5G – Dr Rajiv Desai

5G

December 1, 2019 by Dr Rajiv Desai

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Prologue:

Today’s wireless networks have run into a problem: More people and devices are consuming more data than ever before, but it remains crammed on the same bands of the radio-frequency spectrum that mobile providers have always used. That means less bandwidth for everyone, causing slower service and more dropped connections. The rapid increase of mobile data growth and the use of smartphones are creating unprecedented challenges for wireless service providers to overcome a global bandwidth shortage. As today’s cellular providers attempt to deliver high quality, low latency video and multimedia applications for wireless devices, they are limited to a carrier frequency spectrum ranging between 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz. Carrier frequency is the basic operative frequency of radio wave that carries information (voice, video, data) from one place to another place by modulation. A modulated carrier radio wave, carrying an information signal, occupies a range of frequencies. The information (modulation) in a radio signal is usually concentrated in narrow frequency bands called sidebands just above and below the carrier frequency. The width in hertz of the frequency range that the radio signal occupies, the highest frequency minus the lowest frequency, is called its bandwidth (BW). A given amount of bandwidth can carry the same amount of information (data rate in bits per second) regardless of where the carrier frequency is located all else being equal, so bandwidth is a measure of information-carrying capacity. For example, a 3 kHz bandwidth can carry a telephone conversation no matter whether carrier frequency is 900 MHz or 1800 MHz. Spectrum bandwidth is the allowable frequency range over which information signals can be transmitted. Since spectrum bandwidth is proportional to the center frequency (carrier frequency), the highest frequencies are also those that carry the most capacity. The global spectrum bandwidth allocation for all cellular technologies does not exceed 780 MHz. Each major wireless provider in each country has, at most, approximately 200 MHz of spectrum across all of the different cellular bands available to them.

The global spectrum bandwidth shortage facing wireless carriers has motivated the exploration of the underutilized millimeter wave (mmwave) frequency spectrum for future broadband cellular communication networks. Millimeter waves occupy the carrier frequency spectrum from 30 GHz to 300 GHz having wavelength in the range of 1mm to 10 mm. Greater the frequency of carrier radio wave, lesser is the wavelength, greater is the modulation capacity (information carrying capacity) and lesser is the range. Lesser the frequency of carrier radio wave, greater is the wavelength, lesser is the modulation capacity and greater is the range. So mm wave carries far greater information albeit for short range.

We are now heading towards the fourth industrial revolution, which is based on digital revolution and marked by emerging technology breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, nanotechnology, biotechnology, etc. This new wave of technological revolution is changing the way we work, live, and communicate with each other. We can see emergence of unprecedented applications and services such as artificial intelligence, smart home, autonomous vehicles, drone-based delivery systems, smart cities, smart factories, etc. Regardless of advanced 4G network, it is difficult to provide mobile services that need high speed, high reliability, rapid response, and energy efficiency.

The term 5G refers to fifth generation of wireless technology. 5G means fifth generation wireless cellular (mobile) network technology and fifth generation fixed wireless access (5G FWA). The recent research on 5G services and their technical requirements have been performed by the International Telecommunication Union-Radio communication Sector (ITU-R), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In the ITU-R Working Party (WP) 5D, 5G is defined by the name of International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020). Its predecessor 4G is referred to as IMT-Advanced.

The vision of 5G is to provide super ultra-low latency user experience, fiber-like access data rate, connect more than 100 billion devices and deliver a consistent experience across diverse scenarios with enhanced energy and cost efficiency. 5G network is projected to support large amount of data traffic and massive number of wireless connections. 5G mobile network aims to address the limitations of previous cellular standards (i.e. 2G, 3G, and 4G) and be a prospective key enabler for future Internet of Things (IoT). 5G networks support a wide range of applications such as smart home, autonomous driving, drone operations, health and mission critical applications, Industrial IoT (IIoT), entertainment and multimedia.

I have already published articles on computer and internet, cell phone, smart phone, IoT, digital transaction and artificial intelligence in this website. Now it is time for 5G.

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Abbreviations and synonyms:

RF = radiofrequency

EMF = electromagnetic field

EMR = electromagnetic radiation

RFR = radiofrequency radiation

3GPP = 3rd Generation Partnership Project

AN = Access Network

APN = Access Point Name

AR = Augmented Reality

BEREC = Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications

ETSI = European Telecommunications Standards Institute

BPSK = Binary Phase Shift Keying

BW = Bandwidth

CA = Carrier Aggregation

DNS = Domain Name System

DSL = Digital Subscriber Line

eCPRI = Enhanced Common Public Radio Interface

eLTE = Enhanced LTE

eMBB = Enhanced Mobile Broadband

FTTX = Fiber To The X

FWA = Fixed Wireless Access

GBR = Guaranteed Bit Rate

IP = Internet Protocol

IT = Information Technology

ITU-R = International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector

LTE = Long Term Evolution

MBR = Maximum Bit Rate

MIMO = Multiple-Input Multiple-Output

mMTC = Mobile Machine Type Communications

NFV = Network Function Virtualization

NR = New Radio

NSA = Non StandAlone

QCI = QoS Class Identifier

QoS = Quality of Service

QPSK = Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

RAN = Radio Access Network

SA = StandAlone

SAE = System Architecture Evolution

OFDM = Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

SMS = Short Message Service

uRLLC = Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications

Vo5G = Voice over 5G

VoLTE = Voice over LTE

VoNR = Voice over NR

VoWiFi = Voice over WiFi

VR = Virtual Reality

WRC = World Radiocommunication Conference

ICT = Information and Communications Technology

IMT-2020 = International Mobile Telecommunication 2020 standards

IoT = Internet of Things

ITU = International Telecommunication Union

LTE-A Pro = Long-Term Evolution Advanced Pro

mmwave = Millimeter Wave

ROF =Radio-over-Fiber

WLAN = Wireless Local Area Network

2G = Second Generation wireless network

3G = Third Generation wireless network

4G = Fourth Generation wireless network

5G = Fifth Generation wireless network

5GC = 5G Core (network)

GSM = Global System for Mobile communications

GSMA = GSM association

CDMA = Code Division Multiple Access.

SIM = Subscriber Identity Module

C-RAN = cloud radio access network = centralized RAN

MNO = Mobile Network Operator

SNR = signal to noise ratio

ms = millisecond

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Common Wireless Connectivity Terms:

Antenna: That part of a radio communications system intended to radiate and/or collect radio frequency energy.

BPSK: Binary Phase Shift Keying – a modulation technique in which different phase angles in the carrier signal are used to represent the binary states of 0 and 1. 180 degrees separates the two states.

Cellular: A wireless communications network architecture that employs “cells” or modular coverage areas, typically serviced by a “cell site”, and usually provides hand-off capability between cells for roaming devices.

Coaxial Cable: A concentric two-conductor cable in which one conductor surrounds the other, separated by an insulator or dielectric.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA): A technique used to increase channel capacity which is associated with spread-spectrum systems. Code-division multiple access is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communication channel. This allows several users to share a band of frequencies.

Dipole Antenna: The most common wire antenna. Length is equal to one-half of the wavelength for the frequency of operation.

Ethernet: Ethernet is a type of wired network that supports high-speed communications among devices over Coaxial or Twisted pair cables.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC): A board of commissioners, appointed by the President, having the power to regulate wire and radio telecommunications in the United States.

Filter: A device used to block or reduce signals at certain frequencies while allowing others to pass through.

Grid Antenna: A type of antenna that employs an open-frame grid as a reflector, rather than a solid one. The grid spacing is sufficiently small to ensure that waves of the desired frequency cannot pass through, and are hence reflected back toward the driven element.

IP: Internet Protocol is a set of rules governing the format of data sent over the Internet or other network.

IP Address: Internet Protocol Address. This is a 32-bit address assigned to host on a TCP/IP Internet. The IP address has a host component and a network component.

Jamming: The typically intentional or malicious interference with another radio signal.

Microwave: Usually referring to all radio frequencies above 1 GHz or so. Microwaves have wavelengths approximately in the range of 30 cm (frequency = 1 GHz) to 1 mm (300 GHz). In this article, microwaves are a type of radio waves. Millimeter waves are microwaves.

Modulate: To vary the amplitude, frequency or phase of a carrier radio frequency wave in accordance with the information to be conveyed.

Network Address: A unique number associated with a host that identifies it to other hosts during network transactions.

Omni-Directional Antenna: An antenna that radiates or receives RF energy in a 360-degree patterns about an axis.

Parabolic Dish Antenna: An antenna that utilizes a dish-like reflector to focus radio energy of a specific range of frequencies on a tuned element.

Parabolic Grid Antenna: An antenna that employs an open-frame grid rather than a solid dish reflector.

Patch Antenna: Typically a flat rectangular or round antenna having a directional radiation pattern.

PING: The Packet Internet Groper is a program that is useful for testing and debugging networks. It sends an Echo to the specified host, and waits for a response. It reports success or failure statistics about its operation.

Propagation: The travel of a signal through a medium such as air or free space.

Radio Frequency (RF): Radio frequency (RF) refers to the rate of oscillation of electromagnetic radio waves in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz, as well as the alternating currents carrying the radio signals. This is the frequency band that is used for communications transmission and broadcasting. RF is usually referred to whenever a signal is transmitted through air or cable.

Radio Wave: A combination of electric and magnetic fields varying at a radio frequency and traveling through space at the speed of light.

Roaming: Typically used to describe a portable communications device moving its network connection from one fixed access point to another.

Router: A router has two or more network interfaces to different networks. The primary function of a router is to direct packets between these networks, delivering them to their final destination or to another router. When used with TCP/IP, the term refers to an IP gateway that routes data using IP destination addresses.

Server: A computer or network node that provides services to the network or other nodes.

Signal-To-Noise Ratio (SNR): A measure of the magnitude of a desired signal relative to the magnitude of an undesired signal or noise.

Spectrum: A series of radiated energies arranged in order of frequency/wavelength. The radio spectrum is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies from 30 hertz to 300 GHz. Electromagnetic waves in this frequency range, called radio waves, are widely used in modern technology, particularly in telecommunication.

Spread Spectrum (SS): In telecommunication and radio communication, spread-spectrum techniques are methods by which a signal generated with a particular bandwidth is deliberately spread in the frequency domain, resulting in a signal with a wider bandwidth.

Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS): Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) is a software-based functionality that allows a base station to simultaneously transmit LTE and 5G NR communications at the same time in the same band. Dynamic spectrum sharing allows operators to avoid re-farming.

Throughput: A measure of the volume of information which can be transmitted (typically bits per second) through a given communications system.

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA): A digital multiplexing technique whereby each signal is sent and received at a fixed time slots in a series of time slots. Time-division multiple access is a channel access method for shared-medium networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different time slots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using its own time slot.

Transceiver: A combination radio transmitter and receiver.

Wide Area Network (WAN): Large network formed by bridging smaller LANs or using dial-up lines. WANs can span the globe.

Wireless: A new all-encompassing “buzzword” which describes what used to be called “radio”, but which typically also implies some of the newer cellular or digital radio technologies as well.

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN): A short-range computer-to-computer wireless data communications network.

5G NR: 5G is fifth generation wireless and NR stands for New Radio.

Millimeter wave: All cellular networks use radio waves to ferry data over the air, with standard networks using spectrum in lower-frequency bands like 700 megahertz. Generally, the higher the band or frequency, the higher the data speed you can achieve. The consequence of higher frequency, however, is shorter range. To achieve those crazy-high 5G speeds, you need really, really high frequency spectrum. The millimeter wave range falls between 30 gigahertz and 300 gigahertz.

Small cell: Traditional cellular coverage typically stems from gigantic towers littered with different radios and antennas. Those antennas are able to broadcast signals at a great distance, so you don’t need a lot of them. Small cells are the opposite: backpack-size radios can be hung up on street lamps, poles, rooftops or other areas. They can broadcast a 5G signal only at a short range, so the idea is to have a large number of them in a densely packed network.

MIMO: An abbreviation of “multiple input, multiple output.” Basically, it’s the idea of shoving more antennas into our phones and on cellular towers. And you can always have more antennas. They feed into the faster Gigabit LTE network, and companies are deploying what’s known as 4×4 MIMO, in which four antennas are installed in a phone.

Carrier aggregation: Wireless carriers can take different bands of radio frequencies and bind them together so phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 can pick and choose the speediest and least congested one available. Think of it as a three-lane highway so cars can weave in and out depending on which lane has less traffic.

QAM: It stands for quadrature amplitude modulation.

Note that MIMO, carrier aggregation and QAM are already going into 4G advance networks, but they play an important role in 5G too.

Beam forming: Beamforming is the process that allows for a radio signal to be focused on its target. Beamforming makes use of the Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology. This is a way to direct 5G signals in a specific direction, potentially giving you your own specific connection. Carriers have been using beam forming for millimeter wave spectrum, getting around obstructions like walls or trees.

Unlicensed spectrum: Cellular networks all rely on what’s known as licensed spectrum, which they own and purchased from the government. But the move to 5G comes with the recognition that there just isn’t enough spectrum when it comes to maintaining wide coverage. So the carriers are moving to unlicensed spectrum, similar to the kind of free airwaves that our Wi-Fi networks ride on.

Network slicing: This is the ability to carve out individual slivers of spectrum to offer specific devices the kind of connection they need. For instance, the same cellular tower can offer a lower-power, slower connection to a sensor for a connected water meter in your home while at the same time offering a faster, lower-latency connection to a self-driving car that’s navigating in real time.

KPIs: Key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential to the success of any network provider. These are metrics established to quantify specific aspects of a functioning network. Reliability, as defined by IEEE, is “the ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time.” Each provider develops KPIs specific to their environment to ensure reliability and maintain proper controls on their network.

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Frequency conversion:

1 kiloHertz (kHz) = 1000 Hz

1 MegaHertz (MHz) = 1000 kHz

1 GigaHertz (GHz) = 1000 MHz

Prefixes for multiples of bits in Decimal system
Value		SI
1000	10³	k	kilo
1000²	10⁶	M	mega
1000³	10⁹	G	giga
1000⁴	10¹²	T	tera
1000⁵	10¹⁵	P	peta
1000⁶	10¹⁸	E	exa
1000⁷	10²¹	Z	zetta
1000⁸	10²⁴	Y	yotta

Internet speed measurement:

Kbps = kilobits per second = 1,000 bits per second

Mbps = megabits per second = 1,000 Kbps

Gbps = gigabit per second = 1,000 Mbps

Please note that internet speed and throughput of communication system are measured in bits per second while bandwidth is measures in Hertz; although the term bandwidth is also used for network speed. Larger bandwidth in Hertz can carry large amount of information (high data rate in bits per second).

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Radiocommunications are everywhere:

Nearly every sector of the economy relies upon the opportunity to effectively utilize the radio spectrum – a limited, shared natural resource – in some way. Besides the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, land-based transportation, public safety, maritime and air travel, weather forecasting, news gathering and dissemination, education, space exploration and research, banking, entertainment all use one or more radiocommunication services. Indeed, radiocommunications enable mobile phone calls, broadcast television programs, satellite navigation, online maps, and much more. They also play a crucial role in monitoring and transmitting change with regards to ocean temperature, vegetation patterns, water levels in aquifers and greenhouse gases – helping us predict famines, the path of a hurricane, or how the global climate is changing. Radiocommunication technologies are more and more diverse and pervasive, but they all rely on the same core elements: the availability of radio frequencies for terrestrial-based systems and space-based systems, which also includes their associated orbits, that can be operated free from harmful interference.

To ensure this availability, the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of radio-frequencies and associated satellite orbits allocate specific frequencies for various services and contain detailed technical provisions and regulatory procedures to ensure the rational, equitable, efficient use of frequency and orbit resources. The ITU has been maintaining this treaty for over 113 years. The development of international regulations and standards ensure networks are compatible, interoperable, and that they operate without causing or receiving harmful interference to or from adjacent services. They also allow for more affordable services and devices due to economies of scale.

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Radio waves:

Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by a radio receiver connected to another antenna. The radio waves from many transmitters pass through the air simultaneously without interfering with each other because each transmitter’s radio waves oscillate at a different rate, in other words each transmitter has a different frequency, measured in kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz). The receiving antenna typically picks up the radio signals of many transmitters. The receiver uses tuned circuits to select the radio signal desired out of all the signals picked up by the antenna, and reject the others. A tuned circuit (also called resonant circuit or tank circuit) acts like a resonator, similarly to a tuning fork. It has a natural resonant frequency at which it oscillates. The resonant frequency of the receiver’s tuned circuit is adjusted by the user to the frequency of the desired radio station; this is called “tuning”. The oscillating radio signal from the desired station causes the tuned circuit to resonate, oscillate in synchrony, and it passes the signal on to the rest of the receiver. Radio signals at other frequencies are blocked by the tuned circuit and not passed on. Radio is very widely used in modern technology, in radio communication, radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing and other applications. In radio communication, used in radio and television broadcasting, cell phones, two-way radios, wireless networking and satellite communication among numerous other uses, radio waves are used to carry information across space from a transmitter to a receiver, by modulating the radio signal (impressing an information signal on the radio wave by varying some aspect of the wave) in the transmitter. In radar, used to locate and track objects like aircraft, ships, spacecraft and missiles, a beam of radio waves emitted by a radar transmitter reflects off the target object, and the reflected waves reveal the object’s location. In radio navigation systems such as GPS and VOR, a mobile receiver receives radio signals from navigational radio beacons whose position is known, and by precisely measuring the arrival time of the radio waves the receiver can calculate its position on Earth. In wireless radio remote control devices like drones, garage door openers, and keyless entry systems, radio signals transmitted from a controller device control the actions of a remote device.

