TSCH network at semiconductor wafer fabrication facility

19 November 2018

Analog Devices’ Power by Linear Group’s TSCH-based SmartMesh IP has been deployed at a wafer fabrication (fab) facility in Silicon Valley to monitor pressure for hundreds of specialty gas cylinders used in the various etching and cleaning stages of wafer fabrication.

Previously, pressure was checked manually three times a day – a total of four hours of manual work per day. A SmartMesh IP network was deployed to automate the measurements and send the readings directly to the facility’s control center software. In the gas bunker, 32 wireless nodes were deployed with each node measuring a pair of cylinders for tank pressure and regulated pressure. The network generates an aggregate of 3 kilobits per second of sensor data.

RF conditions in the fab are typical of an industrial environment, with wireless nodes surrounded by metal, concrete and with work crew and equipment moving in the area throughout the day. The network has been in operation over 83 days continuously, has sent over 18.8 gigabits of data and has experienced over seven nines (>99.99999%) of reliability.


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