Workshop on Deterministic Wirless Communications (DEWICOMM 2026)

DEWICOMM 2026: Advancing deterministic wireless across heterogeneous networks

The 4th Cross-Project Workshop on Deterministic Wireless Communications (DEWICOMM 2026) took place on March 24-25, 2026, in Dresden, Germany. Formerly known as the 5G-TSN Workshop, the event has evolved into a dedicated forum addressing deterministic communication over wireless media and heterogeneous networks. The workshop, organized by TU Dresden, airpuls GmbH, and Siemens, was sponsored by the xG-ALOE initiative and supported by the VDE ITG technical committee KT2 and Fraunhofer HHI. It brought together around 60 participants from 32 organizations, spanning academia and industry, to discuss technologies and concepts enabling reliable, low-latency, and time-synchronized communication across domains.

The workshop followed its tradition of fostering close interaction between researchers, practitioners, and industry stakeholders. The program consisted of a series of concise impulse talks, complemented by demonstrations and extended discussion sessions. This format encouraged focused technical exchange while allowing sufficient room for in-depth discussions on challenges and solutions for deterministic wireless communication.

The central theme of the workshop was the realization of end-to-end deterministic behavior across heterogeneous networks, combining wired and wireless technologies. In this context, industrial applications and mission-critical systems continue to drive requirements toward guaranteed latency, high reliability, and precise time synchronization.

The first session addressed use cases, requirements, and standardization aspects. Michael Bahr (Siemens) outlined the requirements of industrial wireless systems, emphasizing strict constraints on latency, reliability, and synchronization. Julian Popp (Fraunhofer IIS) presented the evolution of 3GPP from Release 16 to Release 20, highlighting the integration of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) into cellular systems. Jobish John (TNO) discussed TSN for mission-critical verticals, comparing avionics and industrial automation perspectives. Clemens Hauber (German Patent and Trade Mark Office) provided an overview of application domains for deterministic wireless communications and complemented this with a demonstration on the role of patent examination in emerging technologies.

The second session focused on experimental validation and testbeds. Mika Skarp (Cumucore) demonstrated the performance of their solution for 5G-TSN integration and described it as a “replacement for the Ethernet cable.”. Anas Bin Muslim (HS Osnabrück) discussed challenges in configuring Time-Sensitive Networks in practice. Joachim Sachs (Ericsson) provided a comprehensive review of the integration of 5G and TSN. Laura Becker (Technical University of Munich) presented simulation and testbed tools enabling reproducible research on combined TSN and 5G systems.

Control-plane mechanisms and network convergence were addressed in the third session. Junaid Ansari (Ericsson) introduced control-plane extensions for wireless-aware traffic engineering, for which standardization has started in IEEE P802.1Qee. Özgür Ozan Kaynak (TH Deggendorf) discussed dynamic schedule reconfiguration in converged 5G-TSN systems. Andy Zirkler (Siemens) presented a modular network controller for heterogeneous networks, compatible with TSN and 5G. Hosein Kangavar Nazari (TU Dresden) shared design and experimental insights on Linux end systems. Mahin Ahmed (Silicon Austria Labs) addressed fault-tolerant time synchronization for industrial networks, while Stefan Spettel (phine.tech) demonstrated the realization of 5G-TSN integration in an open-source core network.

The final session explored wireless technologies beyond classical 3GPP systems. Andrea Forte (Microamp) presented architectural aspects and results on Ethernet transport over 5G FR2. Contributions from Andreas Traßl (fünfeinhalb) and Pablo Avila-Campos (imec) demonstrated the feasibility of deterministic communication over WLAN and open-source Wi-Fi platforms. Jakob Glück (LMS) introduced DECT NR+ as a non-cellular solution for deterministic wireless communication in license-exempt spectrum. Rene Kirrbach (Fraunhofer IPMS) presented optical wireless communication based on Li-Fi as a promising approach for low-latency applications.

A particular highlight of DEWICOMM 2026 was the set of accompanying demonstrations, which provided tangible insights into current developments. ifak presented precise monitoring approaches to analyze the performance of deterministic wireless deployments. The xG-ALOE initiative showcased its latest advances in deterministic 5G and its integration with TSN. TU Dresden introduced an interactive demonstrator based on inverted pendulums, illustrating the impact of correct network configuration on system stability, and additionally presented experimental results with DECT NR+. Silicon Austria Labs enabled a remote connection to their factory environment, demonstrating remote control and monitoring of collaborative industrial robots over 5G, complemented by localization using ultra-wideband (UWB). TH Deggendorf presented its open-source TSN controller OpenCNC, highlighting flexible control capabilities, while HS Osnabrück demonstrated an online configurator for 5G-TSN integrated networks.

DEWICOMM 2026 demonstrated the increasing maturity of deterministic wireless technologies, moving from conceptual approaches towards practical implementations and experimental validation. The interactive format of impulse talks and discussions proved effective in fostering exchange and collaboration among participants.

The organizers would like to thank all speakers, contributors, and participants for their valuable contributions. Special thanks go to the xG-ALOE initiative for its support, which was instrumental in enabling the workshop.

DR.-ING. STEFAN SENK, Technische Universität Dresden, Deutsche Telekom Chair of Communication Networks
DR.-ING. MARTIN KASPARICK, airpuls GmbH
JOSÉ FONTALVO-HERNÁNDEZ, Siemens AG