Five advantages of 5G in IIoT applications

01Nov

The term '5G', like its predecessors, is a term simply used to describe a set of common standards and technologies in the cellular world. Where most of us have been using 3G and 4G for several years in a commercial environment, through phones and tablets, it's the Industrial IoT space that will perhaps benefit the most from the step up in cellular technology that 5G will bring, as IIoT devices become more complex and more prevalent in industrial applications.

Although 5G began rolling out back in 2019, it is still in its infancy. However, once the main cellular providers adopt the technology in full, we can expect some good numbers when it comes to speed and latency, along with a huge leap in the number of connected devices the network can handle. This will be especially pertinent to the advance in smart cities, due to the sheer number of connected devices needed to make modern, complex Industrial IoT systems operate to their full extent.

Here, we look at five advantages 5G will bring to Industrial IoT applications:

1. Faster network speed

With every upgrade in communication standards, an increase in throughput or network speed is expected. Even in its infancy, 5G is already roughly ten times faster than 4G, and, as it is further adopted and rolled out by the major ISPs, the expectation is that speeds will reach nearer 10Gps. This means more than just an increase in performance for systems already using cellular connections – it is set to transform the way Industrial IoT applications are designed and operated. With the reduced time 5G cellular connections take to transmit data to and from the cloud, along with the ease of integration and flexibility it provides to multi-vendor systems, 5G is set to put cellular connectivity at the forefront of system integrators’ connectivity considerations...

Read the full article in PBSI's November issue