34 n COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING June 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com First TSN-over-5G demo could lead to high-speed wireless networks Three Japanese organisations – SoftBank, Murata Manufacturing and the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) – have demonstrated the transmission of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) signals over a 5G network. They say that the achievement marks an important step toward enabling the wireless control of industrial equipment, which has traditionally relied on wired networks. In the laboratory demonstration, the collaborating parties achieved accurate time synchronisation with an average error of 122 nanoseconds over the 5G network – well below the 900ns or less required by 3GPP (the 3rd Generation Partnership Project). They also confirmed that CC-Link IE TSN Class B–compliant industrial devices operated successfully over the 5G network. Accurate time synchronisation is essential in factories and manufacturing environments to ensure that multiple devices operate with precisely coordinated timing. In CC-Link IE TSN – an industrial Ethernet standard certified by CLPA – Class B requires strict real-time performance and determinism based on precise time synchronisation and low jitter. Until now, it has primarily been implemented in wired networks. At the same time, the demand for wireless industrial networks has been growing, driven by demands such as more flexible equipment layouts, and easier maintenance. In response to these needs, 3GPP Release 16 standardised TSN-over-5G, enabling precision TSN-based time synchronisation over 5G networks. This could lead to industrial 5G networks capable of delivering real-time performance and determinism that are comparable to wired networks. For the demonstration, a TSN-over-5G environment was created in a laboratory using a private 5G network. Based on gPTP (generalised Precision Time Protocol) – the time synchronisation protocol used in TSN-over-5G – the time difference was measured between the device side, connected to a DS-TT (Device-Side TSN Translator), and the network side, connected to an NW-TT (Network-Side TSN Translator). The results confirmed that time synchronisation with an average error of 122ns was achieved over the 5G network. In addition, an end-to-end control environment using real industrial devices was evaluated. CC-Link IE TSN–compatible remote I/O and PLCs were connected via the 5G network, enabling real-time transmission of control signals from the PLC to devices such as switches and indicator lights. The tests achieved more than six hours of continuous communication, while maintaining synchronisation accuracy within 1μs, thus meeting the requirement of CC-Link IE TSN Class B specifications for industrial equipment control. The three organisations say that the demo proved that TSN-over5G can satisfy both 3GPP requirements and CC-Link IE TSN Class B performance levels, enabling accurate time synchronisation and reliable industrial device control. They add that this represents a significant milestone toward the wireless transformation of industrial networks, that have traditionally relied on wired control. “This achievement marks a breakthrough in extending 5G into industrial control domains that have long depended on wired infrastructure,” says SoftBank vice-president, Ryuji Wakikaw, who is also head of its Research Institute of Advanced Technology. “SoftBank will continue to lead the validation and deployment of advanced technologies, building the communications foundation that accelerates industrial transformation and enables the realisation of physical AI.” “The demonstration was a challenging initiative in which we leveraged our extensive experience in the communication field to contribute to TSN through software technology,”adds Murata Manufacturing corporate officer, Makoto Kawashima. “We will continue to work toward realising a future society in which highly accurate time synchronisation is established as essential infrastructure, allowing a wide range of machines and devices to operate cooperatively.” By supporting precise, real-time coordination between AI, robots and industrial equipment, TSN-over-5G is expected to play a key role in enabling physical AI, which requires comms infrastructures with high real-time performance and determinism. SoftBank, Murata and CLPA plan to use the insights they have gained from their demonstration to promote new industrial uses for 5G, and to support the broader adoption of physical AI in real-world applications. CLPA’s global director, Manabu Hamaguchi, says he has “high expectations” for an early commercial release. n Demand for high-performance wireless industrial networks has been growing, driven by the ned for more flexible equipment layouts and easier maintenance. A trial in Japan has shown how TimeSensitive Networking signals can be sent over a 5G network with average timing error of just 122ns. A diagram of the TSN-over-5G demo set-up (top) and how it looked in the test (below)
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