Industrial functional safety assessment for WSN using QoS metrics

Area of Science:

• Industrial IoT
• Network Engineering
• Cyber-Physical Systems

Background:

• Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are crucial for industrial safety applications.
• Existing research focuses on Quality & Reliability, with limited work on safety integrity assessment.
• A gap exists in evaluating the safety integrity levels of industrial WSN systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To bridge the gap in safety integrity assessment for industrial WSNs.
• To introduce a QoS metric-based approach for end-to-end safety integrity evaluation.
• To provide a methodology for linking QoS metrics with safety mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Developed a 4-step mapping methodology to connect QoS metrics with communication defenses and safety mechanisms.
• Proposed a QoS metric-based framework for safety integrity assessment.
• Utilized simulation case studies to demonstrate the assessment process.

Main Results:

• Successfully demonstrated a method for assessing safety integrity levels in industrial WSNs.
• Identified relevant QoS metrics for monitoring safety integrity.
• Provided a practical mapping approach for network safety design engineers.

Conclusions:

• The proposed QoS metric-based approach effectively assesses industrial WSN safety integrity.
• The mapping methodology aids in designing safer WSN systems.
• Future research should focus on further enhancing safety integrity levels in industrial WSNs.