Wireless Technology
Wireless applications are flexible, clean and convenient. Wires can go bad or get tangled and can make
an application difficult to trouble shoot if there is a communication problem. As systems increase in size,
often wired applications increase in the amount of wires which can be problematic. Wireless solutions
can help when you want to communicate with a tank out in a remote area, want to check the status of
something from a remote location, or when you don't want to install any wires. You can use long range
wireless hardware to communicate with remote tank systems or you can use the cellular network.
Infrared technology can be used instead of wires in indoor applications.
Here is a short list of 3 types of wireless technology:
1. Zigbee Wireless Technology operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency. It supports mesh, star and cluster
tree topologies. It is an inexpensive, general purpose, self-organizing and robust. Zigbee networks
require one host or master like ZB-2550-T to be the coordinator for the network which will initialize and
determine the most optimal transmission path between nodes. ZB-2550-T can bring RS-485 or RS-232 to
zigbee wireless communication. Zigbee networks may have many slave routers like ZB-2551-T for
transmitting and receiving with end devices. ZB-2551-T can bring RS-485 or RS-232 to zigbee wireless
communication. The typical communication distance for zigbee hardware like ZB-2550-T and ZB-2551-T
is 100 meters and the standard antenna is omni-directional. Longer range versions can communicate up
to 700 meters. Directional antennas like ANT-15YG or omnidirectional antennas like ANT-15 may extend
communication transmission up to 9 Km. Each zigbee network has an RF channel, a PAN ID, and each
node has a unique node ID. Configuration of the network is done through a software utility. Zigbee
networks support transparent, broadcast or Modbus communication modes.
2. Infrared Technology uses electromagnetic radiation. IR-210 is a universal learning remote module
that can learn up to 176 IR commands and save them to a file. It operates in the 32 to 56 KHz frequency.
IR-210 has an RS-232 port and an RS-485 port so it can allow Modbus RTU based master devices to
communicate with IR slave devices like televisions, projectors, and lighting controls. IR-210 is set up with
a software utility which lets you configure Baud Rate, Net ID, Device Name, and commands. The typical
communication distance between the IR-210 and end devices like digital picture frames is up to 7
meters.
3. Radio Frequency Technology may operate in the 900 Mhz frequency. It supports point to point or
multi-point topologies. SST-900 for example has 16 adjustable RF channels and different AP modes like
Slave/P2P and Slave/Broadcast. Radio Frequency Technology supports peer to peer or broadcast
communication modes. SST-900's RF network is configurable with a software utility which lets you
configure an RF channel, group ID, AP mode, data format and baud rate. SST-900 has an internal self-
tuner and its typical wireless transmission range is 1000 meters.