Accutech is the winner of the 2005 Industrial Wireless Instrumentation Excellence in Technology of the Year.

F&S: Accutech is recognized as a leader in industrial wireless technologies for process industries. From your perspective, which industrial wireless solutions represent the greatest growth potential?

PN: The greatest growth potential for wireless technologies lies in the 80% of applications that are not currently being monitored. Where wired installation can only provide 20% of the data ideally needed to run a plant, our low-cost and easy to install industrial strength wireless delivers the other 80%. Accutech's wireless instrumentation is able to capture a great deal of measurements that are not currently being captured for reasons of cost, location, etc.

F&S: What do you see as the greatest challenges to growth in the industrial wireless sector?

PN: Launching new technology in the typically conservative industrial space has been a challenge because of the lack of familiarity with the technology. There has been a tremendous learning curve with wireless instrumentation; however it appears that the acceptance and adoption rates have increased dramatically in the past few months.

F&S: There are a number of wireless protocols, how does industrial wireless compare to other wireless products – 802.11, Bluetooth and Zigbee, for example?

PN: Our interoperable Industrial Wireless Protocol, MVP, is significantly different than other protocols such as 802.11, Bluetooth and Zigbee. While all allow multi-vendor input, only Accutech's MVP allows for greater range (up to 2 miles with optional antenna vs. 100 feet for 802.11, 30 feet for Bluetooth, and 300 feet for Zigbee), a 5 year battery life with an update rate of every few seconds (2 hours for 802.11, 3 days for Bluetooth, and 6 months for Zigbee at an update rate of 3 times a day), deterministic data timing and acknowledgement support which no other offers, but is also rated for Class 1, Division 1 environments.

Protocols like 802.11, Zigbee and Bluetooth are all ad hoc protocols which provide convenient interoperability but also exposed the system to significant security risk. 802.11 and Bluetooth offer high data rates for computer type commercial applications. Zigbee is a published Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) protocol, a self-configuring protocol which means that everyone knows where it is and a ‘denial of service' attack is easy to do. Unlike FHSS, DSSS radio relies on a solo signal at any given frequency and no one knows that it is there, but it must be published so the recipient knows it's there to collect the communication. The range is also short and must rely on multi-hop which is complex and a recipe for disaster in a process plant. These protocols also have significant overhead that consumes both power and bandwidth.

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) – The communication spectrum is spread over different frequencies, it keeps randomly hopping and the code is hidden. Both the transmitter and the receiver are synchronized to hop to different frequencies as the communications continue. This technique has been the backbone of the military's communication security technique because it adds security and ensures that noise interference at any one frequency does not block the communications. Unlike FHSS, DSSS radio relies on a solo signal at any given frequency and no one knows that it is there.

Our protocol is uniquely designed for industrial environments where small amounts of data for process measurement must be transmitted in a micro-power but highly reliable fashion.

F&S: Can you give us some background on how point-to-point radios compare to hierarchal mesh networks relative to industrial wireless solutions.

PN: Accutech network is not point-to-point but a redundant star network [provides the highest availability of any network] and is not only scalable but also offers deterministic data timing. Content of every message is verified. Mesh typically is for shorter range, requires a lot of nodes, requires high power consumption and an undefined latency to get data. Depending on the implementation of mesh, it will likely look like a Bus network. Bus network has significantly less availability than a redundant star network. Redundant star is superior to mesh if it is organized as a Bus.

F&S: Accutech's robust technologies have to deal with some rugged environments. Can you describe some of the challenges, and how Accutech is addressing them?

PN: Accutech's wireless instrumentation can be installed in difficult monitoring locations, remote and harsh environments. Our instrumentation was designed to comply with Class 1, Div 1, Group A hazardous environments, and NEMA 4X ratings for weather and corrosion resistance. Our instruments can operate in ambient temperatures ranging from -40F to +185F.

