With support from China Unicom and Huawei, Changan, China’s leading automobile manufacturer, successfully applied 5G LAN in its production systems and comprehensively verified the technical feasibility and production availability of the 5G LAN technology on industrial control. The latest 5G LAN technologies were integrated with 5G edge computing and applied into various manufacturing scenarios in Changan’s stamping and welding processes and the final assembly lines.

The practice of Changan is one of the success case of China Unicom’s 5G Full-Connection Factory Collaboration project. In 2021, China Unicom launched the 5G Full-Connection Factory Collaboration project to carry out in-depth innovation in the industrial manufacturing field with vertical partners. The project is powered by 5GCtoB One Cloud, a new mode for carriers to offer industry private networks as a service, through which China Unicom can achieve agile product definition, quick service provisioning and convenient private network O&M for industry customers. In this way, China Unicom and Huawei could quickly replicate innovative solution to other manufacturers.

5G LAN provides LAN services at Layer 2 and VPN services at Layer 3, achieving Layer 2/Layer 3 interworking which previously required AR routers. A single 5G LAN can replace multiple physical networks, simplifying the network structure and improving production availability while reducing networking and maintenance costs.

Changan uses industrial cameras and an AI-based quality inspection system in its stamping and welding processes to detect scratches on and check the flatness of sheet metals as well as the welding joints, dispensing, and gluing on the automobile body and components. Before this, arranging wired devices took a long time due to their complex cabling, and it was difficult to demarcate faults. To address these problems, 5G LAN is used to do away with the complex cabling. Network devices can directly communicate with each other at Layer 2 without AR routers. Moreover, intranet applications, the topology, and configurations do not need to be changed. This relieves limitations on the devices, with no additional configuration and maintenance needed.

In the final assembly, the 5G LAN technology is introduced to enable flexible production. Operators report production information at their operation areas through the Andon system, including the assembly quality, material supply, and equipment alarms. With a wired network, if production lines are adjusted, cables need to be rerouted, affecting the production efficiency. In addition, the IP addresses of CPEs for Layer-3 communication needed to be planned by operators and routes from the IT system to the CPEs manually configured. With the 5G LAN technology, the original PLC, networking planning, and IP configurations can be inherited and production devices can be put into use quickly after adjustments, shortening the production stop time and improving efficiency.

Changan Automobile’s practice is a benchmark for applying 5G private networks in automobile manufacturing. As a new network infrastructure that enables flexible production, it is a milestone in 5G empowering industries. The 5G LAN technology surpasses others in aspects like service continuity, E2E networking, and deterministic network and is promising in various fields such as campus networks, power grid differential protection, and industrial PLC.

5G has ushered in a golden era. 5G private networks are the new momentum for promoting innovative 5G applications, raising production efficiency, and accelerating digital transformation. Backed by innovative technologies such as 5G LAN, China Unicom will leverage its 5G Full-Connection Factory Collaboration project powered by 5GCtoB One Cloud to continue simplifying networks for field production and enable digital transformation in more industries and making 5G a must.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd