The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), has come to the forefront of public attention recently with the discovery of the Higgs boson – the so called God’s particle. CERN operates a high energy collider 100m under the Swiss and French border near Geneva to explore the boundaries of high energy physics. It is high energy physics on a huge scale, matched by no other facility in the world.

The collider operates a pair of counter- rotating particle rings which have crossovers at four experiment sites where particles crash from opposite directions into each other and create the signatures that indicate the presence of short lived particles, and that has recently included the Higgs.

Much of the attention is focussed on the experiments which have to run to capture all the data available in order to identify new particles. However monitoring of the ring itself is also a major undertaking and this is accomplished through the Open Analogue Signal Information System, referred to as OASIS. Signals from the collider monitors can be tapped at many places to make sure all is well in the system.

Even a large budget operation like CERN though has to make sure that its budget matches the finances available from sponsoring governments (and therefore tax payers in many countries), so this system has to be cost effective. The OASIS system uses a set of digitisers to acquire the signals and this is relayed out to users over an Ethernet system, but the digitisers are expensive and there cannot be one digitiser for every monitor signal. A switching system is used to allow OASIS to select which signals to show from the variety of signals available, and that switching system has historically been based on VXI and more recently cPCI solutions, but that is changing.

CERN Upgrade
CERN is undergoing a major 2 year upgrade to its systems so the collider energy can be raised (almost doubled) and more new physics explored. The collider has now been closed down (as of February 2013) for this scheduled upgrade, and more upgrades will occur in the future. Inevitably part of that upgrade process requires the OASIS system to be upgraded.

The monitor signals present some challenges to a switching system. CERN concluded they wanted to be able to select up to 16 out of a maximum of 104 signals available for digitizing at each location. The analogue signals have frequency content to many MHz and there is potential for considerable differences in level from the different monitors. That put major constraints on the allowable crosstalk between channels as well as the bandwidth. If a signal from a high level source was selected and a signal from a low level source at the same time on a different channel then the large signal could breakthrough into the smaller signal and confuse the operators.

Another significant issue for CERN is the sheer size of the collider, you cannot walk from one location to another in any reasonable time – the tunnel is even equipped with bicycles to speed up transportation between locations. Management at a distance is an essential requirement for any solution.

Designing a New OASIS Switch
CERN approached Pickering Interfaces for ideas on a new switching system to be deployed during the scheduled upgrade. The basic requirement was for a matrix with 10’s of MHz of BW and a size of up to 104×16. Discussions made it apparent that crosstalk would be a major concern in any implementation, and the sheer size of the matrix required made it hard to use traditional approaches to solve the problem, meet the performance objectives and meet the budget requirements.

Clearly the cost of the matrix had to be significantly lower than placing a digitiser on each analogue signal. The preferred platform was PCI in an industrial computer but it became very apparent that the fixed modular structure of PCI did not lend itself to this sort of switching system, and the same problems applied to cPCI and PXI.

Figure 1. The CERN requirement requires a matrix to connect up to 104 analogue sources to up to 16 digitisers

To implement a high performance matrix of this type required the switching system to determine the form factor of the final solution – and that ruled out using anything which could be described as fixed modular format. A modular approach was needed to make the matrix system size scalable as different locations required different sizes of matrix – one location might require a 64×16, another might require a 104×16. Systems could also have their requirements changed with time as the number of sensors changed and more (or less) channels added. That strongly indicated that a proprietary scalable modular approach was going to be required, the modules sized to fit the design requirement of the matrix. That encouraged Pickering Interfaces to investigate an LXI route where there is a freedom of size.

LXI Route
LXI had some major advantages for CERN, much of their system was already running Ethernet data connections so using it to manage a matrix was not an issue. LXI control also means that they could access the matrix state over their network without intervening controllers by accessing the LXI products web server.

During discussions another issue arose, the experiments being conducted on the collider are large and expensive operations and the last thing that CERN wanted was to find that a switch in the matrix had developed a fault and was preventing monitoring operations. Knowing that Pickering Interfaces had implemented self-test in both LXI and PXI (called BIRST) CERN requested some sort of self-test in the switching system, and ideally because the switch needed coaxial connectors the test had to be capable of running with the inputs and outputs connected to a non-powered source/load. Being able to initiate and run a self-test remotely would also be a powerful tool for OASIS.

Figure 2. 65-110 wideband modular chassis 48×16 matrix, with the drawer system out the plugins can be added or removed

The solution arrived at for CERN was the 65-110 Wideband Modular Matrix. The switching matrix is based on a chassis which has a dedicated analogue bus system. Into the chassis a set of plugins can be installed, the left hand pair providing the 16 Y access connections required for the digitisers. A set of X plugins then provide the analogue signal inputs, 8 signals to a plugin module. The number of X plugins can be scaled from just one (8off X connections) up to 13 (104 off X connections), allowing the user to create a matrix of any required size within the chassis constraints. Not installing the second Y plugin allowed Y=8 systems to be created – though CERN had no specific requirements for that configuration other users might find it an advantage if they had smaller system requirements. The design is fully user configurable, plugin modules can be physically installed and uninstalled and the firmware in the LXI controller will recognise the configuration and amend the available matrix size to match the plugin modules installed. The web based soft front panel, a feature strongly encouraged by the LXI standard, allows driverless control of the matrix.

Figure 3. The soft front panel of the 65-110 can be accessed through the LXI configuration pages to either control or monitor the matrix settings. The LXI controller presents the matrix as a single entity, greatly simplifying the user understanding of the setting

The matrix is a modular solution, but the module size is scaled to fit the application rather than to abide by a particular standard. The 65-110 plugin and analogue bus system had to be very carefully designed to maintain the RF performance, and in particular the crosstalk, to ensure it was fit for the application. The RF BW in a typical configuration is above 300MHz, driven largely by the need for low crosstalk, and has excellent VSWR.

Like many modern instruments the modules communicate internally to the LXI controller via a PCIe interface and the LXI controller “virtualises” this as a single matrix, so the LXI controller makes the user task of programming the matrix much easier. The LXI controller hides the complexity of the switch system from the user, the matrix appears as just one entity to the user and not a set of separate sub-assemblies (modules). It behaves like a bench instrument rather than a modular instrument.