Radio waves were first predicted by mathematical work done in 1867 by British mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell noticed wavelike properties of light and similarities in electrical and magnetic observations. His mathematical theory, now called Maxwell’s equations, described light waves and radio waves as waves of electromagnetism that travel in space, radiated by a charged particle as it undergoes acceleration. In 1887, Heinrich Hertz demonstrated the reality of Maxwell’s electromagnetic waves by experimentally generating radio waves in his laboratory, showing that they exhibited the same wave properties as light: standing waves, refraction, diffraction, and polarization. Radio waves, originally called “Hertzian waves”, were first used for communication in the mid 1890s by Guglielmo Marconi, who developed the first practical radio transmitters and receivers, and radio began to be used commercially around 1900. The modern term “radio wave” replaced the original name “Hertzian wave” around 1912. To prevent interference between users, the emission of radio waves is strictly regulated by law, coordinated by an international body called the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which allocates frequency bands in the radio spectrum for different uses. The radio waves that are used in wireless communication are created artificially with electricity and they are used to transmit energy, and ultimately, information.

Radio wave basics:

You may have heard the words ‘longitudinal wave’ and ‘transverse wave’. Waves that, like sound, vibrate in the same direction as their direction of propagation are longitudinal waves, while waves that vibrate at right angles to their direction of propagation are transverse waves. Radio waves are one kind of transverse wave. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves include waves such as X rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared rays and so on. Among the kinds of electromagnetic waves, radio waves have a longer wave length than infrared rays, and are defined as electromagnetic waves with a frequency of less than 3,000 GHz. All electromagnetic waves consist of two different invisible energy fields that travel through space. The electric field and the magnetic field are at right angles to each other and to the direction of propagation or travel. Figure below shows the two fields and the direction of propagation.

Radio waves consist of electric and magnetic fields that continuously recreate each other and will push any electric charges they encounter. Both electric and magnetic fields contain energy. In a radio wave, this energy moves along with the fields. The electric field (E) and magnetic field (H) vibrate at right angles to each other. In this way, electric fields and magnetic fields have an integral relationship in radio waves, and neither one exists independently of the other.

The antenna transforms the electrical signal into electromagnetic waves which propagate outward from the antenna through space. The radio waves travel through space at the velocity of light, which is 186,284 miles per second or 300,000,000 meters per second. The basic operating frequency of a radio is called the carrier frequency, the signal carries the data or information that needs to be transmitted from one place to another. The wavelength of radio wave is the distance from peak to peak for the invisible waves in the electric and magnetic fields. Wavelength is measured in meters and it is inversely proportional to the frequency. The wavelength in meters can be found by dividing the constant 300,000,000 by the frequency in hertz.

Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Radio waves have frequencies as high as 300 gigahertz (GHz) to as low as 30 hertz (Hz). At 300 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 1 mm, and at 30 Hz is 10,000 km. They are generated by electric charges undergoing acceleration, such as time varying electric currents. Naturally occurring radio waves are emitted by lightning and astronomical objects. Radio waves in a vacuum travel at the speed of light. When passing through a material medium, they are slowed according to that object’s permeability and permittivity. Air is thin enough that in the Earth’s atmosphere radio waves travel very close to the speed of light.

Put simply, a radio wave is an electromagnetic wave. It can propagate through a vacuum, air, liquid, or even solid objects. It can be depicted mathematically as a sinusoidal curve as shown in figure below.

Figure above shows a sine wave representing a radio wave.

The distance covered by a complete sine wave (a cycle) is known as the wavelength. The height of the wave is called the amplitude. The number of cycles made in a second is known as the frequency. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz), also known as cycles per second. So, a 1 Hz signal makes a full cycle once per second. You should be familiar with this unit of measurement: if your new computer operates at 2 GHz, the internal clock of your CPU generates signals at roughly two billion cycles per second.

Note that frequency is inversely proportional to the wavelength, the longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency; the higher the frequency, the lower the wavelength. The wavelength of a 1 Hz signal is about 30 billion centimeters, which is the distance that light travels in one second. A 1 MHz signal has a wavelength of 300 meters.

Radio waves are generated artificially by transmitters and received by radio receivers, using antennas. Radio waves are very widely used in modern technology for fixed and mobile radio communication, broadcasting, radar and other navigation systems, communications satellites, wireless computer networks and many other applications. To prevent interference between different users, the artificial generation and use of radio waves is strictly regulated by law, coordinated by an international body called the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which defines radio waves as “electromagnetic waves of frequencies arbitrarily lower than 3 000 GHz, propagated in space without artificial guide”. The radio spectrum is divided into a number of radio bands on the basis of frequency, allocated to different uses.

Radio wave attributes:

A radio wave is a type of electromagnetic signal designed to carry information through the air over relatively long distances. Sometimes radio waves are referred to as radio frequency (RF) signals. Radio waves have been in use for many years. They provide the means for carrying music to FM radios and video to televisions. In addition, radio waves are the primary means for carrying data over a wireless network. As shown in figure below, a radio wave has amplitude, frequency, and phase elements. These attributes may be varied in time to represent information.

Amplitude:

The amplitude of a radio wave indicates its strength. The measure for amplitude is generally power, which is analogous to the amount of effort a person needs to exert to ride a bicycle over a specific distance. Similarly, power in terms of electromagnetic signals represents the amount of energy necessary to push the signal over a particular distance. As the power increases, so does the range.

Radio waves have amplitudes with units of watts, which represent the amount of power in the signal. Watts have linear characteristics that follow mathematical relationships we are all very familiar with. For example, the result of doubling 10 milliwatts (mW) is 20 mW.

As an alternative, it is possible to use dBm units (decibels referenced to 1 mW) to represent the amplitude of radio waves. The dBm increment is based on the decibel, a logarithmic measure of relative power. Suppose a signal has a power level of P mW. Then the signal strength in dBm, symbolized S dBm, is:

S _dBm = 10 log ₁₀ P

A 1-mW signal has a level of 0 dBm. Signals weaker than 1 mW have negative dBm values; signals stronger than 1 mW have positive dBm values.

Note that you can adjust the transmit power of most client cards and access points. For example, some access points allow you to set the transmit power in increments from –1 dBm (0.78 mW) up to 23 dBm (200 mW).

In dBm, power is expressed in decibels relative to one milliwatt. In dBW, power is expressed in decibels relative to one watt. dBW value in dBm is always 30 more because 1 watt is 1000 milliwatts, and ratio of 1000 (in power) is 30 dB. For example10 dBm (10mW) is equal to -20 dBW (0.01 W).

Frequency & wavelength:

There are few properties of radio waves which make it distinct and usable. The first consideration is frequency. The frequency of the wave is the number of the cycles of a sine wave completed in one second. In the case of moving waves, such as radio waves, the frequency can be thought as the number of cycles of the wave that pass a given point in one second. The term hertz (Hz) was designated for use in lieu of the term cycles per second when referring to the frequency of radio waves. Hertz refer to the number of occurrences that take place in one second.

802.11 WLANs (wi-fi) use radio waves having frequencies of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, which means that the signal includes 2,400,000,000 cycles per second and 5,000,000,000 cycles per second, respectively. Signals operating at these frequencies are still too low for humans to see. Thus, radio waves are not seen by humans.

The frequency impacts the propagation of radio waves. Theoretically, higher-frequency signals propagate over a shorter range than lower-frequency signals. In practice, however, the range of different frequency signals might be the same, or higher-frequency signals might propagate farther than lower-frequency signals. For example, a 5-GHz signal transmitted at a higher transmit power might go farther than a 2.4-GHz signal transmitted at a lower power, especially if electrical noise in the area impacts the 5-GHz part of the radio spectrum less than the 2.4-GHz portion of the spectrum (which is generally the case).

In free space the propagation speed of radio waves is the same as that of light, at approximately 300,000 km per second. The speed falls slightly when passing through a conductor such as an antenna or cable.

The wave length L of radio waves is as follows; If the frequency of the radio wave is F, and the speed of the radio wave in a vacuum is C, then

L = C / F

As the speed of radio waves in air is about 300,000 km/sec (about 300,000,000 meter/sec), at 700 MHz the wave length L is 300,000,000/700,000,000 = 0.428 meter

Phase:

The phase of a radio wave corresponds to how far the signal is offset from a reference point (such as a particular time or another signal). By convention, each cycle of the signal spans 360 degrees. For example, a signal might have a phase shift of 90 degrees, which means that the offset amount is one-quarter (90/360 = 1/4) of the signal.

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Radio waves vs. Microwaves:

The microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is generally considered to overlap with the highest frequency (shortest wavelength) radio waves. The prefix “micro-” in “microwave” is not meant to suggest a wavelength in the micrometer range. It indicates that microwaves are “small” compared to waves used in typical radio broadcasting in that they have shorter wavelengths.

Radio Waves:

Although there is no clear-cut demarcation between radio waves and microwaves, electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1 GHz are normally called radio waves; waves ranging in frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves. However, the behavior of the waves, rather than the frequencies, is a better criterion for classification. Radio waves, for the most part, are omnidirectional. When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in all directions. This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not have to be aligned. A sending antenna sends waves that can be received by any receiving antenna. The omnidirectional characteristics of radio waves make them useful for multicasting, in which there is one sender but many receivers. AM and FM radio, television, maritime radio, cordless phones, and paging are examples of multicasting. The omnidirectional property has a disadvantage, too. The radio waves transmitted by one antenna are susceptible to interference by another antenna that may send signals using the same frequency or band. Radio waves, particularly those waves that propagate in the sky mode, can travel long distances. This makes radio waves a good candidate for long-distance broadcasting such as AM radio.

Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium frequencies, can penetrate walls. This characteristic can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantage because, for example, an AM radio can receive signals inside a building. It is a disadvantage because we cannot isolate a communication to just inside or outside a building. The radio wave band is relatively narrow, just under 1 GHz, compared to the microwave band. When this band is divided into subbands, the subbands are also narrow, leading to slower data rate for digital communications as compared to microwaves.

Microwaves:

Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves. Microwaves are unidirectional. When an antenna transmits microwave waves, they can be narrowly focused. This means that the sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned. The unidirectional property has an obvious advantage. A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering with another pair of aligned antennas. The following describes some characteristics of microwave propagation:

Microwave propagation is line-of-sight. Since the towers with the mounted antennas need to be in direct sight of each other, towers that are far apart need to be very tall. The curvature of the earth as well as other blocking obstacles do not allow two short towers to communicate by using microwaves. Repeaters are often needed for long- distance communication.
Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls. This characteristic can be a disadvantage if receivers are inside buildings.
The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz. Therefore wider subbands can be assigned, and a high data rate is possible

Note: In this article, microwaves are just a type of radio waves, so radio waves have wavelengths of 1 mm up.

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Antenna:

In radio engineering, an antenna is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. Radio waves are radiated by electric charges undergoing acceleration. They are generated artificially by time varying electric currents, consisting of electrons flowing back and forth in a metal conductor called an antenna. In transmission, a transmitter generates an alternating current of radio frequency which is applied to an antenna. The antenna radiates the power in the current as radio waves. When the waves strike the antenna of a radio receiver, they push the electrons in the metal back and forth, inducing a tiny alternating current. The radio receiver connected to the receiving antenna detects this oscillating current and amplifies it. The gain of an antenna describes how much it is going to boost a signal. The bigger the gain, measured in decibels (dB), the better the reception you’ll get.

As they travel farther from the transmitting antenna, radio waves spread out so their signal strength (intensity in watts per square meter) decreases, so radio transmissions can only be received within a limited range of the transmitter, the distance depending on the transmitter power, antenna radiation pattern, frequency of radio waves, receiver sensitivity, noise level, and presence of obstructions between transmitter and receiver.

An omnidirectional antenna transmits or receives radio waves in all directions, while a directional antenna or high gain antenna transmits radio waves in a beam in a particular direction, or receives waves from only one direction. For some antenna types, such as a dipole, the antenna has to be mounted in the proper direction, facing the direction of the radio wave transmission. Some antenna types, like those found in an FM radio, don’t need to be oriented in a specific direction and can capture radio wave signals from any angle.

Antennas come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the frequency the antenna is trying to receive. The antenna can be anything from a long, stiff wire (as in the AM/FM radio antennas on most cars) to something as bizarre as a satellite dish. Radio transmitters also use extremely tall antenna towers to transmit their signals.

For the electromagnetic wave the polarization is effectively the plane in which the electric wave vibrates. This is important when looking at antennas because they are sensitive to polarisation, and generally only receive or transmit a signal with a particular polarization. For most antennas it is very easy to determine the polarization. It is simply in the same plane as the elements of the antenna. So a vertical antenna (i.e. one with vertical elements) will receive vertically polarised signals best and similarly a horizontal antenna will receive horizontally polarised signals. It is important to match the polarization of the RF antenna to that of the incoming signal. In this way the maximum signal is obtained. If the RF antenna polarization does not match that of the signal there is a corresponding decrease in the level of the signal. It is reduced by a factor of cosine of the angle between the polarisation of the RF antenna and the signal. Accordingly the polarisation of the antennas located in free space is very important, and obviously they should be in exactly the same plane to provide the optimum signal. If they were at right angles to one another (i.e. cross-polarised) then in theory no signal would be received.

For terrestrial radio communications applications it is found that once a signal has been transmitted then its polarisation will remain broadly the same. However reflections from objects in the path can change the polarisation. As the received signal is the sum of the direct signal plus a number of reflected signals the overall polarisation of the signal can change slightly although it remains broadly the same.

Vertical polarisation is often used for mobile radio communications. This is because many vertically polarized antenna designs have an omni-directional radiation pattern and it means that the antennas do not have to be re-orientated in positions as always happens for mobile radio communications as the vehicle moves. Horizontally polarized antennas are basically directional. They are primarily used for navigation.

Length of antenna:

When an antenna receives an electromagnetic (EM) wave, the electric field of the wave pushes the electrons in the antenna back and forth. This happens regardless of the length or shape of the antenna. This sets up a standing wave of electric currents in the antenna. There are certain frequencies that are resonant in the antenna, which is when the efficiency of energy reception is highest. This frequency is determined by the length of the antenna and the speed of light in the antenna material. In this resonant condition, the electrons’ motion and the incoming electric field are always in the same direction, so every wavelength of the EM wave builds up more motion and puts more energy into the antenna. If the frequency of the EM wave is not at the correct frequency, then sometimes the electrons’ motion and the electric field will be in opposite directions, leading to a loss of energy in the antenna.

The condition for resonance in an antenna is that the wavelength of the standing wave is twice the length of the antenna. Since the speed of light in a vacuum or air is very close to the speed of light in an antenna (~80%), the most simple antennas have a length close to half the wavelength of the signal they are built to receive. Broadly speaking, the length of a simple (rod-type) antenna has to be about half the wavelength of the radio waves you’re trying to receive (it’s also possible to make antennas that are a quarter of the wavelength, compact miniaturized antennas that are about a tenth the wavelength, and membrane antennas that are even smaller, though we won’t go into detail as it is beyond scope of this article).

A dipole antenna is the simplest type of radio antenna, consisting of a conductive wire rod that is half the length of the maximum wavelength the antenna is to generate. This wire rod is split in the middle, and the two sections are separated by an insulator. The ordinary half-wave dipole is probably the most widely used antenna design. This consists of two 1⁄4 wavelength elements arranged end-to-end, and lying along essentially the same axis (or collinear), each feeding one side of a two-conductor transmission wire. The physical arrangement of the two elements places them 180 degrees out of phase, which means that at any given instant one of the elements is driving current into the transmission line while the other is pulling it out. The monopole antenna is essentially one half of the half-wave dipole, a single 1⁄4 wavelength element with the other side connected to ground or an equivalent ground plane (or counterpoise). Monopoles, which are one-half the size of a dipole, are common for long-wavelength radio signals where a dipole would be impractically large. Another common design is the folded dipole which consists of two (or more) half-wave dipoles placed side-by-side and connected at their ends but only one of which is driven.

The length of the antenna isn’t the only thing that affects the wavelengths you’re going to pick up; if it were, a radio with a fixed length of antenna would only ever be able to receive one station. The antenna feeds signals into a tuning circuit inside a radio receiver, which is designed to “latch onto” one particular frequency and ignore the rest. The very simplest receiver circuit (like the one you’ll find in a crystal radio) is nothing more than a coil of wire, a diode, and a capacitor, and it feeds sounds into an earpiece. The circuit responds (technically, resonates, which means electrically oscillates) at the frequency you’re tuned into and discards frequencies higher or lower than this. By adjusting the value of the capacitor, you change the resonant frequency—which tunes your radio to a different station. The antenna’s job is to pick up enough energy from passing radio waves to make the circuit resonate at just the right frequency.

Bandwidth of antenna:

Last, an antenna’s bandwidth is its particular range of useful frequencies. The higher the bandwidth, the more radio waves that it can pick up. This is ideal for televisions as it allows them to get more channels. But for things like your smartphone which only need a specific radio wave, a full bandwidth isn’t as necessary.

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How do radio waves differ from visible light?

Radio waves actually travel at the speed of light in air, which is about 300,000,000 meters per second. It is fast enough for anyone on Earth to contact others on Earth in less a second. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves, so is light. The differences between light and radio waves are their frequencies and wavelengths. Wavelengths with different sizes also have slightly different properties. For example, radio waves have a longer wavelength and lower frequencies, so they are less energetic than visible light and that is why radio waves have relatively no effects on human body.

It is also because of their differences in frequencies and wavelengths, radio waves can pass through certain materials that visible light cannot.

If the wall is made out of glass, light will go through it. On the other hand, if the wall is made out of iron, the radio waves will not go through the wall. It matters, what the wall is made from, what kinds of atoms and molecules are its constituents. Also it is very important how these atoms in the wall are tight together. As you know, every atom has a shell of electrons. These electrons interact between each of other and also interact with the outside world. The properties of these electrons dictate, whether a certain kind of incoming electromagnetic wave will go through or will not. Some materials have the electron structure such, that they to be transparent for light but not for ultraviolet radiation. But you can safely listen radio in your room. Glass is transparent to radio waves. Some other materials have a different electron structure of their atoms, so they are not transparent for light, but are transparent for radio waves, for example brick wall. And there are materials (conductors, such as gold, iron, silver) that are neither transparent for radio waves nor for light.

