Wireless communication is nothing new in industry. A large number of companies from a wide range of sectors have been successfully using Industrial WLAN - IWLAN for short - for wireless communication in industry for over 15 years.

With its iFeatures, IWLAN from Siemens, for example, fulfills all the requirements
requirements - including wireless safety applications. IWLAN is even used on rides in large amusement parks around the world because the safety of people plays a central role there, but communication must also be wireless for economic reasons.
In addition to WLAN, a new wireless technology is now coming into play with 5G. The new 5G mobile communications standard has the potential to revolutionize digitalization with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and edge/cloud computing. The German government has already set the course by allocating an industrial frequency for private 5G networks. The question now is whether 5G will replace Wi-Fi in industry in the future or whether it will be more of a co-existence.

5G and Wi-Fi 6 compared in terms of complexity and infrastructure components.

© Siemens

However, there are still many unresolved issues with 5G that WLAN already offers. It should also not be neglected that 5G currently requires greater technical effort and implementation is more complex. This inevitably leads to higher costs.

In the end, the customer will always decide which solution to use. An industrial application with automated guided vehicles (AGVs) can be technically implemented with both solutions. However, if safety with the Profisafe Profinet standard is a mandatory requirement, for example, only an IWLAN network can be used today. The requirements for real-time behavior are already fulfilled here.

For Siemens as a provider of industrial communication networks, the industrial wireless strategy is clear: investing in Industrial 5G based on stable standards, but also continuing to invest in IWLAN technology - currently with Wi-Fi 6. The reason for this is that private industrial frequencies for 5G are not available everywhere in the world and applications can often be solved more cost-effectively with WLAN.

The plus points of 5G

Smartphone users are likely to love being able to enjoy movies in 4K resolution almost anywhere via 5G. Industry, on the other hand, is expecting much more: to set a milestone on the way to Industry 4.0 in smart factories! Thanks to end-to-end digitalization and the IIoT, manufacturing is set to become more flexible and productive. And 5G lends itself to this vision: 5G is 10 to 20 times faster than today's LTE and requires only a thousandth of the energy per transmitted bit. In addition, very low latency times and particularly high communication reliability open up unimagined new possibilities for industry.
However, not all of these features can be fully utilized at the same time. For industry, the focus is primarily on real-time capability and reliability, while private users are more interested in high data rates. This distinguishes an industrial requirements profile (Industrial Profile) from a public profile (Public Profile).

The public profile is already covered by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). The 3GPP is responsible for the development of the mobile radio standard. In the past, the requirements arising from traditional mobile communications were primarily taken into account and the technology was further developed. With 5G, the aim is now to enter the industrial communications market and cover the requirements arising from autonomous driving, for example. The Industrial Profile still lacks the functionalities that are valuable for industry, such as low latency times and ultra-high reliability. These will only be implemented with Release 16 of the 5G standard.

The 3GPP standardization Release 15 to 17.

© Siemens

In addition to the Industrial Profile, a private 5G industrial frequency is important for the use of 5G in industry. It offers companies the opportunity to set up their own, self-managed private 5G campus networks. The advantage is that companies can adapt these flexibly according to their requirements. They also have data security completely in their own hands.

Germany and some other countries have recognized this and are making a clear commitment to industrial wireless communication by providing private frequencies (3.7 to 3.8 GHz in Germany).
The use of 5G in industry requires both private frequencies and the implementation of the Industrial Profile in the 5G standard. Therefore, a 'real Industrial 5G' will not be available before 2023, as the releases 16/17 are necessary for this and this standardization must also be implemented in corresponding chipsets.