| Abstract: | Aiming to offer one consolidated view of multiple plant floor devices, Apprion introduces an updated management system. |
| Keywords: | wireless network management, wireless network manager |
Wireless network vendor Apprion Inc. today rolled out a major upgrade to its ION System that aims to make managing the airwaves in process manufacturing environments easier and more secure.
Apprion's Intelligent Operations Network (ION) System Release 3 is a combination of hardware, software, and services that includes an updated dashboard, improved resource management, enhanced security, and support for more third-party devices.
The Apprion device management strategy centers on a framework that includes hardware, software, and services. The company's IONosphere, for instance, is an on-site server controlling data services, workflow, security, and network monitoring and maintenance. IONizers are appliances that sit on the edge of the network, closer to the device-based systems.
"ION is a distributed management system," said Ian McPherson, Apprion's vice president of network architecture, in an interview with Managing Automation. "The ION system [includes] a server on-site that executes commands, but the rules it creates and settings are propagated throughout the network. Those rules live in IONizers, so you can have intelligence at the edge of the network."
In addition, the release adds tools that make configuration easier for customers and new layers for filtering, monitoring, and securing the network, McPherson said.
New features in ION R3 include a user dashboard with an integrated view of all wireless network data on one screen. Views are customizable, and data from multiple vendors' products can be monitored. IP-based video cameras can stream video over the wireless network and back into the IONosphere dashboard, and real-time visualization puts network data into an intuitive table or graph. Resource management of the RF spectrum monitors the performance of devices on the network, while enhanced events and alarms deliver real-time information prioritized by severity. In addition, a central network security dashboard ensures compliance with security mandates while providing network security status and wireless intrusion detection.
Also, Apprion announced support for a variety of gateways, sensors, controllers, access points, and network cameras from a handful of vendors, including Emerson, Cisco, Siemens, Toshiba, and Axis.
Apprion's technology — which leverages industry standards, such as the emerging ISA100 wireless standard — works with a variety of wireless devices. For example, in October, the company showcased its integrated network functionality, which was able to handle about a dozen devices within an ISA100 wireless infrastructure. Partnerships help the company gain a tighter level of integration between the ION System management console and third-party devices, Apprion said.
Similarly, wireless environments are filled with different devices and wireless technologies, including WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and WiMax. Apprion said it will work with them all.
"Apprion's role is not to completely supplant device managers, which are inherently important to network systems, but to abstract users from having to have five different consoles open and have to do manual correlations of devices changing in one space, which may be affecting other devices," McPherson said. Whether you are in IT, engineering, or plant management, "everyone is working in the same sandbox with the same set guidelines."
While Apprion is not the only wireless network management company, it is one of the few — if not the only one — focusing on manufacturing, industry observers said.
"They really are aggressively going after and understanding how to manage and monitor devices of all different types ... down to the sensor level," said Harry Forbes, an analyst with ARC Advisory Group in an interview with Managing Automation. "That is, I would say, unique right now in the market."
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