The atomic structure, especially the properties of the electron shells of atoms in the wall dictate if that particular wall to be transparent or not for a certain type of electromagnetic wave.

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Radio waves are but one type of wave in what’s called the electromagnetic spectrum, which consists of a variety of waves that all serve a specific function, like infrared, x-ray, gamma rays, and radio.

On this electromagnetic spectrum, radio waves have both the longest wavelengths and the lowest frequencies, which makes them slow and steady, the long-distance runners of the bunch. However, when we’re being bombarded from all directions with FM and AM radio waves, cell phone signals, Wi-Fi signals, and more, can all of these signals supposed to share the same space? They do this by sharing specific bands in the radio wave spectrum.

To prevent overlapping uses of the radio waves, frequency is allocated in bands, which are simply ranges of frequencies available to specified applications. Radio frequencies are divided into groups which have similar characteristics, called “bands,” such as “S-band,” “X-band,” etc. The bands are further divided into small ranges of frequencies called “channels,” some of which have been set aside for the use of deep space telecommunications. Many deep-space vehicles use S-band and X-band frequencies which are in the neighborhood of 2 to 10 GHz. These frequencies are among those referred to as microwaves, because their wavelength is very short, only a few centimeters. Deep space telecommunications systems are being developed for use on the even higher frequency Ka-band.

Band	Range of Wavelengths (cm)	Frequency (GHz)
L	30 -15	1 -2
S	15 – 7.5	2 -4
C	7.5 – 3.75	4 – 8
X	3.75 – 2.4	8 -12
Ka	2.4 – 0.75	12 – 40

Frequency Band Use:

The usable range of frequencies has been divided and bands assigned for various communication and navigation purposes. The wider the frequency bands and channels, the more information that can be passed through them. This move towards wider — or broader — frequency bands that can carry larger amounts of information is one of the most important trends in telecommunications and directly relates to what we refer to as a ‘broadband’ connection. In the same way that wider roads mean you can add more lanes to support more vehicle traffic, wider bands mean you can add more channels to support more data traffic.

ITU frequency bands:

The ITU arbitrarily divides the radio spectrum into 12 bands, each beginning at a wavelength which is a power of ten (10ⁿ) metres, with corresponding frequency of 3 times a power of ten, and each covering a span of frequency or wavelength. Each of these bands has a traditional name:

Band name	Abbreviation	Frequency	Wavelength	Band name	Abbreviation	Frequency	Wavelength
Extremely low frequency	ELF	3 – 30 Hz	100,000–10,000 km	High frequency	HF	3 – 30 MHz	100–10 m
Super low frequency	SLF	30 – 300 Hz	10,000–1,000 km	Very high frequency	VHF	30 – 300 MHz	10–1 m
Ultra low frequency	ULF	300 – 3000 Hz	1,000–100 km	Ultra high frequency	UHF	300 – 3000 MHz	100–10 cm
Very low frequency	VLF	3 – 30 kHz	100–10 km	Super high frequency	SHF	3 – 30 GHz	10–1 cm
Low frequency	LF	30 – 300 kHz	10–1 km	Extremely high frequency	EHF	30 – 300 GHz	10–1 mm (mm wave)
Medium frequency	MF	300 – 3000 kHz	1000-100 m	Tremendously high frequency	THF	300 – 3000 GHz	1–0.1 mm

The ultra-high frequency (UHF) band has a frequency between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz). You’ll find the UHF band used for specific technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, walkie-talkies, and more. On the flip side, extremely low-frequency (ELF) waves are of interest for communications systems for submarines. The relatively weak absorption by seawater of electromagnetic radiation at low frequencies and the existence of prominent resonances of the natural cavity formed by Earth and the ionosphere make the range between 5 and 100 Hz attractive for this application.

Regulation:

The airwaves are a resource shared by many users. Two radio transmitters in the same area that attempt to transmit on the same frequency will interfere with each other, causing garbled reception, so neither transmission may be received clearly. Interference with radio transmissions can not only have a large economic cost, it can be life threatening (for example, in the case of interference with emergency communications or air traffic control).

To prevent interference between different users, the emission of radio waves is strictly regulated by national laws, coordinated by an international body, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which allocates bands in the radio spectrum for different uses. Radio transmitters must be licensed by governments, under a variety of license classes depending on use, and are restricted to certain frequencies and power levels. In some classes, such as radio and television broadcasting stations, the transmitter is given a unique identifier consisting of a string of letters and numbers called a callsign, which must be used in all transmissions. The radio operator must hold a government license, such as the general radiotelephone operator license in the US, obtained by taking a test demonstrating adequate technical and legal knowledge of safe radio operation.

Exceptions to the above rules allow the unlicensed operation by the public of low power short range transmitters in consumer products such as cell phones, cordless phones, wireless devices, walkie-talkies, citizens band radios, wireless microphones, garage door openers, and baby monitors. In the US, these fall under Part 15 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. Many of these devices use the ISM bands, a series of frequency bands throughout the radio spectrum reserved for unlicensed use. Although they can be operated without a license, like all radio equipment these devices generally must be type-approved before sale.

Radio jamming:

Radio jamming is the deliberate jamming, blocking or interference with authorized wireless communications. In the United States, radio jamming devices (known as “jammers”) are illegal and their use can result in large fines. In some cases jammers work by the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio. The concept can be used in wireless data networks to disrupt information flow. It is a common form of censorship in totalitarian countries, in order to prevent foreign radio stations in border areas from reaching the country.

Jamming is usually distinguished from interference that can occur due to device malfunctions or other accidental circumstances. Devices that simply cause interference are regulated differently. Unintentional “jamming” occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency. Another form of unintentional jamming occurs when equipment accidentally radiates a signal, such as a cable television plant that accidentally emits on an aircraft emergency frequency.

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Radio waves propagation:

Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves when they are transmitted, or propagated from one point on the Earth to another, or into various parts of the atmosphere. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affected by the phenomena of reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, polarization and scattering. The study of radio propagation, how radio waves move in free space and over the surface of the Earth, is vitally important in the design of practical radio systems. Different frequencies experience different combinations of these phenomena in the Earth’s atmosphere, making certain radio bands more useful for specific purposes than others.

The shorter the wave length of radio waves becomes, the more they take on the qualities of light, and the greater their straightness becomes. In other words, their energy is concentrated in one direction, and they are said to have strong directivity. Furthermore, the higher the frequency, the more acute is the attenuation of the wave’s energy. In general, radio waves are considered to propagate in a straight line, but what happens if there are various physical obstacles in their path such as mountains, buildings, walls, or people and so on? If we consider an example of an urban area where there are many buildings, there are direct waves that arrive directly, reflected waves that arrive after hitting buildings and the like, diffracted waves that circumvent the shadows of buildings, transmitted waves that arrive by passing through the glass or walls of buildings, and so on. As a radio wave travels from the transmitting to the receiving antenna, it may be disturbed by reflections from buildings and other large obstacles. Disturbances arise when several such reflected parts of the wave reach the receiving antenna and interfere with the reception of the wave. Radio waves can penetrate nonconducting materials, such as wood, bricks, and concrete, fairly well. They cannot pass through electrical conductors, such as water or metals. The kinds of wave differ according to type (material) of obstacle. Placing the transmitter or receiver in a fully enclosed container made of highly conductive metal is the most efficient way to interfere with radio waves.

Furthermore, waves with frequencies higher than several GHz are scattered and absorbed by rain, snow, fog and the like, and their power tends to attenuate. Attenuation because of raindrops is greater than attenuation because of other forms of precipitation. Attenuation may be caused by absorption, in which the raindrop, acting as a poor dielectric, absorbs power from the radio wave and dissipates the power by heat loss or by scattering. Raindrops cause greater attenuation by scattering than by absorption at frequencies above 100 megahertz. At frequencies above 6 gigahertz, attenuation by raindrop scatter is even greater. Attenuation because of fog is of minor importance at frequencies lower than 2 gigahertz. However, fog can cause serious attenuation by absorption, at frequencies above 2 gigahertz.

Different frequencies of radio waves have different propagation characteristics in the Earth’s atmosphere; long waves can diffract around obstacles like mountains and follow the contour of the earth (ground waves), shorter waves can reflect off the ionosphere and return to earth beyond the horizon (skywaves), while much shorter wavelengths bend or diffract very little and travel on a line of sight, so their propagation distances are limited to the visual horizon.

Line of sight:

This refers to radio waves that travel in a straight line from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna. It does not necessarily require a cleared sight path; at lower frequencies radio waves can pass through buildings, foliage and other obstructions. This is the only method of propagation possible at frequencies above 40 MHz. On the surface of the Earth, line of sight propagation is limited by the visual horizon. This is the method used by cell phones, FM, television broadcasting and radar. By using dish antennas to transmit beams of microwaves, point-to-point microwave relay links transmit telephone and television signals over long distances up to the visual horizon. Ground stations can communicate with satellites and spacecraft billions of miles from Earth.

Although the frequencies used by cell phones are in the line-of-sight range, they still function in cities. This is made possible by a combination of the following effects:

propagation over the rooftop landscape
diffraction into the “street canyon” below
multipath reflection along the street
diffraction through windows, and attenuated passage through walls, into the building
reflection, diffraction, and attenuated passage through internal walls, floors and ceilings within the building

Because electromagnetic radiation travels in free space in straight lines, late 19th-century scientists questioned the efforts of the Italian physicist and inventor Guglielmo Marconi to develop long-range radio. Earth’s curvature limits the line-of-sight distance from the top of a 100-metre (330-foot) tower to about 30 km (19 miles). Marconi’s unexpected success in transmitting messages over more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) led to the discovery of the Kennelly-Heaviside layer, more commonly known as the ionosphere. This region is an approximately 300-km- (190-mile-) thick layer starting about 100 km (60 miles) above Earth’s surface in which the atmosphere is partially ionized by ultraviolet light from the Sun, giving rise to enough electrons and ions to affect radio waves. Because of the Sun’s involvement, the height, width, and degree of ionization of the stratified ionosphere vary from day to night and from summer to winter.

Radio waves transmitted by antennas in certain directions are bent or even reflected back to Earth by the ionosphere, as illustrated in figure below. They may bounce off Earth and be reflected by the ionosphere repeatedly, making radio transmission around the globe possible. Long-distance communication is further facilitated by the so-called ground wave. This form of electromagnetic wave closely follows Earth’s surface, particularly over water, as a result of the wave’s interaction with the terrestrial surface. The range of the ground wave (up to 1,600 km [1,000 miles]) and the bending and reflection of the sky wave by the ionosphere depend on the frequency of the waves. Under normal ionospheric conditions 40 MHz is the highest-frequency radio wave that can be reflected from the ionosphere. In order to accommodate the large band width of transmitted signals, television frequencies are necessarily higher than 40 MHz. Television transmitters must therefore be placed on high towers or on hilltops.

Figure above shows radio-wave transmission reaching beyond line of sight by means of the sky wave reflected by the ionosphere and by means of the ground wave. The ground wave is the preferred propagation type for long distance communication using frequencies below 3 MHz. The sky waves are the radio waves of frequency between 2 MHz to 30 MHz. These radio waves can propagate through atmosphere and are reflected back by the ionosphere of earth’s atmosphere.

Above 40 MHz frequency, radio waves from deep space can penetrate Earth’s atmosphere. This makes radio-astronomy observations with ground-based telescopes possible.

Propagation loss:

In free space (space in which there is nothing to obstruct the progress of the radio waves), radio waves decay proportionally at the square of the distance, and in inverse proportion to the square of the wave length of the radio waves. This free space propagation loss can be applied with slight correction in the case of transmission from the earth to a communications satellite, or two-way, line of sight communication between two high locations. However, in the environments in which radio modules are used, there is an impact from the terrain and buildings and so on, and the weather conditions and the like has an effect.

Fading:

The radio waves emitted by the transmitter arrive at the receiver by a variety of paths, and at that time, the received field strength varies due to the effects of the different routes taken and differences in distance. This phenomenon is called fading. There are many kinds of fading depending on the causes, but a representative kind is multipath fading. Multipath means that the radio waves reach the receiver by various paths, and the aggregate radio wave received by the antenna may experience interference and may fluctuate widely. If the signals are in phase, the field strength is high, but when they are out of phase, it gets weak. The wave length of microwaves is particularly short so the impact of multipath is especially acute.

Absorption:

Radio waves are subject to interference caused by objects and obstacles in the air. Such obstacles can be concrete walls, metal cabinets, or even raindrops. In general, transmissions made at higher frequencies are more subject to radio absorption (by the obstacles) and larger signal loss. Larger frequencies have smaller wavelengths, and hence signals with smaller wavelengths tend to be absorbed by the obstacles that they collide with. This causes high frequency devices to have a shorter operating range. For devices that transmit data at high frequencies, much more power is needed in order for them to cover the same range as compared to lower frequency transmitting devices.

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Radio waves modulation:

Now that you know how radio waves are generated and how they transmit energy it is time to have a look at how radio waves are used to transmit information. The radio waves we’ve discussed so far didn’t carry any information, so they were pretty uninteresting to the receiver.

So, how do radio waves carry information?

The answer is modulation.

A carrier wave is a pure wave of constant frequency, a bit like a sine wave. By itself it doesn’t carry much information that we can relate to (such as speech or data). To include speech information or data information, another wave needs to be imposed, called an input signal, on top of the carrier wave. This process of imposing an input signal onto a carrier wave is called modulation. In other words, modulation changes the shape of a carrier wave to somehow encode the speech or data information that we were interested in carrying. Modulation is like hiding a code inside the carrier wave. Mixing of low frequency information signal carrying voice, video and data with high frequency carrier signal is called modulation.

There are different strategies for modulating the carrier wave. First, a user can tweak the height of the carrier. If an input signal’s height varies with the loudness of a user’s voice and then adds this to the carrier, then the carrier’s amplitude will change corresponding to the input signal that’s been fed into it. This is called amplitude modulation or AM.

Frequency of an input signal can also be changed. If this input signal is added to the pure carrier wave, it will thereby change the frequency of the carrier wave. In that way, users can use changes of frequency to carry speech information. This is called frequency modulation or FM.

These two strategies can be combined to create a third scheme. In fact, any strategy that combines an input signal with a carrier wave to encode speech or other useful information is called a modulation scheme.

Modulation schemes can be analog or digital. An analog modulation scheme has an input wave that varies continuously like a sine wave. In digital modulation scheme, it’s a little more complicated. Voice is sampled at some rate and then compressed and turned into a bit stream – a stream of zeros and ones – and this in turn is created into a particular kind of wave which is then superimposed on the carrier.

The big question is, why have carrier waves in modulation at all?

Why not simply use the input signal directly? After all, it is carrying all the information that we’re interested in and it only occupies a few kilohertz and bandwidth. So why not use it directly? Why are carriers and modulation needed at all?

Interestingly, the input signals could be carried (without a carrier wave) by very low frequency electromagnetic waves. The problem, however, is that this will need quite a bit of amplification in order to transmit those very low frequencies. The input signals themselves do not have much power and need a fairly large antenna in order to transmit the information.

In order to keep communication cheap and convenient, and require less power to carry as much information as possible, carrier systems with modulated carriers are used. In modulation a radio wave (also called the carrier signal) is changed by the signal we want to send to the receiver, for example music, or, in a wireless network, some data from a computer. This changing of the carrier signal is called modulation. The data signal can vary the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the carrier signal. A modulator mixes the source data signal with a carrier signal. In addition, the transmitter couples the resulting modulated and amplified signals to an antenna, which is designed to interface the signal to the air. The modulated signal then departs the antenna and propagates through the air. The receiving station antenna couples the modulated signal into a demodulator, which derives the data signal from the signal carrier.

A modulator is a device that performs modulation. A demodulator (sometimes detector or demod) is a device that performs demodulation, the inverse of modulation. A modem (from modulator–demodulator) can perform both operations. The aim of analog modulation is to transfer an analog signal, for example an audio signal or TV signal, over an analog channel at a different frequency, for example over a limited radio frequency band or a cable TV network channel. The aim of digital modulation is to transfer a digital bit stream over an analog communication channel, for example over the public switched telephone network (where a bandpass filter limits the frequency range to 300–3400 Hz) or over a limited radio frequency band.

At the receiver, the radio wave induces a tiny oscillating voltage in the receiving antenna which is a weaker replica of the current in the transmitting antenna. This voltage is applied to the radio receiver, which amplifies the weak radio signal so it is stronger, then demodulates it, extracting the original modulation signal from the modulated carrier wave. The modulation signal is converted by a transducer back to a human-usable form: an audio signal is converted to sound waves by a loudspeaker or earphones, a video signal is converted to images by a display, while a digital signal is applied to a computer or microprocessor, which interacts with human users.

Analog signal modulation:

In above animation, you see how in AM a signal changes the amplitude of the radio wave. The uppermost wave is the signal we want to send to the receiver. You can see how a top (crest) of the signal wave is reflected in the AM wave by a higher amplitude. The amplitude of the AM wave corresponds to the voltage the wave was created with, or, the level of energy. In frequency modulation the frequency of the wave is changed to represent the signal to be transmitted. Note how a top (crest) in the signal we want to send is represented in the FM signal by a higher frequency and a bottom (trough) in the signal is represented by a lower frequency in the FM signal. AM (amplitude modulated) radio waves are within a frequency range of 550 kHz and 1600kHz and FM (frequency modulated) radio waves are within a frequency range of 88 MHz and 108 MHz.

Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. Pulse code modulation is a method that is used to convert an analog signal into a digital signal, so that modified analog signal can be transmitted through the digital communication network. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, compact discs, digital telephony and other digital audio applications. In a PCM stream, the amplitude of the analog signal is sampled regularly at uniform intervals, and each sample is quantized to the nearest value within a range of digital steps. This system of modulation switches the carrier on and off in pulses, the duration or position of the pulse being determined by the information signal. This system of pulse-coded modulation can provide better protection from noise, and a number of separate speech channels can be combined by allocating specified groups of pulses for each information channel and then interleaving these pulses in a process called time division multiplex. To accomplish this, a comparatively wide transmission channel is needed, and the carrier must be an ultrahigh or superhigh frequency.

