I received that question several times, so I figured I would answer it with this short blog.
Why would an airport, factory, plants or warehouse IT manager change their Wi-Fi network
and install a Private 5G SA network?
Allow me to explain why 5G SA has created such a buzz and will be so big:
- First – [SA] in 5G SA stands for Stand-Alone. This is generally a private network.
- A wired network in a factory is hard to maintain, and the factory floor cannot be as easily optimized and as dynamic as it can be with wireless technologies. Unlike a wireless one, a wired factory floor needs to be moved and re-installed constantly.
- Some factories have installed Wi-Fi, which bring the benefits of wireless connections, but Wi-Fi is only a best-effort technology, hence, on Wi-Fi, one cannot set up mission-critical and guaranteed service delivery for any critical applications such as robotics.
- Robotics require mobile wireless, not fixed wires. Although 4G can deliver mobility, 5G can provide much lower latency, which is critical for time-sensitive processes, controls, and robotics.
- Wi-Fi is unable to deliver predictable reliability, capacity, latency, or guaranteed IP packet delivery, which is unacceptable for most Industry 4.0 use cases.
- Industry 4.0 relies on high-performance networks to provide significant improvements to factory automation, enhanced safety, and efficiency.
- In the manufacturing space, 5G is replacing the wired networks, the older wireless networks, and Wi-Fi, as it offers wired connectivity performance, wirelessly.
- 5G SA delivers ultra-reliable, low-latency communications (URLLC), which is unavailable with Wi-Fi or 4G.
In a previous post, we covered a few basics about how 5G will change airports, factories, and warehouses with the need for ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). URLLC could serve as an excellent description for a wired network performances: fast, reliable, and low latency. So 5G achieves what the world has only expected from wired solutions, with the advantages of a mobile wireless network. To deliver URLLC, the wireless 5G network needs to be “fed” with URLLC connectivity to the virtualized Radio Access Network (RAN), and this is where Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) switches are needed. Industry 4.0 and new manufacturing robotics and applications are the critical drivers for 5G in manufacturing, warehouses, and airports. This is also the case in industrial markets such as oil & gas, mining, electrical, new-energy, water, wastewater, etc. We will cover these other markets in a separate blog.
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Need more information?
Need help navigating through all of this?
Reach out to me on this blog or at http://www.IoTALTE.com; we will be glad to help.
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