How 5G Network Transformed Industrial Connectivity

Wireless connectivity has developed and evolved considerably in the last decade with the integration of advanced networking technologies and cutting-edge devices. Enterprises, industries, healthcare sectors, and even homes are able to connect various wireless technologies, networks, and devices together. One of the latest developments in network connectivity; the 5G network, has made it possible to interconnect a large number of devices, implement innovative technologies like AI, and still maintain bandwidth efficiency. 5G technology or the fifth-generation wireless system has now become a trending topic in wireless communication systems and has influenced us beyond network design for mobile devices alone toward systems that connect multiple devices with high bandwidth operating at high speeds.

How Does 5G Network?

Similar to the previous generation cellular network, 5G networks will also consist of cells that are separated into sectors and will be capable of sending data through radio waves. The cells in the network are connected to a backbone through a wired or wireless connection. When compared to the previous generation networks, 5G is capable of transmitting data over the unlicensed frequencies that are currently used for Wi-F 

The purpose of 5G network is to provide significantly higher speeds, at greater capacity per sector, and at considerably lower latency than 4G. 5G uses the user-centric network concept of World Wide Wireless Web (WWWW) rather than operator-centric or service-centric as in the previous generations. WWWW is totally efficient in integrating apps and services and interconnecting the whole digital environment. 5G includes the latest technologies such as cognitive radio, the Internet of things, nanotechnology, and cloud computing. 

This Fifth-Generation technology is also capable of presenting the following advanced features: 

• The 5G architecture will be completely device-centric, shared, easily programmable, and cloud-based. 
• High data rates 1 to 10 Gbps connections to endpoints.
• One millisecond end-to-end round-trip delay.
• Low battery consumption. 
• Better connectivity irrespective of location.
• A larger number of supporting devices Lower cost of infrastructure development.

How Does 5G Network Enhance Industrial Efficiency

Machine-to-machine communication has a significant role to play in the emerging internet of things paradigm in years and decades to come. The innovative IoT-5G integration increases sensor-based IoT expertise to RPA, manufacturing bots, medical devices, actuators, and drones. It allows distributed coordination with low-latency reliable execution and can be controlled by an admin or supervisor. The ultimate aim of IoT-5G integrations in industries is to allow end-to-end reliability, efficient bandwidth, and decreased energy consumption for inter-device communication.

• Security 

Security is one of the biggest challenges faced by the Internet of Things. With devices becoming ubiquitous and pervasive in day-to-day lives, reliable and secure algorithms are necessary. 

• High data rate 

With the explosion of using networks in applications that require fast communications, the need for a high data rate is rapidly increased. Over the years, reaching a high data rate in wireless networks is one of the most important factors to evaluate the performance of such networks. Cell-edge data rate indicates the rate of the data in the edge of the cell where the signal of connection is at the weakest point. The cell-edge data rate should be improved to achieve a high data rate for the overall system. Furthermore, when a user is close to the cell-edge in a network, the interference will be high which leads to a weak signal. On the other hand, when a user is close to the cell canter, the interference will be low which leads to a strong signal. 

• Reduced latency

Latency is the amount of time needed to transfer data from a source to the destination through a connecting network. The importance of reducing latency of a network is derived from the application that is highly affected by delay such as gaming. The reason for such a need to reduce latency within 5G is the increasing use of real-time interactions in many applications, which require no delay to enhance the user experience. 

• Low energy 

One of the enabling technologies that are supported by 5G is IoT where devices are connected using sensors without the need to always connect to a base station. This scenario indicates that these devices will only be switched on when needed. This means that 5G requires reducing energy and supports no synchronizations. 

• High scalability 

With designing LTE and then 5G wireless networks, the increasing number of mobile phone devices should be taken into consideration. The number of devices connected to a cellular network is expected to grow as indicated into 50 billion by 2020. Administering and maintaining that amount of interconnected devices require an effective yet scalable network. Rendering essential scalability for cellular networks demands sufficient frequency spectrum resources and dynamic media control.

The Multiple Use Cases of 5G Network That Increase Industrial Efficiency

1. Radio Frequency Identifications (RFID): RFID tags are capable of storing multiple data that can range from a very small serial number to several pages of large data.  Tags are attached to objects or devices that are aimed to be connected and they contain stored information that is usually read by readers. These tags use radio waves with different frequencies from different antennas to form communication among devices. Also, these tags can be passive where they are powered by a reader or they can be active where they are powered by batteries.
2. Near Field Communications (NFC): NFC is based on the same mechanism of RFID in the means of having tags and readers. However, the idea is to integrate this concept into smartphones. NFC illustrates the concept of short-range low-power wireless networks where all devices are connected in the same domain as other mobile phones. It allows sending a small amount of data under a specific domain between two devices. This technology will enable using smartphones as other objects connected to them. 
3. Machine-to-Machine Communications (M2M): The concept of M2M is too similar to the concept of IoT. In IoT, the diversity of connected objects is the key driver while in M2M communications; the communication is among different machines such as computers, processors, sensors, and smartphones.

M2M is structured into five parts: 

• M2M Device, 
• M2M Gateways, 
• M2M communication network, 
• M2M Area network
• M2M applications

5G technologies will fuel the enterprise adoption of innovative solutions and devices. In the future, IoT Services will face several challenges because the networks will become more complicated, and heavily loaded with devices than today. 5G network can have the potential to seamlessly maintain upgrades and overcome these issues.