After WIA-PA (Wireless Networks for Industrial Automation-Process Automation) was approved by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as publicly available specifications (IEC/PAS 62601) in 2008, the “Industrial Wireless Network WIA Specifications (Part One): WIA-PA System Structure and Communication Specifications”, of which the R&D is presided over by SIA, has been unveiled as the national standard of the People’s Republic of China (GB/T26790.1-2011), and will be officially published and put into practice on December 1, 2011.

As a technology hotspot of industrial automation, industrial wireless network technology is highly concerned by European and other Western advanced industrial countries, and used as a main method to reduce the overall energy consumption in industrial processes.

In the 11th Five-Year Plan of China, WIA-PA has been listed as a key project of the National High-tech Research and Development Programs of China (the 863 Programs). Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Zhejiang University, Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute of China, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, MicroCyber, Shanghai Institute of Process Automation Instrumentation, Northeastern University, Southwest University, and Dalian University of Technology, etc., overcomes the key technology problems of anti-interference, low energy consumption and reliable transmission in the R&D of the WIA-PA project, and the WIA technical system with independent intellectual property has been initially formed.

This national WIA-PA standard will help lower risks for enterprises to produce and use products, and will provide a high-end solution for the fusion of industrialization and informationization in China.