- The rise of 5G promises transformative capabilities for industrial processes.
- Yet small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and specialised craft businesses face barriers to adoption due to cost and knowledge constraints.
- Siegfried Rödel at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Germany, collaborated with the Chamber of Skilled Crafts of Lower Bavaria-Upper Palatinate to introduce a 5G test bed, aimed at bridging the 5G knowledge gap and offering tailored solutions for smaller enterprises.
- Emphasising hands-on experience and innovation, this initiative intends to democratise 5G access, positioning SMEs to harness their full potential and remain competitive in an interconnected landscape.
The world is hurtling towards an era of interconnectedness, powered by technological marvels such as Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI). Amidst this wave, 5G emerges not just as a buzzword but as a transformative force, especially for industrial processes. Unlike its predecessors, 5G boasts unparalleled performance metrics – be it bandwidth, latency, or reliability. What’s more, its adaptability shines through in its capability to create tailored virtual networks, optimising each for specific applications.
Siegfried Rödel from the Deggendorf Institute of Technology in Germany has collaborated with the Chamber of Skilled Crafts of Lower Bavaria-Upper Palatinate to pioneer a transformative project. Their mission? To demystify 5G for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and craft businesses, showcase its tangible benefits, and guide them through its maze. Central to this initiative is establishing a dedicated 5G test bed – a hands-on arena for crafting, testing, and demonstrating tailor-made 5G applications.
Transforming industries
5G’s potential is undeniable. Offering private networks with unparalleled advantages like exclusive capacity and reliable communication, it promises a new age for industrial wireless networking. Yet, many SMEs remain hesitant. High initial costs and the complexity of 5G compared to Wi-Fi hinder adoption. For a smoother transition, advanced worker training and lighthouse projects showcasing 5G benefits are essential.
Notable initiatives include Fraunhofer FOKUS’s 5G playground in Berlin, focusing on smart city and industrial applications, and umlaut AG’s exploration of 5G’s prowess in Industry 4.0 applications. Real-world implementations highlight 5G’s superiority, from reduced vehicle guide errors to enhanced Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) applications. As industries evolve, embracing 5G might be the competitive edge SMEs need.
A visionary test bed
In a bid to propel 5G innovation, Rödel presents a test bed – both for research and to immerse partners, businesses, and developers in a genuine 5G standalone network experience. Tailored specifically for SMEs and craftsmanship, this initiative aims to unveil bespoke 5G applications relevant to craft businesses. By granting craftsmen and developers hands-on experience to 5G’s capabilities, the test bed seeks to demystify digital transformation, specifically emphasising the advantages of 5G.
Addressing typical constraints of single-manufacturer systems, this test bed embraces the Open RAN (open radio access network) standard, ensuring compatibility across diverse equipment while emphasising cost-effectiveness.
The Deggendorf blueprint
At the heart of 5G’s architecture lies its intricate division: backhaul, midhaul, and fronthaul, each defining the network’s span and function. Unlike standard 5G setups, this campus network is a canvas for customisation, with parameters like frequency bandwidth finely tuned to specific use cases; for example, there are also the possibilities to change encryption methods or handshake parameters during the time a moving user equipment changes the network cell. Anchored on an Open-RAN 5G SA platform, the network operates within Germany’s private campus frequency range.
Unlike its predecessors, 5G boasts unparalleled performance metrics – be it bandwidth, latency, or reliability.
Its architecture intertwines a robust 5G core with versatile RAN components, ensuring seamless wireless communication. The components – CU, DU, and RU – ensure flexible network management, enhanced by precision time protocols and sophisticated signal processing. In essence, Deggendorf’s test bed showcases 5G’s transformative potential.
Unleashing the power of open-source 5G testing
Beyond the confines of traditional closed-source setups, a groundbreaking open-source 5G system emerges, built on standard x86 workstations and set up separately to the regular 5G test bed. Anchored by the Open5GS core and srsRAN for gNB functionalities, this avant-garde system leverages software-defined radio units to craft radio signals. Ensuring pristine testing conditions, these radios are nestled within electromagnetic shielding boxes, ensuring no inadvertent disruptions.
As 5G evolves, Deggendorf Institute of Technology’s project remains agile, continuously innovating to showcase 5G’s full spectrum of capabilities to businesses.
Impressively, Open5GS, aligned with the 5G standard’s release 16, harmoniously interfaces with select commercial RAN systems. Augmenting this setup are cutting-edge test tools: a signal generator crafting bespoke 5G signals and a high-calibre analyser scrutinising signal fidelity up to 44 GHz, paving the way for future mmWave explorations.
