Use of wireless communication networks in digitalization of factory environments

Abstract

[EN] Wireless communications are rapidly taking an important role in factory environment. The current Wi-Fi technologies struggle to meet the requirements of industrial factories, for example with regard to latency and security. The emerging 5G communication networks are the first networks expected to meet such requirements. Private networks are owned by the factories themselves. Private networks can utilize 5G technologies to tailor the networks to meet the exact demands within the factory environment and guarantee that the factories can use the whole bandwidth for their own use. This concurrently increases the data security as the data does not need to be deliveved over public networks. This paper describes the latest developments in 5G with regard to private networks and Industry 4.0, which is the name given to the digitalization, automatization and data exchange trend currently ongoing in factory environments. In this paper we describe a private cellular network we have installed inside a factory building. This network has been trialed with wireless pyrometer measurement data transmission and environmental surveillance of a measurement laboratory. This paper analyses the suitability of private networks for these use cases and discusses in general which applications would benefit the most from private wireless networks.