Daniel E. Capano

Making the case for full automation

Opinion: It is in everyone's best interests to move to full automation, particularly for publicly-owned facilities. Experiences running large spinning equipment in a dangerous and unhealthy environment led to exploring ways to reduce, if not eliminate, human involvement in the process.

Throwback Attack: Lessons from the Aurora vulnerability

A government-sponsored test on whether a cyberattack could inflict real-world physical damage has had major repercussions to this day. See eight steps on how to mitigate a potential cyberattack against your industrial control systems (ICSs).

How to select, apply process sensors

When specifying process sensors, several common factors need to be considered such as the operating environment, mounting options and cable connections.

Industrial wireless selection and implementation

Industrial wireless networks require a lot of planning and preparation because there are many elements that can hamper or interfere with manufacturing operations.

The human asset in cybersecurity

Cybersecurity education: Human hacking, the compromise of human assets, is often the first step in a cybersecurity breach, even if or when technical systems are secure. Help coworkers and those in your supply chain to avoid being the entry point for attack. Learn attack methods, five attack types and five prevention techniques.

Understand the cyber-attack lifecycle

A cyber kill chain provides a model for understanding the lifecycle of a cyber attack and helps those involved with critical infrastructure improve cybersecurity policies, technologies, training, and industrial control system (ICS) design. Learn 8 steps of one model.

The art and science of solids level measurement

Experience is required to properly design and apply solids handling systems. Accurately measuring the quantity of solids in a tank or silo is crucial to product management, custody control, and transfer.

Putting wireless sensor networks to work

As wireless sensor networks become more reliable, their applications continue to grow.

The case for open standard wireless networks

Proprietary wireless systems and local area networks (LANs), while still in use, are being whittled away in spite of the time and expense many companies have invested into them in favor of open standard wireless networks.

Open standard wireless systems

There are a number of open standard wireless systems in use including Bluetooth, Z-Wave, ZigBee, Worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), ISA 100.11, and wireless highway addressable remote transducer (WiHART). Each technology has its own specific advantages for particular industries.

Understanding RFI and EMI’s effects

A troublesome offshoot of radio frequency (RF) technology is radio frequency and electromagnetic interference, or RFI and EMI, respectively. EMI, in particular, can be a real challenge for users on the plant floor because of its impacts on WLAN technology.

WLAN troubleshooting best practices

Because no system is ever perfect, a user’s wireless local area network (WLAN) will shut down. Understanding how and why this happened is important, and there are some fundamental steps the user can take to get things back on track.

Wireless intrusion detection and protection systems

Keeping your wireless network safe from attack requires vigilance—and the right software strategy.

Integrating a wireless LAN into an existing wired LAN

As wireless local area networks (WLANs) become more ubiquitous, it is clear that necessary expansions of existing wired networks will be either extended—or replaced—by WLANs, and companies and users will need to adapt to the ensuing changes.

Choosing between single and multi-channel architecture

Wireless tutorial: Depending upon what topology is being used, single-channel architectures (SCAs) or multi-channel architectures (MCAs) use multiple repeating channels in a set pattern should be considered for channelization.

Virtual and physical WLAN site surveys

Wireless tutorial: Virtual and physical site surveys allow the designer to anticipate and plan for several factors for designing a network that will meet the client’s expectations in different ways.

WLAN design preparation and needs analysis

A client’s needs and requirements for designing a wireless local area network (WLAN) should not be overlooked; performing a needs analysis will allow the designer to manage the client’s expectations and avoid misunderstandings and liability.

WLAN design basics and wireless network considerations

Designing a reliable, secure, and available wireless network requires considering many factors. Rational planning and design, based on a thorough preliminary evaluation, can ensure that a wireless local area network (WLAN) will work the first time and allow ease of expansion without disruption.

Seven best practices for wireless cyber security

A good, solid understanding of effective cyber security is needed to protect information in a world where wireless communications are standard can have long-reaching effects on a personal and professional level. Note the following seven tips for wireless cyber security and link to more details on each.

IEEE 802.11ah, energy efficiency, extended battery life for wireless devices

Wireless tutorial: The addition of power saving algorithms to the IEEE 802.11ah standard is designed to allow associated devices to run for weeks or even years without a battery replacement. The standard specifies traffic information map (TIM) and non-TIM as two modes of power saving.

Wi-Fi standard designed for large-scale sensor, IoT applications

The IEEE’s new sub GHz Wi-Fi standard, 802.11ah, is designed for large-scale sensor and Internet of Things (IoT) applications and is designed for large areas containing a vast number of client devices that typically rely on battery power and low bandwidth applications such as sensor networks.

