5 – WirelessHART™ sensor networks

WirelessHART is the first open wireless communication standard specifically designed for process measurement and control applications. The chapter first gives an overview of WirelessHART sensor networks. It then describes the layered structure of the WirelessHART real-time communication stack and two key components, gateway and network manager, in WirelessHART for data management and network management. The chapter also includes a case study of a WirelessHART network deployment in a process plant and discusses the future directions in WirelessHART research and development.