Industrial Wireless Routers for IIoT and M2M-Communication

Compact, rugged, secure wireless devices for demanding utility and infrastructure applications

  • Industrial Wireless Routers for IIoT and M2M-Communication
    Industrial Wireless Routers for IIoT and M2M-Communication

Westermo has launched a new range of industrial cellular wireless products designed to provide resilient data communications for remote sites. The Merlin range of compact, rugged and secure cellular solutions has been specifically developed to support industrial IoT (IIoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions in demanding utility, infrastructure and transportation applications.

Easy-to install solution

The first Merlin products to be released are the 4600 series, which further strengthen Westermo’s existing range of industrial wireless routers. These four compact and feature-rich devices provide high-speed data network connectivity for demanding industrial, smart grid, and rail trackside applications. The routers meet the requirements of IEC 61850-3 Class 1 Medium Voltage substation and railway trackside EN 50121-4 standards. The Merlin range has been designed to be easy to install and maintain. When coupled with Westermo’s zero touch deployment software Activator, the Merlin devices provide cost-effective, reliable and consistent onboarding within large-scale projects.

To achieve best-in-class cybersecurity, the Merlin 4600 series is equipped with a TPM (trusted platform module) chip that keeps cryptographic keys secure, while Secure Boot ensures that the routers boot using only software signed and trusted by Westermo. A set of cybersecurity tools is available as standard, including virtual private network (VPN) and stateful firewall support for data security and user authentication. A built-in industrial gateway enables multiple devices, using different protocols, to be accessed via a common interface. For example, in a substation application with IEC-101, Modbus and DNP (distributed network protocol) devices, all three types can be presented via the SCADA system by a single IEC-104 or MMS (multiple messaging service) interface.

I/Os for local monitoring

The Merlin 4600 series also supports six inputs and two outputs for local monitoring or control. The number of digital and analogue inputs and outputs can be increased using external I/O modules and the status of the internal or external I/O is accessible via the supported industrial communication protocols.