Connected Vehicles and Motor Factories of the Future Adopting 5G Technology for Vehicle-to-Factory Communications

Since the inception of Henry Ford’s “production line” in 1913, continuous efforts have been made to enhance the efficiency of motor manufacture. Recently, a shift to Industry 4.0 has resulted in the digitisation of traditional production systems, by integration of specialist software applications. Concurrently, there have been efforts to develop and produce connected vehicles, with aspirations of autonomous features in the distant future. Achieving these concepts relies on the implementation of wireless communication media, such as 5G Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) which is interoperable in the shop floor environment, and in the public realm. We review the key use-cases for 5G V2X in the context of motor factories, and how they can be used with private 5G networks, which leads to the development of the term “Vehicle-to-Factory” (V2F). Based on this information, we explore the feasibility of a vehicle transitioning from a private 5G network to the public 5G network after its manufacture. Furthermore, we proceed to identify challenges which arise from the implementation of 5G, and explore novel approaches to overcome these, such as infrastructure sharing which uses existing street furniture to provide 5G coverage.