Using LTE as an access network for internet-based cyber-physical systems

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) represent a new generation of control systems where distributed local control systems are connected not only physically, but also computationally by means of communication networks. CPSs target introducing intelligence beside traditional monitoring and control functionalities in a way that optimize the performance of the overall system. However, the realization of many CPS applications requires reliable communication systems that provide quality of service (QoS) control. In this domain, Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard offers a comprehensive QoS frame work. Nevertheless, commercial implementations of the standard provide only best effort type of service. In this paper, we demonstrated the benefits of using LTE networks with QoS support for CPSs by comparing the performance of a CPS application over LTE network with and without QoS support. The results clearly indicate the benefit to enable the QoS features in commercial implementations of LTE in order to realize reliable CPS applications.