5G (fifth generation network) is under development. Promising to deliver blazing-fast speeds and eliminate congestion, the technology promises to revolutionize mobile networks and create new economic opportunities: but, how will it do this? How will it differ from 4G?
The much-anticipated fifth generation of mobile telecommunications technology, 5G. It promises to be a sea change for mobile networks – promising exponentially faster real-time downloads and data sharing.
At the end of this year, some mobile operators will launch trials of the first iteration of 5G in different cities in the UK, and many trial areas have been launched around the world. Verizon, headquartered in the United States, has launched commercial 5G in the United States for the first time, Switzerland’s Swisscom and Ericsson are also among them, while other regions that have enabled 5G are in the Asia-Pacific region, dominated by China.
Ericsson predicts that by 2024, 1.5 billion users (40% of global population coverage) will use 5G networks. But how does the technology actually work, and will reality live up to expectations?
How does 5G work?
5G is a new digital system for converting bytes (units of data) over the air. It uses the 5G new radio interface, as well as other new technologies, to take advantage of higher radio frequencies (700Hz at 4G, compared to 700Hz-2500MHz higher radio frequencies) to transmit exponentially more data for faster speeds and less congestion and lower latency, which is the delay before an instruction begins data transfer.
This new interface, which uses millimeter wave spectrum, enables the use of more devices within the same geographic area. 4G can support about 4,000 devices per square kilometer, while 5G can support about one million devices. This means more short video media, voice calls and video broadcasts can be transmitted without interruption in limited airspace.
5G also uses a new digital technology called Massive MIMO, which stands for Multiple Input Multiple Output, which uses multiple targeted beams to focus and track users around a cell, improving coverage, speed and capacity. Current network technology works like floodlights, illuminating an area but wasting a lot of light/signal. Part of the rollout of 5G involves installing Massive MIMO and 5G New Radio to all mobile network base stations on top of existing 4G infrastructure.
What is the difference between 5G and 4G?
Compared to third-generation mobile networks, 4G is capable of delivering high-quality video streaming and calls that were previously unachievable, meaning that routine viewing of live TV is now a daily commute. However, more video streaming increases network congestion.
4G reaches the technical limits of how much data can be transferred quickly across blocks of spectrum. The main difference between 5G and 4G is that this congestion will be eliminated. This means there will no longer be multiple network signals during peak hours, and web browsers will be unable to access them.
But arguably the biggest difference between 5G and 4G will be the gateways that connect the Internet of Things at scale. Subsequent iterations of 5G networks are expected to be revolutionary for data-driven industries, smart cities and infrastructure management, as it will be possible to enable more devices to work normally, reliably, securely and without interference in the same area. Overall, 5G has many advantages over 4G due to the new technology, spectrum and frequencies it uses. Higher speeds, less latency, capacity for a greater number of connected devices, less interference and greater efficiency.
How does 5G work in terms of bandwidth, latency and spectrum?
Each carrier owns a block of spectrum, which is a range of electromagnetic radio frequencies used to transmit voice, data and video throughout a country. This spectrum is added together to create their total network capacity, thus determining how fast they can transmit data.
Today, an operator might have 100 MHz of spectrum for all its UK customers, but eventually, as 5G becomes more widespread, it will increase to around 1000 MHz – that’s the real change for 5G. “
This will also create less latency in the system, meaning data will be transferred in real-time.
4G has about 20-30 milliseconds of latency, but 5G will have latency well below 10 milliseconds, with around 1 millisecond of latency in the best case scenario. And that won’t matter for consumers, but it will make things seem faster, but for industry, for example, for heavy machinery that transmits data remotely, controls remotely, it will be critical
So how fast is 5G?
5G networks enable device speeds that are around 10 times faster than 4G, which means high-quality, ultra-high-resolution 4K video calls – the standard used for commercial digital cinema – will be downloaded to smartphones and tablets much faster. Data transfers of less than 20 milliseconds will be standard. Gigabit speeds are useful for a few applications, such as transmitting 8k VR headset data over a 5G network, but for the average user, there isn’t much need for such speeds on mobile devices. Using a 4G network, you can instantly stream or download high-definition videos in real time.
What will 5G enable businesses and industries to do?
5G is expected to drive connectivity between people and machines on an unprecedented scale, leading to new business and economic opportunities. In fact, a report from industry analyst IHS Markit estimates that 5G will generate $12.3 trillion in revenue for the global economy by 2035. A study by International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that the amount of data created, captured, and replicated globally may reach 175 Zettabytes (ZB) by 2025, from 33 Zettabytes (ZB) in 2018.
Use cases include developing true haptic applications – where a touch or experience can be shared in real time – so a remote operator of a robot can “feel” and “touch” the machine through the machine, even if they are thousands of miles away. It can be used in factories, mines and even remote surgery.
“For critical applications, reducing latency to one to two milliseconds will be a game changer for remote coordination,” Mr Mills said.
Real-time, fast and reliable networking allows industries to liberate machines from cables for network connectivity and instead connect wirelessly, enabling more flexible, autonomous operations that increase productivity and reduce costs. For example, at the Boliden Aitik mine in Sweden, 5G-enabled automation for drilling and blasting reduced costs by 1%, saving €2.5 million annually.
According to research by the Worcestershire 5G Alliance, manufacturers can increase productivity by 1-3% through more flexible and better-managed production lines in wireless factories powered by 5G, thereby saving millions of pounds.
5G is also expected to create truly connected and smart cities and become a supporting network for autonomous vehicles.
How secure is 5G?
Many of these applications can benefit from network slicing – dividing the network to adjust speed, capacity, coverage, encryption and security – which can be easily achieved using 5G. Slices provide manufacturers and other companies with private networks through which they can fully control and support their IoT solutions to enable reliable communications and ensure quality of service and cloud- or edge-based computing. This provides extra security that WIFI cannot, it shares the spectrum with others and is therefore more susceptible to interference, which is harder to achieve with 4G . If a company has particularly sensitive data that is controlled by regulatory requirements, that data can be sent over fundamentally different network blocks to protect privacy, and slicing can support 5G very seamlessly.
When will 5G arrive?
While testing is already underway globally, truly widespread 5G coverage in the UK will require low-band spectrum (700-900GHz range), which won’t be available until 2020.
Early releases of 5G will primarily focus on densely populated urban areas, or places where people want to build and test new 5G applications for Industry 4.0 or automotive applications. Nor is it likely to be a “big bang” moment when 5G networks “turn on ,” so to speak. Instead, it will be an “evolutionary process.”
Starting in 2020, consumers are likely to buy phones and find 5G coverage areas in cities. It is expected that by 2022, large-scale markets will be adopted, with the biggest push coming from China, Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, and countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
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