EchoRing Technology

Discover the mechanics behind EchoRing's innovative wireless protocol.

Overview

EchoRing technology is based at its core on the Token Ring method: All network nodes connected within a system permanently exchange information about the respective channel states. Thus, EchoRing technology ensures optimal and delay-free data transmission even when channel changes are necessary for a short time. The "massive cooperation" of all components within an EchoRing installation enables latencies of less than five milliseconds. Devices powered by EchoRing technology like the R3 Solution Bridge E are based on regular Wi-Fi hardware but are not Wi-Fi.

Networks based on EchoRing technology act like a "wireless industrial cable". EchoRing-powered devices form an ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) network that can easily handle the performance of industrial requirements while freeing operators from wired systems' engineering and operational limits. In this way, EchoRing provides a keystone technology of Industry 4.0.

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Core Concepts

Cooperation – The “Echo” in EchoRing

Reliability through cooperation

  • Stations within an EchoRing network cooperate independently and interchangeably, rather than as sub-units directed by a controller.

  • Signal reliability is ensured through a flexible "echo station” protocol – should an information packet fail to deliver on the first attempt, the sender’s echo station immediately relays it.

  • Echo stations are assigned automatically, based on algorithms held within the token.

  • The echo station system is far more efficient than the standard re-transmission process employed by other wireless protocols.

EchoRing Cooperation Diagram

Determinism – The “Ring” in EchoRing

Real-time control through determinism

  • EchoRing ensures stable real-time performance through a deterministic “token ring” system.

  • A station within a token ring network can only transmit data when it receives the token (a small control packet), preventing signal interruptions from other stations.

  • A station holds the token for a predefined duration (THT: Token Holding Time) before passing it along to the next station.

  • As individual THTs are known and controllable, the overall system latency is also knowable as their total (TTRT: Total Token Rotation Time).

  • Intelligent methods allow for immediate recovery in the event of a token loss.

EchoRing Determinism

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