US 12,468,291 B2
Software defined manufacturing in a cellular network
Elvis Vieira, Ottawa (CA); Edwin Iun, Ottawa (CA); Rajesh Dawadi, Ottawa (CA); Tian Tian, Toronto (CA); and Luwan Wang, Ottawa (CA)
Assigned to TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL), Stockholm (SE)
Appl. No. 17/630,185
Filed by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), Stockholm (SE)
PCT Filed Jul. 30, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/057218
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 26, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/024113, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 11, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/882,261, filed on Aug. 2, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0283571 A1, Sep. 8, 2022
Int. Cl. G05B 19/418 (2006.01)
CPC G05B 19/41855 (2013.01) [G05B 19/4186 (2013.01); G05B 19/41865 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising
a first base station of a cellular communications network serving at least a first cell of the cellular communications network and configured to wirelessly transmit and receive signals to and from industrial devices deployed within a manufacturing facility and located within any cell served by the first base station, wherein the first base station has ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) capabilities; and
a computer system comprising:
an interface connected to transmit and receive signals to and from the first base station; and
processing circuitry configured to cause the computer system to:
use the interface to receive a request message requesting generation of a manufacturing process instance (MPI), the request message requesting the generation of the MPI comprising a manufacturing process specification identifying manufacturing operations necessary to perform a predetermined manufacturing process, the identified manufacturing operations comprising a first manufacturing operation;
after receiving the request message, determine whether there are sufficient resources available for the predetermined manufacturing process;
after determining that there are sufficient resources available for the predetermined manufacturing process, selecting resources to assign to the MPI, wherein the selected resources comprise a first resource, and the first resource is a first industrial device configured to perform at least the first identified manufacturing operation;
after selecting the first industrial device, assign to the MPI the first industrial device configured to perform at least the first identified manufacturing operation; and
implement a controller configured to control at least the first industrial device assigned to the MPI by performing a control process comprising:
transmitting a first command to the first industrial device assigned to the MPI;
receiving from the first industrial device a first reply responsive to the first command;
in response to receiving the first reply, selecting a second command based on the first reply;
transmitting the selected second command to the first industrial device; and
receiving from the first industrial device a second reply responsive to the second command.