Field demonstration of commercial PONs for edge-cloud-based industrial scenarios: requirements, use cases, and proofs of concept

Industrial networks and edge-cloud integration in manufacturing processes have gained significant attention due to the evolving requirements of Industry 4.0. Key demands include data-driven network management, multi-service support, and low-latency, high-bandwidth communications, all essential for the industry’s future. Standardization groups like the European Telecommunications and Standardization Institute (ETSI) and several other research groups are working to quantify the requirements that industrial networks must meet to support Industry 4.0 applications. This study implements two ETSI use cases: Edge-Cloud-based Visual Inspection for Automatic Quality Assessment in Production and Edge-Cloud-based Control of Automated Guided Vehicles. We experimentally validate the performance of the use cases by employing a physical testbed for edge-cloud-enabled manufacturing based on ETSI recommendations. We present a passive optical network testbed that connects multiple manufacturing floors to an edge-cloud for management, orchestration, and control. Our implementation features nanosecond-scale synchronization using precision time protocol, real-time network and energy monitoring for ubiquitous visibility, and multi-service capabilities through network slicing.