More and more, industry sectors are looking at automation via 5G as a way to increase efficiency and cut cost
Last year, Telenet provided a 5G network slice and Nokia used its Network as Code API platform as part of a POC that provided navigation for freighters at the Port of Antwerp
Fierce expects to see similar PoCs and demos at Mobile World Congress in March
Industrial automation is going to be a major theme at Mobile World Congress this year as more 5G private networks hove into view and 5G standalone (SA) continues its slow - if steady - progress. Actually automating operations in large areas, such as ports, can often prove challenging. Ports like Valencia in Spain and New York in the U.S. have only recently started out down the automation path.
Similarly, the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, which dealt with 235 million metric tons of cargo in 2023, recently undertook a trial using application programming interfaces (APIs) to help it with increased automation for navigation. Clearly anything that can assist with inland navigation of the port — and ease the congestion and traffic problems at the dock — will help. To that end, mobile network operator (MNO) Telenet and Nokia completed a proof-of-concept (POC) last year that used GSMA's Open Gateway APIs over a 5G SA network slice to help to direct cargo freighters into the port.
“It was a live POC done on real vessels in the Port of Antwerp. Telenet has not gone commercial yet with the offering,” William Stanley, marketing manager for CNS marketing at Nokia told Fierce during a call.
The companies involved included: Telenet, which provided the 5G network slice; Nokia, which used its Network as Code API platform; the inland waterway shipping company Seafar; and R&D hub IMEC for the systems integration and IT work.
The companies used a location API to locate the vessels within the geofences (set up by IMEC) at the port, and then a Quality on Demand (QoD) call that allows Telenet to establish the traffic priority needed on 5G network slice at the Port of Antwerp.
“When there’s a QoD call based on the location of the geofence, they then go into the slice [and] for this stream from this device...and they promote its quality of service weight versus other [shipping] traffic inside of that slice,” Stanley said.
This kind of API-enabled POC is intended to enable automation and reduce crew operations at the port. Stanley noted that Seafar is facing an increasing number of inland water captains “aging out” and looking for solutions that can deliver a system that enables less qualified - i.e. lower paid - people to handle the navigation.
When it comes to the APIs, analyst Leonard Lee, executive analyst at neXt Curve, said, “The use of QoD APIs to expose and monetize network capabilities is ideal especially considering the need for reliable connectivity in industrial environments such as a port."
“There are a few other similar examples using various technologies,” noted Roy Chua, principal analyst at AvidThink. “Couple of years back, AWS briefed me on a startup Seadronix that they were working with at a Korean port. They all require a reliable network connection to work."
Added Chua, “I expect to see more enterprise and industry use cases for both standalone private networks, hybrids, and slices of public networks at MWC."