5G Release 16 Reliable Communications for Enterprise Verticals

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is currently near the completion of the Release 16 (R16) 5G standard, which will introduce much-needed features for enterprise applications. The manufacturing world and several other enterprise verticals are anticipating this release with great interest. In fact, many industries are halting their technology choices until R16 equipment is market ready. However, it is not correct to say that R16 will be the first 3GPP release that will introduce enterprise-specific features; there have been many previous improvements in both 4G and 5G networks that were specific to enterprise networks, the most important of which were introduced in Release 15 (R15). The following list summarizes the improvements for enterprise deployments in R15:

• Grant-Free Uplink Transmission: This saves time on the uplink, negating the need for signaling messages before the device can transmit to the network. It improves the latency of the link.
• Multiple Modulation and Coding Schemes (MSC): These schemes define the capacity of a link, meaning that further granularity introduces flexibility for different types of devices and use cases.
• Flexible Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) and HARQ-Less Repetition: This feature caters to retransmissions if a packet is received erroneously over the wireless link. Flexible HARQ reduces the delay between packet reception and transmission. HARQ-less repetition introduces feedback to improve wireless link reliability.

These features are not major improvements, but the foundation on which R16 will be built.

R16 introduces major features, especially for enterprise verticals:

• Support for Time-Sensitive Networks (TSN): The most important aspect of 5G New Radio (NR) R16 is that it introduces support for hard, non-negotiable time boundaries for latency in 5G networking. Previously, all communications have been performing on a best-effort basis, with good latency performance achieved through redundancy and over-provisioning. TSN is a technology widely used in manufacturing and native support in 5G may allow existing Ethernet links to become wireless.
• Timing Synchronization: A 5G base station (gNB) can provide a time reference signal for other applications.
• TSN Traffic Characteristics: 5G devices and the gNB can share traffic characteristic specifications to enable more efficient scheduling.
• High Precision Positioning: A dense deployment of 5G Access Points (APs) can enable advanced positioning algorithms.

A major technology that has been introduced in LTE is Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP), which allows a device to be connected to multiple APs for both reliability and higher speeds. There are several reasons that CoMP has not been deployed in the market as of 2020, the most important of which being that it’s not cost effective for consumer use cases. However, in a mission- or time-critical environment, CoMP may be an important tool to enable reliable and low-latency communications. For example, an Autonomous Guided Vehicle (AGV) may be connected to multiple APs to ensure it is always connected, or a mobile robot on a production line can be connected to multiple APs to ensure a robust enough connection for remote control.

The previous sections have made it clear that 5G has a lot to offer the factory floor and can improve operations while enabling new use cases. While there are several discussions in the industry about how this will happen, it is important to understand that cellular network deployment will likely mean additional costs compared to what’s already there (e.g., Ethernet) or even a Wi-Fi 6 installation. In addition, 5G will introduce reliability and low-latency features, as well as carrier-grade capabilities, but industrial manufacturers must understand that this will come at an additional cost. It is important to discuss deployment costs so that industrial companies can make their strategy plans for 5G.

For example, introducing reliability across a whole factory floor will require any physical point in a factory to be accessible by three, four, or even five APs, meaning that a moderate factory floor will require dozens of 5G NR APs compared to the one or two Wi-Fi APs that previously provided best-effort communications. As a consequence, 5G will allow for low latency and reliability while the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the system may be 10x that of simple Wi-Fi installation. Additional features, including TSN support, will translate to a higher TCO, especially when interface devices between existing equipment and 5G infrastructure will also be necessary.

These additional costs are not prohibitive for a factory floor, especially when compared to the features and use cases they will introduce. However, the discussion about costs compared to previous infrastructure is important, and needs to happen long before new use cases are discussed and introduced. With the finalization of R16 the telecoms industry must start pivoting to conceptualize a cost-benefit analysis for manufacturers, which will also increase confidence that the new technology is ready for market.