Wireless Communication for Modular Production Facilities

The growing demand for individualized products leads to need for a more flexible production of goods. This paper introduces the use cases that make up modular production facilities and states their requirements. Already available technologies like Bluetooth (classic and LE), ZigBee, IEEE 802.11 (n and ah) and 4G cellular technologies (3GPP release 8, eMTC and NB-IoT) are evaluated. Furthermore, possible future technologies like 5G NR and private cellular networks are discussed.