The design uses an analogue bus underneath the plugin modules rather than being at the back of the plugin which is normally the case with modular systems – in a matrix it makes much more sense to have the X and Y signals lines at right angles to each other to improve crosstalk and isolation. This is a feature of LXI – there are no particular restraints on the size of the modules or the placement of an analogue bus so Pickering Interfaces were able to design a modular structure to suit the switching requirements.

Figure 4 The web interface on 65-110 allows easy access to the self test facility through the standard LXI cofiguration pages.

The 65-110 includes a self-test facility checks all the signals paths for failed relays (closed, open or high resistance). The design uses low level signals so that the user connections do not need to be disconnected in order to run the test (a time consuming process with over 100 coaxial leads connected, and not very practical given the distances involved) and the self-test can be initiated over the LXI compliant web interface without the use of an external controller program while a user is many kilometres from the matrix. The user simply initiates the test, the embedded LXI controller runs the test and the results can be viewed over the web interface or reported to the user as a file.

A monitor facility is also included in Pickering Interfaces LXI products that allows a user to graphically display the matrix setting without having any program access to the matrix – LXI systems allow the easy creation of systems where multiple controllers are present. One controller can be setting the switch, a different controller can be monitoring what is the settings are without disrupting the programming.

Summary
The CERN requirement shows why LXI provides an excellent platform for the creation of difficult switching systems where the performance objectives are high, the switch is complicated and easy remote access is required. CERN will be making full use of the LXI aspects of 65-110 as part of the OASIS system during its next rounds of experiments running at ever higher collider energies.

Authors Richard Reeves David Ballinger

Southern Water operates 370 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), many of which are unmanned for most of the time and most have numeric environmental permits, so a network of online monitors has been established to improve treatment and protect discharge compliance. This has involved the installation of final effluent monitors at over 300 sites in a programme that has lasted for more than ten years.

The online monitors are comprised of a Hach Lange turbidity probe with sensors for temperature and level (to show when the turbidity probe is out of the water) and mounted on a plastic ‘spade’ which holds the sensors in position at the final effluent monitoring point.

Using turbidity to estimate BOD & TSS
As a measure of clarity, turbidity provides extremely useful data; a cloudy final effluent suggests poor treatment and possible discharge permit failure.

In 1993 Southern Water conducted an extensive research project to demonstrate that effluent clarity, as measured by turbidity, can be related on a site by site basis to permitted BOD (Biological Oxidation Demand) and TSS (Total Suspended Solids).

The constituents of final effluent are such that biological slimes and algae are prone to develop on optical surfaces, and the trials therefore concentrated on the most efficient method of probe cleaning. Probes with no automatic cleaning were therefore eliminated. The technically preferred monitor was the Hach Lange Solitax turbidity probe, which incorporates a silicon rubber wiper, which sweeps over both optical surfaces at a programmable frequency. Southern Water also found that the cleaning efficiency was improved by the addition of an air purge which blows away the loosened solids.

The Solitax probes use a single LED light source with three detectors, one for light intensity and two for light scatter. Hach Lange’s Clive Murren says “This provides reliable colour-independent readings with a low maintenance requirement. However, we have a contract to routinely visit each site to service and calibrate the turbidity sensors.”

Hach Lange has confirmed that their SC200 and SC1000 controllers and the SOLITAX sc turbidity probe were awarded MCERTS certification on 1^st November 2012. MCERTS is the Environment Agency’s monitoring certification scheme and currently only a small number of analytical instruments have achieved this award. However, an MCERTS certificate demonstrates that equipment has met or exceeded the stringent performance requirements of the scheme.

Solitax Wiper

The monitor control unit is mounted in a separate cabinet which also houses the air compressor. When the plc calls for a clean, the wiper operates followed by two air purges which release the algae/biofilm. A further wipe then removes any remaining material.

Cleaning is initiated every hour and, when a clean is called for, the last recorded turbidity reading is held in the monitor for 5 minutes, to avoid recording the false turbidity generated by the loosened material.

Design and Installation
Linton Electrical Contractors (Kent) Limited has a longstanding relationship with Southern Water and was responsible for the final design and installation of the final effluent monitoring systems. Subject to prior approval by Southern Water, the installations incorporate the latest Hach Lange instrumentation as it becomes available.

Linton Electrical is now installing as standard the 110V MKV SC200 controller and occasionally the MKVI SC1000. Each system is complete with conductivity sensor, level sensor, temperature probe and air cleaning system; all of which is mounted on a PVC spade.

Linton’s Mark Pendry says “The project has been very successful because we have established the skills, tools and spares to ensure that every installation is conducted quickly and efficiently and the quality of the HACH LANGE instruments ensures reliability and accuracy.”

One of the advantages of the SC controllers is the ability to add additional instruments and Clive Murren says: “The facility to add the Nitratax nitrate probe saves time and money when using this platform, because it utilises the same spade design as the turbidity sensor and several of the latest installations have also incorporated the nitrate probe.”

Processing of Data
The WWTP telemetry outstation scans all connected monitors every second. The outstation calculates 15 minute averages (or in the case of temperature takes a 15 min spot reading) and relays the data by a phone line to a central processing unit known as SCOPE. The SCOPE data is available to the Regional Control Centre and local PCs.

The System serves as a single source of process data with automatically generated performance indicators that allow exception notification and strategic analysis.

An important functionality of the System is Exception Reporting. This function compares the recently archived value with a limit value and generates an Exception Report if the value is out of range. The Exception Report, as an email, is sent to selected recipients.

An Operational Database has been designed to hold asset dimensions and other site details (current operational units and trigger (limit) values) which are used in the calculations.

Reporting of Data
A relationship has been established between the sum of the spot sample TSS + BOD and archived turbidity (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. The relationship between final effluent Turbidity and TSS+BOD – WWTP with standard Percolating Filters

The turbidity relationship is used to determine a turbidity level equivalent to the sum of the permitted BOD + TSS. This turbidity ‘permit’ equivalent is used by Southern Water in three ways:

1. 80% of the ‘permitted’ turbidity is used in the outstation to generate an alarm in SCOPE if the 15 minute mean turbidity exceeds the ‘permitted’ turbidity for more than a chosen time span. This may be instantaneous or up to 2 hours depending on the environmental significance of the discharge. A high priority alarm is then issued to the site/standby Operator who will visit the site and take appropriate action.
2. The Process Management System generates an Exception Report by email to selected recipients if the daily average turbidity held in the derived values archive exceeds 80% of the ‘permitted’ turbidity.
3. Each Exception Report generated is investigated by the Process Scientist and an ‘Exception Reason’ is chosen from an agreed list of 43 operational and environmental causes of high turbidity – ranging from storm conditions and mechanical failure to equipment malfunction and vandalism. These reasons are then summarised and used for Business Intelligence purposes. In this way Southern Water is monitoring performance of all WWTPs against a continuously monitored parameter in addition to the compliance statistics generated by spot sampling.

