Phoenix is just a hop away from San Diego and I went for a couple of days, specifically to meet key people and old friends, and to hear more about Honeywell's new "OneWireless - universal industrial wireless mesh network solution".

OneWireless is a clever idea - a 3-in-1 box multi-radio, multi-port wireless access point that supports multiple industrial protocols and applications simultaneously. OneWireless support mesh networks with HART protocol, WiFi, FHSS radio, all in one box. Bandwidth control provides increased security and capacity, scalable to 30,000 devices.

What about Wireless Standards? End-users clearly do not want a repeat of the fieldbus fiasco (several competing protocols). At this stage, it quickly becomes semantics: "Wireless HART" is the standard (near completion) promoted by HCF - the HART Communication Foundation, with 150+ members. OneWireless transmits HART protocol data over wireless, similar to the way HART data moves over other industrial networks like Profibus. But Honeywell keeps insisting that it is "HART wireless" rather than using the term "Wireless HART". Hmmm... I think I feel another poem brewing.....

As if to prove that OneWireless was not just smoke-and-mirrors, Honeywell took a cue from Emerson and offered a "Starter kit". I challenged Honeywell's key people to lower the price to stimulate wider trials and usage. It's not just the price - it's more a symbol of chutzpah. It remains to be seen whether Jack Bolick & Co. will take me up on that challenge.

To the winner goes the spoils. In this case, market-share.

Honeywell OneWireless Solutions

Wireless Takes Stage at HUG

CONTROL - Highlights from the 2007 HUG Symposium