Digital signal modulation in wireless networks:

Digital modulation transforms digital data, such as binary 1s and 0s representing an e-mail message, from the network into an RF signal suitable for transmission through the air. This involves converting the digital signal representing the data into an analog signal. As part of this process, modulation superimposes the digital data signal onto a carrier signal, which is a radio wave having a specific frequency. In effect, the data rides on top of the carrier. To represent the data, the modulation signal varies the carrier signal in a manner that represents the data.

Amplitude-Shift Keying

One of the simplest forms of digital modulation is amplitude-shift keying, which varies the amplitude of a signal to represent data. Amplitude modulation alone does not work very well with RF systems because there are signals (noise) present inside buildings and outdoors that alter the amplitude of the radio wave, which causes the receiver to demodulate the signal incorrectly. These noise signals can cause the signal amplitude to be artificially high for a period of time; for example, the receiver would demodulate the signal into something that does not represent what was intended (for example, 10000001101101 would become 10111101101101). To combat impacts from noise, modulation for RF systems is more complex than using only amplitude modulation.

Frequency-Shift Keying

FSK makes slight changes to the frequency of the carrier signal to represent data in a manner that’s suitable for propagation through the air at low to moderate data rates. For example, modulation can represent a 1 or 0 data bit with either a positive or negative shift in frequency of the carrier. If the shift in frequency is negative—that is, a shift of the carrier to a lower frequency—the result is a logic 0. The receiver can detect this shift in frequency and demodulate the results as a 0 data bit. As a result, FSK avoids the impacts of common noise that exhibits shifts in amplitude.

Phase-Shift Keying

Some systems use phase-shift keying (PSK), which is similar to FSK, for modulation purposes for low to moderate data rates. With PSK, data causes changes in the signal’s phase, while the frequency remains constant. The phase shift can correspond to a specific positive or negative amount relative to a reference. A receiver can detect these phase shifts and realize the corresponding data bits. As with FSK, PSK is mostly immune to common noise that is based on shifts in amplitude.

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) causes both the amplitude and phase of the carrier to change to represent patterns of data, often referred to as symbols. The advantage of QAM is the capability of representing large groups of bits as a single amplitude and phase combination. 4G uses quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). In 4G this modulation can achieve QAM64, which means that six bits of information are being transmitted (2⁶ = 64) at any given time. On wireless systems, the main limitation on QAM order is the signal to noise ratio: when a large amount of information is sent all at once, its transmission will be very sensitive to disruptions (a bit like trying to talk in a noisy environment: it is easy to understand “yes” or “no” but harder to understand more complex sentences). Thanks to an improved link budget, via antenna or signal processing technologies, 5G modulation could reach QAM256, i.e. eight bits of information being transmitted at any given time, which translates into a 33% increase in maximum capacity under ideal conditions. This improved modulation will also be deployed on advanced 4G systems. Higher-order combinations of phase and amplitude in QAM make it possible for standards such as 802.11n and 802.11ac to support higher data rates.

Spread Spectrum

After modulating the digital signal into an analog carrier signal using FSK, PSK, or QAM, some WLAN transceivers spread the modulated carrier over a wider spectrum to comply with regulatory rules. This process, called spread spectrum, significantly reduces the possibility of outward and inward interference. As a result, regulatory bodies generally do not require users of spread spectrum systems to obtain licenses. Spread spectrum, developed originally by the military, spreads a signal’s power over a wide band of frequencies. Frequency hopping uses a different technique to spread the signal by quickly hopping the radio carrier from one frequency to another within a specific range. This also effectively spreads the signal across a wider part of the spectrum.

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing

Instead of using spread spectrum, higher-speed WLANs make use of orthogonal frequency- division multiplexing (OFDM). OFDM divides a signal modulated with FSK, PSK, or QAM across multiple subcarriers occupying a specific channel. ODFM is a type of modulation that uses multiple carrier waves of different frequency to simultaneously carry information. OFDM is extremely efficient, which enables it to provide the higher data rates and minimize multipath propagation problems. OFDM is a family of complicated digital modulation methods very widely used in high bandwidth systems such as Wi-Fi networks, cellphones, digital television broadcasting, and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) to transmit digital data using a minimum of radio spectrum bandwidth. OFDM has higher spectral efficiency and more resistance to fading than AM or FM. OFDM has also been around for a while, supporting the global standard for asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), a high-speed wired telephony standard. Explaining ODFM in detail is outside the scope of this article.

What is important to understand from these examples is that a carrier wave can be changed by the signal you want to send and that on the receiving end, the signal that was used to change the carrier signal can be obtained again. This is how information is carried by a radio wave and this is how information is sent in your wireless network at home.

Figure below summarizes modulation methods:

Encoding:

Encoding is the process of converting the information (voice, video, data) into a specified format for the secured transmission of information. Decoding is the reverse process of encoding which is to extract the information from the converted format.

Encoding Techniques:

The encoding technique is divided into the following types, depending upon the type of conversion.

Analog data to Analog signals − The modulation techniques such as Amplitude Modulation, Frequency Modulation and Phase Modulation of analog signals, fall under this category.
Analog data to Digital signals – An analog-to-digital converter, or ADC as it is more commonly called, is a device that converts analog data into digital signals. An ADC converts a continuous-time and continuous-amplitude analog data to a discrete-time and discrete-amplitude digital signal.
Digital data to Analog signals − The modulation techniques such as Amplitude Shift Keying ASK, Frequency Shift Keying FSK, Phase Shift Keying PSK, etc., fall under this category. These are digital modulation techniques used in radiofrequency signal transmission.
Digital data to Digital signals −There are several ways to map digital data to digital signals.

In radiofrequency signal transmission, encoding means encoding information (voice, video, data) into carrier radio wave by modulating it. So the terms encoding and modulation can be used interchangeably.

Higher carrier wave frequency carries more modulation than lower carrier wave frequency because higher frequency means there are more cycles per second available to fit information signal. So higher frequency carrier wave carries more information than lower carrier wave frequency. For example, a telephone quality voice signal is few kHz size. There’s a lot more few-kHz channels in 1 GHz to 2 GHz than there are in the range 1 MHz to 2 MHz. A thousand times more in fact. So higher-frequency transmissions have more bandwidth than lower-frequency transmissions, which means higher-frequency transmissions can send substantially more data between devices in less time.

Let me put it differently.

If the allowable frequency range were 100kHz to 200kHz (spectrum bandwidth 100KHz), and we needed 20kHz channels, the most we can get is 5 channels. If the allowable frequency range were 100MHz to 200MHz (spectrum bandwidth 100 MHz), the maximum number of 20kHzs channels we could get is 5,000 channels. So higher the frequency range available, more information can be transmitted.

But a 20 MHz channel is 20 MHz wide (its bandwidth), whether it’s at 2.4GHz or 5GHz or 50 GHz of its carrier frequency.

Increasing the frequency doesn’t improve transmission quality in all areas: High-frequency transmission devices can’t communicate from as great a distance as low-frequency devices. A 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi router can communicate with connected devices at a greater distance than a 5 GHz Wi-Fi router can reach, and devices that run in the even lower-frequency HF band can communicate as far as 1,800 miles apart. High-frequency broadcasts are less susceptible to interference from electronic sources, while low-frequency transmissions are less susceptible to interference from physical objects like walls that block communication.

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Radio waves are always analog:

Radio waves are, fundamentally, electromagnetic waves that transition through moments in time of alternating polarity. Radio waves are measured in the number of cycles per second, or the radio wave’s frequency. The idea of ‘cycles per second’ (where one cycle per second is defined as one Hertz, 1 Hz) signifies the variation of the wave’s amplitude in relation to zero. One full cycle is the measurement of the wave from zero current to zero current. The wave will have crested twice, once at the maximum amplitude in the positive, and once in the negative. Alternating Current (AC), what we call the electricity we get out of our wall electrical outlets, typically cycles between 50 to 60 cycles per second, or, 50 Hz to 60 Hz. The AC at the wall is a radio wave, because that energy radiates away from the conductors, just like any other radio wave such as an FM Broadcast radio wave. Speaking of that FM Broadcast radio wave, those typically are up in the MHz. 107.9 MHz is a radio wave that alternates 107,900 times per second. In wireless communication alternating current (AC) is used for the creation of radio waves. This type of current constantly changes direction because the poles that create the electric current are constantly switched at a very high frequency. The changing direction of the electric current causes an oscillating electromagnetic field which produces radio waves.

The method for imposing on a radio wave some sort of data is known as the method of modulating the radio wave so that the radio wave can “carry” the information. Information can be modulated in many ways. Digital information and analog information can be imposed on a radio wave. Interestingly, digital information is an encoding of information using some sort of bit (on or off) representation. Sometimes, that on and off nature of digital information can be confused with a radio wave, since a radio wave alternates between zero and the maximum amplitude (in either the positive or negative polarity). But, radio waves, no matter how complex the modulation of the radio wave, are fundamentally analog.

Analog signals are sent by modulating the RF carrier with Amplitude Modulation and Frequency Modulation techniques. There are similar techniques for digital signals: Phase-Shift Keying (PSK), Frequency-shift keying (FSK), Amplitude-shift keying (ASK). Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), just to name a few.

If the input is analog, it is necessary to use Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) to convert it to digital before transmitting it with a digital modulation technique.

Remember, all the real world is analog in nature. Storage & processing of digital signal is faster, noise immune, efficient and easy. So all the real world applications are performed & stored digitally. To make this possible we need to convert analog to digital and digital to analog.

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Spectrum:

Though there is an infinite spectrum of frequencies available, it is not possible to use every frequency for communication purposes, except only those under a few hundred GHz. Usable frequencies are therefore a limited resource and have to be used wisely to accommodate our vast needs. Spectrum relates to the radio frequencies allocated to the mobile industry and other sectors for communication over the airwaves. The word spectrum in this context refers to a range of radio-waves that are used for communication purposes. This includes the FM or AM radio broadcasts that you listen to on the way to work, and even other wireless forms of communication like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The smartphone you’re using also uses these same radio waves to transmit data, and the difference really lies in the specific frequencies in use, and of course, the technology used to convert those waves into something useful (whether that’s the voice on the radio, the SMS you read, or the webpage you load). Spectrum also means available bandwidth of spectrum i.e. spectrum bandwidth. Because the mobile industry has demonstrated — time and time again — its potential to generate economic value and social benefit, operators are urging national regulators to release sufficient, affordable spectrum in a timely manner for mobile. Additional frequencies, including both coverage and capacity bands, means mobile operators can connect more people and offer faster speeds. Spectrum is a sovereign asset. That is, use of the airwaves in each country is overseen by the government or the designated national regulatory authority, which manages it and issues the needed licenses. Radio spectrum allocation is rigorously controlled by regulatory authorities through licensing processes. Most countries have their own regulatory bodies, though regional regulators do exist. In the U.S., regulation is done by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Many FCC rules are adopted by other countries throughout the Americas. European allocation is performed by the European Radiocommunications Office (ERO). Other allocation work is done by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The vast majority of radio spectrum is licensed and encompasses a range of technologies that operate with enough power to allow the services to cover a relatively wide area. National regulators control access to this spectrum through a licensing framework allowing them to grant an organisation the exclusive rights to use a certain frequency band in certain areas and at certain times. Unlicensed frequency bands have more limited applications, and are designated for certain specific types of use. There is no need for a license from the regulator as long as the devices used meet certain technical standards in order to minimise interference. The most notable examples of ‘unlicensed’ technologies are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which both operate in the 2.4 GHz band, but there are several others which are used for cordless telephones, baby monitors, car key fobs and garage door openers. The reason these bands are unlicensed is because the technologies used must operate at low-power levels, meaning they can only cover short distances. Shared spectrum allows third-parties that don’t own specific frequencies of spectrum to use the frequencies for their own purposes.

Radio spectrum is used to carry information wirelessly for a vast number of everyday services ranging from television and radio broadcasting, mobile phones and Wi-Fi to communications systems for the emergency services, baby monitors, GPS and radar. So many vital services are completely reliant on spectrum that it forms an indispensable part of all of our lives and one that is often taken for granted. Yet in a world which demands ever increasing amounts of information, faster communications and higher definition media, it is important to be aware that useable radio spectrum is a scarce resource where rapidly growing demand exceeds supply.

Few examples illustrate this better than mobile services:

In 1990 there were around 12 million mobile subscriptions worldwide and no data services. In 2015, the number of mobile subscriptions surpassed 7.6 billion (GSMA Mobile Economy 2016) with the amount of data on networks reaching 1,577 exabytes per month by the end of 2015 — the equivalent of 1 trillion mp3 files or 425 million hours of streaming HD video. In 2015, the mobile ecosystem generated 4.2 per cent of global GDP, a contribution that amounts to more than $3.1 trillion of economic value added.

Commonly used bands for cellular communication are 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, and 2300MHz. According to the GSM Alliance, the most suitable spectrum for telecommunication is in the 400MHz to 4GHz range, and these bands are used globally for various telecommunications purposes. As a result, different standards such as GSM, WCDMA, and LTE were developed over time to use these bands; creating an ecosystem of technology that operators can deploy. Each country regulates the use of spectrum in its own territory but (by and large) the same technology finds use around the world, which is how you have roaming services.

Technology	GSM / HSPA / LTE
2G bands	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G network	HSPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
4G network	LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 8(900), 20(800), 40(2300), 41(2500)

You can see that the same carrier frequency is used in 2G, 3G and 4G.

Actually 2G, 3G and 4G are Not at the exact same frequency and channel, but if operator has enough bandwidth and spectrum (i.e., channels) available at that approximate frequency, then they can do multiple technologies, as long as the guard-bands (unused spectrum) between the bands and channels are not stepped on by the technology. So the operator must have enough spectrum bandwidth at 900 MHz or 1800 MHz to use them in 2G and 4G. Also every service provider is allotted specific frequency to provide their services. So, even if AT&T and Verizon are providing 4G services at the same place, rest assured that they are on different frequencies. Though it is very likely that they are close on the spectrum, they are significantly distantly spaced to avoid any problem.

The right radio frequency for mobile communications:

Is one ‘slice’ of radio spectrum essentially the same as any other?

Not at all.

Spectrum bands have different characteristics, and this makes them suitable for different purposes. Radio frequencies are not all equal. They differ in how well they can provide coverage and capacity (i.e. the amount of data they can carry). Lower frequency bands provide wider coverage because they can penetrate objects effectively and thus travel further, including inside buildings. However, they tend to have relatively poor capacity capabilities because this spectrum is in limited supply so only narrow bands tend to be available.

Contrastingly, higher frequency bands don’t provide as good coverage as the signals are weakened or even stopped by obstacles such as buildings. However, they tend to have greater capacity because there is a larger supply of high frequency spectrum making it easier to create broad frequency bands, allowing more information to be carried. The most extreme examples of this are light waves that operate at such a high frequency that they cannot get through walls but can carry lots of information, hence their use in fiber-optic networks. The same holds true for radio waves. You can use an antenna connected to the top of your television to receive terrestrial TV broadcasts, which operate at low radio frequencies (e.g. below 700 MHz), but will require a dish to be installed on the outside of your home to receive the higher radio frequencies used for satellite TV broadcasts (e.g. 4-8 GHz or 12-18 GHz) as they cannot penetrate walls.

Because of these characteristics, low frequency bands allow mobile operators to provide very wide coverage including in rural areas without requiring many base stations. However, these bands have a limited capacity to carry large amounts of data so operators tend to use higher frequency bands in busy areas such as cities and town centers where lots of people use mobile broadband services — although this means lots of base stations are needed as the signals don’t travel far. As a result operators are looking to acquire more sub-1 GHz spectrum to extend mobile broadband into rural areas, especially in emerging markets. Equally, they are also increasingly looking to higher frequency bands. That includes, for the first time, spectrum band above 3 GHz to accommodate busy urban areas.

National regulatory authorities have a big job, therefore, to allocate and license appropriate resources to the services and sectors that can make the most of it. This means you ideally want to operate at the lowest frequency that is able to carry signals necessary for the applications you are running (voice/ data/ anything else). 1800MHz seems to be the sweet spot between coverage and capacity as far as 4G deployment is concerned. They operate at the lowest frequency that is able to carry signals necessary for the applications you are running (voice/ data/ anything else).

Remember, energy carried by radio wave (any electromagnetic wave) is directly proportional to frequency and square of amplitude. High frequency waves generation need more energy expenditure and since they propagate less, need higher amplitude to travel further, thereby increasing energy expenditure, not to mention large number of cells as they have short range.

5G Frequencies compared to 4G Frequencies:

Early GSM cellular networks operated at 850 MHz and 1900 MHz. 2G and 3G networks change the modulation method but largely used the same portions of the spectrum with reorganized frequency bands. As 3G evolved, additional frequency bands were included as well as spectrum around 2100 MHz. 4G LTE technologies brought it additional spectrum and frequency bands, namely around 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 1.7/2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, and 2.5 GHz. The 5G frequency band plans are much more complex, as the frequency spectrum for sub-6 GHz 5G spans 450 MHz to 6 GHz, and millimeter-wave 5G frequencies span 24.250 GHz to 52.600 GHz, and also include unlicensed spectrum. Additionally, there may be 5G spectrum in the 5925 to 7150 MHz range and 64 GHz to 86 GHz range. Therefore, 5G will include all previous cellular spectrum and a large amount spectrum in the sub-6 GHz range, and beyond sub- 6 GHz is many times current cellular spectrum.

Currently, the FCC is actioning spectrum in the 27.5 GHz to 28.35 GHz, 24.25 GHz to 24.45 GHz, and 24.75 GHz 25.25 GHz, range for millimeter-wave 5G use. The FCC may also be considering opening 3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz mid-band frequencies for 5G, and may also be considering opening 4.9 GHz public safety bands for 5G access. Moreover, the FCC may also make additional bands available for 5G in the 2.75 GHz, 26 GHz, and 42 GHz bands. In December 2018 the FCC announced an incentive action in the 37.6 GHz to 38.6 GHz, 38.6 GHz to 40 GHz, and 47.2 GHz to 48.2 GHz. Most other developing countries are undergoing similar considerations of spectrum allocation for 5G use cases. One of the main reasons that additional spectrum is being made available for 5G uses, is the physical limitations associated with throughput and bandwidth.

