Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-4 - 19

measurement
andapplications
Carmine Bourelly, Domenico Capriglione,
Chiara Carissimo, Filippo Milano, and Luca Tari
The Role of Communication Technologies in Developing Distributed
Measurement Systems and Measurement Applications
applications. More specifically, a distributed measurement
system can be defined as a set of measurement devices placed
on different sites and interconnected through a proper communication
infrastructure.
Beyond such a very general definition, we can consider several
kinds of measurement devices (or measurement nodes)
belonging to the distributed measurement system, which can
be summarized in two main categories:
◗ Measurement nodes based on a specific purpose architecture,
in which all elements of the measurement chain
(sensing elements, conditioning circuit, Analog-to-Digital
converter, processing unit, communication interface)
are specifically selected and tailored for optimizing all
the application constraints, from metrological features to
costs, size and weight, to cite a few;
C
◗ Measurement nodes based on general-purpose instrumentation,
in which the measurement chain includes
stand-alone instruments (e.g., digital multimeter, digital
scope, and so on) equipped with suitable communication
interfaces for remote control, in addition to the sensing
elements and conditioning circuitry.
In both cases, the presence of a communication interface enommunication
technologies are of
primary importance for today's
activity, since they contribute to
achieving a lot of services for humans, from
simple phone calls to advanced multimedia
services, banking activities, and healthcare,
to cite a few [1]. They are also the key factor
of many measurement applications in
the contexts of industry 4.0, transportation,
environmental monitoring, telemetering,
building automation, and the emerging applications
of the Internet of Things (IoT)
and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) [2]-[4]. In other words,
communication technologies enable the concept of " Networking
for measurements " which explains the crucial role of
networks for measurement applications.
In this framework, this column analyzes the role of communication
technologies in enabling the development of
distributed measurement systems and measurement applications
by giving an overview and a basic comparison
of the most popular ones, together with some examples of
June 2023
ables the possibility of remotely controlling and accessing the
measurement node, and if a proper communication infrastructure
is available, on-field data collected by the measurement
node can be transmitted to give access to a remote user also
over long distances.
In this framework, the communication interface and the
communication infrastructure play a fundamental role because
they affect several aspects of the applications like
distance covered, throughput, latency, costs (initial setup
and in-service), power consumption (especially in the case
of mobile and battery-powered devices), the possibility of integration
with other network infrastructures (e.g., internet),
coexistence with other technologies, and security against
cyber-attacks. Therefore, the selection of the solution to be
adopted is generally crucial for fulfilling the application constraints
and for satisfying user needs and experience.
Concerning communication technologies, a great variety of
solutions are available today that are both wired and wireless.
Some of them have been specifically designed for measurement
applications, whereas others have general purposes, although
in many cases they are adopted for developing distributed
IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
1094-6969/23/$25.00©2023IEEE
19
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