The significance of the Tactile Internet and 5G for digital agriculture

Abstract

Abstract The demand for internet access and data transfer is the key driver of mobile communications technologies. The next step is wireless real-time networking. The “Tactile Internet” demands completely new technologies. Low latency, short response times, high reliability and resilience, a network of edge clouds and security are basic requirements. Therefore, 5G is developed. Novel use cases are industrial automation, autonomous vehicles, e-health, and the Internet of Things. For agriculture, 5G is a crucial technology enabler for robotization and Smart Farming processes. Agriculture needs own ad-hoc radio network solutions to efficiently provide coverage and manage data transfer, privacy and flexibility. The synergy of cellular and local mesh communications can solve the problem of unreliable communication and allows farmers to take full control of their data.