Emerson’s white paper compares WirelessHART and 5G for industrial IoT. WirelessHART, based on IEC 62591, delivers secure, low-power mesh networking with battery life exceeding 10 years at update rates of 4–8 seconds—ideal for critical process monitoring. By contrast, LTE-M and NB-IoT under 5G offer long range but drain batteries faster, making them better suited for infrequent, low-data updates like smart metering. Case studies in chemical plants, power facilities, and oilfields show WirelessHART excels at real-time, high-frequency monitoring, while 5G works best as a backhaul channel to centralize data. The future lies in coexistence, with WirelessHART for sensors and 5G for backhaul.

Join for free to read