China Telecom conducted 5G standalone (SA) trials at a manufacturing facility in Zhenjiang using network gear from ZTE, to demonstrate smart factory capabilities.

In a statement, the vendor said it worked with electronics maker Bluetron and China Telecom to develop an integrated manufacturing platform using 5G network slicing and edge computing technologies.

ZTE said the demo, commissioned by Bluetron to prepare for the construction of a smart factory, was the first use of end-to-end 5G network slicing in China in a manufacturing environment.

The trial used industrial cameras to record video of the production line and stream data to a mobile edge computing system through a dedicated 5G uplink slice. After analysing the images, the system automatically notified workers and raised alarms in case of abnormalities.

End-to-end network slicing, ZTE said, can reduce the latency, jitter and packet-loss rate of video data transmission; guarantee the quality of video transmission; and improve the accuracy and real-time performance of video analysis.

ZTE said it had signed 25 commercial 5G contracts with operators in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.