Silicon Updates: Fifth Generation (5G) in mobile communications – Basic things you need to know

What is 5G?

Information is usually transmitted in various forms – over wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems. Over a period of time, transmitting information has changed drastically. The current technology used for information transmission is 5G – Fifth Generation. This is the upgrade of currently existing 4G technology.

Image source: Google

History of 5G:

The next generation in cellular technology is 5G, which was started at the end of 2018. On 3^rd April 2019, 5G mobile services were introduced in Chicago and Minneapolis. This was the first time in the world that a 5G enabled smartphone was connected to a 5G network.

Verizon is the leading company that developed, established and accelerated 5G innovation in the initial stages. In 2015, Verizon created 5G Technology Forum (5GTF), which helped to accelerate the release of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) standard in December 2017. Later, Verizon introduced a number of 5G phones, including Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, LG V50 among others.

Technical aspects of 5G:

5G initially used high frequency spectrum known as millimeter wave spectrum. In 5G there exists labels like in Verizon 5G UW (Ultra-Wide) where signals are using millimeter wave, and in AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) called 5G Plus.

In 5G there are low band, mid band, and millimeter wave air waves. Low band 5G provides best coverage but speeds are not much better. Millimeter wave provides higher frequency range and speed is good up to 1Gbps, but the range is short and that it doesn’t cover indoors. Mid band as the name implies it offers faster speed than low band while it has better coverage than millimeter wave.

5G vs 4G:

• 5G is superior to 4G. 4G was built upon data and application technology introduced by 3G in early 2000s. 5G provides high reliability and ultrafast speed than that of 4G.
• 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology is only capable of using lower frequency bands up to 6GHz, whereas in 5G radio bands will handle up to 30 GHz and 300 GHz.
• 5G support massive data transfers. 5G can reach speeds up to 20 times faster than 4G LTE. 4G LTE has a peak speed of 1GB per second while 5G can achieve speeds of 20 GB per second.
• 5G have capacity to handle up to a million devices per square kilometer. In 4G competing bandwidth results in slow network connectivity.
• 5G has better efficiency than 4G. Better efficiency means it wastes less power. 5G has better mobility than 4G.

Image source: Google

Before 5G:

Every generation of wireless communication standard has brought improvements of technology. 1G is first generation of wireless telephone technology. These are analog telecommunication standards. 1G was introduced in 1979. 2G (Second Generation) was introduced in mid-1980’s. These are digital telecommunications. Speed of 2G is 14.4 kbps. 

2G provides services such as text messages, picture messages, multimedia message services. 3G technology introduced in 1998. This technology provides an information transfer of at least 144 k bit/sec. CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards for sending voice, data and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. 

4G technology was introduced in 2009 in Norway and Stockholm and in United States in 2011 with 700 MHz band. Applications of 4G are mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high definition mobile TV, video conferencing, 3D television, and cloud computing.

Image source: Google

Benefits of 5G:

• 5G greatly enhances the speed, coverage and responsiveness of wireless networks. 
• 5G speed range is up to 1 Gbps (10 to 100 times speedier than our typically cellular connection)
• Low Latency up to 1 millisecond. (Latency is the response time that delay between sending and receiving of information)
• 1000x bandwidth per unit area, 99.99% availability and 100% coverage.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, 5G is one of the biggest technological information for our lifetime with unlimited possibilities. 5G can change everything.          

 

Image source: Google