Benefits of on-line monitoring

The installation of on-line monitors has encouraged a proactive response to system deterioration, which has resulted in a significant reduction in staff time associated with operational management of the wastewater assets. Non-routine site visits by Operational Staff have been reduced, and Wastewater Support Staff can target their site visits to WWTPs with poor performance as identified by on-line monitors.

The plant performance data has been improved with the use of 35,040 readings at fifteen minute intervals per monitor per year. The consequences have been protection of compliance and the identification of optimisation opportunities.

Routine final effluent sampling has been substantially reduced, resulting in considerable savings in sampling and analytical costs.

Real-time access to turbidity data also helps troubleshooting. For example, high turbidity values can indicate filter rotation problems, hydraulic/organic overload, final tank scraper failure, secondary treatment bypass or tertiary treatment failure.

In addition to the benefits from early warnings of poor quality effluent and the ability to show deteriorating trends, compliance levels have been maintained at around 98% since installation of the monitors began.

It was that well known and respected Automation commentator Walt Boyes who said after the 2011 Automation Week in Mobile (AL USA) that what the International Society of Automation (ISA) does best is “…leverage the strength and capabilites of the volunteers and ISA members to do….red hot symposia– with allied training…” Today we learn of a new and extremely relevant topic been added to their comprehensive portfolio of training and education programme.

The ISA has just introduced a new, upper-level course, Advanced Industrial Cybersecurity (TS13).

This technical training course capitalises on ISA’s well-established, in-depth knowledge of industrial networks and applications, and cybersecurity standards that detect, assess and prevent security threats in industrial settings.

Students can learn how the ANSI/ISA99 (IEC 62443) Industrial Automation and Control Systems Security standards—developed by a cross-section of international cybersecurity subject-matter experts from industry, government and academia—provide comprehensive cybersecurity capabilities in all industry sectors.

Given the interconnectivity of today’s advanced computer and control networks—where vulnerabilities exploited in one sector can impact and damage multiple sectors—the ANSI/ISA99 (IEC 62443) standards are particularly effective since they are broadly applicable across industries.

“In today’s industrial production environments, the risks of cyberwarfare are growing and represent serious threats,” says Larry Thompson, an industrial network and control systems consultant and ISA Certified Automation Professional® (CAP^®), who developed this new course. “There have been many serious cyberattacks throughout the world. Everyone involved in system-wide industrial networking and SCADA systems should take this course. The stakes are simply too high to not be prepared.”

The course covers the latest developments in cybersecurity, including practical guides to the design, implementation and testing of industrial networks and applications to ensure their security and reliability. Topics include the use of Internet technologies, web servers, TCP/IPV6, fiber optics, intrusion protection systems (IPS), virtual private networks (VPNs), firewall configuration and cryptography.

“This is a great class with an excellent instructor,” commented one student, Chih Shen. “I am more sober to the attack scenarios out there in the wild, and more confident that I have the knowledge to defend against them.”

Lawrence Thompson is author of an ISA Best Seller

As part of the course, students participate in a variety of hands-on laboratory exercises, which include configuring industrial network security parameters and settings, utilizing security diagnostic tools and employing various troubleshooting tactics.

In developing the course, Thompson drew upon his vast experience in industrial data communications and encryption. Throughout his many years in automation, Thompson has served as a technician, technical trainer, test engineer, test engineering supervisor and course developer in electronics, measurement and control and computer networking.

He served 20 years in the American Air Force, most of which studying, instructing and installing electronic encryption equipment. He became department chair of e-commerce technology at Texas State Technical College, eventually leaving the role to pursue his consulting business.

He has designed and taught ISA courses for more than 23 years, serving as an adjunct ISA instructor and author of several ISA books. His book, Industrial Data Communications, is an ISA best seller currently in its fourth edition.

Thompson received a bachelor in applied arts and sciences degree from Tarleton State University, and has conducted work on a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas.

Possibly one of the most unique areas of England is East Anglia; that part of the country north of London and south of the inlet known as the Wash. It encompasses the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex, and is generally flat, stretching to the famous Broads, beloved of inland sailors and wildlife lovers. Water is an ever-present feature and this needs to be protected for environmental and biodiversity reasons.

The Norfolk Rivers Trust has installed a remote river monitoring station that has been tracking water quality and flow before and after river restoration work at an area of ecological importance on the River Nar (WIKI link!).

Picturesque view of the River Nar below Castle Acre! (Pic: Norfolk Rivers Trust)

Rising in chalk hills to the east of the village of Tittleshall, the river flows south for 2.5 km until it reaches Mileham, then predominately west for 39.5 km through the villages of Litcham, Castle Acre, West Acre and Narborough until it reaches the tidal Ouse at King’s Lynn. The river rises on chalk and in its course to Narborough flows over chalk formations. In its lower course the underlying geology is more complex and consists of a progression from Narborough downstream through a series of clays and greensands, making it one of only a few remaining fenland chalk streams. In line with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, the project is designed to ensure that the Nar maintains good ecological status by 2015 and in doing so it aims to improve the habitat for wildlife and promote biodiversity. The river monitoring station incorporates an Adcon GPRS telemetry unit from OTT Hydrometry, which automatically collects data and feeds a website, providing easy access for the project team.

The Problem
Agricultural runoff is a particular problem in the Anglian region because of the light sandy soils which are easily eroded during times of heavy rainfall. Fertilisers can add to the problem because they can be washed from the field and end up in water courses. As a result, many Norfolk Rivers contain high levels of nitrate and phosphate. Excessive levels of these nutrients can lead to eutrophication, symptoms of this can include vigorous growth of blanket weed; this change in water quality lowers dissolved oxygen levels in the streams and rivers, and harms wildlife.

In the past, the Nar channel has been made straighter, wider and deeper; initially to improve navigation, and later to improve drainage. However, this has had a detrimental effect on wildlife.

The River Nar also suffers from sediment deposition arising from point sources such as land drains, and from diffuse sources such as run-off resulting from cultivation in wet periods. This has affected species that rely on gravel beds for any stage in their lifecycle. For example, brown trout need sediment free gravel to lay their eggs.