4G band plans accounted for between 5 MHz and 20 MHz of bandwidth per channel, where the 5G FR1 standard allows for between 5 MHz and 100 MHz of bandwidth per channel. As bandwidth is directly proportional to maximum throughput, the 5X increase in bandwidth relates to roughly a 5X increase in throughput. Moreover, 3GPP Release 15 established new waveforms and the addition of π/2 BPSK as a modulation method. The additional waveforms are discrete fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) for FR1 and cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) for FR2.

Though RF hardware, technology, and the communications infrastructure are available and capable of meeting some of the requirements of early 5G frequency and performance specifications, the majority of 5G expectations are still beyond currently accessible technologies. These challenges include cost effective hardware with the necessary frequency operation, handheld/mobile integration, and dense and highly distributed networking infrastructure. With 4G LTE services still being deployed throughout the US and other countries, it will likely be several years before 5G services beyond FR1 5G capabilities are viable.

5G requires huge spectrum. Unlike the previous mobile technologies which used radio frequency below 3GHz, 5G will employ much higher frequencies since it is very difficult to find contiguous spectrum below 3GHz in most countries in order to achieve the required high bandwidth and throughput. The use of higher bands such as C-band (3GHz to 6GHz) and mmwave (30GHz to 100GHz) would effectively relieve the shortage of available spectrum.

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Bandwidth and latency:

Bandwidth:

Radio waves are used for wireless transmission of sound messages, or information, for communication, as well as for maritime and aircraft navigation. The information is imposed on the electromagnetic carrier wave as amplitude modulation (AM) or as frequency modulation (FM) or digital modulation. Transmission therefore involves not a single-frequency electromagnetic wave but rather a cluster of frequencies whose width is proportional to the information density. Wireless devices are constrained to operate in a certain frequency band. Each band has an associated bandwidth, which is simply the amount of frequency space in the band. Bandwidth has acquired a connotation of being a measure of the data capacity of a link. A great deal of mathematics, information theory, and signal processing can be used to show that higher-bandwidth slices can be used to transmit more information. As an example, an analog mobile telephony channel requires a 20-kHz bandwidth. TV signals are vastly more complex and have a correspondingly larger bandwidth of 6 MHz.

Those of us in computer networking have stolen the term “bandwidth” from the radio engineers and now we misuse it to mean “throughput” in the context of computer networking. To a radio engineer, bandwidth is just one of many factors in throughput (modulation scheme is another major factor). To a computer network engineer, “bandwidth” is pretty much just a synonym for throughput. In computing, bandwidth is the maximum rate of data transfer across a given path measured in bits per second. This definition of bandwidth is in contrast to the field of signal processing, wireless communications, modem data transmission, digital communications, and electronics, in which bandwidth is used to refer to analog signal bandwidth measured in hertz, meaning the frequency range between lowest and highest attainable frequency while meeting a well-defined impairment level in signal power. Bandwidth is the range of frequencies associated with signal that can pass through a medium. The transmitted signal can be voice, message, video and other data. Different signal has different range of frequencies. It is a measure of the frequency range that is occupied by a modulated signal (carrier wave + information). The actual bit rate that can be achieved depends not only on the signal bandwidth but also on the noise on the channel. Bandwidth of a signal refers in some sense to the number of unknown variables in the signal. The larger the bandwidth, the more ‘wildly’ the signal varies, and thus more number of variable-values that need to be conveyed to reconstruct the signal (hence you need a higher sampling rate). Now, bandwidth of a channel is the maximum amount of change in a signal a channel will allow, i.e., if a signal changes too fast, the channel will distort it. The bandwidth of a channel is the frequency range over which it can transmit a signal with reasonable fidelity.

Although radio channels are referred to by their center frequency, they always make use of frequencies above and below their center frequency. This total range of frequencies used is called the channel bandwidth.

When you tune a wi-fi 2.4 GHz, you don’t tune it to the infinitely narrow channel at exactly 2,437,000,000.000 Hz. The center frequency of wi-fi channel is 2.437 GHz, but typical 20 MHz-wide transmissions on this channel use frequencies from 10 MHz below to 10 MHz above the center frequency. So wi-fi 2.4 GHz is really the 20 MHz-wide range from 2.427 GHz to 2.447 GHz, which is centered on 2.437 GHz. So when you tune your Wi-Fi, it endeavors to receive all those frequencies in that 20 MHz-wide range, while trying to ignore all frequencies outside of that 20 MHz-wide range.

Bluetooth uses 1MHz-wide channels. If there was a Bluetooth channel centered at 2.437 GHz, it would use from 2.4365 to 2.4375 GHz. That is, the 1MHz-wide channel centered at 2.437 GHz.

Traditional North American broadcast TV channels are 6 MHz wide. Traditional North American “FM radio stations” (analog audio broadcast radio stations that use Frequency Modulation) transmit in 200 kHz-wide channels. Traditional North American “AM radio stations” (analog audio broadcast radio stations that use Amplitude Modulation) transmit in 10 kHz-wide channels. So even the oldest transmission schemes most of us are familiar with use channels that have some width to them. They don’t use a single infinitely-narrow frequency.

Yes, bandwidth matters in data rate. The channel width (bandwidth) affects how much data you can transmit per unit time. The formula for the limit of how much information per second can be transmitted with a single-carrier transmission with a fixed bandwidth and fixed noise level was discovered by Claude Shannon in 1948, and is known as the “Shannon Limit”. Modern modulation schemes such as OFDM pack multiple separate subcarriers into the fixed-width channel, so they get more data per second out of a given width of channel than Shannon had theorized, because Shannon had limited his channel model to a single carrier. Optical fiber using different types of light waves and time-division multiplexing can transmit more data through a connection at one time, which effectively increases its bandwidth.

A key characteristic of bandwidth is that any band of a given width can carry the same amount of information, regardless of where that band is located in the frequency spectrum. For example, a 3 kHz band can carry a telephone conversation whether that band is in a POTS telephone line or modulated to some higher frequency.

Plain old telephone service (POTS) is an analog telephone service implemented over copper twisted pair wires and based on the Bell Telephone system. A modulated radio wave, carrying an information signal, occupies a range of frequencies. The information (modulation) in a radio signal is usually concentrated in narrow frequency bands called sidebands (SB) just above and below the carrier frequency. The width in hertz of the frequency range that the radio signal occupies, the highest frequency minus the lowest frequency, is called its bandwidth (BW). A given amount of bandwidth can carry the same amount of information (data rate in bits per second) regardless of where in the radio frequency spectrum it is located all else being equal, so bandwidth is a measure of information-carrying capacity. The bandwidth required by a radio transmission depends on the data rate of the information (modulation signal) being sent, and the spectral efficiency of the modulation method used; how much data it can transmit in each kilohertz of bandwidth. Different types of information signals carried by radio have different data rates. For example, a television (video) signal has a greater data rate than an audio signal.

Bandwidth in Hertz to data speed in bits per second:

Each and every type of wireless technology has its own set of constraints and limitations. However, regardless of the specific wireless technology in use, all communication methods have a maximum channel capacity, which is determined by the same underlying principles. In fact, Claude E. Shannon gave us an exact mathematical model (Channel capacity is the maximum information rate) to determine channel capacity, regardless of the technology in use.

Although somewhat simplified, this formula captures all the essential insights we need to understand the performance of most wireless networks. Regardless of the name, acronym, or the revision number of the specification, the two fundamental constraints on achievable data rates are the amount of available bandwidth and the signal power between the receiver and the sender.

As Shannon’s model shows, the overall channel bit-rate is directly proportional to the assigned range. Hence, all else being equal, a doubling in available frequency range will double the data rate—e.g., going from 20 to 40 MHz of bandwidth can double the channel data rate, which is exactly how 802.11n is improving its performance over earlier WiFi standards!

Finally, it is also worth noting that not all frequency ranges offer the same performance. Low-frequency signals travel farther and cover large areas (macro cells), but at the cost of requiring larger antennas and having more clients competing for access. On the other hand, high-frequency signals can transfer more data but won’t travel as far, resulting in smaller coverage areas (small cells) and a requirement for more infrastructure.

Signal Power:

Besides bandwidth, the second fundamental limiting factor in all wireless communication is the signal power between the sender and receiver, also known as the signal-power-to-noise-power, S/N ratio, or SNR. In essence, it is a measure that compares the level of desired signal to the level of background noise and interference. The larger the amount of background noise, the stronger the signal has to be to carry the information.

By its very nature, all radio communication is done over a shared medium, which means that other devices may generate unwanted interference. For example, a microwave oven operating at 2.5 GHz may overlap with the frequency range used by Wi-Fi, creating cross-standard interference. However, other Wi-Fi devices, such as your neighbors’ Wi-Fi access point, and even your coworker’s laptop accessing the same Wi-Fi network, also create interference for your transmissions. In the ideal case, you would be the one and only user within a certain frequency range, with no other background noise or interference. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely. First, bandwidth is scarce, and second, there are simply too many wireless devices to make that work. Instead, to achieve the desired data rate where interference is present, we can either increase the transmit power, thereby increasing the strength of the signal, or decrease the distance between the transmitter and the receiver—or both, of course.

Modulation:

Available bandwidth and SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) are the two primary, physical factors that dictate the capacity of every wireless channel. However, the algorithm by which the signal is encoded can also have a significant effect. Our digital alphabet (1’s and 0’s), needs to be translated into an analog signal (a radio wave). Modulation is the process of digital-to-analog conversion, and different “modulation alphabets” can be used to encode the digital signal with different efficiency. The combination of the alphabet and the symbol rate is what then determines the final throughput of the channel. The choice of the modulation algorithm depends on the available technology, computing power of both the receiver and sender, as well as the SNR ratio. A higher-order modulation alphabet comes at a cost of reduced robustness to noise and interference.

Simplified ‘Network Capacity’ equation:

The radio spectrum, the total range of radio frequencies that can be used for communication in a given area, is a fixed resource. Each radio transmission occupies a portion of the total bandwidth available. Because it is a fixed resource which is in demand by an increasing number of users, the radio spectrum has become increasingly congested in recent decades, and the need to use it more effectively is driving many additional radio innovations such as trunked radio systems, spread spectrum (ultra-wideband) transmission, frequency reuse, dynamic spectrum management, dynamic spectrum sharing, frequency pooling, and cognitive radio.

In recent years there has been a transition from analog to digital radio transmission technologies. Part of the reason for this is that digital modulation can often transmit more information (a greater data rate) in a given bandwidth than analog modulation, by using data compression algorithms, which reduce redundancy in the data to be sent, and more efficient modulation. Other reasons for the transition is that digital modulation has greater noise immunity than analog, digital signal processing chips have more power and flexibility than analog circuits, and a wide variety of types of information can be transmitted using the same digital modulation.

A government agency (such as the Federal Communications Commission in the United States) may apportion the regionally available bandwidth to broadcast license holders so that their signals do not mutually interfere. In this context, bandwidth is also known as channel spacing.

Spectral efficiency:

Since frequency spectrum is limited, it has to be utilized efficiently. A given bandwidth is said to be used effectively if maximum information can be transmitted over it. The term Spectral Efficiency is used to describe the rate of information being transmitted over a given bandwidth in specific communication systems. Spectral Efficiency may also be called bandwidth efficiency. If a specific communication system uses one kilo hertz of bandwidth to transmit 1,000 bits per second, then it has a spectral efficiency or bandwidth efficiency of 1 (bit/s)/Hz.

The spectral efficiency (that is the number of “bits” that we can code per single Hz) has reached its peak with OFMD and 64/256 QAM modulation used in the 4G system. 5G shows incredible spectral efficiency far beyond Shannon limit, current record is 145.6 b/s/Hz (with 256 QAM), a sensational result given that the usual spectral efficiency is around 2.5 b/s/Hz. In 5G, the communications take place using several antennas in parallel, 128 in this case. In this way rather than using a single communication “channel” we use many of them (MIMO: Multiple Input Multiple Output) and the array of antennas coupled with a software that detects and decodes the signal allows the resolution of the interference resulting from multiple channels. This increased efficiency, however, is not a 5G property, it is already being used today in Wi-Fi communications (two antennas are normally used) and in the 4G. The constraints are given first by the available processing power (the more processing power is available, the more parallel channels you can process and therefore solve the interference generated by n-1 channels provided you can have the signals from n antennas), and second by the topology architecture of the antennas array. The antennas need to be separated one another by at least half a wavelength (that is why you see Wi-Fi antennas shaped like horns, separated by some 10 cm, at the two edges of the box). The higher the frequency, the closer the antennas can be. The use of millimeter waves, 50GHz (at 50GHz the wavelength is 6mm) and beyond, allow us create smart antennas array, massive MIMO.

Bandwidth in Core Networks:

An optical fiber acts as a simple “light pipe,” slightly thicker than a human hair, designed to transmit light between the two ends of the cable. Metal wires are also used but are subject to higher signal loss, electromagnetic interference, and higher lifetime maintenance costs. Chances are, your packets will travel over both types of cable, but for any long-distance hops, they will be transmitted over a fiber-optic link. Optical fibers have a distinct advantage when it comes to bandwidth because each fiber can carry many different wavelengths (channels) of light through a process known as wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). Hence, the total bandwidth of a fiber link is the multiple of per-channel data rate and the number of multiplexed channels. As of early 2010, researchers have been able to multiplex over 400 wavelengths with the peak capacity of 171 Gbit/s per channel, which translates to over 70 Tbit/s of total bandwidth for a single fiber link! We would need thousands of copper wire (electrical) links to match this throughput. Not surprisingly, most long-distance hops, such as subsea data transmission between continents, is now done over fiber-optic links. Each cable carries several strands of fiber (four strands is a common number), which translates into bandwidth capacity in hundreds of terabits per second for each cable.

Spectrum bandwidth:

Spectrum bandwidth is the allowable frequency range over which information signals can be transmitted. For example, if the allowable frequency range were 100kHz to 200kHz (spectrum bandwidth 100 kHz), and we needed 20kHz signal (signal bandwidth 20 kHz) to be transmitted, we can get 5 signals transmitted. If the allowable frequency range were 100MHz to 200MHz (spectrum bandwidth 100 MHz), we can transmit 5,000 signals.

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Latency:

When people think about internet connections, latency might not be the first thing to come to mind but it is very important and definitely needs to be discussed when network performance is being compared. Latency is basically the measurement of time between your request for data to a server (like when you click on something on a website) and the return of that data. For online gamers with quick triggers, a small latency time is very important in gunning down their opponents. Someone streaming their favorite show, on the other hand, might not necessarily care about latency more than they care about how fast their show gets downloaded. In many cases latency isn’t that important. If you are watching a YouTube video it can buffer and take a time to start. If however you are having a Skype conversation where the link is two-way then latency matters. The thing is, when it comes to 5G where speeds are already predicted to soar over its predecessors, most experts tend to agree that the bigger impact 5G is going to have on the world might be in its superior latency. This is because as far as speeds go, the internet isn’t exactly moving slowly for us and while download times are sure to see some pretty cool decreases, they are already pretty fast. The decrease in latency, however, is going to pave the way for innovations in the internet of things where more can be done with those little commands we have in everyday life. One major area improved latency is set to help make an impact on (while arguably not being the total solution) is in self-driving car infrastructure. With life-or-death information needed to constantly be traded back and forth between sensors/cameras and car itself (or the computer driving it) it’s very important that latency is very low.

If you grew up in the 90s, you know the frustration of waiting endlessly for videos to buffer or online games to catch up with servers (always in the midst of an important battle). This was due to network lag, also known as latency. Latency measures the time it takes to receive data back from servers after your computer (or your smartphone) sends its own data. The longer that time is, the higher your latency is (worse), and the shorter it is, the lower your lag (better).

2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G Network Latency Compared:

Mobile Network Technology	Latency (milliseconds)
2G	300-1000ms
3G	100-500ms
4G	50-100ms
5G	1-10ms

Low latency is an important aspect of 5G technology, as its latency can theoretically be reduced to as little as one millisecond—which is virtually unnoticeable.

Is 1 millisecond latency achievable in 5G?

Latency is the time it takes for a message, or a packet, to travel from its point of origin to the point of destination. That is a simple and useful definition, but it often hides a lot of useful information — every system contains multiple sources, or components, contributing to the overall time it takes for a message to be delivered, and it is important to understand what these components are and what dictates their performance. Let’s take a closer look at some common contributing components on the Internet which are responsible for relaying a message between the client and the server.

4G and 5G networks are divided into three simple elements of latency as seen in the figure above:

Air Latency.

This is the latency between the user device and the cell tower. For a 4G network, the latency added to data download would be a variable between 10 ms and higher. The variables will depend on the signal strength, the number of devices in the cell sector, the distance, the noise, and many other factors. These factors do not go way with 5G.

In a 5G network, the aspirations are to have the air latency down to 1ms – 5ms. This is where you get the quotes that “5G is expected to slash data transmission delays from about 30 milliseconds to less than one.” First, note that this is one element to the total latency between the content (a web page) and the mobile device. 5G is not going to allow you to download www.drrajivdesaimd.com in 1 millisecond. We still have a lot more latency variables to deal with.

End-to-End Mobile Latency.

This is the total latency between the RF unit (eNodeB) and the gateway to the Internet. This includes the wide area network that connects all the cell towers to the core of the network (the Radio Access Network – RAN), all the routers and switches in that network, all the elements in the core data centres (the Enhanced Packet Core – EPC), and then all the elements in the gateway to the Internet. That final “gateway” will include things like the Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (CGNAT), security firewalls, deep packet inspection, and other elements. This latency is also a variable between 30ms and ~100ms (or more). The variable is from the number of network devices, the distances of the RAN’s network, the load of the network (more congestion means deeper queue resulting in more latency/jitter), the load on each element in the network (overloaded elements in the EPC), and the activity of the users. Again, none of these variables go away with 5G. If anything, more variables will be added as Carriers add the 5G core, slicing, and other complexity to the network.

