Comparative Performance Evaluation of 5G-TSN Applications in Indoor Factory Environments

While technologies such as Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) enhance the determinism, real-time capabilities, and reliability of Ethernet, future industrial networks will not just have wired connections, but are increasingly using wireless communication links. Wireless networks enable mobility, have lower costs, and are easier to deploy. However, for many industrial applications, wired connections remain the preferred choice, particularly those requiring strict latency boundaries and ultra-reliable data flows, such as for controlling machinery or managing power electronics. The emergence of 5G, with its Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) capabilities, presents a new opportunity for wireless industrial networks. 5G promises to enable high data rates, ultra-low latency, and minimal jitter. However, as 5G networks include wired links from the base station towards the core network, a combination of 5G with time-sensitive networking is needed to guarantee stringent QoS requirements. In this paper, we evaluate 5G-TSN performance for different indoor factory applications and environments through simulations. Our findings demonstrate that 5G-TSN can effectively address latency-sensitive scenarios in indoor factories environments.