The River Nar Project
Assisted by funds from WWF-UK, the Coca-Cola Partnership and the Catchment Restoration Fund, the Norfolk Rivers Trust has established a £609k  (€720k) river and flood plain restoration project to reduce pollution in the River Nar and improve the habitat for wildlife.

The project began in June 2012 and includes work to change the course of the river from a straight incised channel to a meandering route; reconnecting the river to the floodplain, which would create new habitats. This channel restoration project was completed in October 2012. The project also includes the creation of reed beds and other in-ditch options to trap sediment before it enters the River Nar. Currently four reed beds have been installed in different areas in the River Nar catchment which also includes the dredging of an existing pond.

Monitoring
Prior to the commencement of the project, the Norfolk Rivers Trust measured water quality by collecting weekly samples and transferring them to their laboratory for analysis. This was a time-consuming and expensive activity and only produced spot data for the moment that a sample was taken. Consequently, events that took place at night or between the sampling interval were not detected, so there were clear advantages to be obtained from continuous monitoring.

In order to establish a continuous monitoring station for water quality and flow, OTT Hydrometry provided a Hydrolab Minisonde water quality monitor and an Adcon A755 Remote Telemetry Unit (RTU). In combination with a bed mounted Doppler flow meter (provided by the Environment Agency), the station is able to provide a continuous record of the river’s condition.

The Hydrolab Minisonde 5 takes measurements for turbidity, flow, conductivity, temperature and luminescent dissolved oxygen (LDO) every 15 minutes. The collected flow and water chemistry data is then stored and transmitted every hour via the RTU to an online server hosted by OTT Hydrometry. This allows information to be downloaded and analysed in the Trust’s office without the need for regular site visits. Data can be accessed at anytime from anywhere using the Adcon app.

Operating on extremely low power, and designed specifically for the collection and transmission of remote monitoring data, ADCON RTUs are able to utilise a variety of communication methods depending on site conditions. For example, radio represents a low-cost alternative in areas with poor GSM coverage and where line of sight is possible, with repeaters if necessary.

The monitoring site on the Nar has some GSM coverage, but the signal is poor, so an ADCON A755 RTU was chosen to communicate via GPRS. The A755 RTU has been developed specifically for areas with low signal, because it stores all monitoring data when signal strength is too low for transmission, and then sends the information when signal coverage improves, sending the backed up data first.

The monitoring equipment was installed at the end of July 2012 and restoration work began on 8^th October 2012. Emphasising the importance of monitoring before and after the restoration work, project officer Helen Mandley says: “To be able to judge the success of the project it is essential that we are able to compare water quality data from the old river channel to the new river channel, because we need to improve water quality in order to improve the biodiversity of the river.”

Results
In addition to water quality and flow monitoring, ecological assessments have been undertaken for water voles and other small mammals, macrophytes, aquatic invertebrates, vegetation and fish. However, before a reliable assessment of the project’s success can be undertaken, it will be necessary to evaluate data over an extended period so that seasonal effects can be taken into consideration.

Pre- and post-restoration data on ecology, water quality and flow will be assessed in September 2013, and it is hoped that this will provide clear evidence that the project has had a significant effect on water quality and biodiversity.

Helen hopes to continue the project beyond 2013 commenting, “We currently monitor downstream of one of the new reed beds, but in the future we would like to place more monitoring equipment upstream of the reed bed to really see the differences, particularly in levels of turbidity and conductivity.”

The current phase of the project is due to run until the end of 2013, but a series of ‘restoration units’ have been identified by The River Nar Steering group that includes the Norfolk Rivers Trust, each applying restorative work to a specific section of the river. These units extend to 2027 but will be reliant on the availability of future funding.

Clearly, environmental monitoring is essential for the evaluation and ongoing management of remediation projects, and OTT’s UK Managing Director Simon Wills says: “This project is a good example of how simple and low-cost it can now be to create a monitoring station that is sufficiently flexible to collect and transmit data from a variety of monitors. “Advances in sensor, datalogging, communications and power management technology have combined to dramatically improve the effectiveness of remote data collection, which means that less site visits are necessary; thereby saving a great deal of time and money that can be spent on restoration.”

Water! In many countries the collection and distribution of water has been ignored for many years and the industry has languished due to lack of investment in some places since the ninteenth century. The same can also be said to be trued of the disposal of waste. In recent years however a better understanding of the neccessity to upgrade systems has developed. This is underlined not only from cases of contamination of water supplies from lack of treatment facilities but also because of increased demand especially in the ever-expanding urban areas.

Dave Wibberley, Adroit Technologies, making presentation.

The recent Water/Waste Water Innovation Conference organised recently by Mitsubishi Electric Factory Automation and DDC Ltd was therefore a highly relevent event. Subtitled “Capitalising on New Innovation and solutions” it attracted a good representative assembly of Irish local authority and and other interested parties to Mitsubishi’s Irish headquarters in Dublin. This account is an impresion rather than a detailed account of the various presentations.

Obviously the Mitsubishi offering, a whole-life asset management approach using their MAPS (Mitsubishi Adroit Process Suite),  featured strongly in this conference. Firstly automation and control solutions and trends in the water industry in Europe were looked at with brief references to various schemes throughout the continent.

90% out of sight!

90% out of sight!
In examining life cycle management costs it is especially important to look at both visible costs (purchase, installation & commissioning) and the “non-visible” costs (Maintenance, qualified employees, downtime and cost of energy). Like an iceberg the “non-visible” costs can comprise 90% of the total cost over a lifetime. This is becoming more and more recognised and as the industry moves more to the approach of whole life assist management the importance of relevent data becomes paramount and the way this data is collected and recorded. Some of this data is required by legislation to be mantained but more is required for the efficient and optimum running of the system. They examined how this data ought be managed and how to prioritise it without being totally being overcome with information.

Eyes, ears, hands & brains
One of the examples given was a water authority in Britain, Yorkshire Water. Their IT Manager, Andrew Sewell, described their system over their whole area and the philosophy of the organisation, “Taking responsibility of the water envisonment for good!”  Telemetry used to be regarded as the eyes and ears of the busines but it is rapidly becoming the eyes, ears, hands and brains of the business. They’ll be running the enterprise, across the whole area like a production plant. They’ll know when they are running in an optimal way. If something happens they’ll model the impact and remotely re-configure as appropriate.

