Enhancing 5G URLLC for Industrial IoT with Device-to-Device Communication

In this paper, we discuss utilizing device-to-device communication, i.e., sidelink, with 5G URLLC for meeting the stringent latency/reliability requirements in certain industrial IoT scenarios, e.g., factory automation. In particular, we describe various aspects for one specific use-case of wireless controller: different architectures for combining gNB-UE links and UE-UE sidelinks; enabling enhancements at the physical, medium-access, and upper layers; some results of performance evaluation; and a prototype.