Industrial wireless blackout looms: GAMBICA warning 19 May 2014

GAMBICA – the trade association for instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology industry – is warning of a "major industrial wireless failure" unless the new EN62657-2 industrial wireless co-existence standard is harmonised.

Andrew Evans, technical executive at GAMBICA, advises that, in a bid to preserve bandwidth, the telecommunications industry has written a harmonised standard – but it does not allow industrial wireless control systems to function properly.

ETSI (the European Telecommunications Standard Institute, which is recognised by the European Union as a standards organisation), he explains, has written a harmonised standard (EN 300 328 V1.8.1) that amends existing rules for all devices using the public radio band.

That band includes millions of devices using WiFi, Bluetooth and Zigbee technologies so EN 300 328 V1.8.1 will have a major impact on manufacturers from all sectors once it comes into force, on 1 January 2015.

But ETSI is now blocking the harmonisation of a new European standard that would facilitate co-existence of industrial communication networks under the R&TTE directive, which states that 'radio equipment shall be so constructed that it effectively uses the spectrum allocated to terrestrial/space radio communication and orbital resources so as to avoid harmful interference'.

Evans believes this stance is likely to make Europe lose significant competitive ground in industrial wireless, warns Evans.

"The problem with the standard is that it introduces the concept of LBT [listen before talk]," states Evans.

"LBT requires each radio device to first check whether another device is transmitting, in which case it must hold back until the channel is free. This causes random and unpredictable communication delays," he continues.

"The entire idea is simply non-viable: at times of heavy use, the result is 'graceful degradation of service'. Unfortunately, the real problem for an industrial site is that key wireless devices [will] never be relied upon to report their alarm or status messages in a timely fashion."

Industry has tried working with ETSI by submitting comments on the revision of EN300328 V1.8.1, including suggestions for exemption or optional use of LBT within defined industrial automation areas. However, these have not been included in the latest revision of the standard, V1.8.1.

Evans insists that industry has also worked hard, via technical committee SC65C, to develop an IEC standard: 62657-2 (2013) 'Industrial Communication Networks - Wireless Communication Networks - Pt 2: Coexistence Management'.

This, he reveals, has been voted on positively by CENELEC to become EN62657-2 – but the harmonisation of this standard under the R&TTE directive has again been blocked by ETSI.

GAMBICA is urging all member companies providing industrial wireless equipment, or whose services rely on these systems, to contact their UK trade association or other organisations on the continent.

"The industry needs to make further efforts to explain the possible consequences of LBT to the European Commission and call for the harmonisation of EN62657-2 under the R&TTE directive as soon as possible," insists Evans.

Wireless process control technology is still in its infancy, but widely seen across the process industry as a huge growth area. Many sites in the UK have wireless systems installed and more are in the pipeline.

These investments will be put at risk if some accommodation is not found before the ETSI deadline.

Brian Tinham

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GAMBICA Association Ltd

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