If sensors, machines, devices and IT systems interact with each other in a smart factory of the future, then digital data exchange is the basis - the limits of wired, classic communication are set here. At the same time, it reduces the flexibility for moving machines and devices within a hall. The 5G standard increases the data transmission rate in mobile networks tenfold to more than ten gigabits per second. Thanks to considerably lower latency times, 5G enables machine communication in real time - a prerequisite for the coordination of machines and processes in factory automation.
Data rates of 1 to 10 gigabits per second are possible, so tomorrow's mobile communications will be 10 to 100 times higher than a typical LTE connection with 100 megabits per second. What is decisive, however, is the guaranteed minimum data rate and the latency time, which stands for the reaction speed with which the server and smartphone communicate.
2 Reduced energy consumption with 5G
The above-mentioned data rates of up to ten gigabits per second, a response time of one millisecond and a reduced energy requirement that enables battery life of up to ten years make 5G the standard solution for communication in networked factories and production facilities.
3 Complex industrial applications with 5G
New paths in industrial communication: According to the dynamically developing scenarios of industry 4.0 and newly emerging business models, for example in service, completely new industrial applications can be realized that place the highest demands on reliability and real-time transmission capability - a Mecca of possibilities for flexibility, mobility and convertibility of industrial plants.
Novel networks of driverless transport systems and mobile robots, mobile operating devices and new human-machine interfaces, such as applications of augmented reality, are conceivable. In addition, 5G also enables completely new manufacturing concepts by means of wirelessly networked, highly flexible production modules that can be easily combined with each other without the need for cabling.
4. Process monitoring with 5G
Classical wired technologies such as fieldbus and Ethernet as well as wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or WLAN are far behind the process monitoring possibilities of 5G with immense data throughput, very low latency times under one millisecond. The heterogeneity of the various networks will quickly decrease because the 5G wireless network is recommended for applications from the shop floor to the office and can also be combined with other networks. 5G defines both mobile communication hardware (antenna technology) and communication protocol.
5. Flexible machine concepts with 5G
The next advantage is the simple flexibilisation of machines, which must be reconfigurable quickly and without a long service life. For individual production up to batch size 1, 5G offers ideal peripherals for wireless industrial communication and process optimization. Mobile radio technology is more reliable, reacts more robustly to high workloads and is equally suitable for connecting sensors, machines and human-operated terminals. The interaction is supported by so-called network slicing and the reduction of the signal propagation time up to 1 ms.
