IEEE Draft Standard for the Performance Assessment of Industrial Wireless Systems

This standard establishes a radio frequency (RF) reference environment model, test methodology, and evaluation process for the performance testing of industrial wireless networks. The standard is protocol agnostic as it applies to all wireless protocols intended for use in industrial and mission-critical industrial settings in which reliability concerns are essential to the functioning of the overlying operational systems, i.e., the industrial sensing and automation system. Industrial wireless systems are used for carrying vital sensor, actuator, command, and control information that is used for the operation of sensing, optimization, control, and safety applications. This standard includes a functional model of radio impairments (aggressors) that represents the radio frequency environment. A reference test architecture and process of evaluation and reporting is provided. Key performance metrics are described and indicated for the evaluation of the test apparatus, the aggressors, and the industrial wireless system under evaluation. Finally, a framework for the specification of standardized test profiles is described.