HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE FOR MISSION CRITICAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION LINK NODES

A mission critical wireless link (MCWL) node for communicating with a human machine interface (HMI) terminal over a mission critical wireless link is provided. The MCWL node includes a MCWL wireless circuit configured to communicate with a first MCWL node over the mission critical wireless link by employing a mission critical communication protocol; an HMI communication circuit for communicating with an HMI terminal over the mission critical wireless link by employing a short-range communication protocol; a synchronizer for controlling at least a time at which the MCWL wireless circuit and the HMI communication circuit access the wireless link; a multiplexer coupled to the MCWL wireless circuit and the HMI communication circuit, wherein the multiplexer is configured to select any of the MCWL wireless circuit and the HMI communication circuit based on a control signal received from the synchronizer; and a radio frequency (RF) transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with both the first MCWL node and the HMI terminal.