Siemens reported July 21 that it’s opened an Industrial Connectivity Test Laboratory in the Technology Center on its Erlangen campus. This lab has 300 square meters of space for testing connectivity solutions, such as wireless local area networks (WLAN), 5G, real-time locating systems (RTLS), and radio frequency identification (RFID). The lab also serves as a training and education environment, and is used for Siemens' internal technology tests.
"The increasing convergence of OT and IT in industrial plants is creating an enormous demand for custom communication solutions," says Axel Lorenz, CEO of process automation at Siemens. "Many users find it difficult to assess the benefits and framework conditions of wireless technologies in their own operations. The Industrial Connectivity Lab offers our customers the advantage of combining different connectivity technologies, and testing them in industrial conditions."
To tests 5G applications, Siemens has a private 5G license that covers the entire technology center at Erlangen, while the lab is equipped with a private 5G infrastructure developed by Siemens. This testing environment also has an industrial WLAN network. It can also evaluate scenarios for localization solutions with high accuracy via the lab’s onsite RTLS. In addition, industrial identification solutions using RFID are available for the lab’s users. Finally, remote control and maintenance scenarios can be studied onsite via a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection.
"At the Industrial Connectivity Lab, Siemens experts advise our customers on all established wireless technologies, and test them in real industrial conditions," Lorenz says. "This is how our customers get the desired performance and also save time and costs before installation in their own facilities."
