25 research outputs found
Protocol independent link state estimation and a novel throughput aware routing strategy for B.A.T.M.A.N. V
No full textDette projekt undersøger hvordan ad hoc protokollen B.A.T.M.A.N. V kan tilpasses til brug i konteksten af militær kommunikation. Ved at gøre routing uafhængig af lavere protokol lag, samtidig med at forbedre routing til at undgå links med høj pakketab. Implementering og evaluering er gjort igennem simulering.Del et af projektet undersøger indflydelsen af interferens and hvordan det modelleres og simuleres.Del to af projektet foreslår en løsning til estimering af link throughput uafhængigt af lavere lag. Denne metode gør brug af pakketog and informationsdeling mellem naboer. Resultater viser denne metode generelt sænker pakketab sammenlignet med B.A.T.M.A.N. V, når det antages at ingen information er tilgængelig fra lavere lag.Del tre af projektet undersøger hvordan en repræsentativ estimering af flere hops ruters throughput. Der findes at B.A.T.M.A.N. Vs hop tab ikke er repræsentativ af dette, derfor foreslås en ny metode der er tiltænkt at være mere repræsentativ og bedre tilpasset heterogene links. Resultater viser at denne metode generelt sænker pakketab og at routing undgår områder med højt pakke tab ved brug af længere ruter.This project investigates how to adapt the ad hoc network protocol B.A.T.M.A.N. V for use in a specific context of military communication. Making routing independent of lower protocol layers, along with improving the routing to avoid links with high packet loss, in an attempt to lower overall packet loss. Implementation and evaluation of this is done through simulation.Part one of this project investigates the influences of interference and how it is modelled and simulated.Part two of this project proposes a solution for estimation of link throughput independently of lower layers. This method relies on packet trains and information sharing between neighbours. Results show that this method lowers overall packet loss compared to B.A.T.M.A.N. V when assuming no information is available from lower layers.Part three investigates how to make a representative estimation of multi-hop routes end-to-end throughput. It is found that B.A.T.M.A.N. V's hop penalties are not representative of this, and therefore a new method is proposed that is meant to be more representative and better adapted to heterogeneous links. Results show that this method generally lowers overall packet loss, and that routing avoids areas with high packet loss by the use of longer routes
Experimental Analysis of UWB in Real-Time Short-Range Industrial Connectivity
Full text linkUltra-wideband (UWB) technology is emerging as a strong candidate for short-range, time-critical industrial communication, owing to its inherent potential for low-latency and resilient performance. However, while UWB has been widely investigated for high-precision positioning, its suitability for reliable data communication in dense deployments with significant self-interference remains largely uncharacterized. This paper addresses this gap by presenting a comprehensive empirical evaluation of UWB’s feasibility for real-time communication in congested industrial environments. We conduct an extensive measurement campaign focused on round-trip time (RTT) latency and packet-level reliability. The methodology involves a systematic investigation of 32 distinct interference scenarios, varying modulation schemes, packet sizes, frequency gaps, and traffic loads. These tests are complemented by distance and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation analysis and are validated through a dynamic demonstration on a mobile robotic arm. Our results demonstrate that while UWB can achieve sub-millisecond latency with near-zero packet loss under properly managed conditions, its performance can be severely degraded by co-channel interference and spectral overlap. The findings confirm UWB’s significant potential and conclude with critical deployment guidelines, highlighting that robust performance is contingent upon disciplined management of channel occupancy via duty cycle management and strategic frequency allocation to avoid significant spectral overlap
Latency Evaluation of Industrial Wi-Fi for Real-Time Connectivity in Factory Setup
No full textThe increasing demand for wireless communication in industrial environments calls for technologies that can deliver real-time, highly reliable connectivity. This paper presents an in-depth latency analysis of a deterministic industrial Wi-Fi system in a 15-acre live production facility, where heavy-load cranes are operated wirelessly. The system under investigation utilizes the Industrial Point Coordination Function with Multi-Controller (IPCF-MC), designed to provide scheduled, low-latency communication for time-sensitive industrial applications. Latency was measured using Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) traffic under realistic operational conditions, including roaming between access points. Unlike prior studies, this approach enables a direct comparison to other wireless technologies, including 5G Non-Public Networks (NPN) and commercial Wi-Fi, using a common testing method. The analysis reveals the importance of proper network configuration in achieving consistent real-time performance - an aspect rarely addressed in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first real-world ICMP-based latency evaluation of IPCF-MC in a large-scale, operational industrial setting, offering practical insights into the viability of industrial Wi-Fi as a competitive solution for time-critical wireless applications.</p
