Analysis of 5G Technology in Airports: Requirements, Challenges, and Use Cases Evaluation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the existing literature about the general analysis of airport activities and detailed specifications for 5G implementation. The gap spans from overgeneralized studies to highly specific ones as will be mentioned in the paper. This research aims to bridge this gap by identifying the requirements of 5G implementation in various airport use cases, proposing detailed 5G solutions for these cases. As is well known, 5G is the Fifth Generation of cellular communications, aiming to provide high-throughput high-reliability connectivity to greatly diversified scenarios. With this objective, it shall act as a viable solution for environments as complex as an airport terminal, whose dynamic work cycle includes a wide range of diversified activities. As such, 5G capacities are assessed, identifying those airport processes that can benefit from its application as well as the general requirements of the network deployed for such scenarios. From the identified use cases, the streaming of high quality video for aircraft visual inspection as well as the monitoring of luggage trolleys via an IoT system are developed and evaluated, showing the capabilities of the approach.