The 5G Standalone network is at the car maker’s main plant in Wolfsburg (picture courtesy of Volkswagen)
Nokia says it has deployed a 5G private network for Volkswagen to support industrial connectivity at the production development centre and pilot hall at Wolfsburg.
It uses Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) for high-bandwidth and low-latency to enable real-time data processing at the network edge so Volkswagen can try out new operational use cases.
Volkswagen will test if the 5G technology meets the requirements of vehicle production with the goal to increase efficiency and flexibility in series production of the future.
Deployment of Nokia DAC offers high-bandwidth and low-latency connectivity for sensors, machines, vehicles and other equipment.
Initial use cases include wireless upload of data to manufactured vehicles and intelligent networking of robots and wireless assembly tools.
The deployment also ensures that all data remains on the campus, processed at the network edge in real time, giving Volkswagen full control.
The network is operating in the dedicated 3.7-3.8 GHz band for local private wireless networks, that Volkswagen applied for and was allocated by the Federal Network Agency.
Dr-Ing Klaus-Dieter Tuchs, Network Planning at Volkswagen, said, “Predictable wireless performance and the real-time capabilities of 5G have great potential for smart factories in the not-so-distant future. With this pilot deployment, we are exploring the possibilities 5G has to offer and are building our expertise in operating and using 5G technology in an industrial context.”