SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)
Systems that gather data from and send supervisory commands to dispersed field sites, such as pipelines and power grids, over long-distance links.
The network analogy
A network management system for physical assets: it polls remote sites, alarms on exceptions, and pushes setpoints, while local controllers run the fast loops.
Why it matters for wireless
SCADA was designed around slow, shared, long-distance media, so its supervisory traffic is a different class from cyclic I/O. Identify it and rank it accordingly when both share airtime.
NIST describes SCADA as a computerized system that is capable of gathering and processing data and applying operational controls over long distances, typical in power transmission and pipelines and designed for media such as phone lines, microwave, and satellite. A control center typically polls field devices at defined intervals, such as 5 or 60 seconds1.
In manufacturing, ISA-95 places SCADA alongside MES at Level 3, which manages manufacturing operations2. Polling in seconds is a different budget from I/O in milliseconds.
About this page
Built from 3 sources: 3 standards bodies and labs. Researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and approved by Ben Rutter on . How pages are made
- First published
- Last updated
Cite this page
Plain
Ben Rutter. "SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)." OT Wireless, published October 5, 2026. https://otwireless.com/glossary/scada/
APA 7
Rutter, B. (2026, October 5). SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition). OT Wireless. https://otwireless.com/glossary/scada/
BibTeX
@misc{rutter2026scada,
author = {Rutter, Ben},
title = {{SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://otwireless.com/glossary/scada/}},
organization = {OT Wireless},
}