scope:

The guideline deals with the fundamentals of the use of radio based transmission technologies for timecritical message transfer between devices in industrial applications of automation technology. The term "time-critical" denotes the transfer of messages within a defined time window. The size of the time window is determined by the application in question. Within the time window, one or several complete data transmissions including any acknowledgements or responses shall have been completed. The term "industrial application of automation technology" implies requirements with respect to the reliability and availability of the radio based transmission technology, taking into account the specific environmental and approval conditions.

For the purpose of defining the applications of industrial automation, the following branches were specified and taken into account in the investigations:

• process automation

• infrastructure plants

• building services automation

• factory automation

• logistics/transport

Unlike in the branch of logistics/transport, where radio communication is already state-of-the-art in nontime- critical applications, the use of radio technology is still in its infancy in the other four branches listed. For time-critical real-time applications, however, even the branch of logistics/transport has no standard solutions yet. This guideline is supposed to assist in selecting the appropriate radio system for such applications as well.