802.11 dual-band WiFi platform for industrial wireless M2M

10th October 2013

Nat Bowers

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B&B Electronics launch the next generation AirborneM2M 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi platform to provide secure, dual-band (2.4 and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi connectivity to rugged and mission-critical M2M networks. With dual-band support and robust, enterprise-class security options, AirborneM2M is designed to enable integrators, VARs and OEMs to reduce the risk of obsolescence as enterprises both upgrade their security policies, and increasingly migrate their Wi-Fi infrastructure to the 5 GHz band.

B&B’s AirborneM2M products feature industrial strength packaging and a wide temperature rating (-40 to 85 C) to withstand challenging M2M environments.

The Wi-Fi connectivity technology is useful for rugged, mission-critical applications that need both Ethernet connectivity and wireless mobility, such as transportation vehicles (forklifts in warehouse shipping/receiving), mobile printers (rental car companies), medical (hospital patient monitoring systems, nurses stations), and more.

The AirborneM2M Wi-Fi technology is available in several forms:

A full line of industrial Wi-Fi Access Points (APXN), and Wi-Fi Clients (ABDN), including Ethernet bridges, Ethernet routers and serial servers, can seamlessly connect most any equipment - RS-232, 422, 485, Ethernet 10/100M and even I/O - to the Wi-Fi network. Power options include 5-36VDC and 802.3af Power over Ethernet.
Embeddable Access Point (APMN) and Client (WLNN) modules, which are plug compatible with B&B’s previous generation modules, allow OEMs to easily and cost effectively integrate Wi-Fi into their own M2M equipment without having to invest in the Wi-Fi engineering and certification effort. Leveraging B&B’s WLNN series modules with I/O flexibility enables rapid time to market with Ethernet, UART-based, or GPIO connectivity over Wi-Fi. B&B also offers a Design and Development Kit that provides a starting point for customers.

The 5 GHz support gives system designers and installers improved flexibility and reliability, as enterprises adopt 5 GHz in order to avoid the crowded 2.4GHz band, which hosts competing wireless transmissions.

Security protocols, including robust authentication and encryption, are also important to mission-critical wireless M2M applications. AirborneM2M products are designed to handle the processor-intensive advanced encryption techniques defined for enterprise-class security that are not available on entry-level Wi-Fi products. Features include network security (EAP), wireless security (802.11i and WPA2-PSK), access security (authentication and firewalls), communication security (SSH) and device security (encryption).

B&B Electronics’ Airborne Management Center device discovery, control and management application software, included with all AirborneM2M devices, helps customers manage large networks.