While technologies such as Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) improve deterministic behaviour, real-time functionality, and robustness of Ethernet, there is a drive for future industrial networks to be increasingly wireless. While wireless networks facilitate mobility, reduce cost, and simplify deployment, they do not always provide stringent latency constraints and highly dependable data transmission as required by many manufacturing systems. The advent of 5G, with its Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) capabilities, offers potential for wireless industrial networks. 5G guarantees elevated data throughput, very low latency, and negligible jitter. As 5G networks typically include wired connections from the base station to the core network, integration of 5G with time-sensitive networking is essential to provide rigorous QoS standards. The paper assesses the scalability of 5G-TSN for various indoor factory applications and conditions using OMNET++ simulation. Our research shows that 5G-TSN has the potential to provide bounded delay for latency-sensitive applications in scalable indoor factory settings.

翻译：尽管时间敏感网络（TSN）等技术提升了以太网的确定性行为、实时功能与鲁棒性，未来工业网络正日益向无线化方向发展。无线网络虽能促进移动性、降低成本并简化部署，却未必能满足许多制造系统所要求的严格时延约束与高可靠性数据传输。具备超可靠低时延通信（URLLC）能力的5G技术为无线工业网络带来了发展潜力。5G可保障更高的数据吞吐量、极低的时延与可忽略的抖动。由于5G网络通常包含从基站到核心网的有线连接，将5G与时间敏感网络相融合对于提供严格的QoS标准至关重要。本文通过OMNET++仿真评估了5G-TSN在不同室内工厂应用场景与条件下的可扩展性。研究表明，在可扩展的室内工厂环境中，5G-TSN具备为时延敏感型应用提供有界时延的潜力。