System and device architecture of a radio based fieldbus-the RFieldbus system

Driven by the demand on more flexible systems in manufacturing and process automation systems, investigations are made in the field of wireless communication. This paper describes a solution which combines real-time communication (based on PROFIBUS-DP) with mobility (based on radio transmission) and multimedia transmission (based on IP tunnelling via PROFIBUS-DP). The requirements on such a system are listed. The industrial environmental conditions, concerning the radio propagation, are explained and the relevant radio technologies are assessed. The system architecture as well as the device architecture of RFieldbus are presented.