What Is 5g Technology?

Posted: 2020-08-01 09:02:04

1. What is 5g technology?

5g is the abbreviation of “the fifth generation” cellular communication. “G” is used to describe the algebra of cellular device communication technology that has been or will be launched. 5g can operate in millimeter wave (UHF spectrum from 24 to 100 GHz), and the amount of spectrum available for 5g means that data transmission is much faster than currently possible.

Key elements of the additional 5g technology include the expansion of the MIMO (multiple input multiple output) antenna array, the complex implementation of beamforming technology for transmitting signals more directly to the end user, and network “slicing”, which is the partitioning of intellectual resources based on the service or application being delivered. The wide range of changes in technology and infrastructure inherent in 5g deployment will bring huge benefits and potential challenges to individual users, enterprises and service providers.

2. When will 5g arrive?

While people hype that 5g will bring exponential speed increase and delay reduction, a frequently asked question is “when will 5g come?” This is actually a two-part issue, as the initial deployment schedule will not be consistent with 5g as a widely adopted de facto standard.

The first hurdle has been overcome, and 3GPP has compiled various versions of the release 15 standard. Release 15 was the first release to contain 5g elements. The “non independent” part of the standard was completed in 2017, with the addition of SA in June 2018, and now all parts of the standard have been completed. In the short term, the dependent mode will allow 5g deployment to utilize the existing LTE ran and core network, as well as hardware parts in the frequency band below 6GHz and millimeter band

Currently, all major operators plan to launch a limited version of 5g in early 2019. Unlike network infrastructure, there will be no forward compatibility with existing cellular phones and baseband. Most major mobile phone manufacturers are rapidly developing 5g hardware to prepare for business, but any widespread adoption will require a massive upgrade by consumers. As a result, no major shift to 5g is likely to occur until at least 2020.

In the next few years, as operators, equipment manufacturers and consumers continue to transform, the new 5g network will be built from scratch, and the scale of independent deployment will continue to expand. In the next 2-4 years, all regions will gradually transition to 5g at the best speed and coverage level.

3. How fast is 5g?

The shift to 5g technology, and the speed breakthrough that follows, seems a bit like a rapid shift from horse drawn carriages to intercontinental airliners.

Operators who have conducted 5g speed tests reported speeds as high as 70 Gbps. Industry initiated simulations have also produced impressive results, with data speeds increasing from 71 Mbps for 4G users to 1.4 Gbps (millimeter wave) for 5g users.

With the increase of speed, the delay is also significantly reduced. This will be an important factor in new technologies such as self driving vehicles based on instant messaging and “virtual” telemedicine. For 5g, the delay is within 1 millisecond (MS), while for 4G, the delay is usually around 20 ms.

4. 5G range

Millimeter wave transmission can be realized in a limited range. The test of 5g service range in millimeter wave has effective coverage about 500 meters away from the transmission tower, which means that a completely independent 5g deployment will require a huge propagation model of antenna array supporting MIMO. In addition, the fact that millimeter wave signals cannot penetrate obstacles further limits the coverage because these obstacles need to be considered in the network design of mobile users. As base stations are broken down into new logical elements, coverage limits the development of more flexible architectures in 5g. These elements use available assets, combine some functions locally with minimal space, and meet the other requirements of radio stations that are limited in this area, thus facilitating the flexible deployment of the network.

Considering the scope of these predictability issues, LTE or low band 5g may still be part of 5g network in the foreseeable future, and only users close to the antenna can fully benefit. Cell technology and other creative alternatives to traditional base station towers can be effectively utilized to make independent 5g networks possible.

5. What does 5g technology mean to consumers and enterprises

Although the demand for 5g technology is driven by the continuous demand of consumers and enterprises for speed, security and applications, many users do not understand the impact 5g will have on their daily lives. The most obvious and direct impact on consumers will be the exponential increase of streaming media playback speed. Traditional home Wi Fi systems that connect to the Internet via wire or cable may in some cases become 5g direct because the speed will be comparable to most fiber-optic networks.

5g will have a huge impact on the enterprise field. Chip, baseband and and mobile phone manufacturers are ready for revolutionary change. Other industries, such as banking, automotive and agriculture, will be greatly affected by the development of the Internet of things (IOT). Everything from ATMs to irrigation equipment could eventually become part of a vast network of “smart” products. The healthcare industry is likely to be the most affected, with billions of wearable devices delivering data to doctors and clinicians, and improving the transfer of large data files from one provider to another.

6. What does 5g technology mean to service providers

While service providers are racing to build the devices needed to support 5g, it is likely to be an example of a “rush to start and a long wait” as handset manufacturers lag behind in their expected 5g promotion.

Some providers are using massive MIMO deployment on existing towers as a bridge between LTE and 5g. The reduction of 5g coverage in millimeter wave and the increase in the number of antennas will drive competition and cost cutting innovation among providers during deployment.

IOT will change the way service providers interact with customers. For example, some applications may require lower bandwidth across multiple devices, which means the focus may shift from quantifying data usage to overall quality of experience (QoE). For industrial applications, such as factory robots, service reliability can be a value driver for customers. Different applications of 5g technology may bring more diversified services.

7. Advantages and disadvantages of 5g Technology

As with almost all major technological advances, these obvious benefits are sometimes at least partially offset by some negative consequences. Although the certification testing of 5g technology has been carried out for several years, the real advantages and disadvantages may not be fully quantified until the transformation is carried out smoothly.

1) Advantages of 5g

Compared with 4G and all previous standards, 5g has obvious and significant advantages in terms of speed and delay. Another advantage of 5g technology is the inherent improvement of device support, which benefits from the smaller size and more accurate directional signal transmission of MIMO antenna array accompanying 5g.

The improved 5g network architecture will make the handover more smooth when users move from one cell to another. This will improve the overall user experience by limiting data transmission interruptions and lost signals.

2) Defects and dangers of 5g Technology

As with 5g’s inherent advantages, many of the obvious defects stem from the shift to higher frequencies and the characteristics of radio signals in millimeter waves. The most obvious disadvantages of such technologies are shorter coverage and more vulnerable to obstacles.

In addition to obstacles such as buildings and trees, high frequency is also more vulnerable to humidity and rainfall, so the originally limited range will be further challenged by severe weather conditions. If more antennas can significantly improve the problem of limited coverage, then the aesthetic and environmental issues associated with this propagation will become another potential problem.

Other disadvantages of 5g are related to cost. Antenna arrays are only one aspect of deployment costs. These arrays will require maintenance, repair, and troubleshooting in proportion to the larger hardware capacity. Although millimeter wave antennas for devices have been developed, their complexity may make economies of scale ineffective in reducing prices, which in turn will pass on the increased costs to consumers.

The concept of beam in 5g and the smaller cell size decompose the basic coverage unit into packets much smaller than the old technology. These packages will be interactive and need to be configured and optimized to support coverage while maintaining capacity while supporting mobility in appropriate scenarios.

Planning, deploying, managing, operating and optimizing a more flexible network architecture on a virtualized infrastructure will bring new challenges and new expertise to operators.