ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some industrial wireless sensor networks requirements specific to industrial settings, focusing on the communication challenges caused by the harsh deployment environments that are common in industrial settings, and the strict application requirements imposed by the real-time nature of the industrial processes. Monitoring applications are similar to the general use cases of sensor networks for monitoring a certain phenomenon. They usually involve tens of nodes that are strategically placed on pre-meditated locations to monitor a certain device, process, or physical property. An industrial automation and control system is a complex structure that supports various functionalities for fast, flexible, and easy management, configuration, and operation. The chapter focuses on communication related challenges coupled with the strict application requirements imposed by the nature of the control systems. A typical distributed control system, might contain a combination of different communication technologies.
