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The Industrial Wi-Fi Shop Podcast – Ep. 14 I Have the Power!

74 min • 3 mars 2025

CWIDP Guide Giveaway WINNERS
- There are two copies of the Certified Wireless IoT Design Professional (CWIDP) study/reference guides
- IT Winner – Phil LaFontaine, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN area
- OT Winner – James Mifsud, Brisbane, Australia
Wi-Fi Explorer Pro 3 – The Definitive User Guide Giveaway details
- There are two copies of the Wi-Fi Explorer Pro 3 – The Definitive User Guide by Nigel Bowdenand Adrian Granados
- Winners will be drawn randomly
- ONE winner will be from IT
- ONE winner will be from OT
- Click the link below to enter the drawing! (One entry per person)
- —> https://forms.gle/mxBummi96eAz15G2A ← (its a google forms entry)
But wait, there’s more. Adrian has agreed to give us a few licenses to go with the books.
- If you currently have WE3 and you are selected we will send you the book, and pull a name from someone who enters but does not have the software, that way we can get this tool in the hands of a listener who hasn’t yet seen the beauty of WiFi Explorer Pro 3.
- If you are curious about WE3 check out this awesome interview with Adrian Granados and Nigel Boden on Keith Parsons Heavy Wireless: Episode 45 for a deeper look at the tool. https://packetpushers.net/podcasts/heavy-wireless/hw045-a-comprehensive-guide-to-wi-fi-explorer-pro-3-features-insights-and-more/

Brief announcement:

One of the things we love is sharing information that makes all of our lives easier.

If you need to do multi-channel capture, the Oscium Nomad (Hamina’s WiFi measurement device) has been integrated with Airtool 2 to allow simultaneous capture of up to 4 separate channels. This works in 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz. Airtool also allows Zigbee and BLE capture with appropriate dongles.

https://twitter.com/adriangranados/status/1891628259202240810

https://www.intuitibits.com/products/airtool2/)

Awesome to see vendors open tools to make our lives easier.

Upcoming Events!

Wi-Co
- Chapel Hill NC – 5/14 – Scott presenting “Fun with Spectrum Analysis! Interesting and crazy interferers I have recorded in the field!”
- Nashville 5/29 – Jeremy possible presentation on CURWB
OT SCADA-Con presented by Automation Ladies (Scott give them a plug)
- https://www.otscada.com/
- This is a young conference, but seems like there is lots of potential.
- Last year they had 50 attendees, this year they are looking to double. I saw the lineup and it seems like there is a little something for everyone.
- July 23-25th in Houston (Might be hot, so wear your cargo shorts)
- Here are a few of the topics that they will have speakers present on:
  - PLCs and I/O, HMI, Machine Safety, Machine Vision, Robots, Cobots, DCS, OT Cybersecurity and many more.
- This just looked really cool and is probably a great way for the OT curious to get a broad feel for what we touch on in Operational Technology. It is probably an even better opportunity for the swiss army person to deepen their knowledge about some of the systems us wireless and networking folks get asked to get talking.
- Automation Ladies Podcast – https://www.automationladies.io/

Which makes it a perfect segway into our guests today.

What is NearFi?

First, NearFi is NOT NFC or Near Field Communication which is used for things like phone to phone data communications or payment card chip reading
It is a contactless technology for real-time transmission of power and data across short distances, typically a few centimeters.

How does it work?

Data transfer
- Speeds? – 100 Mbps full duplex
- Frequency? 60 GHz
- Latency? 1 Microsecond “faster than 5G”
- Supported protocols? Any Ethernet Protocol, communication is transparent
- Range? 10 cm
Power transfer (power induction)
- How is this done? Inductive coils
- How much power can be transferred? 50W per pair
- How is that energy then passed to other devices? The remote coupler has a power output connector that allows the induced power to be transferred to a cable
- Range? 1cm
- How safe is this technology? Very safe, power transfer is over very short distances. Additionally, industrial use cases by their nature prevent people from getting close while the devices are transferring power.

Use Cases

End effector tool change on robotic arm
AGV/AMR communicating with work cell or loading dock
Slip ring replacement – indexing tables or turntables
Machines that move/rotate
Modular machines
Presses
Workpiece tracking
Comms between train cars, entertainment systems, standard connectors don’t have pins available to support increasing data needs.
Clean room systems

NearFi Video Links

youtube weld spatter video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRn4Mg1qZts
transmitting through some plexiglass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeizIuthjP0
Robot arm and tools example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O6OJ7ve_aA

What is Wireless I/O

First – what is I/O?
- I/O is… (Input/Output) refers to the systems and devices that enable communication and data transfer between industrial equipment, control systems, and computers in manufacturing and automation environments. I/O systems play a crucial role in monitoring, controlling, and managing industrial processes by handling inputs from sensors and outputs to actuators and other devices.
- Sometimes these communication signals are analog (4 to 20 milliamp for example) and sometimes they are digital
Thus, wireless I/O is… the same thing with the exception of some kind of wireless module takes the place of copper or fiber cabling backhauling the information to other systems

How does it work?

Do Phoenix Contact wireless I/O modules base communication on 802.11, 802.15.4 or some kind of proprietary protocol?
- Uses proprietary FHSS protocol on the 868 MHz (Europe), 900 MHz, (Americas) and 2.4 GHz (Worldwide)
Speeds?
- Up to 500 kbps
Frequency?
- See above
Latency?
- Depends on the data rate and application, but the dwell time on the frequency hopping can be as fast as 16 ms
Range?
- Miles depending on environment