Understanding the Temporal Fading in Wireless Industrial Networks: Measurements and Analyses

TL;DR

This paper investigates the temporal fading effects in fixed wireless industrial networks through extensive measurements, proposing a qualitative analysis framework to better understand and simulate multipath fading for improved network reliability.

Contribution

It introduces a novel qualitative framework for analyzing temporal fading in fixed industrial wireless links, validated by extensive field measurements.

Findings

Fading effects are caused by static and moving objects in industrial environments.

The framework accurately characterizes the correlation of temporal variations in fading.

Results support improved simulation and link quality assessment for industrial wireless networks.

Abstract

The wide deployment of wireless industrial networks still faces the challenge of unreliable service due to severe multipath fading in industrial environments. Such fading effects are not only caused by the massive metal surfaces existing within the industrial environment but also, more significantly, the moving objects including operators and logistical vehicles. As a result, the mature analytical framework of mobile fading channel may not be appropriate for the wireless industrial networks especially the majority fixed wireless links. In this paper, we propose a qualitative analysis framework to characterize the temporal fading effects of the fixed wireless links in industrial environments, which reveals the essential reason of correlated temporal variation of both the specular and scattered power. Extensive measurements with both the envelop distribution and impulse response from field experiments validate the proposed qualitative framework, which will be applicable to simulate the industrial multipath fading characteristics and to derive accurate link quality metrics to support reliable wireless network service in various industrial applications.