Implementing Wi-Fi Technology in an Industrial Environment - Essay Example

Running Head: Implementing Wi-Fi Technology in an Industrial Environment Implementing Wi-Fi Technology in an Industrial Environment: A Cost Benefit Analysis Your Name goes here Professional Specialization Name of your professor Date 1. Introduction The overwhelming reliance of industries on computing technologies has necessitated the need of an all time up technological support for accessing the resources placed on the network. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have a direct or indirect impact on all business operations. “In fact, many commentators go even further and suggest that ICT is ushering in an entirely new era or post industrial-society.” (Freeman & Luc, 1997, p.396). However, this exceptional growth of ICT has posed several challenges to industrial users in terms of choosing the best implementation framework for a specific environment. The diversity of the technology and abundance of available variants makes this choice quite intricate which requires a solid cost and benefit analysis of adopting or averting a technological advancement. Hilty (2008, p.16) has described the challenge in these words, “Research on the impacts of ICT faces the problem that both the technology and the way it is shaped and used by society are changing fast. It is therefore important to identify the basic principles and mechanisms that drive this process to look for the constant factor.” Nevertheless, industries have to keep pace with the technological advancement in ICT to ensure the growth and sustainability in productions. Secondly, the heavy reliance of industry on information technologies has called for an all times up business network infrastructure to provide a guaranteed connectivity to its workforce for accessing resources. Meanwhile, in a dynamic and fast changing industrial environment the mobility of workforce has grown into an important corporate necessity. Today, state-of-art ICT services are supposed to be right in place to ensure provisioning of the needful information without any bar on time and space. The advent and adoption of wireless technologies in industrial environments has played a pivotal role in meeting the needs of information access while warranting the mobility of the workforce. 2. Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) WiFi is an important technology in wireless communications. It has got a tremendous caliber to meet the challenges of communication faced by the industry. WiFi – the acronym for Wireless Fidelity (Schroader & Tyler, 2007, p.190) is basically designed to provide wireless connectivity to a user group within premises through a Wireless Access Point (WAP). The WiFi technology uses the radio waves to communicate with devices in the surrounding. The connection, speed, compatibility, range and other communication details of WiFi technology are governed by IEEE standard 802.11b. The standard supports a wireless connection speed up to 11Mbps which trims down to 3Mbps in real world wireless network environments. However, the newer IEEE standards of 802.11a and 802.11g support a high speed and the later is getting more attention of wireless users because of its support for backward compatibility. 3. Definition of the Subject A cost and benefit analysis towards implementation of Wi-Fi Technology in an Industrial Environment is the core subject of this paper. The foregone introduction and technology background has clearly outlined the significance of the WiFi technology and its multiple variants. The technology is there and the effective and efficient use of technology can make the costly implementation of wireless networks a worthwhile decision or can cause the loss of hard-earned resources. A thoroughly analyzed implementation can pay back the heavy investments in wireless and WiFi technologies whereas a shallow analysis may cause substantial setback in highly competitive industrial sector. Plenty of options are available in the WiFi technology for industrial use and the selection of the technology can have a direct impact on the success or failure of the implementation. “Meanwhile, more interface options allows for ambient environment interactions and industrial performance gets a boost from the integration of various cutting edge technologies.” (Wolter, Vic & John, 2011, p.351). The selection of a correct WiFi technology is subjective to the industrial sector and existing ICT infrastructure in the environment. WiFi technology is often used in conjunction with the existing ICT infrastructure and there must not be any compatibility issues. Compatibility may be even a complex issue if some wireless access points are already present in the environment. WiFi standard 802.11b is not compatible with 802.11a but 802.11g can access the WAP running at 802.11b standard. (Outmesguine, 2004). Therefore, beyond the technological advantage WiFi standard should be carefully chosen according to the existing environment. The second most important factor in the selection of a WiFi solution is the knowledge of industry in which it has to be deployed. Various industries have their peculiar needs and bottlenecks in the adoption of a technology. These constrictions can lead to a complete