5G à la carte

In 2022, the Berlin Fraunhofer institutes officially launched a joint, real-time 5G communication infrastructure. In the Production Technology Center (PTZ) Berlin’s central test area, a 5G cell was set up, consisting of a baseband unit and eight antennas. The network is going to be equipped with an open core (Open5GS). This core will run at Fraunhofer HHI in the Fraunhofer Edge Cloud and will be connected to the infrastructure at PTZ Berlin. This kind of network, a so-called standalone network (5G-SA), is the standard for use in industry, for example in warehouse logistics. In contrast to public 5G networks, these do not rely on an existing 4G network (5G-NSA, Non-Standalone). This setup allows for testing use cases for industrial 5G standalone networks at PTZ Berlin under realistic, industry-like conditions.

The scientists at PTZ Berlin can make use of the extensive available machinery to work on their research tasks. Additionally, customer-specific hardware can be connected to the 5G infrastructure to develop proofs of concept for particular use cases. For specific questions regarding 5G parameters, such as optimizing upload and download bandwidths for specific applications, researchers from Fraunhofer IPK, along with 5G experts from other Berlin Fraunhofer institutes, can provide targeted consultations.

Currently, a demonstrator is being developed at Fraunhofer IPK, in which an autonomous vehicle with a built-in robotic arm is remotely controlled through the Fraunhofer Edge Cloud. This project will demonstrate the extent to which the present communication infrastructure meets the high demands of industrial environments, including low latency and low packet error rates.

In the Berlin Center for Digital Transformation, four Fraunhofer Institutes, namely Fraunhofer FOKUS, Fraunhofer HHI, Fraunhofer IPK, and Fraunhofer IZM, are conducting joint research on technologies and solutions that address the increasing digitalization and networking of all aspects of life.