Radio node

The main purpose of the radio node is to collect measurement data from one or several sensors on a site. The Radio Nodes can be delivered with industrial sensor applications, embedded with a radio transceiver, making it a turnkey solution for remote data logging and monitoring of parameters such as temperature, pressure and flow.

Some examples of Radio nodes developed by WNC (right click to enlarge images) :

Sensor interfaces:
The Radio Nodes can have built in capabilities to interface different sensors and instruments providing digital interfaces, industry standard analogue 4-20 mA loop signal, as well as standard RS232 or SDI-12 serial connection ports. As output, the network can provide digital output, analogue 4-20mA signals, as well as a number of serial interface protocols like RS232, RS485, MODBUS and OPC. For more information, see sensor interfaces.

Local radio communication:
When several Radio node are used to monitor an area (eg. industrial site or production plant), the radio nodes forward the measurement data to a radio master in a star, tree or mesh structure (with radio repeaters if extended coverage is needed). For European applications the radio nodes use the license free ISM bands in 433MHz or 868 MHz. For US installations the system is using 915MHz. For more information concerning the liscense free ISM bands, see ISM radio technology.

The Radio Node is built around a highly modular architecture. Below is a block diagram of the Radio Node. Of the 8 different modules in the Radio Node, only 2 are mandatory. This gives a highly flexible system that can be adapted to the customer application and need.

The Radio Node may run on battery, solar energy or mains supply. The radio nodes also have built in battery status supervision capabilities. Battery status can be routed, as normal data, to any output application interface in a WNC network. The WNC PC console software has a battery status monitoring module. Alarms can be triggered, if battery status is routed to a digital signal output card, with an appropriate threshold setting for the incoming measurements. Battery status can also be routed to analogue 4-20mA output loops, such that RTUs and PLSes can observe battery status continuously.