Mettis Aerospace is delighted to have received a Key Contributor Award from the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) in recognition of its active support for the world’s first industrial trial of Wi-Fi 6 which is taking place on our site as part of a phased programme.
Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation of Wi-Fi. It will have increased capacity, higher data rates and will perform better in environments which have many connected devices. Wi-Fi 6 will enable the use of augmented reality, real-time monitoring of equipment and a host of other applications in an enterprise network environment.
Our site has been providing an excellent testing ground for Wi-Fi 6 because it is challenging from a connectivity perspective. There is a large geography to be covered and industrial radio interference can disrupt signals. Some applications will require high bandwidth, others low latency and mission critical applications need clear prioritisation for data.
The first phase of the trial was completed successfully last year in conjunction with the WBA. During this phase, the technology had to prove it was able to provide total connectivity across a target Wi-Fi area (covering three of our bays) and enable improved synchronisation of machinery and equipment with centralised monitoring and control systems. Tests included applications of 4K video streaming, large scale file transfers, messaging and voice/video communications as well as the first stage of sensor and mixed reality testing.
“We’re proud to receive this reward from the WBA recognising all the work our team has put in to enable the success of the trials so far,” said Dave Green, Head of IT. “The potential of Wi-Fi 6 is huge. Our performance management is already agile and responsive and Wi-Fi 6 will enable us to go one step further, making business decisions using real time data.’
Tiago Rodrigues, CEO, Wireless Broadband Alliance, said: “We are delighted to award Dave Green and Mettis Aerospace for their contributions in making the trial happen and in highlighting the potential for Wi-Fi 6 to contribute significantly towards the Industry 4.0 vision.”
We are currently in the second phase of the Wi-Fi 6 trials and have just been granted a license that will enable us to be the first in Europe to test WI-Fi 6E which operates at a frequency of 6gHz, increasing speed and reducing Wi-Fi congestion further.
The industrial trials are being carried out in collaboration with WBA member companies including Broadcom, Cisco, iBwave and Intel as well as Concurrent Engineering and Keysight. These trials are an important part of the WBA’s test and development programme and form a key part of our vision to transform Mettis into a digital factory.
