NIST researchers tackle wireless interference problem

Factories present challenging environments for wireless systems, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) wants to help.

In its blog on Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission's non-regulatory federal agency said that factories and production plans could gain a lot from wireless technology like robotic controls, RFID tag monitoring and local area network (LAN) communications.

But NIST's researchers suggest that many factories have highly reflective environments that scatter radio waves. Such environments interfere with or block wireless transmissions and make it difficult for some factories, like auto production plants, to take advantage of wireless networks.