Experimental validation of the usability of Wi-Fi over redundant paths for streaming phasor data

Abstract

Abstract-Applications performing streaming of phasormeasurement data require low latency and losses from the communication network. Traditionally, such requirements are realized through wired infrastructure. Recently, wireless infrastructure has gained attention due to its low-cost and ease of deployment, but its poor quality-of-service is a strong deterrent for use in mission-critical applications. Recent studies have used measurements to explore the use of packet replication over redundant Wi-Fi paths, for obtaining the desired loss performance without hampering the end-to-end latency. However, these studies are done in a controlled, laboratory environment and do not reflect the real, in-field performance. In this paper, we perform extensive measurements using two co-located directional Wi-Fi links in a real-life setting, to experimentally validate the use of packet replication over Wi-Fi for streaming phasor data. In the setting that we evaluated, we find that the two channels are not fail-independent but the performance achieved with replication is very close to what it would be if they were to be independent. From the loss and latency statistics after replication, we conclude that replicating the phasor data over redundant Wi-Fi paths is a viable option for achieving the desired quality-of-service.

Redundancy and Diversity in Wireless Networks to Support Mobile Industrial Applications in Industry 4.0

“…This was confirmed in [10] where authors analyzed the performance of PRP over WiFi by means of simulations. Experimental studies were also presented in [8] and [9]. In [9], authors evaluate the reliability and latency achieved when streaming mission-critical phasor data is duplicated and transmitted over two independent IEEE 802.11b links.…”

“…Experimental studies were also presented in [8] and [9]. In [9], authors evaluate the reliability and latency achieved when streaming mission-critical phasor data is duplicated and transmitted over two independent IEEE 802.11b links. The transmission takes place between two fixed transmitters and one receiver that integrates two wireless interfaces.…”

“…There is line of sight between the sending and receiving devices. [9] experimentally demonstrates that redundancy can improve the reliability and latency of wireless connections between fixed devices. Redundant WiFi-based industrial wireless links are also analyzed in [8] where authors experimentally evaluate the effect of different IEEE 802.11 management schemes on the effectiveness of redundancy.…”

“…Its performance could also be compromised if none of the links provide a sufficiently good quality by themselves. Recent studies have demonstrated that diversity and redundancy can improve the reliability of industrial wireless communications ( [8], [9]). These studies have focused to date on wireless communications between fixed nodes in a factory.…”

System-Level Study of Data Duplication Enhancements for 5G Downlink URLLC

“…However, the exploitation of different sources of diversity was identified as a promising enabler to achieve the challenging reliability and latency requirements [12]. One of these sources is multi-connectivity, which enables the transfer of redundant data through multiple wireless links belonging to the same radio-access technology (RAT) (either operating on licensed or unlicensed frequency bands [13]- [15]) or to different ones [16], [17]. Here, we focus on the former type of multi-connectivity leveraging 3GPP technologies by considering two active connections in the DL direction, i.e., DC towards terminals from two serving base stations.…”