5G Technology: A Beginner’s Guide To The New-Age Wireless Network
Imagine a world where all devices are connected over wireless networks, a world where data transfer speeds are 20 times faster than what your current mobile network provides. Yes, we’re talking about the much anticipated 5G technology.
It’s funny how autonomous cars, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet of Things have become a reality, but an ultrafast mobile data network was missing from the scene.
5G Technology has the capacity to make possible our dream of lightning-fast download speeds across wireless networks, and more.
According to TechTarget:
5G Technology is the next generation of mobile networks beyond LTE mobile networks or 4G networks as we know them.
With major mobile network carriers in the US such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint planning to introduce their mobile 5G networks within the year, and several others claiming to lead 5G research, 5G service is expected to break the markets soon.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has released several reports on 5G standard, also known as the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) — 2020 radio interface(s).
As per ITU guidelines, 5G mobile network speeds should have downlink peak data rate or download speeds of 20 Gb/s and uplink peak data rate or upload speeds of 10 Gb/s, which essentially makes 5G service 20 times faster than the existing 4G networks.
5G evolution is not simply over 4G networks, but through imagining specific uses and applications of existing and predicted requirements.
5G evolution can be credited to the need for connecting everything over wireless networks, lightning fast download speeds, and supporting the Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
How Does 5G Technology Work?
To understand how 5G Technology works, we need to understand a number of smaller technologies that are crucial to the 5G evolution:
5G Technology uses a variety of spectrum bands, including millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) radio spectrum that can carry large amounts of data over short distances.
The limitation of higher frequency bands such as millimeter-wave is that they are easily obstructed by things like walls of buildings and have a low coverage area.
While 5G standard offers great benefits over higher frequencies such as the millimeter wave, it will also work at a lower frequency such as the one Wi-Fi currently uses, without creating conflicts with existing Wi-Fi or existing 4G networks.
The 5G connection will, therefore, use small cells to complement traditional cellular towers.
Small cells are low-powered portable base stations covering smaller areas. As 5G technology spreads farther, users can expect small cell networks set up even in their own homes.
Beamforming is a 5G technology that takes the most efficient route for delivering data to users, with higher frequency antennas navigating narrower transmission beams.
Small cells, combined with beamforming, enable faster coverage with low latency.
Standardization of 5G Technology
Currently, 5G mobile systems are still in development stages.
Several mobile network companies are looking to become part of the 5G wireless network. Also, there is intense research being conducted in learning from the use cases of 5G.
Many of the technologies being used for 5G service are being inculcated in the systems being used for existing 4G networks, which will then be incorporated into the 5G connection as it begins to gain solid ground.
The 5G standard has been set such that it serves across a wide variation in terms of requirement, right from superfast download speed for seamless streaming of high definition large format videos to small data pockets needed for IoT or virtual reality and the scope for transferring a large amount of data at high speeds.
A layered approach is therefore likely to be adopted for 5G mobile networks such that it caters to both high and low rates of data services.
Benefits of 5G Technology
There is no doubt about the fact that 5G wireless technology is bound to impact and be beneficial to almost all sectors and people, be it professionals, students, or common people …
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Originally published at https://get.tech on May 22, 2019.
