Industrial Internet of Things over 5G: A Practical Implementation

Abstract

The next generation of mobile broadband communication, 5G, is seen as a driver for the industrial Internet of things (IIoT). The expected 5G-increased performance spanning across different indicators, flexibility to tailor the network to the needs of specific use cases, and the inherent security that offers guarantees both in terms of performance and data isolation have triggered the emergence of the concept of public network integrated non-public network (PNI-NPN) 5G networks. These networks might be a flexible alternative for the well-known (albeit mostly proprietary) Ethernet wired connections and protocols commonly used in the industry setting. With that in mind, this paper presents a practical implementation of IIoT over 5G composed of different infrastructure and application components. From the infrastructure perspective, the implementation includes a 5G Internet of things (IoT) end device that collects sensing data from shop floor assets and the surrounding environment and makes these data available over an industrial 5G Network. Application-wise, the implementation includes an intelligent assistant that consumes such data to generate valuable insights that allow for the sustainable operation of assets. These components have been tested and validated in a real shop floor environment at Bosch Termotecnologia (Bosch TT). Results show the potential of 5G as an enhancer of IIoT towards smarter, more sustainable, green, and environmentally friendly factories.

Is Release 15 Ready for the Industry?

“…In throughput validation scenarios iperf3 was used to generate data, except for the minimum throughput tests, where iperf3 9 Iperf3, https://iperf.fr/ (July 2022) didn't work adequately. In these situations, a simple Python script was used.…”

“…This study focuses on assessing whether 5G technology in release 15 meets the stringent industry demands, ultimately evaluating its readiness for deployment in a factory floor for production. To this end, the work relies on a real-world commercial graded 5G SA Release 15 network and takes insights from: (i) white papers from industrial associations such as 5G-ACIA [2], [6]; and (ii) the requirements of several projects, including H2020 5Growth 1 [4], [8], Augmanity (Augmented Humanity) 2 [9], and Horizon-Europe Imagine-B5G 3 . To provide the reader with a more concrete contextualization of the paper's insights, examples of the Augmanity project are used throughout the paper.…”

Key Issues on Integrating 5G into Industrial Systems

“…In the field of communication, compared with other technologies, 5G has KPIs such as ultra-high bandwidth (theoretical peak speed can reach 20G bps), lower latency (in milliseconds), massive connections, and higher reliability. These characteristics enable 5G to play a crucial role in the intelligent transformation of industrial systems, providing stable and efficient network support for applications such as the Internet of Things (henceforth IoT), machine learning, and artificial intelligence [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. The difference between industrial IoT (henceforth IIoT) and non-industrial IoT mainly lies in bandwidth, latency, and reliability.…”

“…They also identify several research challenges in these promising design trends that beyond-5G systems must overcome to support the rapidly unfolding transition in creating value-centric industrial wireless networks. On a more advanced level, Meira et al [11] present a practical implementation of IIoT over 5G composed of different infrastructure and application components. From the infrastructure perspective, the implementation includes a 5G Internet of Things (IoT) end device that collects sensing data from shop floor assets and the surrounding environment and makes these data available over an industrial 5G Network.…”

A Novel Radio Network Information Service (RNIS) to MEC Framework in B5G Networks

“…The technologies introduced by the Fifth Generation of mobile networks (5G) [1,2] serve a variety of services and applications, where enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) provide support for applications such as autonomous cars, virtual reality, Agriculture 4.0, and among others. With the growing expansion of 5G, academia and industry have invested in research into Beyond Fifth Generation (B5G) and the Sixth Generation of mobile networks (6G) [3,4].…”