When a service provider is contracted to deliver and operate a 5G system for an industrial partner, several requirements may need to be upheld by the 5G system. These requirements can relate to attributes at both the 5G system level and the service level. The required attributes at both levels depend on the specific use cases that will be deployed within the 5G system. These should not be general, predefined requirements that are chosen., but rather specific to the deployment. Therefore, it is essential to first understand the requirements of each individual use case, as well as their combined impact, before specifying the requirements to the service provider. If the use cases are known but the exact technical requirements are unclear, an expert may be consulted to define them.

Some system- and service-level attributes that can be specified as requirements include:

• System availability
• Cell availability
• Service area
• QoS monitoring
• Number of devices supported
• Redundancy (e.g., backup power, redundant logical links)
• Communication service availability
• Communication service reliability
• End-to-end latency
• Transfer interval
• Survival time
• Message size
• User-experienced data rate
• Mobility
• Positioning service
• User plane transport protocol
• Clock synchronization
• Voice function

More details about some of these attributes and service-level specifications can be found in the topic “Service-Level Specifications” {link to user guide topic “Service level specifications”} and in the white paper “Service-Level Specifications (SLSs) for 5G Technology-Enabled Connected Industries.” {Link to white paper “Service-Level Specifications (SLSs) for 5G Technology-Enabled Connected Industries” here}

Additional requirements concerning the management system should also be defined. This includes access to and export of KPIs and alarms from the 5G system. Examples include radio attenuation, the number of connected user equipment (UE), the quality of service (QoS) of specific flows, and disconnection events of specific mobile UEs. Not all KPIs and alarms may be available in every system, so it is important to determine what is required and confirm availability with the provider. More considerations regarding KPIs and alarms can be found in the subtopic “Overview on the Export and Access of Performance KPIs and Alarms.” {link to industrial 5G User Guide subtopic “Overview on the export and access of performance KPIs and alarms” of the topic “Own operation overview”}

Requirements related to network security are equally important to define. Some attributes that may be offered by 5G systems and used as requirements include:

• Authentication
• Network slicing
• IoT security
• Interference protection
• Isolation of the network via physical isolation (SNPN) or logical isolation (PNI NPN)

It is important to assess whether these attributes are necessary for your network and verify whether they are supported by the service provider. More on this topic can be found under “Security Aspects of 5G for Industrial Networks.” {link to user guide topic: “Security aspects of 5G for industrial networks” here}

When defining coverage requirements, it is important to clearly specify which service attributes are required in which areas. Not all services may need to be provided uniformly across the entire coverage area. The same applies to capacity requirements, such as expected traffic volume across the coverage area. Depending on the service provider, the end user may focus on defining coverage and capacity needs, and then collaborate with experts to realize these requirements.

It should also be noted that the service provider is responsible for demonstrating and validating the agreed end-to-end performance, including coverage, latency, and other KPIs, to the end user.

A final key requirement is the NPN deployment option to be used. The end user should assess whether a fully localized deployment is necessary, or if a variant of a PNI NPN is sufficient. More information about the available NPN deployment options can be found in the topic “5G NPN Deployment Options.” {link to user guide topic “5G NPN Deployment Options” here}