Applications/Requirements

• Handheld Devices

  • Wi-Fi facilitates wireless communication between handheld devices (tablets, laptops, PDA) and Manufacturing Execution System ( MES ), enhancing operational efficiency in:
    • Production process guideline & Monitoring
    • Real-time Material scheduling
    • Resource management
    • Warehousing and warehousing management

• Vehicles (Trucks, AGVs, etc… )

  • Wi-Fi connects Vehicles to the MES/Operation Center for:
    • Navigation and coordinated movement
    • Real-time communication with other equipment
    • Remote control and operation.

• Multimedia Equipment (TVs, projector, broadcasting station, etc…)

  • Wi-Fi supports multimedia equipment, allowing data transmission over wireless. This capability enables:
    • Real-time multimedia content display
    • On-line Meeting
    • Real-time advertising for emergency

• IoT Sensors

  • Wi-Fi supports diverse IoT devices and sensors, allowing for seamless connectivity and data transmission to central system. This capability enables:
    • Monitoring of equipment status and environmental conditions
    • Acquisition of valuable data for analytical and operational decision-making

Challenges in Wi-Fi Implementation

• Physical Obstacles

  • Manufacturing factories are typically large sheds clad in metal and filled with metal structures and/or heavy machinery. Examples would include racking and shelving systems and safety cages around moving equipment. These elements can create physical and/or electromagnetic barriers that obstruct Wi-Fi signals, resulting in dead zones where connectivity is weak or non-existent. Clients roaming into these dead zones may disconnect from the network.

• Much wireless interference in the environment

  • WiFi signals can be disrupted by interference from electronic devices such as machinery or equipment that emits electromagnetic radiation. This interference can degrade the Wi-Fi signal quality, resulting in slower speeds and unreliable connections.

• High density of devices

  • Many wireless devices, such as sensors, RFID tags, and handheld terminals, operate simultaneously in a manufacturing environment. This high density of devices can congest wireless networks, leading to delays and reduced throughput.

• Roaming Issues

  • Limited by the roaming capability, some legacy WiFi client devices stick to the weak signal to cause low transmission data throughput and a lot of delay.
  • Packet loss is not allowed for mission-critical applications during roaming.

• Security Concerns

  • Manufacturing environments require robust security measures to protect sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access. Without proper security, wireless networks can be vulnerable to interception or hacking, posing a risk to operational integrity.

• Maintenance and support

  • Wireless networks in manufacturing settings require ongoing maintenance and support to ensure optimal performance. This involves monitoring signal strength, updating firmware, troubleshooting issues, and managing network capacity.

Altai Features & Solutions

• Smart Antenna

  • Altai patented smart antenna technology increases Wi-Fi coverage while minimizing the number of access points needed, resulting in reduced capital and operational expenditures.
    • 8×8 MIMO array: Take advantage of multi-path signals to achieve high diversity gain in the NLOS environment.
    • Patented smart antenna algorithm: Analyze all the Rx signal paths to achieve a higher uplink signal level, hence improving uplink performance for those low-powered devices.

    

• Super Interference Immunity(Trucks, AGVs, etc… )

  • The smart antenna technologies enable more robust performance in highly interfered areas. In case of interference in one sector, the other sectors of the multiple antenna’s system can still work properly.
  • By utilizing the built-in automatic channel selection feature, the system will automatically select the channel with the least interference. This automatic channel selection can be scheduled at a predefined time, ensuring that the system is consistently refreshed to the best available channel.

  

• High Capacity & Performance(TVs, projector, broadcasting station, etc…)

  • OFDMA and MU MIMO for enhanced multi user efficiency and speed. Other features such as 1024 QAM of modulation, BSS coloring and Target Wake Time also help optimize Altai WiFi6 AP model’ s performance.
  • Altai AirFi TM enhances AP’s capacity by optimizing the client s throughput based on their speed and data volume.

   

• Radio Resource Management

  • Band Steering: AP steers dual-band clients to the radio of lower channel utilization. This helps optimize and balance the channel airtime utilization between 2.4G and 5G radios and therefore enhance wireless performance and experience.
  • Multiple AP Steering: Help client to select the best possible Wi-Fi link from different APs based on the AP radio utilization and Link quality between AP and client.

  

• Smart Roaming

  • Fast Handover – Enhanced active background scanning and roaming threshold enable Altai CPE to have a handover time of 80~100 ms
  • Smart Roaming – Altai AP proactively monitors client connection status and uses standard (802.11k/v/r) or non-standard mechanisms (client RSSI/PER) for facilitating client roaming to mitigate the effects of poor handover decisions made by clients alone
  • Zero Packet Loss – The Altai APs involved in roaming communicates with each other to enable intelligent packet buffering and forwarding, reducing packet loss to zero

  

• AlwaysConnected

  • To accommodate the needs of delay-sensitive and mission-critical applications, Altai offers AlwaysConnected solutions. It is a setup consisting of multiple wireless links, one in active and the rest in standby, to provide robust and loop-free connectivity. Since the links are already in place, the system can simply do the link switching in no time when the active links becomes poor.
  • With Altai proprietary protocol used in AlwaysConnected solutions, the link switching time can be achieved down to 10 ms.

  

• Security

  • Various of User Access Security modes are supported by Altai Solution for different security requirement: WPA2 and WPA3, 802.1X/EAP, MAC ACL, VLAN Assignment, Layer 2 Isolation
  • Altai AP provides wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) to monitor a wireless network’s airspace to detect unexpected, unauthorized or rogue activities and frequencies. If any malicious or misconfigured device is operating or trying to operate on the network, the WIPS can detect it and automatically shut it down. In doing so, the WIPS can prevent the device from executing malicious attacks against the network and its users.
  • Cyber Security Solution for Industrial WiFi Network: Fully Protected and Secured Wireless Solution with third-party cyber security solution “CheckPoint”, the Leader in Industrial Cyber Security Solutions. Altai controller integrates with CheckPoint and Armis to provide an all-in-a-box solution.