12 use cases for 5G ultra reliable communications

5G Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) is one of the critical capabilities in 5G compared to past cellular technologies. Providing ultra reliable networks and latency levels of 1 millisecond will drive the development of new services that cannot be fulfilled with today's mobile networks. In the upcoming 2020 3GPP Release 16, URLCC will be introduced as a deterministic part of cellular networks helping Telcos in future to create new revenue streams for both enterprise and consumer business compared to best effort networking services.

URLLC is ideal for applications that require end-to-end security and 99.999% reliability, and deterministic time bounds on packet delivery. This combination of capabilities requires almost a fundamentally different approach to system design and operations compared to previous mobile wireless technologies. 

Although URLCC specification is yet to be completed, several Telcos and industry partners are trialing this URLCC including NTT Docomo, Singtel, ABB, Scania, and Accenture among others.

URLCC will create new opportunities, but the business model remains challenging. For instance, remote surgery, a use case that delivers clear benefits, but that from a business point of view is still weak in terms of revenue generation, especially since modern robot surgery machines are costly to be used on a mass scale.

ABI Research forecasts that the market for 5G URLLC will be US$18.9 billion. The forecast considers two essential use cases for each of the three main verticals of mobility and transport, manufacturing, and healthcare. These verticals are those where there have been the most extensive activities by Telcos and Vendors in terms of market engagement and trials. Due to multiple factors, including early market engagement is expected that mobility and transport will be the main vertical responsible for 71% of the total market by 2028.

Critical use cases identified for 5G URLCC

1. Driverless Car: Even though driverless cars are a few years down the road, there is space for new uses cases in this area that will consider very stringent connectivity requirements. The driverless car will require 99.999% connection reliability, with a data plane latency of 1 ms, V2X latency below 5 ms, and high-speed mobility support for up to 250km/h. There will also new use cases such as high definition maps, car platooning, remote driving, and enhanced driving assistant services supported by 5G URLLC.
2. Intelligent transport: Intelligent transport systems ensure the optimal running of any transport network. For example, optimal subway routing, spacing, and control. 5G URLLC can help prevent trains from taking colliding routes, maintaining a safe distance, optimizing track usage, and automating train routing to optimize the transport flow. to guarantee reliable intelligent transport, the signaling systems need to provide ideal latency of around 2 ms and reliability of 99.999% which can be provided by 5G URLLC
3. Remote guided vehicles for Industries: Industrial driverless cars are expected to be widely adopted in hazardous industrial conditions or where remote management is needed ( e.g., Mines, Ports, Factory floor). This opportunity involves fleet management and route optimization. Remote vehicles control such as cranes, trucks, and the latency of around 5 ms could support vessels.
4. Truck Platooning: Truck platooning refers to a column of cars/Trucks where the first vehicle leads a line of driverless trucks. This solution could significantly improve fuel efficiency by 10-15%. 5G can be used to transmit real-time, low-latency information between vehicles in a truck platoon formation. Latency for this use case should be below 5 ms.
5. Drones control: Drones will need 5G for control and connectivity, especially beyond line of sight and also while in a fleet. Data collection, delivery, search-and-rescue, and monitoring are performed more quickly and efficiently when multiple drones work cooperatively, particularly by pooling and sharing operational data. Drones latency below 10 ms will be required for optimal use beyond the line of sight. A combination of 5G URLLC and edge computing (strategically placed at the tower site) will be capable of processing and storing information closer to the users.
6. Next Generation factories: 5G in the factory can create a ubiquitous network connecting machinery, cloud and analytics services, and processes. Several cases that can be explored are related to time-critical processes, real-time robotic control, video-machine interaction, motion control machines, and factory automation.
7. Motion Control: Motion control applications have the most need in terms of very low latency communication. The motion control machine cycle time is the total time allowed for a control system to send a command to an actuator and to receive a confirmation that the command was implemented. The 3GPP 5G system latency is expected to be 1 ms end to end. This requirement means that 5G could deliver on the motion control for some of these cases.

