by Rolf Nilsson
Going wireless is facilitated by connectBlue’s dual-band IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n Serial Port Module with enterprise security
Implementing a wireless connection easily in demanding industrial and medical application can be time-consuming and difficult. Using the OWS451 ready-to-embed Wireless LAN Serial Port Module from connectBlue, the implementation is seamless and includes all the necessary functionality such as software drivers, dual-band operation, and security features.
In the industrial and medical areas it is crucial for mobile and other non-wired devices to be able to connect wirelessly to the existing infrastructure and IT network. However, many of the devices neither have a Wireless LAN interface nor the necessary processor and resources to integrate a Wireless LAN software driver. Designing and deeply embedding the Wireless LAN software driver can cause delays in time-to-market and budget overruns. Further, the implementation would need to satisfy several enterprise security requirements for interoperability as well as go through a long regulatory approval process.
Ready-to-go Wireless LAN ModuleIn these types of situations, it is much easier and quicker to integrate a complete, ready-to-go solution that already has the necessary software driver embedded. connectBlue’sOWS451 Wireless LAN Serial Port Module is ideal as it replaces the serial cable with a Wireless LAN connection. And since the Serial Port Module has the TCP/IP stack and software embedded, it also offers a seamless connection between a device and the existing 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wireless LAN network.
The OWS451 Wireless LAN Serial Port Module has support for dual-band operation that makes it easier to utilize interference-free channels and to connect to networks that operate in either the 2.4 or the 5GHz radio bands. Dual-band operation has become a user requirement in factory and hospital environments due to the increase of 2.4 GHz devices. Hospitals as well as process and factory industries have allocated channels in the 5 GHz band exclusively for industrial and medical devices.
The Wireless LAN Serial Port Module is compatible with the existing connectBlue Wireless LAN, Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee product through connectBlue’s standard electrical, mechanical, software and antenna interfaces. The Serial Port Module also offers compatibility of Enhanced Enterprise Security which makes it possible to connect to existing Wireless LAN networks that utilize these security systems.
Features of the Wireless LAN Serial Port ModuleThanks to the built-in TCP/IP and networking software, there is no need for any additional driver to be installed in the host. The OWS451 Serial Port Module UART interface appears as a serial cable to the host. Raw serial data is sent to the module which will package the data into TCP/UDP packages and transmit via Wireless LAN.
The OWS451 Wireless LAN Serial Port Module also offers several other features such as the ability to function in the industrial temperature range of -40 up to +85C. The Serial Port Module supports 802.11n space time block code for extended range and throughput. The Serial Port Module can operate in either infrastructure mode or ad-hoc mode and models support internal antenna or diversity (dual) external antennas.
Other popular features include extremely low power consumption and full radio approvals for Europe, US and Canada (R&TTE, FCC, IC) as well as compliance with EMC standards. Security support includes Enterprise, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, PEAP, LEAP, WEP64/128. Quality of Service includes 802.11e and WMM.
