Arrow adds wireless networking line in EMEA

22nd November 2019

Mick Elliott

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Arrow Electronics has signed an agreement to offer the full range of R3 Communications’ ECHORING wireless networking products in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). ECHORING supports ultra-reliable, low-latency wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) communications that deliver similar performance to current wired systems.

Arrow will be present at R3’s booth at SPS 2019 in Nuremberg (November 26-28).

Many companies seeking to deploy industrial Internet of things (IIOT) or Industry 4.0 solutions need wireless networks that can match the performance and reliability of existing wired control networks. R3’s ECHORING delivers real-time performance levels with latency down to only 1ms, even in challenging industrial environments.

A range of software solutions in combination with hardware modules, devices and reference designs based on Texas Instruments WiLink 8 Chip with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity is now available to simplify integration with existing networks.

Industrial communications protocols supported include PROFINET, PROFIsafe, Ethernet, and SafetyNet. For integration, operation and maintenance, additional tools are available.

Industrial automation applications require critical synchronisation of different devices that, historically, could only be achieved by wired networks.

However, Industry 4.0 can place a strain on cabling: machines need to be reached even when moving, scalability requires a more flexible approach than fixed physical links can deliver, and moving parts are more susceptible to maintenance issues.

ECHORING uses a radio technology, delivering deterministic access, combined with massive cooperation to support reliability levels up to SIL 3. It can be integrated with existing industrial hardware and software, helping to preserve previous investments in equipment.

The security is powered by Olympus Sky, a company that offers low cost, low complexity military grade security.

As part of the agreement, Arrow will be offering a starter kit that allows users to test ECHORING’s performance in their own production environment by substituting the kit’s wireless stations for existing Ethernet connections.

Founded in July 2015, R3 Communications develops ultra-reliable real-time communication systems that are predominantly used in industry 4.0 and IoT applications. R3’s proprietary technology called EchoRing circumvents the problems of common wireless communication systems (deficient transmission reliability, latency, and co-existence).

It supersedes the expensive, inflexible and complex use of cables in a vast number of scenarios.