Overview
With the rapid development of 5G technology, its use in industrial networks, enterprise offices, and residential scenarios is expanding. In these contexts, traditional local area network technologies often struggle to meet requirements for high throughput, low latency, and large-scale connectivity.
5G LAN is a new type of local area network technology that provides functions similar to local area networks and VPNs while leveraging 5G characteristics such as large bandwidth, wide-area access, mobility, and strong security.
In residential settings, 5G LAN can provide more stable and faster network connections for smart home and Internet of Things applications. In offices and enterprises, 5G LAN can create industry-specific local networks in which devices connected via the 5G network can interoperate with internal terminals or application servers, improving operational efficiency. In factories, 5G LAN can support industrial internet requirements for device interconnection and data transfer, advancing smart manufacturing. Overall, 5G LAN offers a new network connectivity model and expanded application space across segments, supporting the continued development of 5G networks.
Standards Progress
From Release 16 to Release 18, 5G LAN functions and performance have been progressively enhanced. From the initial basic 5G LAN scenarios to R17 features such as 5G LAN charging and to R18 features like cross-SMF VN Group management, multicast optimizations, and group management/communication extensions, 5G LAN capabilities have been significantly improved. R18 is an enhanced version of 5G LAN and is expected to be frozen in Q1 2024. Key improvements include the following.
R18 Enhancements
- Open capabilities for group member traffic characteristics and performance monitoring.
As shown in Figure 1, these features are important for industrial users, who require detailed operational visibility. R18 provides more granular service flow and performance statistics, real-time performance monitoring and alerting, and advanced log analysis and troubleshooting tools to improve network reliability and stability.
- Cross-SMF management of VN Group.
As shown in Figure 2, this feature addresses a limitation present in R16, where a VN Group could be managed by only a single SMF, creating a single point of failure. R18 introduces cross-SMF VN Group management so multiple SMFs can manage a VN Group concurrently, improving availability, fault tolerance, and stability. When an SMF fails, the VN Group can automatically switch to other available SMFs to maintain operation.
- Cross-VN Group communication.
As shown in Figure 3, this capability enables construction of a complete user network by interconnecting multiple groups. In industrial scenarios, multiple groups are often required for flow control, management, and diagnostics; cross-VN Group communication increases system flexibility and availability.
- Enhanced group management and group status reporting.
As shown in Figure 4, these features support fine-grained management of group members and service flows, improving service quality and stability. R18 supports user authentication, permission management, QoS control, and real-time reporting of group-level metrics such as traffic, latency, and bandwidth to help monitor and optimize network performance.
Figure 1 below illustrates the R18 capability for opening group member traffic characteristics and performance monitoring.
Figure 2 shows cross-SMF management of a VN Group in R18.
Figure 3 shows enhancements to group management and status reporting in R18.
In summary, R18 improves and optimizes network topology, group management and communication, cross-SMF communication, multicast, capability exposure, monitoring, and status reporting to better satisfy diverse service scenarios and strengthen the foundation for 5G network deployment and applications.
Application Scenario Requirements
Industrial Service Requirements
5G LAN, as a new local area network technology, is expected to be widely applied in industrial environments. Industrial applications often demand high throughput, low latency, large capacity, high reliability, and strong security, which 5G LAN can address. Built on 5G terminal access and the 5G network, 5G LAN provides private mobile LAN services that organize endpoints into "groups" to offer flexible communication services such as inter-device communication and isolation.
Key capabilities include Ethernet forwarding, broadcast/multicast, UE-to-UE communication, and group management, which enable wide-area mobile LAN and VPN-like services for industry users. 5G LAN supports diverse internal communication needs, accelerating digitalization and intelligent manufacturing while improving production efficiency and quality.
Specific industrial considerations include:
- Many industrial endpoints use Ethernet protocols and some do not support IP. 5G LAN can provide IP or Ethernet-type private network services to enable flexible communication among heterogeneous devices.
- Multicast and broadcast are widely used for distributed control and management. 5G LAN support for multicast/broadcast enables efficient and reliable production-line control and management.
- PLC controllers require synchronous control of multiple I/O endpoints to ensure coordinated operation on production lines. 5G LAN can deliver control signals with low latency and high precision to meet PLC synchronization needs.
- Cooperative scenarios among switches and controllers enable automated scheduling, real-time feedback, and fault detection. 5G LAN can provide high-capacity, reliable communication to support these functions.
- Dynamic joining of endpoints to different work domains enables flexible device-to-device communication, such as location-based grouping for nearby work islands, AGVs, wearables, and inspection teams. 5G LAN supports dynamic domain joining and fast inter-device communication.
Overall, 5G LAN can meet a variety of industrial communication requirements, enabling rapid data exchange, precise device control, and improved productivity. As 5G technology matures, the applicability of 5G LAN in industry is expected to broaden.
