This testbed jointly established by Schneider, China Telecom and AILINK seeks to validate the integration of 5G NR and NB-IoT within an industrial cellular network and evaluate centralized PLC performance in a commercial production setting. The factory hosts various applications—such as data acquisition sensors, AI-driven quality inspection, AGVs for logistics, and PLC communication—each with unique network requirements. Although industrial 5G provides substantial bandwidth and low latency, its cost restricts connectivity for all services. Devices like data acquisition sensors and e-Ink displays for MES information should leverage NB-IoT. Moreover, deploying centralized PLCs addresses fixed OT infrastructure limitations, making performance assessment critical. This initiative will enhance 5G-ACIA members’ understanding of industrial 5G advancements in China.
AILINK collaborates with China Telecom to manage the setup and optimization of the integrated 5G and NB-IoT system, while Schneider supplies the shop floor environment, PLC, I/O devices, and essential components. Additional partners will be further integrated based on the use case and solution maturity, with individual discussions for extensions in the future.
