Towards an isochronous wireless communication system for industrial automation

Deploying wireless technologies in industrial automation becomes more and more common. It is an enabler for many innovative applications where moving system components are involved, e. g. rotating parts of machines. However, many of such applications impose high temporal requirements on the wireless system, for instance isochronous data communication. Today, these requirements can not be met by existing solutions, such as IEEE802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). In this paper, an isochronous wireless communication system is investigated. It mainly consists of a deterministic medium access control, based on IEEE 802.11, which is extended with additional features for isochronous communication. The presented preliminary analysis shows the system's feasibility for the targeted industrial applications and presents promising performance improvements in comparison with standard mechanisms.