Network Architecture Requirements
Industrial network communication must be efficient, simple, and secure. Layer 2 communication is therefore a common choice in industrial environments. Compared with layer 3 protocols, layer 2 avoids complex routing calculations, yielding higher efficiency and lower latency. Layer 2 also enables isolation via VLANs for both physical and logical separation, reducing interference and security risks between networks.
Many industrial Ethernet technologies do not define network and transport layers, making IP-based layer 3 networks ill-suited for certain industrial needs. Thus, 5G LAN's layer 2 networking capabilities are important. Using 5G LAN layer 2 features, industrial users can rapidly build layer 2 networks to enable efficient communication and isolation tailored to industrial requirements.
Some industrial Ethernet protocols are "raw" Ethernet protocols that define only the data link and physical layers. These protocols are used in real-time control and industrial control systems because they provide lower latency and higher bandwidth. Examples include PROFINET, EtherCAT, and Modbus TCP.
- PROFINET is an Ethernet-based industrial automation protocol that employs real-time communication mechanisms to meet timing requirements. It implements protocol behavior at the data link layer to balance high bandwidth and low latency while ensuring data safety.
- EtherCAT is a high-performance, low-latency real-time Ethernet protocol that encapsulates control information in extended frame headers to quickly transmit data and synchronize many distributed devices, commonly used in industrial automation and machine control.
- Modbus TCP is an industrial protocol based on the TCP/IP stack that encapsulates data in Ethernet frames to provide simple, fast data exchange.
Because these industrial Ethernet protocols often omit network and transport layers, they typically require specialized hardware and protocol stacks to meet real-time and reliability requirements. This specialized approach can increase deployment and maintenance cost and limit scalability and interoperability.
In contrast, 5G LAN's layer 2 networking offers flexible and efficient connectivity, supporting VLANs for logical isolation and network partitioning. 5G LAN can support multiple broadcast domains and segments to better manage and control networks across industrial environments.
5G LAN provides high throughput, low latency, and high reliability for real-time data transfer and control. Compared with traditional Ethernet, 5G LAN offers improved performance and flexibility and better supports mobile devices and wireless sensors, making it a promising component in future industrial automation systems.
Wireless Communication Requirements
With the development of wireless communication and industrial IoT, wireless technologies are increasingly used in manufacturing to build flexible factories to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase product quality and flexibility. Wireless technologies used in manufacturing include 5G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ZigBee. Future applications will require higher speed, reliability, and security.
Wi-Fi and 4G use IP-type access, while 5G uses LAN Ethernet-type access. Different access types affect device network configuration and communication methods. 5G LAN Ethernet-type access offers advantages over Wi-Fi and 4G IP-type access in management simplicity, flexible interconnectivity, and reliable communication, which are important for building wireless flexible factories. See Table 1 for a comparative analysis.
5G LAN and TSN Wide-Area Extension
Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) provides low latency, high reliability, and precise clock synchronization for real-time industrial communication and control. TSN is typically limited to local area deployments. To extend TSN use cases, bridging TSN with 5G LAN enables broader network connectivity.
5G LAN offers long-range access, high-speed data transfer, mobility, and security, complementing TSN's low latency and reliability. Bridging 5G LAN and TSN enables remote access and monitoring while allowing industrial devices to connect to 5G LAN without hardware changes, improving device flexibility and usability.
Gateway technology can be used to implement the bridge by translating data and protocols between 5G LAN and TSN. Gateways can encapsulate TSN data into 5G LAN formats and vice versa to enable seamless connectivity. Some use cases are shown in Figure 5.
Representative use cases include:
- Single-site remote coverage: In remote areas such as sparsely populated regions or offshore sites, a single 5G base station combined with TSN can provide remote monitoring and control of industrial equipment. The base station acts as the central node for 5G LAN connectivity while TSN ensures precise time synchronization.
- Network-level wide coverage: Across regions or large areas, 5G LAN and TSN can provide industrial communication and control coverage by connecting devices to 5G base stations and using TSN to ensure reliability and predictability through time synchronization, bandwidth reservation, and traffic shaping.
- Network-wide roaming: Combining 5G LAN mobility with TSN allows TSN endpoints to roam across the network while maintaining seamless connectivity. This supports mobile industrial devices that move across locations while preserving communication continuity and timing guarantees.
Bridging 5G LAN and TSN expands TSN deployment scenarios, enables remote access and monitoring, improves device flexibility, and enhances network stability and reliability for industrial control applications.
Conclusion
5G LAN introduces new opportunities for industrial applications. Adoption of 5G LAN is an ongoing process that should be guided by business and market demands to identify which applications need 5G LAN support, such as industrial control, smart manufacturing, and smart cities. Clear performance requirements and KPIs (reliability, low latency, high bandwidth, etc.) should be defined, and continuous capability upgrades and optimization should be performed to meet diverse industry needs. Monitoring evolving standards and technology trends and accelerating ecosystem maturity will help maintain the competitiveness of 5G LAN networks.
