Integration of 5G and OPC UA for Smart Manufacturing of the Future

The Industry 4.0 is aimed at improving production efficiency and flexibility using automation and data exchange technologies, wherein all participants and components must cooperate and communicate seamlessly. To achieve this target, a flexible, interoperable and real-time communication network is required. Considering such an imperative requirement, in this work we aim to integrate the 5G wireless network with Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA), in order to fulfil the stringent communication requirements regarding information model-based data management. Specifically, we first develop a 5G & OPC UA architecture to support the operations of diverse smart manufacturing environments, and then provide specific technical guidelines for implementing the established system. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed 5G & OPC UA architecture is verified using a laboratory-level smart manufacturing testbed.