IMR and Vodaphone launch 5G standalone MPN in Ireland

Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and Vodafone Ireland have announced the launch of Ireland’s first 5G standalone mobile private network (MPN) in IMR’s Mullingar manufacturing facility. The wireless equipment from Ericsson enables Vodafone to provide a 5G standalone edge core and radio private network to IMR. This network will facilitate the investigation and development of innovative use-cases in Ireland’s high-tech manufacturing community.

5G is designed to enable industries like manufacturing to modernise and deliver on the opportunity of Industry 4.0 — including IoT (internet of things) applications, smart processes, improving KPIs and assisting data driven business models.

IMR’s strategy is to de-risk, de-mystify and deliver advanced and innovative technologies to Irish manufacturing, boosting productivity and reducing cost through early access to industry leading 5G technologies. The globally deployed equipment from Ericsson enables any company to connect to their factory business operations environment efficiently and securely.

Using this standalone 5G MPN, IMR will develop and demonstrate innovative smart manufacturing use cases in automated production lines, mobile robots and cobots, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) displays. These smart applications require the combination of high capacity (bandwidth), responsiveness (low latency) and quality of service that is enabled by 5G.

The 5G standalone MPN can be configured for a specific industry or application and provide a highly sophisticated URLLC (Ultra-reliable low-latency communication) connectivity experience in terms of network reliability and quality of service in hard-to-reach places. 5G MPN networks also open up a new class of IoT applications that allow customers to control work happening in motion. This will allow IMR to meet the diverse connectivity and safety requirements of Ireland’s manufacturing community and help them to develop and implement future-focused processes and applications to stay competitive.

Ford, in the UK, working with Vodafone has installed a 5G private network at its electric battery workshop in Essex. The connectivity is linking the centre with a site in Cambridge, allowing the two to work together on welding electric batteries – which requires 1,000 welds and generates half a million pieces of data every minute, so is not supported by existing factory systems.

IMRs Dr Niall Aughney, Director of Digitisation, said “We are looking to integrate 5G capability into our ‘Digitisation and Industry 4.0 strategies’ enabling us to demonstrate to SME owners, CTOs, CIOs and COOs in larger organisations how 5G can offer cost competitive solutions over traditional approaches across a range of process, AR/VR, robotic and asset management applications.”

Sinéad Bryan, Vodafone Ireland Business Director said, “We are delighted to partner with IMR and Ericsson on Ireland’s first 5G standalone mobile private network in Mullingar. The investigation of 5G IoT applications for smart manufacturing in Ireland is wonderful news for the future of the industry here. This mobile private network and the development of IoT applications will make it possible for IMR’s members and partners to achieve today, what they need to stay competitive tomorrow.”

“Vodafone’s dedicated 5G network will provide reliability, device density, scalability, quality of service and enhanced safety that currently cannot be achieved. Working with IMR, our technology partners and customers will be empowered to explore and develop new use cases that 5G technology enables – helping to future proof Irish industry”.

John Griffin, CEO, Ericsson Ireland said “5G will have a transformative impact in the industries and technologies of the future and launching Ireland’s first 5G standalone mobile private network, together with Vodafone and IMR, is a huge step forward for our country at a critical moment. This partnership paves the way for a wide variety of 5G use cases that will serve as the catalyst to transform our economy, boost our recovery from COVID-19 and ensure Ireland remains competitive in the industries of the future.”