Four-Faith 5G RedCap Application Solution, Accelerating Towards the Vast Ocean of 5G Smart Factories

Background:

As 5G technology continues to be implemented across various industries, the ongoing challenges become increasingly evident, with the primary challenge being the cost of 5G terminal chips and modules. On the other hand, not all industry application scenarios require the high speed of 5G, meaning that the capabilities of 5G technology exceed the needs of certain application scenarios. Therefore, a simplified version of 5G, RedCap (NR light), has emerged to achieve a balance between cost, power consumption, and performance.

In 2023, 5G technology made significant progress in the market, second only to smart sensors. According to data from the TD Industry Alliance, as of the third quarter of 2023, more than 12 operators in 8 countries worldwide had completed RedCap technology verification or commercial trials.

Demand Analysis:

1、Technical Analysis:

The lightweight 5G RedCap technology effectively reduces the cost and power consumption of 5G terminals while possessing native 5G capabilities such as network slicing, low latency, and high reliability, offering certain technical advantages over both 5G NR and 4G.

2、Scenario Analysis:

RedCap technology finds extensive application in medium-to-high-speed business scenarios, including video surveillance, the power industry, industrial manufacturing, and wearable technology.

3、Policy Analysis:

In 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a notice titled "Promotion of the Evolution and Innovative Development of 5G Lightweight (RedCap) Technology," which mentioned that "by 2025, the comprehensive capability of the 5G RedCap industry will significantly improve, standards will continue to evolve, and application scale will continue to grow; 5G RedCap scale coverage will be achieved in all cities at or above the county level nationwide." Favorable policies have to some extent driven the development of the RedCap market.

Solution Introduction:

To meet the diverse application needs of industry users, Four-Faith's R&D team has introduced the upgraded 5G RedCap high-performance industrial router F3X26Q. This product features an integrated lightweight 5G module, enabling lower cost and lower power consumption for 5G network transmission. It achieves a maximum tested downstream speed of 90Mbps and upstream speed of 70Mbps, with theoretical rates of 226Mbps downstream and 120Mbps upstream, providing users with stable and reliable high-speed network connectivity and data transmission capabilities.

The Four-Faith 5G RedCap smart factory application solution, led by 5G technology, solidifies IT infrastructure, deepens industrial applications, and leverages the Four-Faith cloud platform. It comprehensively utilizes mature technologies such as automation, IoT, cloud computing, and big data to achieve the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industries.

The solution adopts the 5G RedCap industrial router F3X26Q as the core device, which is embedded with a lightweight 5G RedCap module and equipped with applications. It connects to production equipment such as CNC machine tools and PLCs on-site via Ethernet cables, establishing a comprehensive data exchange platform for workshop production scenes. It collects data from CNC machine tools and other equipment, and simultaneously uploads the data to the cloud via the 5G network using this device. The cloud platform performs protocol conversion, parsing, and storage of various data types. Enterprise users access real-time data through the platform's API interface and display it on a large screen.

The 4G RedCap smart factory application solution mainly consists of four parts: terminal equipment, communication equipment, comprehensive business application platform, and TR069 equipment management platform.

Terminal Equipment:

1. Various models of PLCs installed within machine tools, used for mechanical manufacturing of high and low voltage products, sensor interaction, information processing, etc.
2. Logistics carts.

Communication Equipment:

The communication equipment mainly consists of Four-Faith's F3X26Q/F3X36Q/F-NR130/F-NR120/F-NR100, which can adapt to different sizes of 5G RedCap terminal products according to the requirements of different application scenarios. These devices transmit PLC data over the operator's 5G network to upload it to the comprehensive business application platform.

Comprehensive Business Application Platform:

Comprised mainly of various servers and software, the platform receives PLC data transmitted remotely from communication equipment for analysis and processing, thereby effectively monitoring and controlling equipment operations.

Equipment Management Platform:

Several models of Four-Faith's 5G products integrate the TR069 protocol, enabling remote maintenance, configuration changes, parameter inquiries, alarms, remote upgrades, and other functions through the TR069 platform for communication equipment.

Advantages of the Solution:

1、By establishing a real-time and accurate data-supported intelligent decision-making system across all scenarios, it transitions from experiential management decisions to data-driven management decision-making, thus achieving the intelligentization of safety management in traditional manufacturing industries.

2、The solution possesses cloud platform integration capabilities, seamlessly integrating into equipment management cloud service platforms to achieve intelligent operational management such as remote monitoring, fault diagnosis, and software updates, thereby further enhancing user experience and operational efficiency.

3、The solution is designed for users seeking cost-effectiveness and stable connectivity experiences, addressing the pain points of "5G being too expensive and 4G being too slow." It incorporates the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology to ensure the security and controllability of wireless networks while achieving cost reduction and efficiency improvement for enterprises.