⏱️ What if factories could ditch all their cables without losing a nanosecond of precision?

Murata Manufacturing, SoftBank, and the CC-Link Partner Association have achieved the world's first successful demonstration of TSN over 5G by a telecom operator. They synchronized industrial equipment over a wireless 5G network with an average error of 122 nanoseconds, against the 900-nanosecond ceiling the international standard sets. It is a step toward wireless smart factories and the age of "Physical AI."

What Is TSN over 5G? Freeing Factories from the Cable

In factories around the world, robotic arms, conveyor systems and industrial controllers must work together with split-second precision. A delay of a few microseconds can throw a production line out of sync. To guarantee that reliability, factories have relied on wired Ethernet: physical cables linking every machine.

The trade-off is rigidity. Rearranging equipment means rewiring it. As manufacturing shifts toward high-mix, low-volume production and rapid customization, flexible layouts matter more than they used to.

Enter TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking), a set of IEEE standards for precise time synchronization and real-time data transmission over ordinary Ethernet. Every device on the network keeps a clock synchronized to within billionths of a second.

Run that wirelessly over 5G and you get TSN over 5G, standardized in 3GPP Release 16: cut the cord, keep the nanosecond-level precision industrial automation demands.

The Demonstration: What 122 Nanoseconds Actually Means

On February 24, 2026, Murata Manufacturing, SoftBank and the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) announced a successful TSN over 5G connectivity demonstration, the first by a telecom operator anywhere in the world.

The test ran in a lab, on a standalone private 5G network built by SoftBank. Each partner brought distinct capabilities:

  • SoftBank provided the 5G infrastructure, including the base station (gNB), user equipment (UE), and user plane function (UPF)
  • Murata Manufacturing supplied "TSN Translator" software that bridges TSN-compatible industrial devices to 5G networks, along with device-side (DS-TT) and network-side (NW-TT) time translation functions
  • CLPA provided industrial equipment and evaluated the communication quality and device performance

Using the gPTP (generalized Precision Time Protocol) at the heart of TSN, the team measured time synchronization accuracy between network-side and device-side equipment. The result: an average error of just 122 nanoseconds.

For scale: light travels about 36 meters (120 feet) in 122 nanoseconds. The 3GPP Release 16 standard asks for 900 nanoseconds or better, so the demonstration cleared the benchmark by more than seven times.

The team also ran an end-to-end test with real hardware, wiring a CC-Link IE TSN remote I/O unit and a PLC through the 5G network so that control signals reached switches and indicator lamps in real time. Synchronization error stayed under 1 microsecond across more than 6 continuous hours, meeting the requirements of CC-Link IE TSN Certification Class B.

Murata Manufacturing: More Than a Components Company

Many people know Murata Manufacturing as the world's largest maker of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), the tiny components found in everything from smartphones to cars. Revenue for the year ended March 2026 was ¥1.83 trillion (about $12 billion), with overseas sales above 90%.

This demonstration showed a different side of the company. Murata's "TSN Translator" software draws on decades of work in wireless communication modules, where it holds world-leading share in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth parts. That embedded know-how is what bridged industrial TSN protocols and 5G.

Operating profit for the same year was ¥281.8 billion, an operating margin of roughly 15%. Against a manufacturing sector that averages around 5%, that is a company converting technology into commercial value.

How Does This Compare to European TSN Efforts?

Europe has been the epicenter of Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution), and European companies have invested heavily in TSN technology.

Siemens has been integrating TSN into its PROFINET industrial communication protocol and partnered with Qualcomm to set up a private 5G standalone network at its Automotive Test Center in Nuremberg, Germany. The proof-of-concept deployed Siemens SIMATIC controllers and automated guided vehicles in an industrial setting.

Bosch Rexroth demonstrated TSN over a live 5G test network at the SPS (Smart Production Solutions) trade fair, also in partnership with Qualcomm. Its ctrlX Automation platform was designed to let factory operators switch seamlessly between wired Ethernet and 5G wireless communication.

However, the Japanese demonstration advances the field in several notable ways:

  1. Telecom operator involvement: SoftBank designed the network side, which shortens the distance to commercial deployment
  2. Quantified precision: 122 nanoseconds is a published figure, not a qualitative claim
  3. Industrial standard compliance: verified conformance with CC-Link IE TSN Class B requirements

Europe keeps the advantage in ecosystem breadth. With PROFINET, EtherCAT and EtherNet/IP all advancing TSN support at once, multi-vendor adoption may well arrive there first.

Physical AI: The Next Frontier

All three partners framed the result as a stepping stone toward Physical AI, where artificial intelligence directly controls robots and equipment. Unlike the AI most people meet through screens and text, Physical AI analyzes sensor data, decides in real time and executes precise physical actions.

For that to work, the link between AI "brains" and robotic "bodies" has to be exactly timed. If an AI decides a robotic arm should move at a specific moment, a small communication delay means a failed operation or a safety hazard. TSN over 5G supplies the deterministic backbone that requires: the nervous system of an AI-driven factory.

MWC Barcelona 2026 Showcase

The results were exhibited at MWC Barcelona 2026 (March 2–5, 2026) at the booth of Murata Electronics Europe B.V., the world's largest mobile communications trade show. The three partners say they will continue working toward practical deployment of 5G-based industrial networks.

Will factories really go fully wireless? How is smart manufacturing progressing in your country? Tell us what factory automation and wireless technology look like where you live.

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