Schneider Electric Systems USA, Inc.

Mark V Bertolina

Philip George Hunt

Bruce Henry Thompson

Brooks Stevens Read

Richard Allan Chaney

Richard Bruce McKinstry

Richard P Casimiro

Lee Matthew Carrara

Patrick Cupo

An industrial wireless instruments network connects a plurality of industrial wireless instruments to a monitoring and control application. The network employs wireless relay nodes that operate as dedicated proxies for the wireless instruments to which they are connected in the network. In some embodiments, the wireless relay nodes are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices that are capable of implementing Bluetooth version 4.0 or higher. In some embodiments, the relay nodes are deployed in a multi-hop arrangement to extend the range between the wireless instruments and the monitoring and control application. In some embodiments, the relay nodes are deployed in parallel so as to provide easy scale out, redundancy, and load-balancing. Such an arrangement has several advantages over conventional solutions like mesh networks.

Low energy industrial wireless instruments network

Methods and systems for implementing one-time pad (OTP) encryption in industrial wireless instruments advantageously make use of data storage devices now available that can store a large number of encryption keys or pads in a small enough package to fit within an industrial wireless instrument. In some embodiments, the wireless instruments use solid-state memory devices that can easily hold a sufficient number of pads to last the expected lifetime of the wireless instruments. The solid-state memory devices are installed only during manufacturing of the wireless instruments where tamper-resistant manufacturing and assembly techniques may be used to ensure security for the pads. Likewise, the solid-state memory devices of the wireless instruments are also replaced or replenished only at an authorized manufacturer should additional pads be needed.

One-time pad encryption for industrial wireless instruments

Smart Wireless Adapters are provided herein for establishing communication between measurement devices and a measurement control and data acquisition system in an industrial system. In one aspect, a method of establishing communication between a Pneumatic or Analog measurement device and the measurement control and data acquisition system includes providing a Pneumatic or Analog measurement device and providing a Smart Wireless Adapter capable of electrically and mechanically coupling to the Pneumatic or Analog measurement device. The Pneumatic or Analog measurement device is configured to measure one or more parameters in the industrial system and provide a value or signal indicative of the measured parameters at an output of the Pneumatic or Analog measurement device. Additionally, the Smart Wireless Adapter is coupled to receive the value or signal from the Pneumatic or Analog measurement device and configured to wirelessly transmit data indicative of the value or signal to the measurement control and data acquisition system.

Smart wireless adapter

A method for automatically collecting and analyzing data from a plurality of industrial equipment includes automatically establishing communication between sensor nodes of the plurality of equipment and a walk-in device in response to the walk-in device entering a data collection area in a facility associated with the plurality of electrical equipment. The method also includes determining if the walk-in device is an authorized device to collect data from the plurality of industrial equipment and, in response to determining the walk-in device is an authorized device, automatically collecting select data from the plurality of industrial equipment on the walk-in device. The collected data is processed and one or more actions are performed based on the collected data.

Systems and methods for automatically collecting and analyzing data from industrial equipment

A wireless sensor preferably has a case which is intrinsically safe and has no exposed parts which can become not intrinsically safe due to the passage of time or through contact with chemicals typically encountered in a location where the wireless sensor is used. It preferably has no integral visual display other than lights, and it preferably includes at least one signal light. The sensor preferably includes a wireless transceiver for allowing remote read and remote control of the sensor. The sensor preferably includes piezoelectric pressure detectors for allowing a user to locally interact with the sensor by pressing on the case. Data can be automatically harvested from the sensors by a portable electronic data-retrieving device which is usually geographically remote from the sensors when the portable electronic data-retrieving device and the sensors are in range of a wireless system which allows them to communicate when they are geographically proximate each other.

Remote wireless sensors and systems including remote wireless sensors

A wireless instrument area network node employs an internal force sensor arrangement to detect user-provided force on the node and initiate a node operation, such as wake the node from a sleep state or low power mode to a more power-hungry awake and processing state. The internal force sensor avoids the need to provide external buttons, a screen, and the like on the surface of the node that could lead to intrusion of fluids, gases, or other unwanted substances into the node. In some embodiments, the internal sensor may include a microswitch that has sufficient sensitivity to detect even a very small amount of deflection resulting from, for example, a hand touch. In some embodiments, the internal sensor may include a piezoelectric sensor that has similarly high deflection sensitivity. Multiple such deflection detectors may be at different angles to one another deployed to provide greater directional coverage for the deflection.

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Quincy, MA, United States of America

Mark V Bertolina