"The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence."
~ Nikola Tesla
Yet again Nikola Tesla predicted something and it became true. We are living in the decade where technology is changing like blitzkrieg and in just a span of few months new technology is becoming obsolete. Today, I'm going to discuss about the latest telecommunication technology: the 5G technology.
Current 4G mobile standards have the potential to provide 100s of Mbps. 5G offers to take that into multi-gigabits per second, giving rise to the ‘Gigabit Smartphone’. At this moment the tecnology giants like Google, Qualcomm, Nokia, Samsung etc. are finding ways to bring 5G tecnology to market as soon as possilbe since it will be a game changer.
Let us first understand What is 5G???
In simple words 5G is the fifth generation of mobile technology with following properties:
1. mm Wavelength
Millimeter wave (also millimeter band) is the band of spectrum between 30 gigahertz (GHz) and 300 Ghz.
2. Low Latency and High Capacity
High capacity means the download and the upload speed will be >1 Gbps and low latency means the response time will be very fast.
3. Massive MIMO(Multiple Input Multipe Output)
In MIMO technology we use multiple antennas at input as well as at output to receive and transmit signal. MIMO is used in 4G technology. Minimum number of antennas must be two for MIMO. For 5G, we use massive MIMO. In massive MIMO there are tens of antennas on a single equipment. We are able to achieve this because we using milimeter frequency. By using milimeter wave the size of antennas and spacing also decreases.
4. 2Ghz Bandwidth
The 1-10 mm wavelength will enable us to use wide channel bandwidth possibly 1-2 GHz. Using frequencies much higher in the frequency spectrum opens up more spectrum to telecom players.
5. Advanced antenna technology
The length of antenna will be very short since we will be using 1-10 mm wavelength(the size of antenna should be ¼ of the wavelength). The size of devices will decrease eventually. So we have to use small size antenna for base station instead of existing big size antennas to overcome losses. This can also improve the frequency reuse factor. But this will increase the infrastructure cost.
6. Dense Network
As we keen on increasing the frequency the attenuation also increases and the signal strength is strong only for short distance. The signal will not be able to even penetrate walls of our home. Even slight changes in weather will affect the signal strength. To overcome this we will need to place the mobile towers at a shorter distance.
5G Disruption Areas:
Timeline of 5G development:
Key Features of 5G:
1. 5G will be driven by softwares like Network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN). By doing this system cost will reduce and infrastructure can be improved by just software updates. Network functions are expected to run over a unified operating system in a number of points of presence, especially at the edge of the network for meeting performance target.
2. 5G will ease and optimize network management operations. The development of cognitive features as well as the advanced automation of operation through proper algorithms will allow optimizing complex business objectives, such as end-to-end energy consumption. In addition, the exploitation of Data Analytics and Big Data techniques will pave the way to monitor the users Quality of Experience through new metrics combining network and behavioral data while guaranteeing privacy.
Opportunities:
1. New Businesses will emerge, paving way for new players.(It is the best time to start the business. Who knows you may end up becoming billinaire.)
2. Many areas will open for wireless research.
3. IoT space, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics will become biggest sectors.
Challenges:
1. Network Infrastructure
2. Spectrum Availability
3. Millimetre wave frequencies don't pass through solid objects very well, which would prove a problem for indoor and urban reception
Present Scenario:
1. Back in October 2015 we reported on just such tests conducted by China's Huawei and Japan's NTT Docomo network. They had managed to hit peak data speeds of 3.6Gbps using a sub-6GHz band.
2. A research team commissioned by the government to work on 5G technology has already filed 100 patents so far — of which around 10 have already been granted.
3. Qualcomm recently launched 5G modem recently.
4. Nokia has also invested heavily in 5G and they are looking forward for a comeback despirately.
Flagship Feature of 5G:
I'm super excited about wireless charging over a long distance which will be possible using 5G technology enabled Power Beacon. Chargers will become obselete. Even though this feature of 5G is under research lets hope for the best(fingers crossed). Feel free to ask doubts about it. For more info about 5G follow Maged Elkashian.
Future:
We can expect 5G to start rolling in the market by 2020. Gartner expects 20.8 billion internet enabled devices by 2020 – up from just 6.4 billion in 2016. The 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership, in short 5G PPP, has been initiated by the EU Commission and industry manufacturers, telecommunications operators, service providers, SMEs and researchers. The 5G PPP will deliver solutions, architectures, technologies and standards for the ubiquitous next generation communication infrastructures of the coming decade. Augumented reality, virtual reality and autonomus driving cars will become reality.
Thanks for your patience. Feel free to comment and correct.
"While in past technology has taken our time, the future can give us back."
Links and source:https://5g-ppp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-Vision-Brochure-v1.pdf
https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/research/?file=141208-5g.pdf&download
http://www.verizonwireless.com/news/article/2014/09/5-quotable-quotes-about-5g.html
https://www.ericsson.com/5g?gclid=CjwKEAiA1ITCBRDO-oLA-q_n8xYSJADjBQfG8-9mqbwdRjlVdqSMx6W7Bjp7IanIXtIKH6m8kRvonhoC61fw_wcB
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/3g-4g-now-5g-india-takes-early-call/articleshow/54945462.cms
https://networks.nokia.com/innovation/5g
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-5g-a-rough-guide-to-the-next-generation-of-mobile-networks
http://www.marketstrategies.com/blog/2015/03/gimme-5-what-to-expect-from-5g-wireless-networks/
https://5g-ppp.eu/
http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/cellulartelecomms/5g-mobile-cellular/technology-basics.php
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-5g-a-rough-guide-to-the-next-generation-of-mobile-networks#rhreyhCdD1htJAoB.99
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-5g-a-rough-guide-to-the-next-generation-of-mobile-networks#rhreyhCdD1htJAoB.99
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/huawei-5g-download-speed-real-world-release
http://www.marketstrategies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-03-5g-fig1.jpg
http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1467981/5g-city-future.jpg
http://www.marketstrategies.com/blog/2015/03/gimme-5-what-to-expect-from-5g-wireless-networks/