Scaling the Internet of Things: Performance Analysis of 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices in Industrial Environments

The fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology is primarily designed to address a wide range of use cases, ranging from enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) to massive machine-type communication (mMTC). However, specific industrial applications such as industrial wireless sensor networks (IWSN) and video surveillance fall between these categories, requiring a balance between high performance and lower device complexity. To address this gap, 3GPP introduced Reduced Capability (RedCap) devices in Release 17, aiming to lower cost and complexity while maintaining sufficient performance for industrial environments. This paper provides a comprehensive performance analysis of RedCap devices, evaluating their coverage and achievable data rates across different frequency bands, including FR1 and FR2. Through link-level simulations and link-budget evaluations in Rural, Urban, and Indoor scenarios, the study identifies potential coverage-limiting channels such as PUSCH and PDSCH. The results confirm that the performance impact resulting from complexity reduction (e.g., reduced antennas and bandwidth) is manageable, often requiring less than 1 dB of coverage recovery or being compensated by lower data rate targets. Our findings demonstrate that 5G RedCap offers a scalable and cost-effective solution for the Internet of Things (IoT) in the industrial sector.