Adding a ‘G’ to you network
India is expecting a 5G rollout this year. But what does that even mean?
Introduction
5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. It was introduced back in 2016 but could only become a reality in 2018 when South Korea became the first country to adopt it on a large scale. 5G has had 4 predecessors. Interestingly, the technology behind all the ‘G’s and even FM and AM radio broadcasting is exactly the same, electromagnetic waves.
5G Spectrum
In India, 5G may rollout in the existing Spectrum band initially. Which means it will be sharing space with LTE network (4G). This will make up the lower frequency band of 5G which could will be used for less-densely populated areas because data can travel further, though slower, on these frequencies. This will still be faster than 4G due to improved transmission devices and lesser number of users. Eventually we might even gain access to mid frequency band and the super-fast upper frequency band, the mmWave spectrum. The mmWaves have a frequency of 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz and can’t pass through large objects, like a building, due to it’s small wavelength.
What will it take?
Rigorous definition of 5G is is difficult to make at this stage. However, certain performance parameters has been set that focus upon low latency(<1ms), Energy efficiency (90% more that LTE) and connection density (100 times LTE).
Delivering 5G will be challenging and still requires R&D in the fields of telecommunication and network architecture. Moreover, the infrastructure required to deliver 5G expands beyond MIMO antennas and high frequency bands. Key players like Huawei are focusing on the development of new multiplexing schemes, new coding schemes, shorter transmit time interval (TTI) for minimizing latency. Improvement on Beamforming is expected to tackle with the challenge with network coverage. 5G has a long way to go before it reaches us in it’s truest form.
How is it different?
The best aspect of being able to switch to 5G in 2021 is that 4G has not peaked out yet. Every generation of broadband network came up with new concept. While 1G transmitted analogue signals, 2G switched to digital signals. 3G shifted from packet network to internet. 4G added a massive number of subscribers through wide area coverage. While 5G is an improvement over the existing concepts through newer technologies. A major difference between 5G and 4G is this congestion will be eliminated.People could use a 5G WIFI router instead of paying for in-home broadband — this will suit renters who don’t necessarily want contracts tied to a property.
What will it bring?
Arguably, 5G’s biggest differentiator to 4G will be as a gateway for the Internet of Things at a larger scale. The commercial success of any IoT is ultimately tied to its performance, which is dependent on how quickly it can communicate with other IoT devices, smartphones and tablets, software in the form of its app or website, and more. With 5G, data-transfer speeds will increase significantly. Besides, a core 5G feature is mMTC, and that’s about density, supporting many devices at once.
Mixed Reality is another technology that could finally become a reality through 5G. To support AR and VR environments devices need to be able to access and manage huge amounts of data, among other things. The higher throughput of 5G will be necessary for VR and AR content that’s streamed from the cloud.
5G unleashes a lot of things, all at once. At it’s best, it has set the stage for upcoming technologies and has minimized the limitations of developers round the globe.