Moreover, a state-of-the-art measurement backpack stands ready for comprehensive network evaluations across Germany’s mobile giants, offering insights from sub6 to the mmWave spectrum. This open-source marvel promises a holistic 5G testing panorama, juxtaposing commercial prowess with grassroots innovation.
Revolutionising connectivity
The advent of 5G marks a transformative leap in mobile networks, presenting three pivotal use cases: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communication (uRLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). mMTC has the potential to have one million devices per square kilometre, for example, a dense IoT sensor network with low data rate but a high device count. uRLLC offers remarkably low latency between each transmitted data packet, which is ideal for applications like AR-assisted surgeries and real-time vehicle-to-everything communication.
Simultaneously, eMBB’s high data transfer rates fuel immersive, high resolution AR/VR experiences and seamless video surveillance. Intriguingly, some applications, such as VR machinery control, necessitate features from multiple use cases. To explore these possibilities, 5G test beds showcased demos tailored for SMEs. From streaming crisp videos to VR glasses without lag to remotely controlling robots, 5G’s potential shines. Future applications could revolutionise maintenance in SMEs, leveraging 5G for swift, cost-effective solutions. 5G isn’t just about speed – it’s about redefining possibilities across sectors.
While 5G offers transformative potential for SMEs, its adoption is hindered by knowledge gaps. Deggendorf Institute of Technology’s specialised 5G test bed bridges this gap, empowering small businesses with hands-on experience. Through collaborations with craft chambers, the initiative fosters a symbiotic exchange of expertise. As 5G evolves, with advancements like mmWave technology promising pinpoint accuracy, the project remains agile, continuously innovating to showcase 5G’s full spectrum of capabilities to businesses.
What inspired you to conduct this research?
The reason was to find and evaluate ways to leverage the potential of 5G and to make this knowledge available for interested parties. The technology can be quite intimidating to understand with all its configuration options and new features. Additionally, the sheer number of abbreviations to deal with like eMBB, uRLLC, and mMTC do add to the overall confusion. But it is worth overcoming the first hurdles to get some insight into this technology. Because 5G is not simply better than 4G, it is also much more flexible to set up and to tailor to any specified use case that goes way beyond simple smartphone internet connections.
How might the integration of specialised 5G test beds in academic-industry partnerships reshape the competitive landscape for SMEs in the coming years?
5G test beds in academic-industry partnerships are a great way to share knowledge and to develop skills which can result in accelerated innovation. This collaboration helps to adapt faster to new technologies and to discover new applications or use cases, which give the opportunity to potentially create new business models. Also, it gives early hands-on experience and practical feedback for development and research purposes. Besides, it is simply cost efficient to use testbeds within collaborations with the potential of public funding; this especially helps small enterprises to get early access to advanced technology. Companies could also use other test beds to evaluate their application within different 5G environments with other focus points, for example, a test bed that is specialised in 5G localisation or using network slicing. Overall, this kind of collaboration gives companies the chance to stand at the forefront of technology and get an edge above the competition.
In what ways can tailored 5G applications empower niche craft businesses to innovate and differentiate themselves in the market?
5G gives craft businesses new ways of real-time collaborations between workers; for example, it is possible to use AR/MR devices over a 5G network for remote assist use cases, which give a much more direct and straightforward way to remotely support a worker on a construction site. With 5G IoT devices, it will be easier to gather and analyse data for digital twin applications or to streamline documentation duties.
Coupled with other technologies like localisation services, it would be possible to track working tools to ensure that everything is gathered for a trip to the construction site. Intelligent working tools could communicate logging data to create automatic protocols to reduce documentation effort. Digital construction plans can be live reviewed at a construction site using AR and changes pushed back to the office in real time. Additionally, 5G drones and robots could be used for inspection tasks. The possibilities are manyfold.
Considering the rapid evolution of 5G technology, what strategies should SMEs employ to ensure they remain agile and adaptable in leveraging its advancements?
Stay informed about the development of 5G because the technology is continuously improving, and new features get integrated within new releases of the 3GPP standard. For example, 5G started with release 15 of the standard and 5G advanced is already approaching release 18 in summer 2024. While it will take some time for a release to be implemented within commercial hardware, currently release 16 compatible devices are slowly adopting in the market. Therefore, it is not necessary to immediately check for any changes regarding the standard, but it gives an advantage to already know what upcoming hardware will be capable of. There are also offers from several institutes for events and workshops regarding 5G (there are even 6G events happening already!) to keep participants informed and to give feedback about real world experiences. To reiterate, the best way to keep up to date and to be prepared is to join a cooperation with an academic institute.
