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The IEEE 802.15.4 specification has enabled lowpower, low-cost wireless sensor networks (WSNs) capable of robust and reliable communication.

This paper describes how a wireless sensor network

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The IEEE 802.11/a/b/g specifications for wireless local area networks (WLAN), the IEEE 802.15.4 specification for low-rate wireless personal area networks, and radio-frequency identification (RFID) specifications have enabled a wide range of wireless applications such as wireless networking, wireless sensing, monitoring and control, and asset and personnel tracking. For the Oil & Gas industry, using this technology will lead to reduced operating costs as well as enable new applications.This paper identifies the technical requirements for wireless technology within the boundaries of the Oil & Gas industry. Experiments have been performed on wireless solutions within three application areas in order to examine whether or not currently available technologies fulfill these requirements. The conclusion is that WLAN technology is ready for deployment in Oil & Gas installations, while there still is a need for an open industrial standard for wireless sensor networks. Regarding RFID, our experiments show that solutions with passive tags are not suitable for asset and personnel tracking applications. SPE 112207Technical Requirements.A number of technical requirements for the deployment of wireless technology have been identified by the Oil & Gas industry.Frequency Spectrum.The license-free portion of the wireless spectrum varies by country and/or region. The use of the global unlicensed bands for radio communication allows for device consistency in installations, regardless of geographical location. Furthermore, the use of a single frequency and protocol validates testing and best practice guidelines, applicable in one region, for multiple regions. The 2.4 GHz unlicensed band is the most popular global unlicensed band for both WLAN and WSN networks. The downside to using the this is that it can become crowded, and network performance can be affected by coexisting systems.Whereas WSN and WLAN solutions usually are confined to a single frequency band, RFID solutions can be found in almost all of the available license-free frequency bands. RFID characteristics such as antenna properties (inductive or electromagnetic), detection range and tags types (passive or active) are dictated by the solution's frequency.Open Standardized System. The use of standardized, open communication protocols, over proprietary protocols, provides the industry with the freedom to choose between suppliers with guaranteed interoperability. It also allows a single wireless infrastructure to deliver a communications medium to many devices, and potentially many applications. In addition, standardized solutions usually have longer product availability than their proprietary counterparts. Main disadvantages with standardized solutions are that the standardization process itself delays the introduction of the products to the marked, and that the security mechanisms employed are published and available to all-this makes standardized protocols more vulnerable to attack than closed, proprietary systems. Long battery Lifetime.The Oil & Gas industry is pushing ...