5G mMTC to Improve a Multitude of Industry Processes

Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) is a key attribute of the 5G ecosystem, particularly in industry. mMTC is designed to provide a cheap and robust simultaneous connection to billions of devices, sensors, and modules within an industry setting without overloading the network, due to the small and sporadic data that is sent with little or no human interaction. The integration of 5G offers support to a much larger number of devices than previous iterations of cellular communications technologies. These devices and modules include sensors that monitor various metrics from an object, machine, person, or environment to help automate systems and improve efficiency within an industry.

The implementation of 5G mMTC allows for the automation of various processes, reducing the need for human interaction and therefore reducing human error, increasing efficiency, and reducing costs. While 4G networks, Wi-Fi, and other communications technologies can provide sufficient connectivity for many use cases, 5G mMTC provides the additional benefits of higher data rates, lower latency, and improved capacity for the potentially billions of sensors. Industries that are set to benefit include manufacturing, healthcare, smart cities, and agriculture, with 5G mMTC deployments impacting key processes as outlined below:

• Manufacturing: Provides a connection between modules in factory equipment, inventory organization by tracking pallets and products locations from start to finish, predictive maintenance by identifying the signs that that machinery may break down and sending alerts, robotic controlling by providing remote access with low latency, and Augmented Reality (AR) by providing real-time information directly to workers.
• Healthcare: Aids patient health tracking by monitoring vitals in real time either in a hospital or remotely and sending alerts regarding any issues, smart medication by determining when medication is required, and asset tracking by tracking equipment and medication and providing alerts about anything missing or out of date.
• Smart City: Aids video surveillance by connecting security cameras and services together to detect issues, provides services such as lighting and metering by connecting systems together to determine when to turn them off and on; and improves waste disposal collection by determining dynamic collection routes.
• Agriculture: Aids crop monitoring by automatically determining optimal harvesting time, soil monitoring by tracking and providing alerts to any issues, and livestock monitoring by tracking their location and providing alerts about any health issues.

5G mMTC will provide a number of advantages to all industries, offering advanced, high-speed connectivity to a variety of use cases. In order to remain competitive, module vendors should consider developing technology for these use cases to ensure that industries have access to the communications technology that will allow them to improve efficiency. The major leading chipset and module vendors, which include Qualcomm, Fibocom, and u-blox, have been developing a number of different modules and components for various different industries and 5G mMTC use cases, with high-speed solutions designed for worldwide use in different devices, modules, and equipment with long battery lives. These companies, among others, are expected to continue to work on 5G mMTC technologies moving forward, offering a greater number of solutions.

With the multitude of new components that are required for implementing 5G technologies, manufacturers need to consider the constrained energy environment and form factor of the devices, equipment, and modules that will take advantage of mMTC without risking performance or compromising the physical size. All components for 5G mMTC devices, modules, and equipment need to be added to ensure that 5G works as required, but that cannot come at the expense of size, form factor, or battery life. Partnerships need to be made to combat this issue, which will allow the required components that will fit the individual specifications of the many different devices, modules, and equipment to be developed, many of which—modules in particular—will have a small form factor.

When developing a 5G module, companies also need to consider and identify the markets that they intend to target and the advantages that their devices will offer when compared to others in the market that use 4G and may be cheaper. This will help to ensure that the modules offer the required features and functionalities for the companies within that market while having seamless connectivity with 5G.

Security is also an important consideration for all players in the 5G mMTC market, as these devices and modules will have access to a lot of data about company, employee, and consumer processes. Ensuring that security is built into all parts of the 5G mMTC chain is vital to ensure that this data is not put at risk. Partnerships are vital to enable security to be fully integrated and to ensure that the data is monitored. Companies such as u-blox have designed their modules to have security built in from the chip to the cloud, ensuring that data and communications collected and transmitted from 5G mMTC devices, modules, equipment, and applications are not compromised.

Companies across various industries should consider looking into how 5G mMTC can aid a variety of processes, reducing the amount of human interaction required to improve efficiency and ensure that actions are taken immediately, thanks in part to the low latency, but also the immediate data collection. Despite the initial cost of integrating up to billions of 5G devices and modules throughout a company, this can be outweighed by the expected reduction in costs and time from improved efficiencies, providing strong use cases and benefits across many industries and company types. As the first companies make the switch to using 5G mMTC and the cost benefits are realized, other companies will need to follow in order to reduce the risk of being pushed out of the market.