Data acquisition


to accommodate additional cables and possibly I/O modules can be prohibitive.


A possible solution is to use Bluetooth mesh technology. To implement this, a compact, inline Bluetooth dongle is fitted to existing or new IO-Link devices such as pressure, flow or temperature sensors. The PLC control signal is unaffected, but additional process data can now be transmitted via Bluetooth to a base station connected to the plant network. Up to 50 devices can be connected to the same base station. The devices can also be interrogated via the Bluetooth connection using a mobile phone, which makes a quick walk-around check of difficult-to-access plant simple.


Useful in many situations, Bluetooth mesh solutions have one important limitation: their relatively short operating range. If you need to access data from a remote location, you will need a different solution. In such cases, a mobile 2G gateway could be the answer. These devices are installed at the remote location and can typically accept data either direct from sensors or from the local plant network.


Instrumentation Monthly November 2025


The gateway then makes the data available to the cloud via the mobile phone network. Although described as 2G devices, many of these gateways can use alternative network connections if they are available, automatically selecting the connection that will give the fastest


and most reliable data transmission. In theory, 2G gateways have unlimited range – they can provide access to data from any location where a mobile phone signal is available. This makes them ideal for applications like monitoring the status of equipment at a


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