Ciarán Moody, Mitsubishi, presents Paul Olthof (Wicklow Co Co) with iPad won in draw at end of the conference!

Partnership of comptences and long experience
Mitsubishi’s partner in the MAPS system is a South African company, Adroit Technologies, and the Managing Director, Dave Wibberley, gave a run-down of the SCADA soft his company has developed complete with interesting examples from many South African water schemes his company has supplied. “MAPS is a partnership of comptences and long experience.” Adroit has twenty five years in SCADA systems and are South African market leather while Mitsubishi is a world leader in PLC manufacture and supply. MAPS is based on well tried software tools with a life cycle GUI (Graphical User Interface) that is SQL (Structured Query Language) based on top.

Case study and live demo!
Dave Dunne is the Managing Director of DDC, an Irish company involved in the design and mamangement and integration of control & instrument systems. He introduced an actual live demo of a project for Wicklow County Council, a local authority south of Dublin. The demonstration actually went without perceivable hitch (worth mentioning as many “live” demos attended by this correspondance have been embarressing to say the least!) This project comprised comprised five projects compining control & instrumentation refurbishment with monitoring systems. The demo was of one of the sites, Kilcoole Waste Water Treatment Plant. We were given details of the scope of supply followed by a demonstration of the system working from Technical Manager, Robert Joyce.

Technology is developing very quickly and it is important to exploit it as sometimes quite spectacular savings can be made not to mention that operations formerly regarded as impracticable can suddenly become feasible.

This conference discussed water and wastewater applications but of course mutatis mutandis many other processes would benefit from the solutions and technologies offered.

The deployment of progressively more complex telecommunication techniques, including 802.11ac, together with the adoption of advanced multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technologies will fuel the global radio frequency (RF) testing market.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan , Global RF Testing Market: Increasing Complexity of Products Translate into Growth Opportunities for Test Vendors, finds that the market earned revenues of €2.31 billion ($3.02b) in 2011 and estimates this to reach €3.21 billion ($4.20b) in 2016. The research covers traditional general purpose (GP) instrumentation, modular GP instrumentation, semiconductor automatic test equipment (ATE), and rental GP segments.

802.11ac is one of the key drivers for the RF test equipment market. With the 802.11ac standard, faster speed and higher data handling capacity through wider channels than the existing systems are achieved.

“The existing 802.11 protocol devices have managed to satisfy network requirements over the past decade,” notes Frost & Sullivan’s Measurement & Instrumentation Industry Analyst Prathima Bommakanti. “However, with the increasing consumption of digital data, mobile data traffic needs to be handled with more powerful wireless network infrastructure that would offer more capacity, reliability, and speed.”

Research indicates that with the 802.11ac standard, the usage of 8×8 MIMO to support 160 MHz bandwidth and that with LTE advanced, the usage of 8X8 MIMO to support 100 MHZ channel bandwidth, is becoming popular. The widening adoption of MIMO will, therefore, also boost market prospects.

While the overall market is poised to expand, modular RF test equipment is expected to compete with traditional GP and semiconductor ATE in a growing number of applications. This is due to its ease-of-use, scalability and ability to support lower test costs.

As competition intensifies, scalability is seen as one of the key parameters in selecting or short listing a test vendor. In addition, brand name plays an important role in winning RF test equipment deals. These factors pose a challenge to smaller vendors in an already competitive market.

“To leverage the market’s growth potential, companies need to develop a strong focus on customer relationship management, price-performance and product innovation,” concluded Bommakanti.

• See Webopedia’s Wireless Networking Standards Chart.

For ten years, there has been a strong partnership between CAN in Automation (CiA) and the Ethernet Powerlink Standardization Group (EPSG). Since 2003, the two non-profit user organizations have jointly been making CANopen a very popular choice and a factor to reckon within many market segments on CAN-based as well as Ethernet-based lower-layer protocols.

CAN (Controller Area Network) is a serial bus system originally developed for automotive applications and internationally standardized in the ISO 11898 series. In total, some 800 million CAN interfaces will be sold this year. CANopen is a higher-layer protocol used on CAN and POWERLINK as well as other communication technologies for embedded control applications. It includes the application layer and the communication profile as well as application, device, and interface profiles. This internationally standardized interface (EN 50325-4) combines flexible configuration capabilities with an unparalleled degree of interoperability using standardized CiA profiles. Consequently, CANopen networks are used in a very broad range of application fields such as machine control, medical devices, mobile machines, rail vehicles, maritime electronics, building automation and power generation as well as countless embedded control systems.

CiA is committed to the CAN data link layer and the CANopen protocol. Currently, about 580 companies are members of this international users‘ and manufacturers‘ group registered in Nuremberg (Germany). “We see a bright future for CAN-based CANopen networks with their unique robustness and reliability also considering the improved CAN protocol (also known as CAN FD) that allows data-rates up to 8 Mbit/s”, said Holger Zeltwanger, CiA Managing Director (Left in picture!). “At the same time, we cherish the strong partnership with the EPSG that brings the CANopen protocol to Industrial Ethernet applications.”

When the specifications for the POWERLINK Industrial Ethernet protocol were drafted, its makers decided to use the CANopen application layer and profiles for guaranteed interoperability with the well-established standard. For applications requiring a higher communication bandwidth, this provides a smooth migration path and saves software investments dramatically compared to Industrial Ethernet solutions not adapting CANopen. “Users benefit from the strong partnership between EPSG and CiA”, says EPSG Managing Director, Stefan Schönegger. “They can combine the stability and reliability of the CANopen protocol with POWERLINK’s unparalleled performance.”

“Honeywell ‘moves on’ with ISA100 specified!” says Nick Denbow in this item from the April issue of  Industrial Automation and Process Control Insider

(The INSIDER is delivered by email as a typically 12 page, 8000 word monthly newsletter in a pdf format and now in mobile tablet or cellphone format. Subscriptions may arranged. The newsletter is read by automation professionals world-wide, in around 80 different organizations. Subscribe here!)

Nick Denbow

Last month the INSIDER discussed the abandonment of the ISA100.12 committee deliberations, without any final result or report. This has produced no comment or reaction from the ISA directly: while they do not subscribe to the INSIDER, they were provided with an advance copy of that issue.

What is more interesting is that a correspondent with close links to Honeywell has confirmed that all “new” OneWireless instruments from Honeywell are now shipped with the ISA100.11a protocol.

