𝐈𝐨𝐓'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞

 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 - 𝐈𝐨𝐓'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐲 - 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐡 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐃 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 - 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐡

If you are someone who keeps an eye out for technological news, you have probably heard about 5G - an advancement that is currently taking the world by storm. With companies like Samsung and Huawei announcing 5G enabled devices, tech giants worldwide are already fighting to stay ahead in the 5G race. The textbook definition of 5G is simply the fifth generation of wireless networking technology. Essentially it is an advanced version of the phone network that we use every day to stay connected. This simple definition may make the hype around it seem exaggerated, but 5G is so much more than it appears to be!

What are the other G’s?

The fifth generation of cellular technology is the predecessor to the prevalent 4G networks of today, which in turn was followed by the 1G, 2G, and 3G networks. Every generation of cellular networks offered something new that we could transfer with our phones with improved speeds. 1G gave us the ability to transmit sound using analog signals. 2G introduced text messages and made the transmissions digital and more secure. 3G enabled us to browse the internet right from our phones, presenting the very first smartphones. 4G made everything ten times faster, allowing us to stream YouTube and Netflix on the go! To fully appreciate the advancements that we have produced until 4G, we would need to spend a day using 3G networks and experience the dreadfully slow speeds!

Why 5G?

As the world moves forward, we need to transfer more information over the air to meet our requirements. Simply pushing out extra data through the existing networks will not make this possible. There is a limitation to the maximum amount of data that any network technology can transfer. Moreover, with an increase in mobile devices, the current cellular channels are becoming saturated, slowing speeds down even more. 5G introduces much larger bandwidths, which is the maximum amount of information that can be transferred from one point to another. The increased bandwidth promises speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second - 600 times faster than typical 4G connections and 10 times faster than the quickest ones! These blazingly fast speeds also reduce the latency period - the duration for signals to reach their destinations. 5G also permits more devices to communicate with each other simultaneously.

All of these mean that the applications of 5G go far beyond just faster browsing. 5G promises to lay out the foundations of virtual reality, autonomous driving, distant medical procedures, and the internet of things. Applications like remote surgeries and remote handling of machinery require responses to be carried out as soon as instructions are provided. For such tasks to be truly human-like, there needs to be delays that are lower than or equal to the human reaction time. Luckily for us, the latency period for 5G is around five milliseconds, a value that is 20 times faster than the average human reaction time! Similarly, self-driving or autonomous vehicle systems need to communicate very fast with centralized servers to stay updated about traffic information. Imagine if two vehicles in adjacent streets in an intersection both see the green light due to a split-second network lag. With 5G, the dream of autonomous cars becoming the norm is closer to reality than ever before!

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the field of technology destined to benefit the most out of 5G. Humans have already achieved smartphones, smart TVs, and even smart refrigerators. But there is so much more "smartness" that we can achieve! IoT aims to connect every device that you can possibly think of to the internet. The network of machines will transmit and receive data to reinforce each other's functionalities and provide maximum performance. For homes, this means more comfort and security. For industries, this means increased throughput and efficiency. Moreover, data-driven fields like machine learning will also flourish with the advent of 5G, as more data becomes available to us.

How does 5G work?

The primary backbone of 5G, coincidentally, relies on five new technologies.

First and foremost, we have the "Millimeter Waves (mmWaves)." Mobile networks operate using radio waves within a specific spectrum of wave frequencies. Up until 4G, we have been limited to waves below 6 GHz only. As mentioned before, this spectrum has become crowded due to the millions of devices relying on it every day. 5G expands the radio frequency spectrum to 300 GHz, broadening the bandwidth channel and allowing more devices to connect to the network. Moreover, the widened channel means lower traffic and, consequently, lower latency periods. These high-frequency waves have small wavelengths in the order of millimeters (mm) and are therefore called Millimeter Waves. The increased frequencies mean that more energy and information can be transferred per unit of time.

The drawback with mmWaves is that they have low penetration powers. They do not travel very well through walls and obstacles; trees and water easily absorb them. To overcome this, 5G makes use of another technology called Small Cell Networks. Typically, mobile networks rely on large base stations to broadcast signals over long distances. Instead of depending on a few large stations, 5G uses many smaller stations (cells), positioned so that the millimeter waves that they transmit face the least impediments. In turn, these small cells connect to larger base stations and form a hierarchical structure that allows for much better transmission of signals than previous generations. Small Cell Networks consume low power, making the whole process efficient as well.

5G also uses Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). MIMO refers to arrays of antennas that can process signals from multiple users simultaneously. As the name suggests, massive MIMO has a vast number of such antennas. To put it into perspective, today's 4G base stations have about ten ports for antennas, whereas 5G base stations can have up to 100 such ports.

While this increases the network capacity significantly, many antennas in a single station also cause more interference between signals. This disadvantage arises because today's antennas are designed to transceive signals in all directions. Many such devices packed in a small space leads to more superposition of waves.

To address the interference problem, 5G makes use of Beamforming. Instead of transmitting waves in all directions, antennas explicitly direct concentrated beams of radiation towards a specific receiver. Antennas may also direct signals towards reflective surfaces, like walls, from where the signals may reach their targets. A massive MIMO base station receives many signals, traces every signal's source using complex signal processing algorithms, detects the best route for the response-signals, and focuses every output specifically towards a user. The combination of Massive MIMO and Beamforming increases 5G's capability to deal with many devices at once.

The final foundation of 5G is Full Duplex technology. Usually, antennas are not able to transmit and receive waves simultaneously using the same frequency channel. 5G stations use advanced semiconductor switches that allow signals of the same frequencies to travel in both directions without any interference. This increases the capacity of 5G networks even more!

The exciting technologies that make 5G possible are easier described than implemented. There need to be significant infrastructure developments to deploy 5G fully. However, counting the benefits that come out of it, building these foundations is a minimal price to pay!

When does it become available?

Phone makers have already rolled out 5G enabled devices to the markets. However, it is essential to realize the difference between possessing 5G and experiencing it! By 2025, with the proper infrastructures and groundwork in place, 5G is expected to be the world's mobile networking standard. Considering that the technology is currently emerging to its full potential, it is normal to take a few more years until we start to live the 5G experience. This does not mean we are overstating the capabilities of 5G or keeping too many expectations out of it. It would be helpful to remember that although 4G was initially launched in 2010, it was not until much later that we started realizing the leap forward. For now, we will have to wait and discover what 5G holds for the future!

Welcome to the new era!

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us that having fast and reliable wireless networks is no longer a luxury but rather a necessity. Connectivity has always been the future for us, and the emergence of 5G takes us strides ahead in that direction. The applications and implications of 5G are so powerful that we are indeed headed towards a new era of technology!