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Industrial Internet applications rely heavily on wireline network infrastructure, particularly for fixed in-plant installations, but manufacturers should also consider the potential benefits of cellular technology in suitable applications. Fixed industrial cellular routers have been in use for some time in installations where challenging environments can make assets and other equipment difficult to access. Onsite visits to these remote, hazardous installations can be expensive and impractical, and cellular infrastructure is often the only means for remote access.
Electric utilities, for example, employ fixed cellular routers in areas such as Smart Grid, SCADA, substation automation, advanced metering infrastructure, and/or distributed energy resource management, while the oil and gas industry relies on remote capabilities for applications ranging from tank and pipeline monitoring to the digital oilfield. Water and waste water treatment, intelligent transportation systems, Smart Cities and many other applications are also reliant on the remote monitoring and access capabilities cellular networks provide.
Many customers also see cellular infrastructure as a means of bypassing corporate LANs and the restrictions they may represent. OEM machine builders, for example, may ship equipment with cellular routers that connect to their own cloud for monitoring and service. This is a growth area for many machinery manufacturers serving both discrete and process automation who look to add value through incremental remote monitoring and other service-oriented capabilities.
Improvements in speed, bandwidth, and availability of lower cost connection options are raising the profile for cellular technology in industrial applications. These improvements include use of software defined radios to support multiple carriers for global use as well as SD-WAN capabilities that enable more efficient, global utilization of the entire network architecture.
The emerging 5G standard will be a good fit for fixed industrial installations due to its high bandwidth and capacity, and will be particularly advantageous in high-data fixed applications in areas such as robotics and video as well as data-intensive, high-end connected products. We anticipate initial shipments of 5G devices to begin in 2020 and that its reach will extend beyond wireless installations, where cellular is already challenging WiFi, to those currently served by wireline devices.
These are just some of the findings resulting from ARC’s recent research into the market for fixed industrial Ethernet & cellular routers, which includes quantified forecasts highlighting the timeline and impact of issues such as 5G adoption, amount and type of cloud integration, and estimated use for edge computing. Further information on this just-released analysis can be found at https://www.arcweb.com/market-studies/fixed-industrial-ethernet-cellular-network-routers. ARC also invites you to participate in a short survey related to the role of the network edge in the era of cloud computing. Issues related to the IIoT-driven transformation of the industrial network edge will be highlighted during the IoT Network Edge Infrastructure sessions at ARC’s 22nd Annual Industry Forum, which takes place February 12-15, 2018 in Orlando.