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Phoenix Contact, Quectel and Ericsson jointly develop the first industrial 5G router for private networks

Shanghai, 25th June 2020 – Phoenix Contact, Quectel and Ericsson have worked together to develop and deploy the first industrial 5G router for local industrial applications in a private 5G network.

With the help of the newly developed 5G Router, industrial applications, such as machines, controls and other equipment, can now be connected to a private 5G network and thus be orchestrated in their resource usage, priority and behavior. They therefore offer a decisive advantage compared to previous mobile radio solutions, which can only use all – mostly license-free – radio bands with a best effort principle and which have to accept performance losses in equal measure when the radio spectrum is heavily occupied.

To achieve this, all three companies brought their strengths together: Phoenix Contact as the first choice supplier of WLAN, Bluetooth and mobile radio routers for industrial applications, Quectel as a leading global supplier of cellular and GNSS modules and Ericsson supporting the product development as a network supplier and a leading force of the 5G technology development. By starting to interact at an early stage, the three companies have been able to rapidly develop a solution that provides industrial-grade performance over private 5G networks. The collaboration between Quectel, Phoenix Contact and Ericsson has seen extensive interoperability testing at the Ericsson lab to ensure the reliable commercial performance of the 5G router. The experience made is highly important for Ericsson following the strategic approach offering 5G solutions jointly with mobile network operators towards the industry. In addition, all three companies cooperated closely to enable Industry 4.0 applications with this 5G standalone private network.

ENDS

About:
Quectel’s passion for a smarter world drives us to accelerate IoT innovation. A highly customer-centric organization, we create high-quality cellular and GNSS modules and antennas backed by outstanding support and services. Our growing global team of over 3000 professionals helps us reduce development time and ensures rapid delivery of our products to market. Listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (603236.SS), our international leadership is devoted to advancing IoT across the globe. For more information: www.quectel.com, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Ericsson as a network supplier is a leading force of the 5G technology development. Beside equipping traditional public mobile broadband communication networks of mobile network operators (MNO) Ericsson is collaborating with communication service providers (CSP) to enable the full potential of 5G in the context of industry 4.0. For this reason, Ericsson developed dedicated network solutions for private networks, e. g. the tailor-made Ericsson Private Networks Solution or the compact Ericsson Industry Connect. To make the most out of the expertise of the different ICT players in the market Ericsson´s preferred strategy is to offer these 5G solutions jointly with mobile network operators towards the industry.

Phoenix Contact is the global market leader for components, systems and solutions in the field of electrical engineering, electronics and automation. With more than 20 years of experience in the field of wireless data transmission, Phoenix Contact is the first choice supplier of WLAN, Bluetooth and mobile radio routers for industrial applications. The latest mobile communication development from Phoenix Contact is a 5G router, a first industrial 5G cellular router on the market. With this device, industrial applications, such as machines, controls and other equipment, can be connected to a 5G network. The focus of these devices is the integration of different applications into a private 5G communication infrastructure with the aim of orchestrating the industrial applications in their resource usage, priority and behavior.

This is a particular advantage of 5G mobile communication technology. In contrast to previous non 3GPP wireless solutions, which can only use all – mostly license-free – radio bands with a best effort principle and which have to accept performance losses in equal measure when the radio spectrum is heavily occupied, a private mobile radio network allows spectrum use to be designed according to the needs of the enterprise. Thus, the 5G network can become a new communication backbone in industrial automation, enabling many different applications to be served simultaneously. From individual sensors to temporarily connected machines, mobile tools and even driverless transport systems with high-resolution video cameras, all communication is wireless, high-performance, scalable and prioritized.