You may have noticed recently that operators and vendors have started to talk up "Factory 4.0" as a banner heading for another use for 5G.

This envisages using 5G as the bedrock for updating factory facilities across the globe, to support robotics, automation, artificial intelligence and more. In fact, when I say "bedrock," that even means using 5G wireless connectivity to get rid of the wiring in such facilities. (See Nokia Reveals Future X Network Project and Ericsson's CTO Talks Up 5G Opportunities.)

Factory 4.0 applications appear particularly suited to high-band millimeter wave 5G networks that can deliver massive data (1-Gbit/s and up) flows over a short range.