Siemens presents first industrial 5G router

In industry, in addition to the need for local wireless connectivity, there is increasing demand for remote access to machines and plants. In these cases, communication needs to bridge long distances. Public mobile networks can be used to access devices that are located at a considerable distance, for example in other countries. In addition, service technicians can connect to the machines they need to service via the mobile network while on the go. 

Public 5G networks are therefore an important element of remote access and remote maintenance solutions. They can be used, for example, to provide users with very high bandwidths in urban areas with small radio cells and high frequencies. In rural areas, radio cells have to cover a large area, which is why lower frequencies are used. Particularly at the edges of radio cells, for example for LTE or UMTS, there are often significant losses in terms of both the bandwidth and stability of the communication connection. And it is exactly in these remote areas where stable bandwidth transmission is required for remote maintenance or video transmission, for example for water stations. With innovative 5G communications technologies, considerably more bandwidth with greater reliability is available at the edges of radio cells and the average data rate for users within a radio cell increases. The new Scalance MUM856-1 also supports 4G so that operation is possible even if a 5G mobile network is not available. The device can also be integrated in private local 5G campus networks. Siemens is testing this use case in their own Automotive Test Center in a private standalone 5G test network, which is based on Siemens components. There, automated guided vehicle systems are connected using 5G in order to test current and future industrial applications and to drive forward the use of 5G technology in industry.