Performance Impact of Co-Existing Indoor Private 5G NR Networks for Industrial Use
Full text linkWith the adoption of industrial 5G Non-Public Network (NPN), comes a need for high density deployment. Limited spectrum, necessitates channel reuse and legislation is currently being established to accommodate. This paper investigates the impact of inter-network co-channel interference on commercial indoor 5G Stand-Alone (SA) networks and relates it to Norwegian 3.5 GHz legislation. Three scenarios are considered: direct line-of-sight, neighboring 5G spaces with interior walls, and neighboring 5G buildings with multiple interior and exterior walls. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including downlink and uplink throughput, latency, and packet loss, are evaluated under passive interference and active interference with background user equipment (UE) traffic conditions. The study finds that direct line-of-sight interference significantly disrupts throughput, particularly in the uplink direction, while separating networks by walls or buildings helps negate interference to varying degrees. Latency is also affected by direct line-of-sight interference but recovers more gracefully as separation between networks increases. No increased packet losses were observed, indicating high reliability for 5G in challenging scenarios. The results show that Norway’s model, which ensures easy adoption, flexible deployment, and good distance separation to prevent co-channel interference, is a suitable template for future EU standardization on 5G NPN
Experimental Analysis of Wi-Fi 6, MulteFire, and 5G in Real-Time Industrial Connectivity
Full text linkIndustry 4.0 is set to transform manufacturing through enhanced connectivity, where low-latency wireless infrastructure is essential for securely and efficiently linking devices and systems. While Wi-Fi has long served as a reliable solution in the unlicensed spectrum, unlicensed cellular technologies such as MulteFire and the forthcoming 5G NR-U are increasingly viewed as better suited for industrial environments, particularly for supporting large volumes of data with greater efficiency and security. This study experimentally evaluates the performance of 5G Non-Public Networks (NPN) as a proxy for 5G NR-U, benchmarking key metrics such as latency, scalability, and packet loss against MulteFire and Wi-Fi 6. Additionally, it investigates coexistence challenges by evaluating the interference impact between unlicensed networks operating in the 5 GHz band under both stationary and mobile conditions. The experiments present new scalability results for MulteFire and provide, for the first time, a detailed interference analysis comparing MulteFire and Wi-Fi 6, offering practical insights for optimizing industrial wireless deployments. These findings highlight the strengths and current limitations of unlicensed spectrum technologies, offer guidance for future research directions in Wi-Fi and cellular wireless systems design, and underscore the potential of 5G NR-U and needed research in Wi-Fi to drive the next generation of industrial connectivity in the context of Industry 4.0
Distributed control for collaborative robotic systems using 5G edge computing
Full text linkCollaborative and mobile robotics for industrial environments promise to enable autonomous and flexible production processes. However, this vision also poses significant challenges to the robotic systems, requiring them to adapt to dynamic environments and ensure human safety by leveraging continuous image streams and sophisticated data processing. Edge computing allows offloading the computational load to edge servers, communicating the image data, generated on mobile robots, over fast and reliable private 5G networks. However, there are multidisciplinary and interdependent factors that influence the reaction time of the distributed system which are not well explored in the literature for real robotic use cases, but have a significant impact on safe robotic behavior and the effectiveness of edge computing. In this work, we implement a distributed control system that offloads the image processing to measure and analyze the effect of various factors on the reaction time of the system for collaborative robotics applications. Different values for the sensing rate, image resolution and compression and quality-of-service settings are evaluated for communication and computation times as well as for the task performance. To account for the safety requirements in collaborative robotics, we add a low-level control timeout in cases of large jitter and stop the robot in cases of frequently missed detections. A push and a teleoperation experiment evaluate the reaction times in real distributed control scenarios using 5G edge computing. All experiments are implemented using ROS 2 Humble. The code and videos of the experiments are available at https://github.com/DominikUrbaniak/ros2_distributed_control_system.This work was supported by European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie under Grant 956670.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Measurements and Analysis of MQTT Response Times in Cloud and Edge with 5G and Wi-Fi 6
