Wired & wireless S2A for NCS — A case study

Some Networked Control Systems (NCSs) require both wired and wireless nodes such as moving parts in automated workcells. Such an NCS is investigated in this paper as a case study. It has 2 wireless sensors, 14 wired sensors, 2 wireless actuators, 2 wired actuators and a wired supervisor. The architecture is based on Sensor-To-Actuator (S2A) model. It is shown via OMNeT++ simulations that the system does not suffer any packet loss and that both the wireless and wired packet delays satisfy system requirements. Furthermore, interference is quantified and studied. The amount of interference that can be withstood by the system is determined. All results are subjected to a 95% confidence analysis.