The aspirations for 5G is to have the mobile end-to-end in the 5ms range. That is going to be a challenge with the way networks are built and managed today. There are ways re-architect a 4G/5G network to dramatically cut down the latency. This engineering effort cost time and money. That means each Carrier will be mindfully reviewing the business case for 5G before rearchitecting the network. In the meantime, they will look for other options to cut down on the end-to-end latency.

End-to-End Internet Latency.

This how fast it takes to download a website to your phone. This is where the major confusing comes in with the benefits of 5G. Internet latency from the Mobile Carrier to the downloaded website is outside of the control of 5G. There are things the Mobile Operator can do to reduce the end-to-end Internet Latency, for example, they can partner with Edge-Compute companies and put these Edge Compute systems integrated with the core of their network. Once again these variables will apply to 5G.

It is unlikely that we will get 5G 1 millisecond latency unless we go through hard engineering, architecture, planning, and tight collaboration with peers throughout the Internet.

Achieving the sub-1ms latency rate identified as a technical requirement for 5G necessitates a new way of thinking about how networks are structured, and will likely prove to be a significant undertaking in terms of technological development and investment in infrastructure.

Significant changes in both the Core Network (Core) and Radio Access Network (RAN) are required to deliver low latency.

Core Network changes:

With the redesigned core network, signaling and distributed servers, a key feature is to move the content closer to the end user and to shorten the path between devices for critical applications. Good examples are video on demand streaming services where it is possible to store a copy or ‘cache’ of popular content in local servers, so the time to access is quicker.

Radio Access Network changes:

Changes to achieve the low latency, the Radio Access Network (RAN) will need to be re-configured in a manner that is highly flexible and software configurable to support the very different characteristics of the types of services that the 5G system envisages.

Low latency and high reliability over the air interface requires new radio techniques to minimize the time delays through the radio within a few TTIs (time transmit intervals) along with robustness and coding improvements to achieve high degrees of reliability (e.g. one message is delayed or lost in every billion).

Implementing a virtual, dynamic and configurable RAN allows the network to perform at very low latency and high throughput, but it also allows the mobile network to adjust to changes in network traffic, network faults and new topology requirements.

Despite the inevitable advances in processor speeds and network latency between now and 2020, the speeds at which radio signals can travel through the air and light can travel along a fiber are governed by fundamental laws of physics. Subsequently services requiring a delay time of less than 1 millisecond must have all of their content served from a physical position very close to the user’s device. Industry estimates suggest that this distance may be less than 1 kilometer, which means that any service requiring such a low latency will have to be served using content located very close to the customer, possibly at the base of every cell, including the many small cells that are predicted to be fundamental to meeting densification requirements. This will likely require a substantial uplift in capital expenditure (CAPEX) spent on infrastructure for content distribution and servers.

If any service requiring 1 millisecond delay also has a need for interconnection between one operator and another, this interconnectivity must also occur within 1 kilometer of the customers. This could well be the case in a service such as social networking content pushed into augmented reality. Today, inter-operator interconnect points are relatively sparse, but to support a 5G service with 1 millisecond delay, there would likely need to be interconnection at every base station, thus impacting the topological structure of the core network. Roaming customers would need to have visited network contextual roaming capabilities, and have content relevant to their applications available directly from the visited network, posing challenges for the existing roaming model.

In the most extreme case, it would make sense for a single network infrastructure to be implemented, which would be utilised by all operators. This would mean all customers could be served by a single content source, with all interaction and interconnect with localised context also being served from that point at the base station. This would also imply that only one radio network would be built, and then shared by all operators. Such a model would considerably reduce CAPEX in the network build (since rather than say four operators building four parallel networks, only a single network would be built) but would require unprecedented levels of co-operation between operators. It would also impact the nature of inter-operator competition, shifting focus to services rather than data rate and coverage differentiation. It would also make spectrum auctions somewhat irrelevant, since only one radio network being built would mean there would only be one bidder and one license per market.

Once this is all realised, it is likely that requirements for sub-1ms delay will be relaxed or possibly removed entirely from 5G, rather than industry committing to the massive upheaval and resource acquisition that would be implied. If this were to happen, it may draw into question the viability of coupling services such as augmented and virtual reality, immersive internet and autonomous driving with mobility. However, if those services were removed from the expected service set, the justification for the technological view of 5G would also become questionable.

Reality:

In 5G, the “air latency” target is 1–4 milliseconds, although the equipment shipping in 2019 has tested air latency of 8–12 milliseconds. The latency to the server must be added to the “air latency”. Verizon reports the latency on its 5G early deployment is 30 ms. Also, there is a drag on latency as devices shift from LTE to 5G — a big deal for early rollouts where users spend much more of their time on the legacy networks. In South Korea, up-switching could move the latency needle from 88 to 244 ms.

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Wired and wireless network:

Signals can be sent via radio waves (wireless), via RF current in RF cable (wired) and via light in fiber cables (wired). A wired network uses cables to connect devices, such as laptop or desktop computers, to the Internet or another network. A wireless network allows devices to stay connected to the network but roam untethered to any wires. Access points amplify Wi-Fi signals, so a device can be far from a router but still be connected to the network. A wired network has some disadvantages when compared to a wireless network. The biggest disadvantage is that your device is tethered to a router. The most common wired networks use cables connected at one end to an Ethernet port on the network router and at the other end to a computer or other device. Previously it was thought that wired networks were faster and more secure than wireless networks. But continual enhancements to wireless network technology and Wi-Fi networking standards have eroded speed and security differences between wired and wireless networks.

The electronic transmission of information over distances, called telecommunications, has become virtually inseparable from computers: Computers and telecommunications create value together. Telecommunications are the means of electronic transmission of information over distances. The information may be in the form of voice telephone calls, data, text, images, or video. Today, telecommunications are used to organize more or less remote computer systems into telecommunications networks. These networks themselves are run by computers. A telecommunications network is an arrangement of computing and telecommunications resources for communication of information between distant locations. Various media are employed to implement telecommunication links.

Types of Transmission Media:

In data communication terminology, a transmission medium is a physical path between the transmitter and the receiver i.e. it is the channel through which data is sent from one place to another. Transmission Media is broadly classified into the following types:

Guided Media:

It is also referred to as Wired or Bounded transmission media. Signals being transmitted are directed and confined in a narrow pathway by using physical links. Signals (information) is transmitted using coaxial cable, optic fibers etc.

Unguided Media:

It is also referred to as Wireless or Unbounded transmission media. No physical medium is required for the transmission of electromagnetic signals. 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G are wireless transmissions over air.

Why Wireless?

The most obvious advantage of wireless networking is mobility. Wireless network users can connect to existing networks and are then allowed to roam freely. A mobile telephone user can drive miles in the course of a single conversation because the phone connects the user through cell towers.

Wireless networks typically have a great deal of flexibility, which can translate into rapid deployment. Wireless networks use a number of base stations to connect users to an existing network. (In an 802.11 network, the base stations are called access points. IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of LAN protocols, and specifies the set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) Wi-Fi computer communication in various frequencies, including but not limited to 2.4, 5, and 60 GHz frequency bands. They are the world’s most widely used wireless computer networking standards, used in most home and office networks to allow laptops, printers, and smartphones to talk to each other and access the Internet without connecting wires. They are created and maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) LAN/MAN Standards) The infrastructure side of a wireless network, however, is qualitatively the same whether you are connecting one user or a million users. To offer service in a given area, you need base stations and antennas in place. Once that infrastructure is built, however, adding a user to a wireless network is mostly a matter of authorization. With the infrastructure built, it must be configured to recognize and offer services to the new users, but authorization does not require more infrastructure. Adding a user to a wireless network is a matter of configuring the infrastructure, but it does not involve running cables, punching down terminals, and patching in a new jack.

Flexibility is an important attribute for service providers. One of the markets that many 802.11 equipment vendors have been chasing is the so-called “hot spot” connectivity market. Airports and train stations are likely to have itinerant business travelers interested in network access during connection delays. Coffeehouses and other public gathering spots are social venues in which network access is desirable. Many cafes already offer Internet access; offering Internet access over a wireless network is a natural extension of the existing Internet connectivity. While it is possible to serve a fluid group of users with Ethernet jacks, supplying access over a wired network is problematic for several reasons. Running cables is time-consuming and expensive and may also require construction. Properly guessing the correct number of cable drops is more an art than a science. With a wireless network, though, there is no need to suffer through construction or make educated (or wild) guesses about demand. A simple wired infrastructure connects to the Internet, and then the wireless network can accommodate as many users as needed. Although wireless LANs have somewhat limited bandwidth, the limiting factor in networking a small hot spot is likely to be the cost of WAN bandwidth to the supporting infrastructure.

What are the benefits of a wireless network?

Convenience

Access your network resources from any location within your wireless network’s coverage area or from any Wi-Fi hotspot.

Mobility

You’re not tied to your desk, as you are with a wired connection. You and your employees can go online in conference room meetings, for example.

Productivity

Wireless access to the Internet and to key applications and resources helps you get the job done and encourages collaboration.

Easy setup

You don’t have to string cables, so installation can be quick and cost effective.

Expandability

You can easily expand wireless networks with existing equipment, whereas a wired network might require additional wiring.

Security

Advances in wireless networks provide robust security protections.

Cost

Because wireless networks eliminate or reduce wiring expenses, they can cost less to operate than wired networks.

RF stands for “Radio Frequency” and has become a catch-all term for certain wired communications and a large (spectral) range of wirelessly transmitted waves. Radio frequency (RF) signals can be transmitted wirelessly through air and over an RF cable via RF current. RF signals can also be transmitted by infra-red light in fiber-optic cables non-electrically.

RF current:

Electric currents that oscillate at radio frequencies (RF currents) have special properties not shared by direct current or alternating current of lower frequencies.

Energy from RF currents in conductors can radiate into space as electromagnetic waves (radio waves). This is the basis of radio technology.
RF current does not penetrate deeply into electrical conductors but tends to flow along their surfaces; this is known as the skin effect.
RF currents applied to the body often do not cause the painful sensation and muscular contraction of electric shock that lower frequency currents produce. This is because the current changes direction too quickly to trigger depolarization of nerve membranes. However this does not mean RF currents are harmless; they can cause internal injury as well as serious superficial burns called RF burns.
RF current can easily ionize air, creating a conductive path through it. This property is exploited by “high frequency” units used in electric arc welding, which use currents at higher frequencies than power distribution uses.
Another property is the ability to appear to flow through paths that contain insulating material, like the dielectric insulator of a capacitor. This is because capacitive reactance in a circuit decreases with frequency.

In contrast, RF current can be blocked by a coil of wire, or even a single turn or bend in a wire. This is because the inductive reactance of a circuit increases with frequency.

When conducted by an ordinary electric cable, RF current has a tendency to reflect from discontinuities in the cable such as connectors and travel back down the cable toward the source, causing a condition called standing waves. Therefore, RF current must be carried by specialized types of cable called transmission line, such as coaxial cables.

Ordinary electrical cables suffice to carry low frequency alternating current (AC), such as mains power, which reverses direction 50 to 60 times per second, and audio signals. However, they cannot be used to carry currents in the radio frequency range, above about 30 kHz, because the energy tends to radiate off the cable as radio waves, causing power losses. Radio frequency currents also tend to reflect from discontinuities in the cable such as connectors and joints, and travel back down the cable toward the source. These reflections act as bottlenecks, preventing the signal power from reaching the destination. Transmission lines use specialized construction, and impedance matching, to carry electromagnetic signals with minimal reflections and power losses. The distinguishing feature of most transmission lines is that they have uniform cross sectional dimensions along their length, giving them a uniform impedance, called the characteristic impedance, to prevent reflections. Various types of transmission line include parallel line (ladder line, twisted pair), coaxial cable, and planar transmission lines such as stripline and microstrip. In radio-frequency engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct alternating current of radio frequency, that is, currents with a frequency high enough that their wave nature must be taken into account. Transmission lines are used for purposes such as connecting radio transmitters and receivers with their antennas (they are then called feed lines or feeders), distributing cable television signals, trunklines routing calls between telephone switching centers, computer network connections and high speed computer data buses.

At microwave frequencies and above, power losses in transmission lines become excessive, and waveguides are used instead, which function as “pipes” to confine and guide the electromagnetic waves. Some sources define waveguides as a type of transmission line. At even higher frequencies, in the terahertz, infrared and visible ranges, waveguides in turn become lossy, and optical methods, (such as lenses and mirrors), are used to guide electromagnetic waves.

Different types of cables for wired RF transmission:

Cables could be electric (e.g. coaxial cable) or non-electric (fiber-optic).

Coaxial cable:

Coaxial cable, or coax is a type of electrical cable that has an inner conductor surrounded by a tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. Many coaxial cables also have an insulating outer sheath or jacket. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing a geometric axis. Coaxial cable is a type of transmission line, used to carry high frequency electrical signals with low losses. It is used in such applications as telephone trunklines, broadband internet networking cables, high speed computer data busses, carrying cable television signals, and connecting radio transmitters and receivers to their antennas. One advantage of coaxial over other types of radio transmission line is that in an ideal coaxial cable the electromagnetic field carrying the signal exists only in the space between the inner and outer conductors. This allows coaxial cable runs to be installed next to metal objects such as gutters without the power losses that occur in other types of transmission lines. Coaxial cable also provides protection of the signal from external electromagnetic interference.

In radio-frequency applications up to a few gigahertz, the wave propagates primarily in the transverse electric magnetic (TEM) mode in coax, which means that the electric and magnetic fields are both perpendicular to the direction of propagation. However, above a certain cutoff frequency, transverse electric (TE) or transverse magnetic (TM) modes can also propagate, as they do in a waveguide. It is usually undesirable to transmit signals above the cutoff frequency, since it may cause multiple modes with different phase velocities to propagate, interfering with each other.

Long distance coaxial cable was used in the 20th century to connect radio networks, television networks, and Long-Distance telephone networks though this has largely been superseded by later methods (fiber optics, T1/E1, satellite).

Coax (used as RF cable) is used in many places, but RF cable is also in the last bit of wireless RF signaling; the transition from wireless to cable is handled by a series of antennas, transmitters, and receivers. One example is a wireless internet router, which has antennas to send and receive RF wireless signals, but there are also coaxial cables with RF connectors on them that connect (and carry) RF signals to a dish antenna or a cable modem from the router.

Twin-lead cable:

Twin-lead cable is a two-conductor flat cable used as a balanced transmission line to carry radio frequency (RF) signals. It is constructed of two stranded copper or copper-clad steel wires, held a precise distance apart by a plastic (usually polyethylene) ribbon. The uniform spacing of the wires is the key to the cable’s function as a transmission line; any abrupt changes in spacing would reflect some of the signal back toward the source. The plastic also covers and insulates the wires. Twin lead is a form of parallel-wire balanced transmission line. The separation between the two wires in twin-lead is small compared to the wavelength of the radio frequency (RF) signal carried on the wire. The RF current in one wire is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the RF current in the other wire. Therefore, in the far field region far from the transmission line, the radio waves radiated by one wire are equal in magnitude but opposite in phase (180° out of phase) to the waves radiated by the other wire, so they superpose and cancel each other. The result is that almost no net radio energy is radiated by the line.

Twin lead can have significantly lower signal loss than miniature flexible coaxial cable at shortwave and VHF radio frequencies; for example, type RG-58 coaxial cable loses 6.6 dB per 100 m at 30 MHz, while 300 ohm twin-lead loses only 0.55 dB. However, twin-lead is more vulnerable to interference. Proximity to metal objects will inject signals into twin-lead that would be blocked out by coaxial cable. Twin lead therefore requires careful installation around rain gutters, and standoffs from metal support masts. Twin-lead is also susceptible to significant degradation when wet or ice covered, whereas coax is less or not affected in these conditions. For these reasons, coax has largely replaced twin-lead in most uses, except where maximum signal is required.

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Fiber-optic cable (fiber):

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference are required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks, computer networks, or across long distances. A fiber-optic cable is made up of incredibly thin strands of glass or plastic known as optical fiber; one cable can have as few as two strands or as many as several hundred. Each strand is less than a tenth as thick as a human hair and can carry something like 25,000 telephone calls, so an entire fiber-optic cable can easily carry several million calls.

Fiber-optic cables carry information between two places using entirely optical (light-based) technology. Suppose you wanted to send information from your computer to a friend’s house down the street using fiber optics. You could hook your computer up to a laser, which would convert electrical information from the computer into a series of light pulses. Then you’d fire the laser down the fiber-optic cable. After traveling down the cable, the light beams would emerge at the other end. Your friend would need a photoelectric cell (light-detecting component) to turn the pulses of light back into electrical information his or her computer could understand.

Light travels down a fiber-optic cable by bouncing repeatedly off the walls. Each tiny photon (particle of light) bounces down the pipe like a bobsleigh going down an ice run. Now you might expect a beam of light, traveling in a clear glass pipe, simply to leak out of the edges. But if light hits glass at a really shallow angle (less than 42 degrees), it reflects back in again—as though the glass were really a mirror. This phenomenon is called total internal reflection. It’s one of the things that keeps light inside the pipe.

The other thing that keeps light in the pipe is the structure of the cable, which is made up of two separate parts. The main part of the cable—in the middle—is called the core and that’s the bit the light travels through. Wrapped around the outside of the core is another layer of glass called the cladding. The cladding’s job is to keep the light signals inside the core. It can do this because it is made of a different type of glass to the core. (More technically, the cladding has a lower refractive index.)

Optical telecommunication is usually conducted with infrared light in the wavelength ranges of 0.8–0.9 μm or 1.3–1.6 μm—wavelengths that are efficiently generated by light-emitting diodes or semiconductor lasers and that suffer least attenuation in glass fibers. Fiberscope inspection in endoscopy or industry is conducted in the visible wavelengths, one bundle of fibers being used to illuminate the examined area with light and another bundle serving as an elongated lens for transmitting the image to the human eye or a video camera.

