# US 11,310,854 B2 · Industrial wireless network infrastructure supporting multiple subnets > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,310,854 B2 - Document ID: US11310854B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/653,290 - Filed: 2019-10-15 - Published: 2020-04-23 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2018-10-23 - Assignees: Honeywell International Inc. - Applicants: Honeywell International Inc. - Inventors: Maneesh Bhagwani; Prasad Samudrala; Vibhor Tandon - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11310854B2 ## CPC - H04W 48/18: Selecting a network or a communication service - H04W 76/15: Setup of multiple wireless link connections - H04W 24/08: Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic - H04W 28/24: Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service] - H04W 88/08: Access point devices - H04W 4/70: Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract This disclosure provides an industrial wireless network infrastructure supporting multiple subnetworks (subnets). An apparatus, system and method is provided that includes an access point comprising one or more wireless radios configured to communicate with one or more wireless devices; and one or more processors configured to enforce quality of service (QoS) based on multiple applications associated with the one or more wireless devices; wherein the access point is configured to use multiple subnetwork identifiers to communicate with the one or more wireless devices. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus comprising: an access point comprising: one or more wireless radios configured to communicate with one or more groups of wireless devices; and one or more processors configured to enforce quality of service (QoS) based on multiple applications associated with the one or more groups of wireless devices and allocate the QoS to each subnetwork identifier of multiple subnetwork identifiers based on the multiple applications; wherein the access point is configured to use the multiple subnetwork identifiers to communicate with at least one group of the one or more groups of wireless devices. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the access point is further configured to communicate with at least one device manager that defines the QoS for the applications. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the access point is configured to communicate with multiple device managers each associated with a different subnetwork identifier. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the access point is configured to communicate with a single device manager associated with the multiple subnetwork identifiers. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) A system comprising: the apparatus of claim 1; and at least one device manager configured to define the QoS for the applications. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the system comprises multiple device managers each associated with a different subnetwork identifier. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one device manager includes a user interface configured to provide the subnetwork identifier for the multiple device managers. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein each device manager of the multiple device managers includes: a gateway configured to perform translation functions to allow exchange of information between the one or more groups of wireless devices; a security manager configured to allow authorized traffic to flow between the one or more groups of wireless devices; and a system manager configured to: collect quality statistics of communication paths associated with the one or more groups of wireless devices, calculate overall quality of the communication paths associated with the one or more groups of wireless devices, and allocate communication slots and coordinate slot allocations for the one or more groups of wireless devices. ### Claim 9 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the system comprises a single device manager associated with the multiple subnetwork identifiers. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each subnetwork identifier of the multiple subnetwork identifiers includes a level of priority of at least one of a device, an asset, or an application associated with the one or more groups of wireless devices. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multiple applications associated with the one or more groups of wireless devices include an asset health monitoring application, a maintenance application, a monitoring application, a pressure control application, and a safety application. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multiple subnetwork identifiers are selected based on at least one of: application needs within the industrial process control and automation system; types of devices used in the industrial process control and automation system; areas or zones associated with the industrial process control and automation system; roles or privileges for users associated with the industrial process control and automation system; and wireless communication protocols used in the wireless network. ### Claim 13 A method comprising: communicating with one or more groups of wireless devices using one or more wireless radios of an access point; enforcing quality of service (QoS) based on multiple applications associated with the one or more groups of wireless devices using one or more processors of the access point; allocating the QoS to each subnetwork identifier of multiple subnetwork identifiers based on the multiple applications; and using, by the access point, the multiple subnetwork identifiers to communicate with at least one group of the one or more groups of wireless devices. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the access point is configured to communicate with multiple device managers each associated with a different subnetwork identifier. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the access point is configured to communicate with a single device manager associated with multiple subnetwork identifiers. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the access point is further configured to communicate with at least one device manager that defines the QoS for the applications. ### Claim 17 A method comprising: commissioning a wireless network including an access point associated with an industrial process control and automation system; and assigning multiple subnetwork identifiers to the wireless network associated with one or more groups of wireless devices during the commissioning, wherein the multiple subnetwork identifiers are selected based on at least one of: application needs within the industrial process control and automation system; types of devices used in the industrial process control and automation system; areas or zones associated with the industrial process control and automation system; roles or privileges for users associated with the industrial process control and automation system; and wireless communication protocols used in the wireless network. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the access point is configured to communicate with multiple device managers each associated with a different subnetwork identifier. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the access point is configured to communicate with a single device manager associated with multiple subnetwork identifiers. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the access point is further configured to communicate with at least one device manager that defines the QoS for the applications.