Each and every item we produce is tested in the -40F to +185F temperature range to ensure proper operation in the harshest of environments. Although this is a costly additional step in the production process, we feel it is a necessary step to guarantee quality and continuous operation.

F&S: Security is very important in wireless networks. Can you describe how this is incorporated in Accutech's industrial wireless technologies?

PN: When dealing with wireless communications, reliability and security are important concerns and we take them very seriously. Security is very important – we have already touched upon the 'denial of service' attack and we will talk about received signal strength in a subsequent question.

To ensure reliability and security we have gone to great lengths to prevent jamming from an outside source, ease-dropping, and the switching of data during transmission.

There are three phases of security:

1. are signals getting through
2. is someone sending incorrect data in place of correct data
3. is someone reading your data

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum combined with the attachment process where a field device is paired with a base radio provides for intrinsic security. Both the transmitter and receiver are synchronized and hop to different frequencies as the communications continue. All messages require multiple bit-matching on frequency synchronization, device identification and location before the communication is initiated.

At today's level of potential for a malicious attack, Accutech will defeat all attempts. We are taking care of today's risk and we continuously study the problem for continuous security improvements as attackers capabilities grow.

F&S: All wireless technologies have to deal with battery life issues. What are the challenges, and solutions, to the battery questions for Accutech's industrial wireless technologies?

PN: In hazardous and/or remote industrial environments it is imperative that the battery life be as long as possible while providing consistently reliable data. Accutech has spent a great deal of time in development and research and currently offers a single C cell size battery with a 5 year variable life at lower data rates than the rest.

The challenge is providing our customers with a battery with the longest possible life.

The solution is selecting the right network topology as that is key to maintaining long battery life. Our deterministic redundant star is the appropriate solution for this problem.

In fact, our next generation battery available at year end will allow on certain applications sensor monitoring ten times a second and radio data transmission once a second with a 20 year battery lifetime. In this case the battery has a longer life expectancy rate than the life of the instruments, the sensors and the electronics.

F&S: Setting up a wireless network saves all the expense of wiring but there are unique challenges in the electromagnetic environments that industrial wireless has to deal with. How does Accutech deal with the complex interference variables in the industrial wireless setting?

PN: The assumption and the premise of the question imply that the wireless electromagnetic environment is more challenging than the wired electromagnetic environment. This is false.

The battery powered wireless instrument is isolated from the ground or at most has one connection to the ground. This fact eliminates most electromagnetic noise. The wireless antenna is very short and this antenna only picks up a small band of frequencies. The long wires in a wired solution act as an antenna for all frequencies and therefore picks up more electromagnetic noise.

Through frequency filters and the use of multiple frequencies at moderate to fast update rates, both the transmitter and the receiver in wireless solutions are synchronized to hop to different frequencies as the communications continue. Frequency hopping adds additional security and noise immunity.

F&S: Distance of service for wireless systems is an important consideration. What are the limits for Accutech's technologies?

PN: Accutech's instrumentation has a range of 2 miles with large antenna and 3,000 feet with short antenna. As a proactive tool, the RF communication continually monitors for received signal strength and notifies the user if there is any insufficient margin; a disruption that is possible in the future, before it happens. Any limitations in range depend on what kind of obstruction may be present at the plant. Our communications can go through most obstacles but there are a few, such as densely wooded areas and closely-knit piping that may prevent communication. We do also offer repeater technology to extend the range up to ten miles.

F&S: The bottom line is always a big factor in making a decision to adopt a new technology. What is a reasonable estimate for ROI where Accutech's industrial wireless instrumentation is adopted?

PN: There are a wide range of applications where ROI's are measured in days or weeks. Many applications produce tremendous cost avoidance for measurements that may not have ROI associated with them but must be implemented for safety, environmental or health compliance. Typically wireless sensors can be installed for 1/10 the total cost of traditional measurement technology. This is an enabling technology that leads to safety and efficiency gains that could not be achieved with traditional approaches.