failure of the technology induction or may cause substantial financial setback to the industry. The cost of the solution should not exceed the budgetary restriction for industry and the solution should not be driven by the technology craze rather it should be grounded into the actual requirements of the project. WiFi 802.11b is relatively a cost-effective solution because 802.11a, 802.11g and some other mobile communication standards are quite expensive solutions. “Unlike 3G services, which required a huge investment in licenses, WiFi operates in unlicensed frequency bands, eliminating that cost.” (Muller, 2003, p.259). Because a WiFi solution has to be company or industry specific, I have selected Toyota Motors, USA for the implementation of WiFi technology in one of its manufacturing facility. I had been part of the organization in 2005 as network engineer and had switched my job in 2010 to join a network consultancy firm. 4. Company Background Toyota Motors is an industry leader in automobiles and spare parts. It has several functional industrial units in United States. The company is planning to provide WiFi connectivity to all its employees in a Manufacturing Unit of New Jersey. The unit is presently functioning with 5 Managers and 20 engineers, 80 sub-engineers and 150 staff members. The proposed WiFi facility will be provided to all staff at headquarters. The facility will cover an estimated circumference of 1200 square meter and will offer ubiquitous WiFi coverage to connect the company network and the Internet anywhere in the workplace. 5. Current Business Issues The unit is responsible to fulfill the spare parts requirements of the region. The employees will require several type of the WiFi enabled devices to connect the corporate network. These devices may include laptops, PDA, BlackBerry, mobile phones etc. The connectivity will provide a convenient mean of accessing the web-based application, shared data, e-mails and instant messages while on the move and it will improve inter-organization communications and information sharing. The employees will be able to update the status of various assigned tasks in a timely fashion either using wireless fidelity with their desktop PCs or through mobile devices. Presently, contacting an offsite employee is quite difficult and time consuming. Even onsite managers are facing delays in locating and communicating with employees. This is causing unnecessary wastage of time and effort beside performance degradation. Wired communication solutions implemented earlier have failed to deliver desirable standard of services and have added cabling complexities in the Toyota Manufacturing Unit. A messy cabling network in the operational area hampers the movement of employees and equipment. Moreover, there is no contingency plan for wired infrastructure failure and in case there is a disaster the whole system will be paralyzed. WiFi connectivity can provide a robust disaster recovery and the routine corporate operations can be carried out on alternate wireless solution. This disaster recovery plan is widely researched and its variants have several successful implementations. Sithamparanathan (2010, p.436) stressed the need of radio networks in these words, “The communication infrastructure at the incident area is often completely destroyed or only partially available. As a consequence, to ensure radio communication for an efficient organization of relief operations, a possible solution is the deployment of ad-hoc wireless networks.” Security is the most important aspect of any wireless communication solution. The manufacturing units WiFi is required to be highly secure from an sort of internal or external theft or threat. The connectivity to the wireless network is required to be thoroughly scrutinized for any possible unauthorized access of corporate resources that may result in theft of information or a possible damage to the information and infrastructure. The solution is required to safeguard against four basic wireless vulnerabilities; passive attacks, active attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks and Jamming Attacks. (Medhat, Ranga, Olufemi, Joao & Nitesh, 2010, p.77) In the light of aforementioned corporate issues the chief engineer at the manufacturing unit has already floated a proposal to the higher management for the installation of a secure and robust wireless solution. The solution is required to meet the communication requirements stated above and should assure a high availability of communication means even in case of a contingency at the Manufacturing Unit. 6. Discussion of Proposed Solution Wireless technologies have met a widespread acceptance and popularity in last decade. This fame and growth graph has encouraged extensive research in the field of wireless fidelity and resulted in a number of technological advancements. The number of standards to support and extend the use of wireless technologies has also increased and has made the selection of a correct solution for particular environment more difficult. Wireless communications offer multiple high, medium and low-end solutions to support a required quality of service. This paper is limited to the discussion of 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11.g