Development history
The Honeywell involvement with wireless transmitters, and indeed their ‘OneWireless’ systems pre-dated the ISA100 standard. Indeed Honeywell put in a lot of expertise and specification suggestions gained from their OneWireless systems into the ISA100 standard development process. OneWireless did have a different protocol to the standard that eventually emerged as ISA100.11a. However, Honeywell made the commitment that “all OneWireless pre-ISA100 instruments supplied will be upgradable, or able to migrate to, ISA100 wireless”.

Latest release from Honeywell
Honeywell issued a press release early in April, announcing a new version of OneWireless, which is named as “Release 210 (R210)”. This stated to include “over-the-air field device provisioning and a Gateway General Client Interface made possible by the ISA100 standard”. Ray Rogowski, global marketing director for wireless in HPS is also quoted to say: “With OneWireless Release 210, users can benefit from the flexibility and scalability offered by the ISA100 standard….”.

This does seem to be a statement from Honeywell fairly definitely saying that OneWireless Release 210 will be using ISA100, which is a welcome change of emphasis compared to previous news releases. To interpret some of the phrases used I spoke to Soroush Amidi in their Networks and HPS Wireless Solutions Team.

The official HPS view
Amidi explained the OneWireless history, in relation to the release versions quoted. Full exproduction ISA100 compatibility came not after the addition of the Cisco Aironet 1552 access point in November 2011, as previously assumed by the INSIDER, but with Release R200, which was announced in June 2010: so actual deliveries started approx from 1-1-2011. In fact, the Cisco Aironet access point was introduced for clients who preferred to have Cisco systems in their IT structure, and needed the wifi interface also provided. Diederik Mols, introducing the Aironet at the HUG European meeting (INSIDER November 2011 page 5) specifically mentioned Shell in this context. The HPS Multinode and separate Field Device access points are both still available and offered with R210.

Prior to R200, the OneWireless R120 had offered all the functionality of ISA100, but did have a different protocol to the standard that emerged as ISA100.11a. However, Amidi stated that “all OneWireless R120 systems and instruments can be upgraded to ISA100 wireless using an over-the-air download”, if the customers have a need to move up/upgrade to this R200 level. In a similar way R200 systems can be migrated to R210 using another over-the-air software upgrade.

New OneWireless features
With R210 Amidi explained the language used in the recent press release, which originates somewhat from the detailed, somewhat esoteric wording of the ISA specification work. Field device ‘provisioning’ relates to the initial acceptance of a new device onto the network, by passing over the network access code: the ISA standard has the option for clients to do this either wirelessly, or via a local infra-red communications device, which is seen to add more security in some situations.

More interesting perhaps is the Gateway General Client Interface (GCI). HPS says  “The GCI feature, enabled by the ISA100 standard, allows operations to continue using legacy protocols and proprietary applications while making it easier to wirelessly expand those applications throughout the plant. The GCI also allows third party client applications to communicate natively using proprietary or common field protocols with wireless field instruments over the ISA100 network.”

GCI examples
Soroush Amidi explained this in terms of working with Enraf radar level gauge systems, which use a proprietary protocol to send custody transfer data to the Enraf Entis Pro software application, or GE Bently Nevada vibration monitoring systems which use a proprietary protocol to send the vibration signatures to their System 1 software application. This data can be wrapped in an ISA100 compatible packet, which is allowed within ISA100, and transmitted over the network, for unwrapping at the other end, and delivery to the appropriate analysis system: the whole process is described as ‘tunneling’ the data. Vendors such as Enraf and Bently Nevada are pleased to take advantage of this system, says Amidi, as it retains their intellectual property and proprietary information processing, takes advantage of a plant wide wireless network, but does not require the significant development work and investment by them in producing a fully ISA100 compliant sensor.

Further information on ISA100
Amidi pointed out that much of the information about ISA100 installations is passed by personal contacts, and by such routes as the ISA100 interest group on ‘Linked in’ – where Amidi seems to have been the main recent commentator. A recent addition there is a video from the ISA WCI technical seminar in Kyoto back in 2011, where Berry Mulder from Shell Global Solutions, who is also a director of WCI, explains why wireless is so important to Shell.

Wireless gas alarms
The Shell presentation laid emphasis on the need for wireless gas detection (and personnel location) which brought to mind the Honeywell wireless gas detector, a product development mentioned as essential in relation to the Shah Gas project some two and a half years ago (INSIDER November 2010 page 3, and November 2011 page 7). Still no listing for such a product on the WCI ISA100 product lists, so presumably the devices that were quoted as delivered to Shah Gas in 2012 used plain OneWireless compatibility.

GasSecure on WCI list
However, the GasSecure infra-red hydrocarbon gas detector from Norway mentioned at the Invensys OpsManage11 conference (INSIDER November 2011 page 7) does have a WCI listing, even if no approval is quoted.

We missed the mammoth Hannover Fair last week but managed to get a feel, as is our wont, through twitter and social media.  One of the tweeters, Leo Ploner, of Industrial Ethernet Book, messaged on the last day: “A successful @hannover_messe coming to an end: 6,550 exhibitors from 62 countries, 225,000 visitors, and close to 100 @IEBook tweets.” (You may read his reports on the show HERE!)

The eleven trade fairs staged under the umbrella of HANNOVER MESSE 2013 from 8 to 12 April featured the keynote theme of “Integrated Industry.” 6,550 exhibitors, highlighting a multitude of innovative products and technology solutions, provided a vivid showcase for this theme. The show’s five core topics – Industrial Automation and IT, Energy and Environmental Technology, Fluid Power and Power Transmission, Industrial Subcontracting, Manufacturing Technology and Services and R&D – opened up new prospects for expert dialogue across all aspects of Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution!

There was strong European Union representation at the fair. The European Commission sent three commissioners to attend on different days as well as fifteen different delegations for various European Bodies and the European Parliament. The fair highlighted Russia during the week and welcomed the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who accompanied the  Chancellor of Germany‎, Angela Merkel in touring the fair on the first day.

Industrial Automation
Industrial Automation featured process and production automation and system solutions for production and buildings. The “Integrated Industry” keynote theme was the dominant topic at exhibitor stands, and the debate on the “Factory of the Future” continued at the “Industrial IT Forum”. Leading robot manufacturers and system providers organized a “Parade of Robots”, while showcasing their latest production automation technology and solutions. Within the exhibition halls, trade visitors were able to view live displays of robots in operation. The process technology exhibition area provided comprehensive coverage of topics like pressure, filling level and temperature measurement as well as transmission and control engineering, along with a rich program of presentation and discussion forums.

