167°F).
A Comparison of the Wireless Technologies Driving IIoT Connectivity
Case in Point -- Smart Metering
An electric utility company requested a smart metering solution to acccurately
measure and bill electricity consumption for households in a medium.sized city.
Due to the small data volume and low transmission frequency (about once per
day), the company wanted a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) solution
instead of using a long-range (LoRa) or other unlicensed technology that would
+require the company to set up its own wireless nfrastructure.
Since the local mobile carrier did not support an NB-IoT service yet, an industrial
IoT gateway, the UC-2116 which comes with built-in LTE Cat M1 communication
capability was installed, Besides providing both NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1
communication over LPWAN the UC-2116 also supports configuration
modifications if the local carrier decides to support NB-IoT down the road, thereby
reducing future costs. Furthermore, the IIoT gateway also supports a wide
operating temperature range of -40 to 75°C (-40 to 167°F), making it an ideal
choice for use in smart meters that are deployed outdoors.
Intelligent Connectivity Solutions Taking IIoT to the Next Level
Moxa´s easy-to-use reliable and intelligent connectivity solutions are connecting millions off edge devices to a wide variety of IIoT
applications to effortlessly bring data from the edge to the cloud.
transmission. However, in industries that rely on distributed data acquisition in remote areas, such as energy, water and wastewater
management, oil and gas and utilities, wired infrastructure is often lacking or impractical. Although wireless computers provide an ideal solution
for these applications each scenario has diffferent requirements for communication distance, transfer speed, bandwidth, power consumption,
costs and more. Chossing the best wireless computer for your application requries taking these factors and their inherent trade-offs into consideration.
Data Volume
The volume of data collected, processed and transferred and the frequency of transmission of
edge data to applications in a cloud should determine the computer that you choose. Multiple
connection interfaces that support high-bandwidth data transfers simlify data qcquisition and
speed up data transfer. Other important considerations are the costs of bandwidth to transfer data
and the sensitivity of the data
Network Infrastructure
Whether you choose to build your own network or use an existing one from a local carrier
depends on the initial setup fees, data rates required and total cost of ownership.New cellular
connectivity options such as LTE-M and NB-IoT are yet to be deployed in every country. So it is
crucial to check whit your carrier about their availability.
Power Consumption
Choose a solution that best fits your power bduget. For example, power-hungry Wi-Fi solutions
are not well-suited for applications that rely on solar power or batteries. Technologies such as low-
power wide-area network (LPWAN) and low-power devices, including computers, can drastically
reduce your energy costs and help meet your green-power targets
Roaming
Carefully consider whether your field devices need obile connectivity throughhout the application
site. For example, collecting data for vehicular applications in intelligent transportation systems
would require cellular connectivity with connection failover capability for seamless roaming of end
devices that are mounted on moving vehicles.
Connection Redundancy and Reliability
To ensure reliability and availability, you may need dual-SIM redundancy or more than one
wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi LTE failover. Furthermore, to provide reliable Wi-Fi or LTE
connectivity in outdoor or harsh environments, it´s important to choose a device that can work
reliably in a wide operating temperature rnge such as -40 to 75°C (-40 to 167°F).
A Comparison of the Wireless Technologies Driving IIoT Connectivity
Case in Point -- Smart Metering
An electric utility company requested a smart metering solution to acccurately
measure and bill electricity consumption for households in a medium.sized city.
Due to the small data volume and low transmission frequency (about once per
day), the company wanted a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) solution
instead of using a long-range (LoRa) or other unlicensed technology that would
+require the company to set up its own wireless nfrastructure.
Since the local mobile carrier did not support an NB-IoT service yet, an industrial
IoT gateway, the UC-2116 which comes with built-in LTE Cat M1 communication
capability was installed, Besides providing both NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1
communication over LPWAN the UC-2116 also supports configuration
modifications if the local carrier decides to support NB-IoT down the road, thereby
reducing future costs. Furthermore, the IIoT gateway also supports a wide
operating temperature range of -40 to 75°C (-40 to 167°F), making it an ideal
choice for use in smart meters that are deployed outdoors.
Intelligent Connectivity Solutions Taking IIoT to the Next Level
Moxa´s easy-to-use reliable and intelligent connectivity solutions are connecting millions off edge devices to a wide variety of IIoT
applications to effortlessly bring data from the edge to the cloud.