Basic Model for Process-Aware Control of Wireless Links in a Flexible Factory

Increasing digitalization of tools and demands for flexibility of manufacturing are driving an increase in volume and variety of wireless devices in factories. This presents challenges for managing reliable wireless communications. This paper examines a new challenge of coordinating control of production processes and wireless networks. It proposes and analyzes a basic model of process-aware control of wireless links that includes dynamic allocation of links in a two-worker cell according to the process states of the workers. Theoretical and numerical analysis are used to show that job completion times can be reduced by process-aware control. Specifically, in practically feasible examples of cases of wireless links with intermittent quality drops, job completion time is reduced by 50%. The results prove that a process aware wireless link controller can be effective for more efficient use of available wireless resources, and faster completion of factory operations.