Telecoms veterans Nokia and Qualcomm have a deployed 5G network and a number of 5G test devices at Hannover Messe 2019 for various European industrial giants including Bosch, Siemens, and Volkswagen to put next-generation industrial connectivity through its paces.
The pair are working in hall 16 at Hannover Messe, the largest industrial trade show, with nine companies, in total. The Hannover Messe 2019 event has put 5G at the heart of the discussion, alongside internet-of-things, artificial intelligence, and edge computing as an enabling technology for sweeping digital change.
Bosch, part of the hall-16 5G showcase, said last week advanced LTE and 5G technologies are at the heart of its automation efforts. “5G transmits data up to 100 times faster than the previous standard. Reliability has increased while data transmission delays have fallen to a minimum,” it said.
5G was on the lips of interviewees as Enterprise IoT Insights made its way around the stands and meeting rooms on the show floor – and will be in the copy that comes out of it, over the next weeks.
The so-called 5G Arena in hall 16 hints at the promise of ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), in the main part, specified in Release 16 of the 5G NR work items, and set to be a reality from 2022.
The world is looking at Germany as the first country to allocate spectrum for private LTE and 5G campus networks directly to enterprises, noted Nokia and Qualcomm, with the German regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) resolved to award 100MHz of the so-called C-Band (3.7-3.8 GHz) to German enterprises.
The 5G Arena at Hannover Messe is being presented as the “world’s first industrial 5G campus network of this scale and diversity”.
Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and president for Qualcomm Europe, said: “The smart, connected factories of the future will not only be able to make things, but make decisions too.@ He said the demos with Nokia et al show “what 5G will make possible for industrial IoT”.
“We look forward with 5G to continuing to make Industry 4.0 a reality in Europe and around the world,” he said.
Kathrin Buvac, chief strategy officer and president of Nokia’s enterprise business unit, commented: “The fourth industrial revolution promises massive gains in productivity, disruptive customer experiences, and new business models. Next generation networks, including 5G, will enable this industrial transformation and beyond with network reliability, capacity and low-latency features.”
Among the 5G action this week, Bosch Rexroth is showing a human machine interface with 5G-enabled emergency stop capabilities, industrial control company Festo is showing predictive maintenance based on 5G-collected data sets, and parts manufacturer Götting has an automated guided vehicle (AGV) with live video streaming over 5G,
Other Germany based companies are also showing 5G-enabled applications. Automation company Phoenix Contact has swapped out industrial Ethernet for 5G to run process controls, Siemens is collecting data for asset analytics in the cloud via 5G, industrial connectivity firm Weidmüller is showing an energy monitoring solution of the welding process in Volkswagen, and optical system manufacturer Zeiss has a 5G-connected process quality control system for the automotive industry.
Jochen Köckler, chairman of the board for Deutsche Messe, the organising company behind Hannover Messe, commented: “Digitalisation and 5G are mega trends… This is the first time most visitors of Hannover Messe have ever had the chance to experience 5G in action and gain first hand insights of its many benefits.”