Optical fiber is used as a medium for telecommunication and computer networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially advantageous for long-distance communications, because light propagates through the fiber with much lower attenuation compared to electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned with few repeaters.

The per-channel light signals propagating in the fiber have been modulated at rates as high as 111 gigabits per second (Gbit/s) by NTT, although 10 or 40 Gbit/s is typical in deployed systems. In June 2013, researchers demonstrated transmission of 400 Gbit/s over a single channel using 4-mode orbital angular momentum multiplexing.

Radio over fiber (RoF) or RF over fiber (RFoF) refers to a technology whereby light is amplitude modulated by a radio frequency signal and transmitted over an optical fiber link. It is an analog transmission as light is analog. Main technical advantages of using fiber optical links are high bandwidth, lower transmission losses and reduced sensitivity to noise and electromagnetic interference compared to all-electrical signal transmission.

Applications range from the transmission of mobile radio signals (3G, 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi) and the transmission of cable television signals (CATV) to the transmission of RF L-Band signals in ground stations for satellite communications.

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Over the past five years, the world has become increasingly mobile. As a result, traditional ways of networking the world have proven inadequate to meet the challenges posed by our new collective lifestyle. If users must be connected to a network by physical cables, their movement is dramatically reduced. Wireless connectivity, however, poses no such restriction and allows a great deal more free movement on the part of the network user. As a result, wireless technologies are encroaching on the traditional realm of “fixed” or “wired” networks.

Wireless networks are an excellent complement to fixed networks, but they are not a replacement technology. Just as mobile telephones complement fixed-line telephony, wireless LANs complement existing fixed networks by providing mobility to users. Servers and other data center equipment must access data, but the physical location of the server is irrelevant. As long as the servers do not move, they may as well be connected to wires that do not move. At the other end of the spectrum, wireless networks must be designed to cover large areas to accommodate fast-moving clients.

Radio links are subject to several additional constraints that fixed networks are not. Because radio spectrum is a relatively scarce resource, it is carefully regulated. Two ways exist to make radio networks go faster. Either more spectrum can be allocated, or the encoding on the link can be made more sensitive so that it packs more data in per unit of time. Additional spectrum allocations are relatively rare, especially for license-free networks. 802.11 networks have kept the bandwidth of a station’s radio channel to approximately 30 MHz, while developing vastly improved encoding to improve the speed. Faster coding methods can increase the speed, but do have one potential drawback. Because the faster coding method depends on the receiver to pick out subtle signal differences, much greater signal-to-noise ratios are required. Higher data rates therefore require the station to be located closer to its access point.

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Wireless Network:

A wireless network consists of devices that can transmit and receive information in the form of radio waves. Devices like laptops, tablets, PCs and smartphones are equipped with a wireless network card that is capable of sending and receiving radio waves.

Wireless access point:

At the heart of each wireless home network is a wireless access point. The wireless access point functions as a central communications hub. All laptops, PCs, phones and tablets in the network connect to the access point and use it to send and receive information to and from other devices in the network.

Router:

While a wireless access point enables wireless connectivity, a router takes care of routing traffic between different networks. The router ensures that the proper information ends up at the proper device in the proper network. In a home network a router acts as a traffic regulator between the home network and the network of the internet service provider (ISP). So, a wireless router combines two functions: routing and wireless connectivity.

Modem:

The wireless router is usually connected to a modem or it has an integrated modem that connects your home network to your ISP. You should see the modem, router and wireless access point as three functions that are needed to create a wireless home network with internet access. But they don’t have to be three separate devices. They can be combined into one or two devices or be completely separate devices.

The advantages of a wireless network at home are pretty obvious when you compare it to a cabled network. You can get rid of all those dust collecting cables and you can move anywhere around the house with your laptop or smartphone, as long as you stay in range of your wireless access point.

How wireless devices can distinguish between signals:

How devices in a wireless network are able to differentiate between different signals coming from other wireless devices like wireless routers, laptops and mobile phones.

MAC address

The MAC address or hardware address or physical address is a unique code that is assigned to each piece of network equipment, like network adapters and wireless access points. In network communications (wireless or cabled) the network packets that are sent from any device contain the MAC address of the sender and of the MAC address of the intended receiver. This is how any device in the network can decide whether a certain packet is addressed to that device or not. Your wireless network card will see packets from other networks, but it will discard the packets that were not intended for it.

SSID, the service set identifier

When a wireless device connects to a wireless access point it does so by sending out an association request. This request contains the SSID, which is network’s public name. When a connection is established the client (your laptop, pc, smart phone or tablet) and the access point maintain the connection by exchanging management packets. These management packets contain the SSID and more information about the network. Your device therefore knows to which network it is connected and to which access point it should “listen” for packets.

Frequency bands

Wireless access points can operate in different frequency bands, also called channels. When a client connects to a wireless access point in a certain channel it does see packets from other networks in that channel, but it discards them, because they originate from an access point with an SSID and MAC address that doesn’t belong to the session that the client has with the access point is is connected with.

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Devices in your daily life use many types of wireless signals. Look at the figure below to see the various frequencies and types of modulation each uses:

Nearly every device or technology uses a different wireless frequency and modulation. This means most devices can only understand a very specific kind of wireless signal.

At its broadest, a wireless network refers to any network not connected by cables, which is what enables the desired convenience and mobility for the user. Not surprisingly, given the myriad different use cases and applications, we should also expect to see dozens of different wireless technologies to meet the needs, each with its own performance characteristics and each optimized for a specific task and context. Today, we already have over a dozen widespread wireless technologies in use: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, NFC, WiMAX, LTE, HSPA, EV-DO, earlier 3G standards, satellite services, and more. As such, given the diversity, it is not wise to make sweeping generalizations about performance of wireless networks. However, most wireless technologies operate on common principles, have common trade-offs, and are subject to common performance criteria and constraints. Further, while the mechanics of data delivery via radio communication are fundamentally different from the tethered world, the outcome as experienced by the user is, or should be, all the same—same performance, same results. In the long run all applications are and will be delivered over wireless networks; it just may be the case that some will be accessed more frequently over wireless than others. There is no such thing as a wired application, and there is zero demand for such a distinction. All applications should perform well regardless of underlying connectivity. As a user, you should not care about the underlying technology in use, but developers must think ahead and architect their applications to anticipate the differences between the different types of networks. And every optimization that developers apply for wireless networks will translate to a better experience in all other contexts.

Types of Wireless Networks:

A network is a group of devices connected to one another. In the case of wireless networks, radio communication is usually the medium of choice. However, even within the radio-powered subset, there are dozens of different technologies designed for use at different scales, topologies, and for dramatically different use cases. One way to illustrate this difference is to partition the use cases based on their “geographic range”:

Types of wireless networks:

Type	Range	Applications	Standards
Personal area network (PAN)	Within reach of a person	Cable replacement for peripherals	Bluetooth, ZigBee, NFC
Local area network (LAN)	Within a building or campus	Wireless extension of wired network	IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi)
Metropolitan area network (MAN)	Within a city	Wireless inter-network connectivity	IEEE 802.15 (WiMAX)
Wide area network (WAN)	Worldwide	Wireless network access	Cellular (UMTS, LTE, etc.)

The preceding classification is neither complete nor entirely accurate. Many technologies and standards start within a specific use case, such as Bluetooth for PAN applications and cable replacement, and with time acquire more capabilities, reach, and throughput. In fact, the latest drafts of Bluetooth now provide seamless interoperability with 802.11 (Wi-Fi) for high-bandwidth use cases. Similarly, technologies such as WiMAX have their origins as fixed-wireless solutions, but with time acquired additional mobility capabilities, making them a viable alternative to other WAN and cellular technologies.

The point of the classification is not to partition each technology into a separate bin, but to highlight the high-level differences within each use case. Some devices have access to a continuous power source; others must optimize their battery life at all costs. Some require Gbit/s+ data rates; others are built to transfer tens or hundreds of bytes of data (e.g., NFC). Some applications require always-on connectivity, while others are delay and latency tolerant. These and a large number of other criteria are what determine the original characteristics of each type of network. However, once in place, each standard continues to evolve: better battery capacities, faster processors, improved modulation algorithms, and other advancements continue to extend the use cases and performance of each wireless standard.

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Measuring Wireless Performance:

The performance of any wireless network, regardless of the name, acronym, or the revision number, is fundamentally limited by a small number of well-known parameters. Specifically, the amount of allocated bandwidth and the signal-to-noise ratio between receiver and sender. Further, all radio-powered communication is:

-Done over a shared communication medium (radio waves)

-Regulated to use specific bandwidth frequency ranges

-Regulated to use specific transmit power rates

-Subject to continuously changing background noise and interference

-Subject to technical constraints of the chosen wireless technology

-Subject to constraints of the device: form factor, power, etc.

All wireless technologies advertise a peak, or a maximum data rate. For example, the 802.11g standard is capable of 54 Mbit/s, and the 802.11n standard raises the bar up to 600 Mbit/s. Similarly, some mobile carriers are advertising 100+ Mbit/s throughput with LTE. However, the most important part that is often overlooked when analyzing all these numbers is the emphasis on in ideal conditions: maximum amount of allotted bandwidth, exclusive use of the frequency spectrum, minimum or no background noise, highest-throughput modulation alphabet, and, increasingly, multiple radio streams (multiple-input and multiple-output, or MIMO) transmitting in parallel. Needless to say, what you see on the label and what you experience in the real world might be very different.

Just a few factors that may affect the performance of your wireless network:

-Amount of distance between receiver and sender

-Amount of background noise in current location

-Amount of interference from users in the same network (intra-cell)

-Amount of interference from users in other, nearby networks (inter-cell)

-Amount of available transmit power, both at receiver and sender

-Amount of processing power and the chosen modulation scheme

In other words, if you want maximum throughput, then try to remove any noise and interference you can control, place your receiver and sender as close as possible, give them all the power they desire, and make sure both select the best modulation method. Or, if you are bent on performance, just run a physical wire between the two! The convenience of wireless communication does have its costs. A small change, on the order of a few inches, in the location of the receiver can easily double throughput, and a few instants later the throughput could be halved again because another receiver has just woken up and is now competing for access to the radio channel. By its very nature, wireless performance is highly variable.

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Broadband:

In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals and traffic types. The medium can be coaxial cable, optical fiber, radio waves or twisted pair. In the context of Internet access, broadband is used to mean any high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than dial-up access. Broadband is a relative term, understood according to its context. The wider (or broader) the bandwidth of a channel, the greater the data-carrying capacity, given the same channel quality. The various forms of digital subscriber line (DSL) services are broadband in the sense that digital information is sent over multiple channels. Each channel is at higher frequency than the baseband voice channel, so it can support plain old telephone service on a single pair of wires at the same time. However, when that same line is converted to a non-loaded twisted-pair wire (no telephone filters), it becomes hundreds of kilohertz wide (broadband) and can carry up to 100 megabits per second using very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL or VHDSL) techniques.

Broadband in Internet access:

4 Mbit/s downstream, 1 Mbit/s upstream – FCC, 2010

25 Mbit/s downstream, 3 Mbit/s upstream – FCC, 2015

Types of Broadband Connections:

The term broadband commonly refers to high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than the traditional dial-up access. Broadband includes several high-speed transmission technologies such as:

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)

Cable Modem

Fiber

Wireless

Satellite

Broadband over Powerlines (BPL)

The broadband technology you choose will depend on a number of factors. These may include whether you are located in an urban or rural area, how broadband Internet access is packaged with other services (such as voice telephone and home entertainment), price, and availability.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)

DSL is a wireline transmission technology that transmits data faster over traditional copper telephone lines already installed to homes and businesses. DSL-based broadband provides transmission speeds ranging from several hundred Kbps to millions of bits per second (Mbps). The availability and speed of your DSL service may depend on the distance from your home or business to the closest telephone company facility.

The following are types of DSL transmission technologies:

Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) – Used primarily by residential customers, such as Internet surfers, who receive a lot of data but do not send much. ADSL typically provides faster speed in the downstream direction than the upstream direction. ADSL allows faster downstream data transmission over the same line used to provide voice service, without disrupting regular telephone calls on that line.

Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) – Used typically by businesses for services such as video conferencing, which need significant bandwidth both upstream and downstream.

Faster forms of DSL typically available to businesses include:

High data rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL); and Very High data rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL).

Cable Modem

Cable modem service enables cable operators to provide broadband using the same coaxial cables that deliver pictures and sound to your TV set. They provide transmission speeds of 1.5 Mbps or more. Subscribers can access their cable modem service by simply turning on their computers, without dialing-up an ISP. You can still watch cable TV while using it. Transmission speeds vary depending on the type of cable modem, cable network, and traffic load. Speeds are comparable to DSL.

Fiber [vide supra]

Fiber transmits data at speeds far exceeding current DSL or cable modem speeds, typically by tens or even hundreds of Mbps. The actual speed you experience will vary depending on a variety of factors, such as how close to your computer the service provider brings the fiber and how the service provider configures the service, including the amount of bandwidth used. The same fiber providing your broadband can also simultaneously deliver voice (VoIP) and video services, including video-on-demand. Telecommunications providers sometimes offer fiber broadband in limited areas and have announced plans to expand their fiber networks and offer bundled voice, Internet access, and video services. Variations of the technology run the fiber all the way to the customer’s home or business, to the curb outside, or to a location somewhere between the provider’s facilities and the customer.

Wireless Broadband Technologies

Wireless broadband services are similar to wired broadband in that they connect to an internet backbone usually a fiber-optic trunk; however they don’t use cables to connect to the last mile or business/residences. Wireless broadband is telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term comprises both fixed and mobile broadband. Fixed wireless is the operation of wireless communication devices or systems used to connect two fixed locations (e.g., building to building or tower to building) with radio waves. Fixed wireless offers connections speeds between 1 and 10 Mbps and use transmission towers similar to cell phone towers that communicate to a resident’s transceiver equipment that, as the name implies is fixed at the premise. Mobile broadband is the marketing term for wireless access through a portable modem, USB wireless modem, or a tablet/smartphone or other mobile device. Internet Mobile wireless is high-speed wireless broadband connection that is accessible from random locations. The locations depend on the provider’s cellular towers and monthly service plans. Many technologies make up wireless networks, but no matter the technology or acronyms you read or hear, mobile wireless networks are radio systems. Mobile wireless services are continually being upgraded to provide data transmission speeds considered to be broadband. The faster mobile wireless networks are referred to as 3G or 4G. The “G” stands for “generation,” meaning 3rd and 4th generation on the evolution of broadband cellular networks; supposedly, each generation provides a faster more secure wireless network. A mobile wireless service requires a base station that is connected to a high capacity landline data transmission network to reach the Internet. In other words, it’s never wired or wireless; ultimately, it has to be both. Wireless broadband in common usage means that the so-called “last mile” connection to the user is done via radio signals from a tower to a cell phone or other wireless devices (e.g., a tablet). Mobile broadband uses the spectrum of 225 MHz to 3700 MHz.

Satellite

Satellite broadband is sometimes the only option available to users in very rural or sparsely populated areas. Like telephone and television services, satellites orbiting the earth provide necessary links for broadband. With satellite service, you must have a clear view of the sky. Satellite service can be disrupted by weather conditions and changes in line of sight to the orbiting satellite. Satellite may have a higher monthly service charge than other broadband options and the need to purchase more home or business equipment compared to the other options. Because satellites are located a significant distance from customers, there are issues of “latency” and therefore a noticeable time lag between sending and receiving data by the end customer. Downstream and upstream speeds for satellite broadband depend on several factors, including the provider and service package purchased the consumer’s line of sight to the orbiting satellite, and the weather. Satellite speeds may be slower than DSL and cable modem, but they can be about 10 times faster than the download speed with dial-up Internet access. Service can be disrupted in extreme weather conditions.

Broadband over Powerline (BPL)

BPL is the delivery of broadband over the existing low- and medium-voltage electric power distribution network. There have been many attempts worldwide to implement access BPL, all which have indicated that BPL is not viable as a means of delivering broadband Internet access. This is because of two problems: limited reach, and low bandwidth which do not come close to matching ADSL, Wi-Fi, and even 3G mobile. World major providers have either limited their BPL deployments to low-bandwidth connected equipment via smart grids, or ceased BPL operations altogether.

There are three main types of broadband connection that link the local telephone exchange to your home or office:

ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) uses copper cables to a street-level cabinet or junction box and on to the house.
FTTC (fiber to the cabinet) uses a faster fiber optic cable to the cabinet, but then copper cable from there to the house.
FTTP (fiber to the premises) uses a fiber optic cable to connect to households without using any copper cable.

The old landline telephone infrastructure across the world used copper cables, but accessing the internet over copper cables is slower than over fiber optic cables. Fiber optic cables are made from glass or plastic and use pulses of light to transmit data, offering much faster internet access. A connection using both fiber and copper (FTTC) can reach speeds of about 66Mbps. But a full-fiber connection (FTTP) – with no copper – can offer much faster average speeds of one gigabit per second (Gbps) – that’s 1,000Mbps. Full-fiber can also deliver very low latency: that means less delay between sending a request and getting a response. That is not just important for video gamers. Low latency connections promise new opportunities for remote work, especially in fast-paced industries that cannot afford delays.

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1G to 5G:

In the last few decades, Mobile Wireless Communication networks have experienced a remarkable change. The mobile wireless Generation (G) generally refers to a change in the nature of the system, speed, technology, frequency, data capacity, latency etc. Each generation have some standards, different capacities, new techniques and new features which differentiate it from the previous one. The first generation (1G) mobile wireless communication network was analog used for voice calls only. The second generation (2G) is a digital technology and supports text messaging. The third generation (3G) mobile technology provided higher data transmission rate, increased capacity and provide multimedia support. The fourth generation (4G) integrates 3G with fixed internet to support wireless mobile internet, which is an evolution to mobile technology and it overcome the limitations of 3G. It also increases the bandwidth and reduces the cost of resources. 5G stands for 5th Generation Mobile technology and is going to be a new revolution in mobile market which has changed the means to use cell phones within very high bandwidth. User never experienced ever before such high value technology which includes all type of advance features and 5G technology will be most powerful and in huge demand in near future.

