5G for the learning steel plant
When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT), what industry needs is a scalable, powerful, and robust network: one that, already in 2020, will allow not only two billion smartphones but also 50 billion machines, devices, vehicles, sensors, and buildings within the Internet of Things to be connected via the cloud and to communicate with each other.
5G is the answer to this and is set to take the learning steel plant to the next level.
With 5G technology, the learning steel plant can provide additional information in difficult-to-access areas or for mobile stations that is recorded and can be evaluated and interconnected. System extensions, retrofits, and technologies that were not previously feasible can be realized with 5G. Less cabling is needed and potential solutions are scalable.
Bandwidth
5G not only offers more bandwidth than LTEThe effective implementation of video applications, like augmented reality (AR)-assisted service applications, using AR headsets or camera image transmissions from areas that are difficult to access, is only possible now thanks to 5G. Experts working from centralized locations can use virtual reality (VR) to experience the working environment of their colleagues on site as though they were actually there. In this way, they can provide assistance by giving them specific advice and information for maintenance and repair work. Such mobile connectivity means a vast range of in-house and field applications can be realized. With the right solutions, the specialists can look after several sites more efficiently without having to be there in person.
Short response times in data transmission coupled with high connection availability and quality are what distinguish the standard since 5G release 16. Special focus is placed here on applications in the Internet of Things.
The high bandwidth and the possible number of stations within a node make 5G a real transmission alternative for level 2 applications.
Actuator/sensor communication
In order that sensors and actuators fitted in plant and machinery can communicate with one another, the relevant data connections must be available and reliable at all times. This is what the 5G standard was designed to deliver.
Real-time applications should also be possible: so that individual components of a plant to react live to errors or malfunctions, short response times within the network are necessary. Whereas data can only be transmitted at a latency of at least ten milliseconds via LTE, laboratory trials showed that less than a millisecond can be achieved with 5G – a time gain that can be put to use in critical situations when a pump, power supply, or robot needs to be shut down automatically, or when a valve has to be closed.
Your contact
Jens Petri
SMS digital GmbH
Head of Business Development Asset Health, Senior Consultant
Eduard-Schloemann-Straße 4
40237 Düsseldorf
Germany