Cloud VR on 5G: A Performance Validation in Industrial Scenarios

The emergence of the novel approach of Industry 5.0 entails the utilization of immersive technologies such as XR (Extended Reality), which promise to transform the conceptualization of industry. The advent of new technology enablers, such as next-generation mobile networks, including 5G and B5G (Beyond 5G), plays a pivotal role in enhancing productivity, optimizing operators’ training programs, and minimizing unnecessary risks. This study presents a performance assessment of cloud VR services over 5G and WiFi in industrial scenarios. This scenario involves several factors that can degrade radio links, including fading and interference. To assess the suitability of 5G for the Industry 5.0 hot topic of XR, a 5G SA/WiFi-6 Edge Cloud VR setup was developed in the Smart Production Lab at Aalborg University. The results demonstrate that 5G outperforms WiFi in terms of latency and throughput consistency during the experiments in DL (Downlink), which belongs to the streaming channel with UDP (User Datagram Protocol). In the uplink (UL), WiFi generally exhibits lower latency than 5G when employing Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for the control channel. To provide a comprehensive End-to-End (E2E) analysis, an objective Quality of experience (QoE) metric has been estimated. The outcomes demonstrate that 5G achieves higher QoE values for mobility than WiFi, which shows a decline in performance. The results indicate that 5G performance is within theoretical limits for extended reality (XR) experiences and suggest that it is a promising candidate for enabling Industry 5.0 and its use cases.