5G communications, URLLC characteristics make them suitable for industrial use.
Smart factories, energy, and medical industries have great potential.
We need to prepare for periodic, deterministic, and automated communication patterns.


It's been nearly two years since the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology, developed for time- and location-independent calling, entered its second decade. Mobile carriers have been striving to expand their business models (BMs) from B2C to B2B. From the outset, 5G technology was developed to enable a variety of industries to achieve what 3G and LTE technologies couldn't.

The characteristics of 5G technology can be summarized as three: ultra-high speed (enhanced Mobile Broadband; eMBB), hyper-connectivity (massive Machine Type Communications; mMTC), and ultra-low latency (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications; URLLC). In particular, 5G technology is suitable for use in the B2B sector due to its ultra-low latency characteristic.

However, low latency alone cannot meet the communication system requirements of various industries. To develop 5G services and products for the B2B sector, it is necessary to develop 5G technologies tailored to each industry. Cyber-Physical Control System (CPS) is a concept utilized in fields such as smart factories, energy, and medical fields, and reflects the latest trends and characteristics of industrial communication.

Dong-Joo Park, Technical Director at Ericsson-LG and Vice Chairman of the '5G Vertical Service Framework Project Group (PG1104)' within the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) Standardization Committee, looked into the role that 5G technology should play in industrial communication systems, focusing on the CPS case developed by the mobile communications standards organization, 3GPP.

◇ CPS communication operation pattern

All industries are pursuing automation for efficiency. Automation refers to the control of processes, terminals, and systems through automated methods, and is implemented through a series of operations involving sensors, transmitters, controllers, and actuators.

CPS, which controls physical elements in real time through cyberspace, has operation patterns such as open-loop control, closed-loop control, sequence control, and batch control.

CPS communication must ensure stability to implement real-time control, so it utilizes two characteristics of automated communication: ‘periodicity’ and ‘determinism.’

Periodicity refers to the repetitiveness of the transmission interval. Examples include periodic position updates and repetitive monitoring of characteristic parameters. In periodic communications, the periodic interval is usually relatively short, and once transmission begins, it continues until a special interruption is taken.

Meanwhile, aperiodic transmissions are mainly caused by process events such as temperature, pressure, and level that occur when values change below or above a given threshold, diagnostic events that indicate malfunctions in terminals, and maintenance events that indicate the need for maintenance work.

Determinism generally refers to whether the delay between sending and receiving a message is stable, given that the delay and transmission time are bounded by a given threshold.

CPS communication patterns are defined as "periodic deterministic communication," "a-periodic deterministic communication," and "non-deterministic communication" based on their periodicity and determinism characteristics. These communication patterns are intertwined in industries such as smart factories, energy, and healthcare, and 5G systems must cover them all.

Every industry has its own unique communications performance requirements. These requirements primarily include availability, integrity, safety, maintainability, and reliability. The requirements of each field are determined by the specificity of that field.

◇ 5G B2B, the main goal is smart factories.

The smart factory industry, which enables customized production and efficient operations befitting the era of personalization, is currently the B2B sector with the greatest potential for 5G system adoption. Examples of 5G technology in smart factories can be broadly categorized into factory automation, process automation, human-machine interface (HMI), logistics, and other monitoring areas.

The field of factory automation deals with automated control and monitoring, process optimization, and workflow within factories. As a key element in high-quality, low-cost mass production, the requirements for communication systems are particularly high. 5G examples include ‘motion control’, ‘control-to-control communication’, ‘mobile robots’, ‘wired-to-wireless link replacement’, and ‘cooperative carrying’.

The process automation field deals with production control and material processing. 5G use cases include "closed-loop control," "process and asset monitoring," and "plant asset management." In the human-machine interface (HMI) field, 5G systems are expected to be utilized in mobile control panels, mobile operation panels, and augmented reality (AR).

In the logistics sector, examples include "Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)" and "continuous supply of raw materials in the workplace using forklifts." Other monitoring involves monitoring operations and assets on the production floor that do not impact the process. This includes condition monitoring based on sensor data, predictive maintenance, and big data analysis to optimize parameters for specific operations. In this field, 'Remote Access and Maintenance' is included as an example.

◇ 5G, energy distribution and production, and robotics-assisted surgery and diagnostics

The energy industry can be broadly divided into the electric power distribution sector and the central power generation sector.

In the field of electric energy distribution, 5G applications are expected to include ‘Primary Frequency Control,’ ‘Distributed Voltage Control,’ ‘Distributed Automated Switching for Isolation and Service Restoration,’ and ‘Smart Grid Millisecond-level Precise Load Control.’

As interest in renewable energy has grown recently, the 'Windpower Plant Network' is considered a representative example in the field of centralized energy production.

The medical industry is seeking to expand the scope of medical practice with 5G technology, with 'Robot-Aided Surgery and Diagnosis' being a prime example.

In addition to the above cases, Vice Chairman Park Dong-joo said, “Services based on low latency and high reliability are distributed across various industries, including media fields such as tactile communication, games, and virtual reality (VR), so new 5G-based services He said, “This is a situation where development is expected.”

Although our country has claimed the title of the world's first commercialized 5G service, public opinion on 5G technology remains unfavorable due to the lack of concrete results.

Globally, 5G technology still faces challenges such as commercializing standalone (SA) mode, building ultra-wideband (mmWave) infrastructure, and developing business-to-business (B2B) models. Building on the 5G case studies above, specific detailed technologies, services, and business development are needed.