Why 5G Private Networks are Ideal for Mining and Oil & Gas Industry

The arrival of 5G! Manufacturers would be well to take use of the high bandwidth it offers to ensure more efficient operations as they adopt Industry 4.0. 

There is a crucial requirement for dependable connectivity that enables high bandwidth and low latency at the same time as manufacturers adopt Industry 4.0 to boost productivity. 

Wi-Fi networks perform well indoors but cannot cover an area of 10 square kilometers. To accomplish that, we would have to install a Wi-Fi modem every 10 to 20 meters, which is both expensive and unfeasible. The best choice in this case is a cellular network. The 4G networks are already operational. Instead of being private networks with an enterprise, these networks are mostly public networks. Similar to this, a business does not actually have access to the cloud.

The data center's precise location is unknown. Even though we are aware of its location, you are unable to predict the amount of latency it will experience because it is traveling over the web network as opposed to the public network. This delay needs to be modified for that reason. This problem is readily solved with the advent of 5G because it enables the establishment of a different Wi-Fi network inside the company. It guarantees privacy as well as low latency and great throughput. 

You also need to have what we refer to as the "H" cloud, which is a tiny version of the cloud. It ensures low latency and is more dependable for applications like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), video analytics, robotic operations, and autonomous vehicles. It's also crucial to keep in mind that the cloud is mostly used for data administration and bookkeeping, not for any calculation operations. 

Operational programs cannot be fully run on Wi-Fi, while information technology apps like Zoom and system applications and products (SAP) may.

Industry 4.0 use cases in Mining and Oil & Gas Industry

Mining
Mining, for examle in India is of two kinds.  Firstly, there is open pit mining. You don't need to enter a tunnel to mine this way. Closed pit mining is the other type of mining. You must enter a tunnel underground to accomplish this. There may be 10 to 22 tunnels, each measuring one to two kilometers in length. Many tasks have already been automated in locations like Australia, yet they are still carried out by hand in India. To extract the data from the embedded sensors, miners must access closed pits and utilize a USB stick. Then and only then will they be able to use it by connecting it to their servers and office systems. The opportunity to digitize everything is only made possible by this. The issue of data extraction can be resolved by deploying automated unmanned vehicles because no humans will need to enter these mines, thereby lowering the chance of any type of disaster. 

Oil & Gas 
There are three sections to this: upstream (offshore/onshore), midstream (pipeline), and downstream (refinery). Both offshore and onshore oil exploration takes place. A lot of organized data collection is necessary for this investigation. The best locations for these expeditions must be determined by extensive analytics. Here, private 5G can be quite useful in boosting productivity.