Cellular Connectivity and Wearable Technology Enablers for Industrial Mid-End Applications

Industrial digital transformation through efficient automation hinges largely on the deployment of communication infrastructures that meet the requirements of smart factory use cases. These infrastructures involve multiple devices that utilize different communication technologies to increase the overall operational efficiency. Rooting from the key implementation requirements of a smart factory environment, this article focuses on the role of cellular connectivity and wearable technology in enabling new industrial applications. Specifically, we shed light on a novel category of services — industrial mid-end wearable applications — by positioning their requirements among the 5G service classes. We then identify features that can complement
cellular connectivity to further support the given requirements. More precisely, we review cellular network-aided device-to-device communications and reduced-capability devices. Our performance evaluation results justify the choice of these features and show that they can work in concert with cellular connectivity to enhance spectral efficiency and reliability in industrial mid-end wearable applications.