Research on factory communications has gained increasing relevance in recent years, with communication playing a fundamental role in automation systems. Advanced communication/networking technologies and paradigms such as 5G/6G, WiFi6/WiFi7, Ethernet TSN, OPC UA, network softwarization, IIoT, have opened up a multitude of application possibilities in the industrial scenario. However, the availability of a variety of communication solutions, often employed in combination to meet the needs of different applications, have led to highly complex and heterogeneous factory communication systems. This complexity gives rise to new challenges that must be addressed to fully exploit the potential of these advancements towards a new generation of smart, autonomous, flexible and efficient automation systems.
The 20th edition of the WFCS conference aims to focus on all forms of communication solutions to support automation within factories and other contexts, with special consideration given to recent developments, new trends and research insights and future perspectives. As the largest IEEE conference dedicated to communication for automation, WFCS is the elected forum for researchers, developers, and practitioners to review and discuss the latest advances in the field.
The conference, supported by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IEEE-IES) and led by the IEEE-IES Technical Committee on Factory Automation (IEEE-IES TCFA), will be hosted by ISAE-SUPAERO / University of Toulouse, (France) and organized in collaboration with the University of Porto (Portugal).