1. Remote Surgery: Remote Surgery will allow remote complex surgery procedures without the need for the surgeon to be physically in a specific location. Remote surgery will be made possible by 5G URLLC, enabling the distant surgeon to operate machinery and interact with personnel as if he was there.
2. Ambulances and first responders: 5G could connect first responders to improve the care of the first services administer in the case of accidents. 5G could enable the sharing of large amounts of data from multiple sensors as well as videos transmitted from the ambulance during its way back from the accident to the hospital. Field doctors could also connect and interact with the hospital using 5G to support the performance of remote surgeries or help with diagnosis. 5G can support vehicle speeds of up to 500 km/h and will be able to deliver on the latency needs of 1 to 10 ms enough to ensure a real-time and reliable communication and interaction with hospital personnel.
3. Cloud gaming: 5G and its edge computing architecture are essential for mobile gaming to continue to improve the experience delivered to users. 5G can bring the computing power closer to the edge and can support optimal performances thanks to low latency, thus reducing the need and cost for high computing capability on users PC or Smartphone.
4. Financial services: 5G could also support financial services high-frequency real-time mobile trading. Real-time mobile trading will benefit from 5G’s increased security, speed, and low latency. In the financial sector, even fractions of seconds can result in millions of dollars of gain or loss in the stock exchange, and this is why 5G could play a role. The proximity of processing capabilities in 5G would allow for real-time mobile trading from any location and with low latency.
5. Smart Grid: There are several areas of a smart grid that can be addressed with 5G URLCC beyond low power device connectivity. A power grid has applications such as intelligent distributed feeder automation that requires latency below 5 milliseconds and reliability of 99.999%. It also needs the same stringent requirements for load control to ensure the removal of the load on the grid in the case of power grid failure to avoid damage to the grid. Also, distributed power supplies, which are the integration of different power sources on the grid need very low latency and 99.999% reliability.

Key takeaways for Telcos

• Telcos must put reliability as a critical priority when developing their plans on 5G

Reliability is much more important than low latency for most industries. Despite the importance of low latency for real-time use cases, most verticals key focus is to have ultra-high reliability, especially in manufacturing verticals.

Low latency may not be a critical priority for many of these industries. Nevertheless, reliability and deterministic latency (e.g., knowing that latency will be exactly or less than 10 ms for a connection) are more critical. Manufacturing companies need to build these exact latency numbers into their equipment, especially when several mobile connected machines need to cooperate to handle physical objects. A lapse of latency in either link may mean that tools do not align creating massive inefficiencies in the value chain.

• Telcos must start preparing for new network architectures and service requirements

To support URLLC, deterministic networking, time-sensitive networks, and ultra reliable service-level agreements a new architecture will be needed. Also, new business models to monetize these use cases are required. For instance, in the car industry, 5G NR C-V2X specification, which will come with Release 16, will tailor a technology providing lower latency, ultrareliable communication, and high data rate. It will complement Release 14 by being able to support new capabilities such as local HD maps augmented by real-time shared data from infrastructure and other vehicles, trajectory sharing and path planning, high-throughput sensor data sharing, wideband ranging, and positioning.

Telcos will need to explore ways to monetize these investment made in these new capabilities, beyond just creating new data revenues from connected devices.

• Telcos should not wait until the full standard is ready to start understanding what URLLC means for their business

URLCC standard maturity will take time to be developed. Mobile networks will be a mix of public and private networks, using licensed, unlicensed, and shared spectrum, and a combination of different technologies. Telcos must partner with systems integrators and Industry technology providers to start their journey now. Otherwise, private networks and shared spectrum will open the market to many other alternative options, including web scales and startups.

Telcos needs to accelerate the transition from Retail to Vertical market now. 5G networks capabilities will go beyond the traditional consumer market, which is focused on big revenue bucket, bundles of voice minutes, SMS, and data packages. URLLC-related revenues and value proposition will likely be different. Even the Release 16 standard itself introduces low-latency, reliable, and deterministic applications, all of which are radically different. Also, if it is assumed that technology is ready to address this, their operational model and business structure are not fit to address all of these use cases.

Systems integration and value-added services may become an opportunity, but it may mean they will need to get involved in areas that they are currently not familiar with.

• Telcos need to focus their investments, people, and strategy in selected verticals that can be monetized

Despite 5G URLLC is still a few years down the line, starting to focus on critical verticals will help Telcos prepare their future strategies. By that time, Telcos must have clear priorities on which verticals they will prioritize, which use cases they can play in, and what their business model will be. These opportunities may vary by region, country, or even at a local level. Overall, mobility and transport is a clear opportunity for the category across regions given the wide-area, mixed needs of the automotive industry.

• Fostering the ecosystem in vertical markets is critical to succeeding in 5G URLCC and further define key focus areas for Telcos

Ecosystem development is already underway in specific verticals, with great examples including the 5GAA and the 5GACIA. The first one is a bridge between the telco and the automotive world, while the latter is a bridge between the telco and the industrial world. Similar alliances will have to be created for other verticals such as healthcare.

• Telcos must use this time to learn more about 5G performance

Despite 5G will initially target the consumer segment, mainly delivering faster speed and experience for mobile devices, Telcos should learn lessons in areas such as deployment strategies, time to market, business model, network slicing, among others. These lessons will help them create a more solid foundation for 5G URLLC services in end-vertical markets.