computer science

WirelessHART

WirelessHART is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand WirelessHART rather than just read about it. In short: WirelessHART within telecommunications and computing, is a wireless sensor networking technology. It is based on the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol (HART).

Key takeaways

WirelessHART belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect WirelessHART to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of WirelessHART from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

WirelessHART within telecommunications and computing, is a wireless sensor networking technology. It is based on the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol (HART). Developed as a multi-vendor, interoperable wireless standard, WirelessHART was defined for the requirements of process field device networks.

Technical description The protocol utilizes a time synchronized, self-organizing, and self-healing mesh architecture. The protocol employs Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), dividing each second into 100 time slots of 10 milliseconds each, with the entire network synchronized across these slots to enable collision-free, deterministic communication. Combined with Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS), the protocol changes wireless channel with each time slot across 15 of the 16 available channels in the 2.4 GHz band, and supports channel blacklisting to avoid heavily congested frequencies. Each device in the network acts as a router, forwarding messages from other devices and providing multiple redundant communication paths. The network supports two routing modes: graph routing, in which paths are determined centrally by a network manager and distributed to field devices, and source routing, used primarily for diagnostics, in which the originating device specifies the full sequence of hops. The protocol supports operation in the 2.4 GHz ISM band using IEEE 802.15.4 standard radios. The underlying wireless technology is based on the work of Dust Networks' TSMP technology.

History The standard was initiated in early 2004 and developed by 37 HART Communications Foundation (HCF) companies that - amongst others - included ABB, Emerson, Endress+Hauser, Pepperl+Fuchs, Siemens, Freescale Semiconductor, Software Technologies Group (which developed the initial WirelessHART WiTECK stack), and AirSprite Technologies which went on to form WiTECK, an open non-profit membership organization whose mission is to provide a reliable, cost-effective, high-quality portfolio of core enabling system software for industrial wireless sensing applications, under a company and platform-neutral umbrella. WirelessHART was approved by a vote of the 210 member general HCF membership, ratified by the HCF Board of Directors, and introduced to the market in September 2007. On September 27, 2007, the Fieldbus Foundation, Profibus Nutzerorganisation, and HCF announced a wireless cooperation team to develop a specification for a common interface to a wireless gateway, further protecting users' investments in technology and work practices for leveraging these industry-pervasive networks. Following its completed work on the WirelessHART standard in September 2007, the HCF offered International Society of Automation (ISA) an unrestricted, royalty-free copyright license, allowing the ISA100 committee access to the WirelessHART standard. Backward compatibility with the HART “user layer” allows transparent adaptation of HART compatible control systems and configuration tools to integrate new wireless networks and their devices, as well as continued use of proven configuration and system-integration work practices. It is estimated that 25 million HART field devices are installed worldwide, and approximately 3 million new wired HART devices are shipping each year. In September 2008, Emerson became the first process automation supplier to begin production shipments for its WirelessHART enabled products. During the summer of 2009 NAMUR, an international user association in the chemical and pharmaceutical processing industries, conducted a field test of WirelessHART to verify alignment with the NAMUR requirements for wireless automation in process applications. WirelessHart was approved by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in January 2009 with revision released in April 2010. The latest edition, version 2, was released in 2016 as IEC/PAS 62591:2016.

References

External links HART Communications Foundation official website IEC Webstore for IEC 62591:2016

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with WirelessHART

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what WirelessHART claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to WirelessHART before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about WirelessHART ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of WirelessHART

In research: WirelessHART appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses WirelessHART in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: WirelessHART is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Wireless communication systems, Wireless sensor network, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for WirelessHART outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study WirelessHART in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what WirelessHART means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain WirelessHART out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is WirelessHART in simple terms?

WirelessHART within telecommunications and computing, is a wireless sensor networking technology. It is based on the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol (HART).

Why does WirelessHART matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study WirelessHART?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on WirelessHART.