Asset Administration Shell as an Enabler of Intent-Based Networks for Industry 4.0 Automation

The factory operators lack 3GPP network knowledge and there is a requirement for industrial 5G networks to enable zero-touch automation which will translate factory business expectations to technical expectations. Integrating the intent-based operations is a key approach to implement intelligent network management system which can automatically verify, deploy, configure and optimize itself to meet the targets and goals. However, there is still a need for human intervention (e.g., factory operators) to place the intents. In this paper, we propose a solution based on Asset Administration Shell (AAS) to implement digital twins of the 5G network and 5G-capable factory devices. The proposed solution approach implements necessary submodels in AAS instances, so that the factory devices can place their own intents with minimized manual intervention. This framework is implemented and demonstrated with an automation system in conjunction with a 5G emulation environment.