IEEE standards for wireless communication. An appendix (A) to highlight service differences among these standards is attached with this report. After detailed deliberations 802.11b standard is selected for the implementation of Toyota Manufacturing Unit project. The solution will include an array of high-end wireless servers, remote components, Wireless Access Points (WAPs). The solution will ensure the compliance of all devices including WAPs with 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11.g IEEE standards for wireless communication. The communication between a wireless device and Toyota Manufacturing Unit LAN, as well as among multiple wireless devices will be initiated only after authorized login, moreover there will be no unencrypted data communications using a wireless connection. The security in wireless communications was not very tough a few years back but it is now growing more and tougher and coming at power with traditional wired network security standards. “Usually, some time is required to for a new technology to gain adequate level of security.” (Dowland & Steven, 2006, p.89). However, security features in WiFi technology have now grown mature with the passage of time and the solution for Toyota Manufacturing Unit will include the Data Link Layer access security, which includes port level security for LAN equipments following 802.1X security standard of IEEE. The solution will also provide VPN access security at Network Layer of OSI Model. A brief description of various OSI layers and their functions is provided at Appendix (B) to this report. 7. Project’s Strategic Impact The proposed solution for the provision of WiFi connection services will enhance the corporate productivity and will ensure its rapid growth through better communication and improved operations management. Inter-organization communications are vitally important in a rapidly changing industry environment. The state-of-the-art communication network where voice, data and video can be shared among various functionaries of the organization, either they are working in an office or while they are on the move can provide a significant competitive advantage to the organization. 8. Recommendations for the Executive Committee Because the strategic impact of WiFi implementation project is of serious corporate importance following recommendations are made to the Executive Committee for the project; (i) The project is to be out sourced to a reputable network service provider on priority. (ii) The project is required to be completed with three months. (iii) The project should be highly scalable and should support future technical advancements for at least a tentative period of three years. (iv) The Network should be handed over to the local IT department within six months of its installation along with all requisite trainings. (v) The employees should be provided a crash training programs of one week to ensure the proper use of the technology Appendix (A) IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networking Standards Characteristic IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g Frequency 5 GHz 2.4 GHz 2.4 GHz Maximum Speed 54 Mbps 11 Mbps 54 Mbps Fallback Speeds 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9, 6 Mbps 5.5, 2, 1 Mbps 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9, 6 Mbps Non-overlapping Channels up to 19 3 3 Sources of Interference Bluetooth wireless technology Bluetooth wireless technology Bluetooth wireless technology some satellite systems microwave ovens microwave ovens 5 GHz cordless phones 2.4 GHz cordless phones 2.4 GHz cordless phones (Research in Motion, 2008). Appendix (B) An overview of OSI Layered Model (Comer, 2006). References Comer, D. E. (2006) Internetworking with TCP/IP: Principals, Protocols and Architecture (5th ed.). USA: Pearson Printice Hall. Dowland P. S. & Steven M. F. (Eds.). (2006). Proceedings of the MSc/MRes programs from the School of Computing, Communications and Electronics Advances in Networks, Computing and Communications 3. UK: University of Plymouth Freeman, C., & Luc, S. (1997). The economics of industrial innovation (3rd ed.). United Kingdom: Routledge Publishers. Hilty, L. M. (2008). Information technology and sustainability: Essays on the relationship between ICT and sustainable development. Germany, Nordersted: Books on Demand. Medhat, M. G., Ranga R. v., Olufemi A. O., Joao G., & Nitesh V. C. (Eds.). (2010). Proceedings of Knowledge Discovery from Sensor Data: Second International Workshop. USA: Springer. Muller, N. J. (2003). WiFi for the enterprise. USA: McGraw-Hill Outmesguine, M. (2004). Wi-Fi toys: 15 cool wireless projects for home, office, and entertainment. USA: Wiley Publishers. Research in Motion. (2008). Wi-Fi Implementation Supplement. [PDF Document]. Document ID: 10626870 Version 26, Canada: Research in Motion Ltd. Schroader A. & Tyler C. (2007). Alternate Data Storage Forensics. USA: Elsevier. Sithamparanathan, k., Mario M., Marina R. & Igor B. (Eds.). (2010). Proceedings from Personal Satellite Services: Second International ICST Conference. Italy, Rome: Springer. Wolter, L., Vic H. & John G. (2011). The innovation journey of Wi-Fi: The road to global success. USA, NY: Cambridge University Press. Read More