The ZVEI launched the '5G Task Force' in 2017. In April, the ZVEI working group '5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation' - 5G-ACIA for short - was established. What is it all about?

Mathias Bohge: The 5G-ACIA replaces the 'ZVEI 5G Task Force'. It is now the central exchange body within the German, but also increasingly the international electrical industry for the interests of industrial automation with regard to 5G. The special charm of the 5G-ACIA: unlike the task force, membership of the 5G-ACIA is not only open to ZVEI members.

How is the 5G-ACIA organized?

The actual cooperation takes place in five working groups, in which representatives of OT and ICT companies jointly consider use cases, system architectures or operator models. New tasks within the working groups can be proposed by any member. All members then decide on their implementation at the regular plenary meetings.

The working group wants to play an active role in the standardization of 5G. What impact can the ACIA input have?

The '3rd Generation Partnership Program' - 3GPP for short - initiated by the European standardization organization ETSI for the UMTS mobile communications standard has established itself as a global consortium for mobile communications standardization. The 3GPP members represented in the 5G-ACIA submit the results developed here directly to the 3GPP committees. There they are then incorporated into the standardization process. In addition, contributions to frequency regulation are coordinated on German positions via the Federal Network Agency and then submitted by the regulator to the wide-ranging working groups. In general, the more members that represent a position in these committees and organizations, the greater the impact of these positions.

Why is it so important to deal with 5G now?

The new 5G wireless standard will enable many applications, particularly in the Industry 4.0 environment. Currently, the requirements for various industrial use cases can still be incorporated into the standardization process. It is therefore important that the manufacturers of factory automation systems - i.e. operational technology - work together with companies from the ICT industry to describe and analyze use cases for the use of 5G in the factory at an early stage. This is the only way to develop a shared sense of the use cases for which 5G-supported wireless communication offers opportunities. Very importantly, by exchanging ideas and information at an early stage, conclusions can be drawn from the use cases for the system design and, in turn, completely new system approaches and solutions can be created for the factory of the future.

What capabilities does 5G need for the factory?

High reliability, constant availability, low latency and security of the data transmitted here are particularly important for Industry 4.0 applications. New wireless technologies are therefore needed that are developed explicitly for this purpose, such as 5G, whose ultra-reliable low-latency communications service will be aimed in particular at applications in factory automation in a few years' time.

In a few years! Won't 5G be on the market this year or next year at the latest?

Yes, that is correct! But other services will come onto the market before URLLC. For example, the 5G Enhanced Mobile Broadband services. In other words, the consistent further development of LTE with ever higher data rates, for example for video streaming on cell phones. Or massive machine-type communications applications with low data rates and very long battery life. URLLC, which is so important for industry, will be the last service to be offered, as the paradigm shift compared to 4G/LTE is greatest here and new approaches must be found both technologically and on the business side.