US Cellular has announced its partnership with Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s (UWM) Connected Systems Institute (CSI) manufacturing research facility to deploy a 5G private cellular network solution to support next-generation IoT sensors and controls. Ericsson and Rockwell Automation are also involved in the project, with the former providing its 4G and 5G radio and dual mode core technology, while the latter invested $1.7 million to help launch the UW facility itself in 2017.
The private network, said US Cellular, will allow students, faculty and industry partners to securely develop, test and ideate on innovative Industry 4.0 manufacturing solutions around applications like drive automation, intelligence and control. “Initial use cases include connecting manufacturing facilities with sensors, Digital Twin, 5G ‘infrastructure as a service’ with security overlays, AR/VR and autonomous robotics,” said US Cellular.
