The fifth generation of mobile communication networks (5G) is foreseen to be a key enabling technology for the fourth stage of the industrial revolution, commonly termed as “Industry 4.0”. Future Smart Factories envisioned in that context will leverage Industry 4.0 and 5G technology to increase flexibility and efficiency of the manufacturing processes, thus ensuring global competitiveness of industrial manufacturing. While 5G technologies such as network slicing may accommodate industrial applications in public networks, Private 5G Networks, operating locally and highly optimized towards specific applications, are a disruptive emerging approach to meet the specific demands of industrial use cases. Building on the premise of Private 5G Networks, the 5G CONNI project aims at providing an integrated end-to-end 5G test and demonstration network for industrial applications, leveraging current results from standardization and related research projects. Major contributions of the project consist in the definition of new Private 5G Network architectures and operator models, measurements and tools for application specific network planning, tuning and monitoring and the development of innovative new technologies and enabling components in the context of URLLC radio communication, mobile edge computing, core network design and joint optimization of these components. The project will set up two interconnected industrial trial sites in manufacturing facilities in both, Europe and Taiwan. At these sites, selected use cases will be realized and integrated into an end-to-end industrial Private 5G Network demonstrator. This will be used for technology verification and a thorough KPI analysis. The project results will be reflected back into the relevant standardization bodies and industry fora and used as an input for regulatory institutions in both Europe and Taiwan in order to shape the requirements for the operation of private networks.

Abstract: 5G-DIVE targets end-to-end 5G trials aimed at proving the technical merits and business value proposition of 5G technologies in two vertical pilots, namely (i) Industry 4.0 and (ii) Autonomous Drone Scout. These trials will put in action a bespoke end-to-end 5G design tailored to the requirements of the applications targeted in each vertical pilot, such as digital twinning and drone fleet navigation applications. 5G-DIVE’s bespoke design is built around two main pillars, namely (1) end-to-end 5G connectivity including 5G New Radio, Crosshaul transport and 5G Core, and (2) distributed edge and fog computing integrating intelligence located closely to the user. The latter pillar extends significantly beyond the EU- TW-Phase-I 5G-CORAL solution framework by adding support for automation based on artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technologies. The targeted intelligent tailored design is envisioned to achieve optimized performance and thus boost significantly the business value proposition of 5G in each targeted vertical application. 5G-DIVE trials target pilots running for several weeks on the premises of the vertical applications in real-life testbeds in Europe and Taiwan, leveraging noticeably the European 5G end- to-end facilities from ICT-17 call and Taiwan’s testbed facilities.

Clear5G’s objective is to design, develop, validate, and demonstrate an integrated convergent wireless network for Machine Type and Mission Critical Communication (MTC/MCC) services for Factories of the Future (FoF). Clear5G will deliver technical solutions addressing the challenges of massive deployment of connected devices, security, ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability in FoF applications, like remote maintenance and closed loop control systems. The requirements of these complex scenarios will be met through the convergence of different wireless technologies, enabled by protocol and architecture enhancements proposed by Clear5G. Clear5G will focus on providing PHY, MAC, and architectural enhancements to meet the strict requirements of FoF applications in terms of KPIs: latency, reliability, connection density, spectrum, and energy efficiency, thus contributing to the ITU-R objectives (e.g. 1000 fold connection density) for the next generation mobile network. The Clear5G team comprises a combination of European and Taiwanese successful, innovative, and well known major corporations, SMEs, as well as research and academic institutions. The partners have proven know-how in architecture, resource management, protocol enhancements, standardization, prototyping, and demonstration. Proof of concepts will be tested on the 5GIC testbed in Europe, while the final system demonstration, showing the tight integration and cooperation of manufacturing and the Clear5G enhanced network, will be implemented on the III testbed in Taiwan. Clear5G brings together a strong and diverse set of European and Taiwanese partners, including partners from the FoF sector; the complementarity of team, skills and expertise will bring added value to 5G research on both sides and will deepen international cooperation, serving as a showcase of 5G empowering vertical industries. The partners will contribute to relevant standardisation in both the communication and the manufacturing domains.