Wireless security tutorial: Wireless intrusion detection systems and wireless attacks

How to lower wireless cyber security risk: A wireless intrusion detection system (WIDS) is a software algorithm designed to monitor the wireless network for intruders and protect the network from attacks like social engineering, Denial of Service (DoS), man-in-the-middle (MIM), and other attacks designed to compromise a network’s security. Watch for these four social engineering cyber security hacks that can threaten wireless and wired networks.

Wireless security: Cryptology basics, fundamentals

Cryptology consists of two parts: cryptography, which is the science of encryption algorithms and their use; and cryptanalysis, the science of deriving encryption keys or otherwise decrypting a message by the study of the encrypted message. This industrial wireless technology tutorial explains the basics of cryptology.

Wireless security: Extensible authentication protocols

EAP is an authentication framework that specifies methods of secure key distribution and usage for the mutual authentication of a client (supplicant) and an authenticator, which is usually a wireless access point (AP). Wireless security tools can lower risk of cyber security intrusion. See EAP chart.

Wireless security: Port-based security, EAP, AKM

Tutorial on cyber security for wireless networks: Authentication and key management (AKM) is the term used to describe the process of IEEE 802.1X/EAP authentication and subsequent encryption key generation and is a major component of extensible authentication protocols (EAP) and IEEE 802.1X. Each time a client associates or re-associates, the entire AKM process must occur, which results in an extremely secure and robust wireless network. Learn the 4-way authentication handshake.

Wireless security: IEEE 802.11 and CCMP/AES

Tutorial: The wireless adoption rate is growing, making security a greater concern. The IEEE 802.11i task group has developed advanced methods of securing wireless networks like counter mode with cipher-block chaining message authentication protocol (CCMP) and the advanced encryption standard (AES). See 5 keys in IEEE 802.11i.

Wireless security legacy, background

Tutorial: Wireless security has come a long way from open system authentication (OSA) and some of the other building blocks like wired equivalent privacy (WEP) and temporal key integrity protocols (TKIPs). Understanding past network security, or the lack of it, can help with network security for today and in the future.

Wireless security basics

Wireless security tutorial: Wireless has become the communications medium of choice for many people and applications. However, without effective data security, wireless technology could not grow and people would still be reliant on wired systems along with the cost and inconvenience associated with them. Industries and businesses want to prevent intellectual property and production from being compromised. Learn about digital authentication, authorization, and accounting.

Case studies: Wireless remote monitoring

Application Update: Two case studies examine using wireless communications to connect a flowmeter to a control system at the Wards Island Water Pollution Control Plant and to connect emergency showers at two Monroe County Pure Waters facilities. Online extra: Hear the March 10 webcast (archived): Integrating wireless into an industrial Ethernet application.

Project details: Integrating wireless with wastewater

More project details: Industrial wireless network with new supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system is part of a 5-year, $47 million capital improvement plan formed and approved by the Stamford Water Pollution Control Authority. Project specification criteria include equipment reliability and capabilities, availability, ease of management, and conformance to open standards. Learn more details about the project.

Quality of service in wireless communication

A means of prioritizing voice and video data to address latency issues and provide good quality of service (QoS) is needed when transmitting voice or video data over a wireless medium.

Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance

Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) is the term for the several methods used in WLANs to avoid collisions, which uses distributed control function (DCF), the mandatory access method in IEEE 802.11 communications.

Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection

Wireless tutorial: Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) is a logical and temporary connection used in wired networks to allow two transmitting stations to achieve error-free communication across the shared medium.

Medium arbitration helps prevent wireless interference

Industrial wireless tutorial: Medium arbitration, or medium contention, is the collection of methods used to ensure that all users can use the medium in a shared manner without interference. Understand these concepts to prevent wireless interference.

Modulation techniques

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: Modulation is the process by which the bits comprising the transmitted data are converted to the voltage levels that will be mixed with the carrier, amplified, and sent to the antenna; it is a conversion and mixing of raw data with a carrier wave that is oscillating at the channel center frequency.

Characteristics of IEEE 802.11n and 802.11ac deliver same performance for one quarter the cost of wired systems

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: IEEE 802.11n and the newest amendment, 802.11ac, are viable contenders for the future of networking due to their speed and reliability. Wireless technology can achieve the same results for about 25% of the cost and provide speed, reliability, and increased range of coverage over comparable wired systems.

Understanding modulation and coding schemes

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: Modulation and coding schemes (MCS) are used to determine the data rate of a wireless connection using high-throughput orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (HT-OFDM).

OFDM: Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: OFDM is not actually a spread spectrum technology; it is a specialized form of multiplexing. OFDM multiplexes data onto 52 orthogonal subcarriers using one of several modulation techniques.

