Industrial systems have greatly benefited from the introduction of smart wireless connectivity. The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has enabled significant increases in productivity, reliability, integration, and profitability. But the IIoT is more than just a collection of technologies wrapped up in buzzwords — it’s a real application space with serious development and deployment considerations.

The facets that need to be considered in an IIoT system are many, and each must be considered and balanced against the other facets, as some may be contradictory. For example, while wireless connectivity technologies are now mostly mature, powering large numbers of distributed RF devices remains a key challenge. Power management is also thermal management, so the aspect of environmental management is another major consideration.   

Every aspect of an intelligent system is important. Take, for instance, the need for reliable operation and communication for industrial equipment, which requires stable timing to ensure low latency and jitter. Among other aspects are factors regarding future developments, like security. Although quantum computers aren’t yet a real problem, for example, that doesn’t mean the IoT sector can afford to wait and see.

For industrial environments, the decision between wired and wireless technology is a strategic engineering shift driven by physical deployment constraints. IIoT deployments often place antennas in challenging RF environments, demanding proper design in antennas, integration, and validation to ensure reliable connectivity in real-world industrial applications.

This Special Report presents articles (read them online) examining these and other elements of industrial IoT deployments. We will also be offering a free eBook download that will collect together all of these articles — stay tuned.