Comparative Performance Evaluation of 5G-TSN Applications in Indoor Factory Environments

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the performance of 5G-TSN in indoor factory environments, demonstrating its potential to meet strict latency and reliability requirements for industrial applications through simulation studies.

Contribution

It provides a comparative performance analysis of 5G-TSN for industrial applications, highlighting its suitability for latency-sensitive scenarios in indoor factories.

Findings

5G-TSN can meet latency requirements in indoor factories

Simulation results show improved reliability with 5G-TSN

Wireless 5G-TSN complements wired TSN for industrial use

Abstract

While Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) enhances the determinism, real-time capabilities, and reliability of Ethernet, future industrial networks will not only use wired but increasingly wireless communications. Wireless networks enable mobility, have lower costs, and are easier to deploy. However, for many industrial applications, wired connections remain the preferred choice, particularly those requiring strict latency bounds and ultra-reliable data flows, such as for controlling machinery or managing power electronics. The emergence of 5G, with its Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) promises to enable high data rates, ultra-low latency, and minimal jitter, presenting a new opportunity for wireless industrial networks. However, as 5G networks include wired links from the base station towards the core network, a combination of 5G with time-sensitive networking is needed to guarantee stringent QoS requirements. In this paper, we evaluate 5G-TSN performance for different indoor factory applications and environments through simulations. Our findings demonstrate that 5G-TSN can address latency-sensitive scenarios in indoor factory environments.