Industrial digital transformation through efficient automation hinges largely on the deployment of communication infrastructures that meet the requirements of smart factory use cases. These infrastructures involve multiple devices that utilize different communication technologies to increase the overall operational efficiency. Rooting from the key implementation requirements of a smart factory environment, this article focuses on the role of cellular connectivity and wearable technology in enabling new industrial applications. Specifically, we shed light on a novel category of services - industrial mid-end wearable applications - by positioning their requirements among the 5G service classes. We then identify features that can complement cellular connectivity to further support the given requirements. More precisely, we review cellu-lar-network-aided device-to-device communications and reduced-capability devices. Our performance evaluation results justify the choice of these features and show that they can work in concert with cellular connectivity to enhance spectral efficiency and reliability in industrial mid-end wearable applications.

中文翻译：

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工业中端应用的蜂窝连接和可穿戴技术推动者


通过高效自动化实现的工业数字化转型在很大程度上取决于满足智能工厂用例要求的通信基础设施的部署。这些基础设施涉及多个设备，这些设备利用不同的通信技术来提高整体运营效率。本文从智能工厂环境的关键实施要求出发，重点讨论蜂窝连接和可穿戴技术在实现新工业应用中的作用。具体来说，我们通过将其需求定位在 5G 服务类别中，阐明了一种新颖的服务类别——工业中端可穿戴应用。然后，我们确定可以补充蜂窝连接的功能，以进一步支持给定的要求。更准确地说，我们回顾了蜂窝网络辅助的设备到设备通信和功能降低的设备。我们的性能评估结果证明了这些功能的选择是正确的，并表明它们可以与蜂窝连接协同工作，以提高工业中端可穿戴应用的频谱效率和可靠性。