In the last few weeks, 5G folding phones have become a viral topic of worldwide discussion. Huawei has revealed its first 5G smartphone with a foldable screen — Mate X, less than a week after Samsung launched its foldable phone — Galaxy Fold. 5G phones are coming out faster than expected. Actually, at the end of 2018, China, South Korea, the United States, and other countries have carried out 5G network trials. With 5G phones starting to go on sale in 2019, people predict that 2020 will be the real start of the whole 5G revolution. (Mundy and Rogerson, 2018, np)
Huang Wei (2018), the vice-minister of science and technology of China, presented a speech on the future development of 5G at the seminar. He cited data from agencies and said that by 2035, the 5G value chain would create $3.5 trillion in direct output, bring $12.3 trillion in economic scale, exceed the exponential growth of the automobile industry, health care, education, and other industries, and provide more than 22 million jobs. To give a better understanding, let me explain the potential of 5G through its application scenarios.
Does 5G only mean higher Internet speeds?
In fact, according to the International Telecommunication Union (2018), the application scenarios of 5G systems are characterized not only by “Enhanced mobile broadband” (eMBB) but also by “Massive machine-type communications” (mMTC) and “Ultra-reliable and low-latency communications” (uRLLC).
Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)
As most users think, 5G wireless communication aims at mobility and business continuity, providing users with high-speed internet experience anytime and anywhere, such as being able to download a 1gb movie in a second. It will dramatically change the way people receive and transmit information. When it combines with cloud technology, people browse and use files in the cloud as easy as opening a computer folder, and perhaps the 5G device does not need to come with powerful computing functions and storage function components, in the future people will save all documents in the cloud.
There is a popular saying that with such a rapid flow of information, future mobile networks will not charge for data, perhaps for free, or that operators will charge for it in a different way. I feel interested in the fact that the communications business changes with technology. In the old days, between 2G and 3G, operators charged people based on the number of messages they sent. Today, 3G and 4G technologies bring people multimedia mobile services such as pictures and video, and people need to pay according to the calculation of data.
From this perspective, eMBB is equivalent to the change of 3–4g network speed, which is used to improve the application experience for users. mMTC and uRLLC are new scenarios launched for the industry to promote the transformation of 5G from the era of the mobile internet to the era of the Internet of things (IoT).
Massive machine-type communications (mMTC)
mMTC could realize the interconnection of everything. A Senior analyst Ju, who is known for his expertise in analyzing data, commented on IoT in his article:
From the perspective of demand level, the Internet of things is firstly to meet the needs of object identification and information reading. The second is to transmit and share the information through the network. Then is the system management and information data analysis brought by the growth of internet-connected objects, and finally, it would change the business model of enterprises and people’s lifestyle. (2017)
How could it be used? According to ITU’s report (2018), it is suitable for public safety as well as for use in mission-critical services, such as smart grids, police and security services, energy and water utilities, and healthcare. Huawei (2018) also mentioned the building of a smart city for the future application of this technology. Which simply means, all sensors can be connected wirelessly, and real-time pollution monitoring, traffic management and video monitoring can be carried out in urban management.
The significance lies not only in the interconnection within the industry but also in the interconnection of information across industries. I used to study public management, and one of the courses is emergency management, which is specialized in dealing with urban emergencies. Coupling induction in emergency management refers to the effect in which different factors influence each other lead to the occurrence of emergencies, and people collect all kinds of relevant information to predict emergencies in advance. Smart city can build a network with stronger information perception and communication ability with the help of 5G technology, which can promote information sharing, communication and integration among different departments and levels of the city and improve the utilization of urban resources.
Ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (uRLLC)
Currently, people often feel dizzy with VR technology due to the long time delay. For VR to achieve a perfect virtual reality experience, the delay should be less than 20ms in order to alleviate the sense of dizziness effectively, and the delay of the 5G network can be 1ms, which will significantly promote the application of VR technology. Its low latency performance characteristics make it suitable for remote surgery, factory automation and the control of real-time processes. (ITU, 2018)
In terms of autonomous driving, on the one hand, 5G will perfectly solve the pain point of autonomous driving with too long time delay. On the other hand, it means that the feasibility of “vehicle-road coordination” has been dramatically improved with the implement of IoT. In the medical field, it can help doctors to provide accurate telemedicine diagnosis and surgery. Perhaps in the future doctors will work in a room with remotely operated instruments but without patients.
The figure from the International Telecommunication Union (2018)shows 5G usage scenarios in these three characteristics.
Challenges for designers
To be continue
Reference
Huawei. (2018) 5G era: Ten Application Secnarios white paper. Available at: https://www-file.huawei.com/-/media/corporate/pdf/mbb/5g-unlocks-a-world-of-opportunities-cn.pdf?la=zh&source=corp_comm (Accessed: 1 March 2019).
International Telecommunication Union (2018) Setting the Scene for 5G: Opportunities and challenges. Available at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Documents/ITU_5G_REPORT-2018.pdf (Accessed: 1 March 2019).
Ju, C. (2017) How the 5G internet will change the world. Available at: https://www.zhihu.com/question/28593566/answer/241557434 (Accessed: 1 March 2019).
Rogerson, J., Mundy, J. (2018) What is 5G and when will it arrive in the UK?. Available at: https://5g.co.uk/guides/what-is-5g/ (Accessed: 1 March 2019).
Tian, X. (2018) Deepen the development of 5G technology and integrate innovation. Available at: http://www.cww.net.cn/article?id=443092 (Accessed: 1 March 2019).
List of Images
Fig. 1: Kronfli, B., Swider, M. (2018) Huawei-Mate X. Available at: https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/huawei-mate-x (Accessed: 1 March 2019).
Fig. 2: Digital Trends (2018) How 5G will change your smartphone, and your life in 2019. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC_Sfkh5-zQ (Accessed: 1 March 2019)
Fig. 3: Digital Trends (2018) How 5G will change your smartphone, and your life in 2019. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC_Sfkh5-zQ (Accessed: 1 March 2019)
Fig. 4: Digital Trends (2018) How 5G will change your smartphone, and your life in 2019. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC_Sfkh5-zQ (Accessed: 1 March 2019)
Fig. 5: International Telecommunication Union (2018) Setting the Scene for 5G: Opportunities and challenges. Available at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Documents/ITU_5G_REPORT-2018.pdf (Accessed: 1 March 2019).