The Efficiency Arena moreover offered visitors a program of lectures and debates on all aspects of energy efficiency in industrial processes during the five-day event.

Hannover Messe 2013 8/12 April 2013 Releases received at Read-out Desk to date!. Follow on twitter #HM13 HM13 News MesseLiveTV (Exhibition Videos) Newsletter Hannover Messe 2013 top photos on Pinterest Industrial Ethernet Book (IEB) Show Preview Control Engineering ‘Integrated Industry’ Theme Opens 2013 Hannover Messe Kuka Introduces Lightweight Robot, Gives Rides ARC Advisory Day 1 [ ] Day 2 [ ] Day 3 Intensifies the Drive Toward the Fourth Industrial Revolution (David Humphrey 9/5/2013) Gary Mintchell • BorgWarner Cooling Systems Showed Increase In Productivity In 6 Months • Puzzlement In Industrial Wireless Network Land Automation.com Hannover-Messe Final Report (Includes links to other reports!) Phoenix Contact News Videos Day 1 [ ] Day 2 [ ] Day 3 [ ] Day 4 Profibus Blog (USA) • Hanover Fair First Impressions. • The News: Competence Centre

Motion, Drive & Automation (MDA)
MDA introduced Bosch Rexroth as this year’s HERMES AWARD winner, successfully highlighting the immense potential stemming from innovations in the area of electric and mechanical drive engineering, pneumatics and hydraulics. Bosch Rexroth received the award for a software solution perfectly tailored to the “Integrated Industry” keynote theme at HANNOVER MESSE. Generally speaking, the exhibitors at this year’s MDA focused on efficient and sustainable intelligent integrated system solutions. All the market leaders in the sector were at MDA, with displays including roller bearings, gears, clutches, hydraulic cylinders and subassemblies, filters, valves, sealing systems, oil supply systems and power electronics. The MDA show again included an accompanying forum for debate on current trends and technologies. Key topics this year were drive technology for wind energy plants, sealing systems, condition monitoring systems, along with sustainability, energy efficiency and lightweight construction.

Energy
The leading-edge technologies displayed by Energy exhibitors illustrated their ability to make a real contribution to the global transition in energy systems. Exhibits covered the entire energy industry supply chain, from generation, grid supply, transmission, distribution and storage through to the latest IT and market mechanisms for smart grids. The focus was on potential savings and efficiency gains from decentralized energy supply solutions. This involved energy efficiency service providers and the entire cogeneration and trigeneration market segment, plus the decentralized grid supply stationary fuel cells featured at the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells pavilion. Smart grids were another major theme, with a dedicated theme park and an accompanying forum. The most popular HANNOVER MESSE forum was again “Life Needs Power”, where experts from policy, research and industry debated all the key trends and issues confronting the energy industry. Another major drawing card was the Renewable Energy forum, located within the same named exhibition sector. The forum featured informative presentations on wind and bio energy, photovoltaic systems, and solar and geothermal energy.

Wind
Wind power is seen as the driving force among the various renewable energy options. Worldwide installed power has already reached more than 200 gigawatts, and the participants in the Wind flagship tradeshow were clearly there to talk business. The leading manufacturers, subcontractors, logistics specialists and service providers were on hand to present their new concept designs and technologies for on- and off-shore solutions, and they used the international industrial platform provided by HANNOVER MESSE to highlight their skills for the energy transition. Higher towers, larger nacelles, longer rotor vanes and more powerful transmission systems are making wind energy plants more powerful. Optimized plants for low-wind locations also have a part to play in making efficient use of wind energy. The Wind event again highlighted the enormous innovation momentum in this sector.

MobiliTec
The raft of new products and innovative solutions on display in MobiliTec made an impressive contribution to HANNOVER MESSE in terms of economic policy issues. As the flagship tradeshow for electric drive technologies, mobile energy storage and alternative mobility technologies, the event provided a comprehensive overview of electric mobility solutions. Among the exhibitors were regions whose projects have been selected by the German federal government for funding under the “Electric Mobility Showcase” program. Another highlight was the eMotive pavilion with cutting-edge electric mobility displays. The MobiliTec user forum drew big visitor numbers, with discussion and debate on the latest research findings and trends in energy storage technologies and powertrain electrification. Visitors were also able to test drive the latest electric vehicles on the extended circuit on the open-air site at the Hannover Exhibition Center. The European Research Commissioner, Máire Geoghgan-Quinn presented the new EU research framework program Horizon 2020 at the MobiliTec Forum on 11 April. She attended both in her European Capacity but also as Ireland’s Commissioner as that country holds the European Presidency during the first half of 2013.

Digital Factory
Digital Factory in Hall 7 was again the ICT hub at HANNOVER MESSE. The huge importance of IT as a driver of industrial innovations was reflected in the broad range of solutions on display, including PLM, ERP, MES and CAx. The key themes of the event were fully canvassed both in trade meetings and in the debates on strategy issues on all aspects of Industry 4.0. The industry associations VDMA (German Engineering Federation), ZVEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association) and BITKOM (German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media) have created an agency specifically for this purpose, which they launched at the fair. Exhibitor firms provided impressive examples of the integration of real and digital business environments across every facet of the “Integrated Industry” keynote theme and debated the specific challenges involved in maintaining the data flow from product design, production scheduling and production through to the service phase. A special highlight of Digital Factory was the first CAE forum dedicated to the topic of numerical simulation. Presentations by representatives of industry and academia addressed topics like “IT Services” and “Quality Assurance in Virtual Product Design”.

ComVac
Exhibitors at ComVac provided a complete market overview of their sector. All the market leaders were back this year for the “odd-numbered cycle” at HANNOVER MESSE to display their compressed air and vacuum technology products and solutions – from generation and treatment to distribution and practical applications in systems and machines. The focus was on state-of-the-art solutions which consume significantly less electric power and are more maintenance-friendly, with lower noise emissions, adding up to clear efficiency gains in production operations. Other sector themes in high demand included the classic after-sales segments like maintenance, repair and service contracts and consulting and analysis. This included the simulation of compressed air requirements, leakage checks, and audits and evaluation of compressed air systems and finance options. The businesses exhibiting at ComVac all see compressed air technologies as an essential part of industry and skilled trades operations.

