New Year's Eve. At the stroke of midnight. Millions of messages go out into the world - and take forever to arrive. The network is overloaded. This is a classic problem with the current LTE network. With 5G, things will be different. This is because the mobile communications standard not only offers a high data rate of up to 10 Gbit/s and low latency of up to 0.1 milliseconds, but also allows up to 1 million end devices per km2. This is primarily practical for private users. It enables fast surfing, streaming and sending very large files. For industrial companies, 5G can be of crucial importance: if data transmission falters in autonomous driving systems, for example, this is not only inconvenient but, in the worst case, fatal. 5G technology is therefore an important option for companies to communicate effectively and securely via the broadband network and offer services.

High data rates, high availability

Higher data rates, more participants in the network, very high availability. These are the advantages that industrial companies want to benefit from in the future. They want to use 5G to reliably send emergency signals, deploy autonomous vehicles in factory operations or even control machines across locations in real time. The use of the currently still very expensive mobile communications standard makes sense, especially when company premises are large and many transmitters and receivers come together. Those who operate chemical parks of several 10,000 square meters, such as in the chemical industry, benefit from their own 5G data highway - despite high investments for their own local campus network.

However, it is not certain whether such a decision would pay off for a medium-sized mechanical engineering company. Small and medium-sized companies in particular should take a close look when considering the use of the new mobile communications standard: 5G must not be an end in itself. The following questions must be the focus of the decision-making process: When does the use of 5G really make sense? What added value does the technology offer the company in question? And are there other technologies that are more suitable?

Large investment outlay

The Fraunhofer Institutes IEM, IPT and IPA are currently testing the cross-location control of a small collaborative robot called Cobotta.

© Fraunhofer IEM

After all, in addition to the high investment costs, there are other challenges associated with the mobile communications standard, which is very much in vogue. For example, there are few devices suitable for industrial use such as routers, access points or chips that need to be installed in machines and systems in order to work effectively with 5G. The technology is also very energy-hungry. The base stations require a lot of power and mobile systems such as autonomous vehicles in particular consume a lot of energy. And ultimately, there are applications that can be implemented just as well, if not better, with a WLAN or LAN connection.

Use case: 5G or WLAN/LAN connection?

5G or WLAN/LAN connection: Which network offers the better latency? This is precisely the question that the researchers at Fraunhofer IEM asked themselves in a use case. Together with two other Fraunhofer institutes, the team got to the bottom of the cross-location use of 5G: the aim was to control a small collaborative robot called Cobotta. While the controller and 5G-capable laptop were located at the Fraunhofer IEM in Paderborn, the data was transferred to the Fraunhofer IPT in Aachen. There, the entire computing power was run via a Fraunhofer Edge Cloud. A secure VPN connection via the Internet forwarded the control data to Fraunhofer IPA in Stuttgart and a 5G gateway to the Cobotta, which then executed the exact movements that were specified to it in Paderborn. A process that worked perfectly and still does - but in which the 5G technology did not perform as well as expected due to the current release 15. LAN and WLAN connections can still keep up.

5G-4-Automation research project

Release 16 of 5G technology, which is expected by the beginning of 2023 at the latest and should bring with it many new applications, is intended to remedy this situation. For example, in terms of the real-time capability of connections. Or the localization of sensors in machines and production systems. This feature is to be used in another application example that the Fraunhofer IEM is currently working on with machine manufacturer Venjakob. In the joint BMWK research project 5G-4-Automation, an augmented reality application is to be implemented that guides the company's employees specifically to the affected system parts or components when servicing is required. When is the next maintenance due? Which model is currently being manufactured? Or which motor is defective? With the help of the 5G-based application, these questions should be answered easily in the future and service employees should be able to respond efficiently and effectively.

The researchers at Fraunhofer IEM are currently working on the conceptual design of the demonstrator. They have recorded and analyzed the data structure and data flow. This data flow in particular plays a central role in an augmented reality application and is to be supported with the help of 5G. The use case is then implemented at the Fraunhofer Institute's IoT Xperience Center in Paderborn. The Nokia NDAC 5G SA campus network can be accessed there to validate the AR application. Solution-neutral demonstrators will be set up to make this possible. For example, a miniature production line that is not only suitable for use at Venjakob, but can also be transferred to other companies.

High expectations, great uncertainty

The fact that many companies are interested in using 5G is evident even without the scientific evidence provided by the Bitkom study. However, the high expectations are often accompanied by great uncertainty. As great as the openness towards the new mobile communications standard is, there are numerous questions when it comes to the implementation and individual use of 5G. These uncertainties must be countered with specific use cases, which are still far too rare in the industrial environment. This is the only way to validate possible applications of 5G in industrial companies and at the same time make them accessible to companies. The central goal should not be to ride the 5G wave alone, but to provide companies with options for using the new mobile communications standard in a meaningful way. The future releases 16 and 17 will be the game changers here. They will enable the direct implementation of applications such as the AR application developed in the 5G-4-Automation research project - and show companies what added value is available to them through the use of 5G technology.