Private 5G Offers Opportunity… and Serious Challenges

With all the hype around 5G and the latest consumer devices, it might be easy to overlook the business benefits of the latest mobile technology. But private 5G networking for enterprise is quietly gaining momentum worldwide. In fact, the global private 5G network market is expected to reach USD 8.32 billion by 2027, propelled forward by a confluence of trends — from the maturing of commercial 5G technology and artificial intelligence (AI), to availability of more spectrum for enterprise use and early investments driven by demand from mission-critical enterprises.

The availability of always-on mobile connectivity made possible by high-capacity and ultra-reliable low-latency communications technology is a game-changer for industrial automation and business improvements. Innovative use cases to support Industry 4.0 initiatives are laying the groundwork for new commercial opportunities across a range of markets including utilities, manufacturing, logistics, aerospace and healthcare.

High-performance private 5G networks offer enterprises the capability to achieve real improvements in productivity, efficiency and cost reduction, not to mention opportunities to monetize their data. Technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving business growth with a host of dynamic new use cases. These Industry 4.0 innovations include smart manufacturing, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), drones, sensor technology, heavy machinery automation, industrial robotics, connected X-ray machines, and even V2X automotive networks that interconnect in-vehicle systems to garages.

Yet, while the opportunities for process improvements and revenue growth are many, so are the challenges. And a fundamental challenge that is essential to success is proper management of the mountains of data generated by Industry 4.0 applications.

Turn Obstacles into Opportunities

To implement Industry 4.0 initiatives effectively, enterprises need reams of data to power AI algorithms. That means the need for a trusted data management partner has never been greater, leading a growing number of enterprises to rely on Enea’s new 5G MicroCore to achieve security, interoperability and agility in data management.

As millions or even billions of devices exchange information at the edge of the network, they inevitably generate huge amounts of data. This puts tremendous pressure on the underlying data management infrastructure as enterprises struggle to manage a flood of data from all those devices and applications. Such unprecedented data volume raises vital questions around how to guarantee data privacy and security, ensure interoperability and maximize value from the data.

Enea’s 5G Private 5G is one of the most advanced data management solutions available to help enterprises successfully implement private 5G networks to support smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 initiatives. Based on our award-winning 5G Core solutions that have been deployed by Tier 1 operators, the cloud-native 5G capabilities features a minimal footprint and is interoperable, allowing enterprises to mix and match best of breed products to avoid vendor lock-in.

5g Data applications have several critical features ideally suited for Industry 4.0 use cases:

• Unified Data Manager (UDM): A cloud-native network function for 5G data management that is generally responsible for all user identification handling, access authorization and subscription management in 5G.
• Authentication Server Function (AUSF): Enables cloud-scale authentication and authorization for all system generations and access networks, implementing the extensible authentication protocol (EAP) authentication server and stores keys.
• Mini-Home Subscriber Server (HSS): A key element providing subscriber profile and authentication information, the HSS eases the transition from 4G to 5G, while reducing the total costs associated with operating dual-core networks.
• Unified Data Repository (UDR): The UDR stores information about subscribers, application-specific data and policy data. Enea’s open, cloud-native UDR collapses multiple vendor data silos into one common network data layer, making it simple to securely store and access data from the core to the edge for any application and data type.

Smart Power Play

As Industry 4.0 momentum reaches peak velocity, resourceful businesses are taking wireless networking well beyond traditional Wi-Fi to solve mission-critical challenges with the power of 5G. Robust data management is a crucial part of this smart enterprise strategy. To find out how to maximize ROI on Industry 4.0 and your private network – learn about Enea’s powerful Provate 5G.