Industrial Supply
The optimized hall configuration and comprehensive supporting program for the Industrial Supply event, particularly the Suppliers Convention and Materials Forum, were well received by exhibitors and visitors alike. As a worldwide global sourcing event, the Industrial Supply show staged in halls 4 to 6 clearly showed how closely the subcontracting industry is involved in its customers’ planning and production processes. They appreciated the synergies from the physical location near the venues for surface technologies, environmental technologies and R&D. The companies presented components and processes meticulously tailored to customer requirements, for intelligent integration into their production processes. This made a clear and very tangible contribution to the HANNOVER MESSE keynote theme of “Integrated Industry”. The Industrial Supply exhibitors impressed visitors with their wide range of applications and solutions-oriented products and technologies for functions like solid and sheet metal forming, machined components, systems and subassemblies, casting products and latches and locking systems, operating controls, fastening techniques and joining and adhesive bonding technology. Lightweight construction topics were again a special highlight. This technology is seen as providing intelligent solutions for sustainable efficiency improvements. Meanwhile, the first Wind Energy Suppliers forum focused on eco-friendly, resource-conserving production processes, competitive logistics, new materials and process engineering solutions and intelligent production technology.

SurfaceTechnology
SurfaceTechnology 2013 showcased the entire value chain of application-oriented surface technologies. As a key technology segment with applications across all industry sectors, the surface technology industry derives full benefit from the HANNOVER MESSE concept, since it has customers and users in all the sectors represented at the event. The new SurfaceTechnology venue in Hall 3 was a success, providing more effective synergies with the adjacent Research & Technology and Industrial Supply shows. Visitors were particularly impressed with the pavilions and special presentations on topics such as painting technology or nano-based applications and processes for high-tech surfaces. The Surface Technology forum focused on the importance of surfaces in interaction with the respective base materials.

IndustrialGreenTec
The displays of IndustrialGreenTec exhibitors at events covering all aspects of environmental technologies focused primarily on the needs and issues facing SMEs from Germany and abroad. At a range of workshops and conferences, international trade visitors were able to learn from the pioneers of sustainable production processes. Special attention was given to best-practice examples in terms of resource efficiency and the conservation of natural resources. One of the event highlights was the IndustrialGreenTec Conference, centered around the practical implementation of sustainable production processes and how businesses can benefit from them.

Research & Technology
Technology transfer and partnerships between research and industry were in the spotlight at the Research & Technology show. The exhibiting institutes, universities and companies were in Hall 2 to dialogue with industry and political representatives on the new technologies and improvements that will be needed to successfully address the challenges facing industry. The main focus was on the HANNOVER MESSE keynote theme of “Integrated Industry” and Industry 4.0. The “tech transfer – Gateway2Innovation” showcase put creative innovators in touch with business decision-makers and others looking for new ideas. The Research & Technology thematic clusters, such as Adaptronics, World of Nano, Bionics, Organic Electronics, Textile Solutions and in the R&T Arena clearly illustrated the potential benefits for industry stemming from the research and science domain.

Maxim Zverkov, Formika, spokesman for the partner country, Russia, in the wind-up press conference commented, “A better event in the field of industry does not exist in the world!” 

One of the publications we look forward to, and we know we are not alone in this, is the arrival of Industrial Automation & Process Control Insider.  Indeed we have been receiving this since it was first published under the editorship of Andrew Bond. For some years now it has been edited by by his worthy successor Nick Denbow.

A few days ago something happened.  Nick wrote, “This month the INSIDER comes with a new format and style, basically because of a PC failure that meant the aging software did not run properly any more…” Our heart went out to Nick as one of the great fears in using computors is the dreaded “update.” Invariably one finds that not all the programs which  have jollied along together smoothly suddenly up and complain.

I’ll let Nick himself explain his problem:

VMware comes to the aid of the INSIDER, as cybersecurity uses virtual machines to replace hardware

Topics in this issue!New management appointed at Endress+Hauser Closures and future plans in the UK power industry Natural gas offshore for Cyprus and Japan? Plus developments in Australia RuggedCom for the power industry Honeywell responds over ISA100 Siemens targets improved margins New high-efficiency motor designs Major PAS conference on human reliability

Blame the cold weather, or even the run down state of British industry, but actually a couple of computer failures brought forward a change of format and operating system for the INSIDER this month.

The new two column rolling format on a smaller page width should hopefully make this newsletter easier to read on a hand-held device, while for those who wish to read a printed version, the text is still legible after printing a group of four pages on one standard sheet.

VMware used to run the INSIDER More interesting was the procedure needed to make possible a simple transfer of the original Pagemaker publishing programme onto the currently available Windows 7 software, a problem possibly faced on various plant operating systems when updating servers. This has currently been solved by creating a virtual workstation on the new PC, using the free of charge personal use VMware Player, a component of the VMware Fusion Professional system. More often used perhaps to create new operating systems on old machines, to test out the operation of current software on the next generation system, this time the need was to go backwards to either XP or Vista to run the Adobe Pagemaker adequately, because despite what the screens might suggest, Windows 7
does not want to run this older generation software.

The result was interesting, in that it gave an on-screen instant demo of how operating systems have progressed, and become smoother and faster. For the moment it is just reassuring to have the INSIDER editing process up and running again.

Talking to him later he recounted his adventures including frustrating PC failures, and incompatabilty issues. He eventually stuck at it making his deadlines.

The full page version

So why did he do it? With the proliferation of mobile appliances, intelligent phones and tablets, he sensed a certain demand for a format which satisfied this cohort of his readers. He thought a 50:50 ration would be there. 50% for full page size and 50% for the smaller “mobile” version. “At first it was US people and editors who wanted the mobile version, and Europeans who wanted full page or paper format. These latter were maybe office based people. But then the whole response pattern reversed, and quite a few Americans went for the paper version!” The new format lacks pictures a he feels the quarter page format can’t display pictures well but this may change.

In short as he says himself “VMware came to his aid of the INSIDER, as cybersecurity uses virtual machines to replace hardware!”

He has learned a lot in developing this new format, and no doubt earned a few more grey hairs. Mercifully the quality of the articles in this issue are up to the usual high standard as can be seen in the list of contents in the box on the right.

He ends his item on the traumatic experience in getting this issue out with the request, “As ever, write in and say what you think! And whether you can read it – at all!”