Siemens has announced the introduction of private industrial 5G user equipment, which is an essential element for the manufacturing industry’s digital transformation. Industrial 5G applications provide long-term benefits to a wide range of customer segments that rely on a robust communication infrastructure, including intralogistics, autonomous machines, industrial edge, remote diagnostics, augmented reality, assisted work, wireless backhaul, edge computing, and mobile equipment.
According to Suprakash Chaudhuri, Head of Digital Industries at Siemens Limited, the availability of 5G is a significant milestone on the path to Industry 4.0, where smart factories become more flexible and productive through end-to-end digitalization and the Internet of Things. While high data rates are typically prioritized in consumer applications, industrial networks prioritize low latency and high availability, making private 5G networks suitable for the manufacturing industry. In addition, private 5G networks provide data security.
Siemens’ industrial 5G routers, Scalance MUM856-1 and MUM853-1, are the company’s first industrial 5G routers. These routers enable enhanced mobile broadband transmission, massive machine type communication, and ultra-reliable low latencies. They connect local industrial applications to public 5G, 4G (LTE), and 3G (UMTS) mobile wireless networks. The router can be used to remotely monitor and service plants, machines, control elements, and other industrial devices via a public 5G network with flexibility and high data rates.
To ensure the connection of Ethernet-based subnetworks and automation devices, Scalance MUM856-1 supports Release 15 of the 5G standard. The device offers high bandwidths of up to 1000 Mbps for the downlink and up to 500 Mbps for the uplink, providing high data rates for data-intensive applications such as remote firmware updates. The devices can also be implemented in modern communication networks thanks to IPv6 support.
Various security functions are included to monitor data traffic and protect against unauthorized access, such as an integrated firewall, authentication of communication devices, and encryption of data transmission via VPN. The device switches automatically to 4G or 3G networks if a 5G network is unavailable.