Full text linkCloud and edge computing play a crucial role in enabling the intelligence of Industry 4.0, while wireless technologies like 5G and Wi-Fi 6 enhance its flexibility. However, selecting the appropriate technologies is nontrivial. In this paper, we present our measurements (over 360 hours) and analysis of response times in cloud and edge computing using different network access methods. We provide recommendations for technology selection based on our findings. Our results highlight the unique advantages of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 at different percentiles, and the characteristics of cloud and edge computing in terms of workload processing and network propagation. The choice between these technologies should consider the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and processing workloads of applications, as well as the computational resources of edge and cloud servers
MulteFire and Wi-Fi 6 System Performance Comparison in Industrial Setup
No full textThis paper presents experimental research results for MulteFire compared with Wi-Fi 6 in an indoor industrial environment for the first time. MulteFire is the latest commercial cellular unlicensed band technology available, which is the step before 5G NR-U. Therefore, this paper could be regarded as the first real-life demonstration of what to expect from the next generation of cellular unlicensed band technologies, namely SG NR-U. Our measurement results show that Wi-Fi maintains a very good latency and throughput performance, while MulteFire is better in terms of coverage and high-reliability levels. These make unlicensed band cellular technologies, a reasonable option for large industrial campus installations requiring high reliability, and mobility.</p
An Empirical Study of 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and Multi-Connectivity Scalability in an Indoor Industrial Scenario
Full text linkIndustry 4.0 is being adopted by the manufacturing sector to improve the flexibility and reduce installation costs by the use of wireless connectivity. There is an open question of which wireless technology deployment should be used in the factory to fulfil the requirements for next-generation applications such as autonomous mobile robots. Wi-Fi technology is the most extended and easy to deploy, while the fifth generation of mobile networks (5G) has been designed to support these industrial needs. Therefore, it is important to compare both technologies from a performance point of view, especially under different load conditions and number of devices. The use of multi-connectivity between 5G and Wi-Fi can also be an option to fulfil the requirements for the most critical real-time applications. In this paper, we empirically measure the scalability of 5G, Wi-Fi and multi-connectivity in the 'Aalborg University 5G Smart Production Lab' and compare them in terms of latency and packet loss with different packet sizes. We found that in general Wi-Fi obtains lower latencies but large tails in the distribution, with a higher packet loss compared to 5G. On the other hand, 5G latency is very consistent with bounded tails, and low packet loss is obtained. In terms of scalability, 5G scales better than Wi-Fi, the latter being very affected by the number of devices transmitting data. Finally, multi-connectivity showed an improved reliability and lower latencies in all evaluated cases.</p
Experimental investigation and path loss modeling for 868MHz ISM band communication between pipe monitoring sensors and above ground receivers
Full text linkLow power, long range, wireless communication technologies enable a range of monitoring applications in difficult to reach locations. In this paper, we investigate one such application for monitoring an underground pipeline infrastructure in the 868MHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. We deployed five underground LoRa/LoRaWAN communication modules on district heating pipes, sealed off below an asphalted road segment. Several specific measurements have been conducted to characterize the propagation conditions from below to above ground, and from which we propose models decomposing propagation into separate contributions from soil, ground to free-space, and above ground propagation. The main novelty of the work lies in the application to covered surfaces and the combined above ground/aerial model framework for communication from below ground. It was found that the Peplinski soil loss model is applicable for estimating the effect of the ground, which in combination with Fresnel refraction and a log-distance model for above ground propagation leads to a consistent modeling framework for propagation to lamp post height gateway infrastructure. For aerial-based gateways, the main finding is that the propagation from below to above ground changes the propagation behavior with distance above ground, despite the otherwise unobstructed free space propagation path. This led to a path loss model with loss increasing exponentially with height and according to cylindrical wave propagation with lateral (2D) distance, aligning with the estimations based on the ground-based model. The results suggest overall that the volumetric water content (VWC) of a compacted and covered soil mixture tends to stabilize to high values.</p