MIMO and spatial multiplexing

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: Multiple in, multiple out (MIMO) is a technology taking advantage of an wireless access point's (AP's) multiple radio arrangement to use multipath and increase system reliability and performance.

Propagation revisited: Wireless multipath

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: Multipath occurs when a radio frequency (RF) signal travels over many different paths between the transmitter and receiver, arriving at different times at the receiver, which is a particular problem for WLANs. Know the 4 signal conditions of multipath.

WLAN architectures

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: Data planes in a wireless network allow designers to properly design and specify a WLAN using the segregation of roles as a framework by which the several different network topologies are implemented.

The management, control, and data planes

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: Data planes in a wireless network allow designers to properly design and specify a WLAN using the segregation of roles as a framework by which the several different network topologies are implemented.

More Wi-Fi terms and definitions

Industrial wireless tutorials: We've recently received correspondence asking about several terms that were left out of our previous article dealing with Wi-Fi terms. Following are several terms for which a definition was specifically requested by a reader. Thanks for writing in.

WLAN topologies

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: WLANs vary in the way communication is achieved and maintained including a basic service set, an extended service set, a mesh topology, and an ad hoc network. Learn how WLAN topologies and designs affect wireless performance.

WLAN devices

Industrial wireless tutorials: WLAN devices are generally classified as being either infrastructure or client devices, and understanding how access points work and what their purpose is regardless of your WLAN device is important when working from a fixed or mobile location.

Wi-Fi acronyms, wireless buzzwords, WLAN nomenclature, wireless terms

Industrial wireless tutorials: WLANs (wireless local area networks) have a language, an “alphabet soup” of acronyms and buzzwords designed to facilitate deeper discussions of the technology used. Learning the industrial wireless language (wireless glossary of terms) helps in understanding wireless technologies.

Wi-Fi and the OSI model

Industrial wireless tutorials: The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a conceptual model used to organize the various functions of data communications by segregating the distinct functions into a seven-layer model from the Physical layer. Learn how the OSI model relates to industrial wireless communications.

Wi-Fi standards

Industrial wireless tutorials: Understand the IEEE Wi-Fi standards, what each standard provides, benefits of standardization, and Wi-Fi Alliance device certification.

Wireless propagation fundamentals

Industrial wireless tutorials: Understanding wireless propagation fundamentals will help you understand what can happen to a wireless signal and how that can influence wireless signal reliability. See 6 diagrams to illustrate wireless propagation. Learn the 4 results of multipath.

Radio math

Industrial wireless tutorials: Learn how to determine a link budget, that is, how much power is needed to effectively transmit data over a reliable radio link. See the decibel (dBm) and milliwatt (mW) conversion table.

Antenna basics, antenna types, antenna functions

Industrial wireless tutorials: What you need to know about industrial antennas, antenna functions, and antenna capabilities.

Wi-Fi Spectrum: ISM, U-NII, FCC Rules

Industrial wireless tutorials, Wi-Fi explanation: Wi-Fi is part of the 12 industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands. Newer Wi-Fi standards allow for the bonding of multiple channels to allow up to 160 MHz wide channel combinations for faster data rates, multiple transceivers, and a theoretical throughput of up to 7 GBPS when the latest ratified Wi-Fi amendment, IEEE 802.11ac, is fully implemented.

Comparative modulation: Spread spectrum modulation terms and definitions for wireless networking

Industrial wireless tutorials: Modulation is, simply put, a mixing of the carrier wave with the data to be transmitted; analog or digital signals are combined with a carrier producing a hybrid signal, which is then demodulated at the receiver. This is the underlying theory behind all modulation-demodulation schemes. See the terms and definitions for related wireless networking acronyms.

Radio frequency basics

Industrial wireless tutorials: Any radio frequency (RF) discussion quickly expands to the entire technology surrounding the generation and propagation of a radio signal or wave. Here’s what you need to know.

What is wireless?

Industrial wireless tutorials: Wireless communication, unlike wired, relies an unbounded medium to transfer information. Wireless local area networks (WLANs) use electromagnetic radiation to transmit information between nodes without wires (a bounded, physical medium).

Wireless for stationary applications: Answers to webcast questions

Daniel E. Capano answers some Control Engineering wireless webcast questions below that the June 10 webcast didn’t have time to address at the end.

The wireless revolution

Industrial Wireless Tutorials: Everything will be connected to everything else, wirelessly. Ethernet began wirelessly, and the Internet of things will benefit from wireless expansion, especially IEEE 802.11 wireless standards. The wireless spectrum is worth billions of dollars and will help create even more value. See related webcast.