Each cellular access technology has taken off at a faster rate than the previous generation. The speed undoubtedly increases from 2G to 5G. The technical difference lies in terms of spectral efficiency (expressed in bits/sec/Hz) which increases from 2G to 5G. GSM took 6 years to reach 100 million subscriptions. 3G’s HSPA+ took 5.25 years, 4G’s LTE 3.5 years, LTE Advanced took 3 years. We will see if 5G further shortens the time to ‘100 million subscriptions’ but the rapid growth in subscriptions combined with the amount of 5G traffic that will be generated, will put increased pressure on the backhaul infrastructure of mobile networks. Over the course of ABI Research’s forecasts, mobile data traffic is anticipated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 28.9% to surpass 1,307 exabytes on an annual basis in 2025. 4G and 5G subscribers may only represent 55% of total subscriptions in 2025, but they represent 91% of the total traffic generated in 2025.

How mobile devices communicate:

Most modern radio communications devices operate in a similar way. A transmitter generates a signal that contains encoded voice, video or data at a specific radio frequency, which is distributed into the environment by an antenna. This signal spreads out and a small proportion is captured by the antenna of the receiving device, which then decodes the information. The received signal is incredibly weak — often only one part in a trillion of what was transmitted.

In the case of a mobile phone call, a user’s voice is converted by the handset into digital data, which is transmitted via radio waves to the network operator’s nearest base station (aka cell tower), where it is normally transferred over a fixed-line to a switch in the operator’s core network. The call is then passed to the recipient’s mobile operator where it is directed to their nearest local base station, and then transmitted by radio to their phone, which converts the signal back into audio through the earpiece.

There are a number of different digital radio technologies that are used for transmitting signals between mobile phones and base stations — including 2G, 3G and 4G — that use increasingly efficient methods of coding signals on to radio waves creating faster data connections. These increasingly spectrum efficient technologies mean more data can fit into a specific amount of spectrum.

Cellular network:

A wireless network is a communication network where the last link is wireless. A cellular network is a wireless mobile network that provides services by using a large number of base stations with limited power, each covering only a limited area. This area is called a cell. These base stations provide the cell with the network coverage which can be used for transmission of voice, data, and other types of content. A cell typically uses a different set of frequencies from neighboring cells, to avoid interference and provide guaranteed service quality within each cell. When joined together, these cells provide radio coverage over a wide geographic area. This enables numerous portable transceivers (e.g., mobile phones, tablets and laptops equipped with mobile broadband modems, pagers, etc.) to communicate with each other and with fixed transceivers and telephones anywhere in the network, via base stations, even if some of the transceivers are moving through more than one cell during transmission.

Cellular networks offer a number of desirable features:

-More capacity than a single large transmitter, since the same frequency can be used for multiple links as long as they are in different cells

-Mobile devices use less power than with a single transmitter or satellite since the cell towers are closer

-Larger coverage area than a single terrestrial transmitter, since additional cell towers can be added indefinitely and are not limited by the horizon

In a cellular radio system, a land area to be supplied with radio service is divided into cells in a pattern dependent on terrain and reception characteristics. These cell patterns roughly take the form of regular shapes, such as hexagons, squares, or circles although hexagonal cells are conventional. Each of these cells is assigned with multiple frequencies (f1 – f6) which have corresponding radio base stations. The group of frequencies can be reused in other cells, provided that the same frequencies are not reused in adjacent cells, which would cause co-channel interference.

The first commercial cellular network, the 1G generation, was launched in Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in 1979, initially in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. Within five years, the NTT network had been expanded to cover the whole population of Japan and became the first nationwide 1G network.

Cell signal encoding:

To distinguish signals from several different transmitters, time-division multiple access (TDMA), frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), code-division multiple access (CDMA), and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) were developed. Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is a multi-user version of the popular orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme. Multiple access is achieved in OFDMA by assigning subsets of subcarriers to individual users. TDMA is used in combination with either FDMA or CDMA in a number of systems to give multiple channels within the coverage area of a single cell.

Frequency reuse:

The key characteristic of a cellular network is the ability to re-use frequencies to increase both coverage and capacity. As described above, adjacent cells must use different frequencies, however, there is no problem with two cells sufficiently far apart operating on the same frequency, provided the masts and cellular network users’ equipment do not transmit with too much power.

Mobile phone network:

The most common example of a cellular network is a mobile phone (cell phone) network. A mobile phone is a portable telephone which receives or makes calls through a cell site (base station) or transmitting tower. Radio waves are used to transfer signals to and from the cell phone. Modern mobile phone networks use cells because radio frequencies are a limited, shared resource. Cell-sites and handsets change frequency under computer control and use low power transmitters so that the usually limited number of radio frequencies can be simultaneously used by many callers with less interference. A cellular network is used by the mobile phone operator to achieve both coverage and capacity for their subscribers. Large geographic areas are split into smaller cells to avoid line-of-sight signal loss and to support a large number of active phones in that area. All of the cell sites are connected to telephone exchanges (or switches), which in turn connect to the public telephone network. In cities, each cell site may have a range of up to approximately 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km), while in rural areas, the range could be as much as 5 miles (8.0 km). It is possible that in clear open areas, a user may receive signals from a cell site 25 miles (40 km) away.

Since almost all mobile phones use cellular technology, including GSM, CDMA, and AMPS (analog), the term “cell phone” is in some regions, notably the US, used interchangeably with “mobile phone”. However, satellite phones are mobile phones that do not communicate directly with a ground-based cellular tower but may do so indirectly by way of a satellite.

There are a number of different digital cellular technologies, including: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), cdmaOne, CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), Digital AMPS (IS-136/TDMA), and Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN). The transition from existing analog to the digital standard followed a very different path in Europe and the US. As a consequence, multiple digital standards surfaced in the US, while Europe and many countries converged towards the GSM standard.

Structure of the mobile phone cellular network:

A simple view of the cellular mobile-radio network consists of the following:

-A network of radio base stations forming the base station subsystem.

-The core circuit switched network for handling voice calls and text

-A packet switched network for handling mobile data

-The public switched telephone network to connect subscribers to the wider telephony network

This network is the foundation of the GSM system network. There are many functions that are performed by this network in order to make sure customers get the desired service including mobility management, registration, call set-up, and handover.

Any phone connects to the network via an RBS (Radio Base Station) at a corner of the corresponding cell which in turn connects to the Mobile switching center (MSC). The MSC provides a connection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The link from a phone to the RBS is called an uplink while the other way is termed downlink.

Radio channels effectively use the transmission medium through the use of the following multiplexing and access schemes: frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), and space division multiple access (SDMA).

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Cellular frequency choice in mobile phone networks

The effect of frequency on cell coverage means that different frequencies serve better for different uses. Low frequencies, such as 450 MHz NMT, serve very well for countryside coverage. GSM 900 (900 MHz) is a suitable solution for light urban coverage. GSM 1800 (1.8 GHz) starts to be limited by structural walls. UMTS, at 2.1 GHz is quite similar in coverage to GSM 1800. Higher frequencies are a disadvantage when it comes to coverage, but it is a decided advantage when it comes to capacity. Picocells, covering e.g. one floor of a building, become possible, and the same frequency can be used for cells which are practically neighbours.

Coverage comparison of different frequencies:

The following table shows the dependency of the coverage area of one cell on the frequency of a CDMA2000 network:

Frequency (MHz)	Cell radius (km)	Cell area (km²)	Relative Cell Count
450	48.9	7521	1
950	26.9	2269	3.3
1800	14.0	618	12.2
2100	12.0	449	16.2

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Mobile phone standards:

All radio access technologies have to solve the same problems: to divide the finite RF spectrum among multiple users as efficiently as possible. GSM uses TDMA and FDMA for user and cell separation. UMTS, IS-95 and CDMA-2000 use CDMA. WiMAX and LTE use OFDM.

-Time-division multiple access (TDMA) provides multiuser access by chopping up the channel into sequential time slices. Each user of the channel takes turns to transmit and receive signals. In reality, only one person is actually using the channel at a specific moment. This is analogous to time-sharing on a large computer server.

-Frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) provides multiuser access by separating the used frequencies. This is used in GSM to separate cells, which then use TDMA to separate users within the cell.

-Code-division multiple access (CDMA) uses a digital modulation called spread spectrum which spreads the voice data over a very wide channel in pseudorandom fashion using a user or cell specific pseudorandom code. The receiver undoes the randomization to collect the bits together and produce the original data. As the codes are pseudorandom and selected in such a way as to cause minimal interference to one another, multiple users can talk at the same time and multiple cells can share the same frequency. This causes an added signal noise forcing all users to use more power, which in exchange decreases cell range and battery life.

-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) uses bundling of multiple small frequency bands that are orthogonal to one another to provide for separation of users. The users are multiplexed in the frequency domain by allocating specific sub-bands to individual users. This is often enhanced by also performing TDMA and changing the allocation periodically so that different users get different sub-bands at different times.

In theory, CDMA, TDMA and FDMA have exactly the same spectral efficiency but practically, each has its own challenges – power control in the case of CDMA, timing in the case of TDMA, and frequency generation/filtering in the case of FDMA.

For a classic example for understanding the fundamental difference of TDMA and CDMA, imagine a cocktail party where couples are talking to each other in a single room. The room represents the available bandwidth:

TDMA: A speaker takes turns talking to a listener. The speaker talks for a short time and then stops to let another couple talk. There is never more than one speaker talking in the room, no one has to worry about two conversations mixing. The drawback is that it limits the practical number of discussions in the room (bandwidth wise).

CDMA: any speaker can talk at any time; however each uses a different language. Each listener can only understand the language of their partner. As more and more couples talk, the background noise (representing the noise floor) gets louder, but because of the difference in languages, conversations do not mix. The drawback is that at some point, one cannot talk any louder. After this if the noise still rises (more people join the party/cell) the listener cannot make out what the talker is talking about without coming closer to the talker. In effect, CDMA cell coverage decreases as the number of active users increases. This is called cell breathing.

Note:

In telecommunications and computer networks, multiplexing is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource.

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Evolution of 5G:

Over the last few decades wireless communication has seen a great advancement in technology. The telecommunication industry started with 1G also known as AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) which was a form of analog communication. To overcome the drawbacks of 1G a new technology called 2G also known as GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) was developed. It was the first digital communication technique. A more advanced form of 2G with higher data rate called 3G (UMTS, CDMA2000) was developed. Now the most recent technology is 4G (Mobile WiMax, LTE) with even more improved data rates and efficiency. To overcome the limitations of 4G and create a real wireless world a new wireless technology is proposed for the future called 5G. The G in this 5G means it’s a generation of wireless technology. While most generations have technically been defined by their data transmission speeds, each has also been marked by a break in encoding methods, or “air interfaces,” that make it incompatible with the previous generation.

4G is short for Fourth (4th) Generation Technology. 4G Technology is basically the extension in the 3G technology with more bandwidth and services offers in the 3G. Fourth generation (4G) technology will offer many advancements to the wireless market, including downlink data rates well over 100 megabits per second (Mbps), low latency, very efficient spectrum use and low-cost implementations. With impressive network capabilities, 4G enhancements promise to bring the wireless experience to an entirely new level with impressive user applications, such as sophisticated graphical user interfaces, high-end gaming, high- definition video and high performance Ad hoc and multi hop networks (the strict delay requirements of voice make multi hop network. The 4G integrates three standards (WCDMA, CDMA and TD-SCDMA) of 3G into MC-CDMA. A key change in 4G is the abandonment of circuit switching. 3G technologies use a hybrid of circuit switching and packet switching. Circuit switching is a very old technology that has been used in telephone systems for a very long time. The downside to this technology is that it ties up the resource for as long as the connection is kept up. Packet switching is a technology that is very prevalent in computer networks but has since appeared in mobile phones as well. With packet switching, resources are only used when there is information to be sent across. The efficiency of packet switching allows the mobile phone company to squeeze more conversations into the same bandwidth. 4G technologies would no longer utilize circuit switching even for voice calls and video calls. All information that is passed around would be packet switched to enhance efficiency. Still with 4G there are some drawbacks namely the power consumption is still more, the spectrum efficiency is not up to the mark, etc. With the increasing demands for higher data rates a new and more advanced technology called 5G is developed. It will provide many features like ubiquitous computing, seamless wireless network, etc. along with improved data rates.

5G Technology stands for 5th Generation Mobile technology. It has changed the means to use cell phones within very high bandwidth. 5G technology has extraordinary data capabilities and has ability to tie together unrestricted call volumes and infinite data broadcast within latest mobile operating system. 5G has a bright future because it can handle the best technologies and offer priceless handsets to their customers. There are two views of 5G systems: evolutionary and revolutionary. In evolutionary view the 5G (or beyond 4G) systems will be capable of supporting WWWW (World Wide Wireless Web) allowing a highly flexible network such as a Dynamic Adhoc Wireless Network (DAWN). In this view advanced technologies including intelligent antenna and flexible modulation are keys to optimize the adhoc wireless networks. In revolutionary view, 5G systems should be an intelligent technology capable of interconnecting the entire world without limits. An example application could be a robot with built-in wireless communication with artificial intelligence.

A brief comparison of 1G to 5G technologies is given in table below:

Mobile Generation Technology Evolution:

Features	1G	2G	3G	4G	5G
Data speed and latency	2 kbps	14.4-64 kbps 629 ms	2 Mbps 212ms	200 Mbps to 1 Gbps for low mobility 60 to 98 ms	1 Gbps and higher < 1 ms
Standards	AMPS	TDMA, CDMA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 1xRTT	WCDMA, CDMA- 2000	Single unified standard	Single unified standard
Technology	Analog	Digital	Broad bandwidth CDMA, IP technology	Unified IP and seamless combination of broadband, LAN/WAN/ PAN and WLAN	Unified IP and seamless combination of broadband, LAN/WAN/PAN /WLAN and wwww
Service	Mobile telephony (voice)	Digital Voice, Short Messaging, Higher capacity packetized	Integrated high-quality audio, video and data	Dynamic information access, wearable devices	Dynamic information access, wearable devices with AI capabilities
Multiplexing	FDMA	TDMA, CDMA	CDMA	CDMA, OFDM	OFDM, BDMA
Switching	Circuit	Circuit for access network & air interface; Packet for core network and data	Packet except circuit for air interface	All packet	All packet
Core Network	PSTN	PSTN	Packet network	Internet	Internet

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4G:

First about 4G and LTE. While many of us think of these as the same, that hasn’t always been the case. LTE, or Long Term Evolution, was an enhancement to 3G networks designed to be a roadmap to True 4G. In fact, LTE is an advanced form of 3G that marks an audacious shift from hybrid data and voice networks to a data-only IP network. However, with improvements, it became possible for LTE networks to offer speeds close to that of ‘True 4G’. This led to the ITU allowing for LTE to be classified as a 4G technology. LTE initially had a max speed of 150Mbps, but the latest versions – such as LTE-A Pro (4.9 G) – use tech such as 256-QAM, massive MIMO and 32-Carrier Aggregation for a theoretical maximum speed of 3Gbps (download). Do note that this is the theoretical maximum speed – networks are unlikely to support speeds close to these. Even the best 4G devices (such as Samsung Galaxy S10) top out at 2Gbps (the OnePlus 7 Pro has a maximum download speed of 1.2Gbps). What about real world speeds? Well, they’re a completely different matter, as any smartphone user will attest to – it depends on your network, and it’s rare you’ll ever come close to the maximum speeds.

LTE-Advanced: The bridge between 4G and 5G:

LTE Advanced or LTE-A is the evolution of the original LTE technology toward even higher bandwidths. LTE-A promises nearly three times greater speed than the basic LTE network and comprises of the following five building blocks:

Carrier Aggregation
Increased MIMO
Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP)
Relay Station
Heterogeneous Network or HetNet

First, Carrier aggregation or channel aggregation is a transmission scheme that allows up to 20 channels from different spectrums to be combined into a single data stream.

Next, LTE-A raises the MIMO bar to 8×8 antenna configurations to increase the number of radio streams using the beamsteering technique.

Third, CoMP or cooperative MIMO, allows mobile devices to send and receive radio signals from multiple cells to reduce interference from other cells and ensure optimum performance at the cell edges. SK Telecom, which claims to have launched the world’s first LTE-A network in summer 2012, actually deployed an early form of CoMP.

Fourth, a relay in an LTE-A setting is a base station that uses multi-hop communications at the cell edges; it receives a weak signal and retransmits it with an enhanced quality.

Fifth and the most crucial one is HetNet, a multilayered system of overlapping big and small cells to pump out cheap bandwidth. HetNet, a gradual evolution of the cellular architecture, is a vastly more complex network as small cells add hundreds or even thousands of entry points into the cellular system. The self-organizing network (SON) concept is one of the key enabling technologies being considered for LTE-A applications.

Here, it’s worth noting that while LTE-A standard creates a bridge between 4G and 5G worlds, in many ways, the notion of HetNet is serving as glue between LTE-A and 5G worlds. That’s why many wireless industry observers call 5G wireless an enhanced form of LTE-A. That makes sense because the main concept behind 5G systems is to expand the idea of small cell network to a whole new level and create a super dense network that will put tiny cells in every room.

Enter 5G:

The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance defines 5G as below:

“5G is an end-to-end ecosystem to enable a fully mobile and connected society. It empowers value creation toward customers and partners, through existing and emerging use cases delivered with consistent experience and enabled by sustainable business models.”

Essentially, LTE-A is the foundation of the 5G radio access network (RAN) below 6 GHz while the frequencies from 6 GHz to 100 GHz will explore new technologies in parallel. Take MIMO, for instance, where 5G raises the bar to Massive MIMO technology, a large array of radiating elements that extends the antenna matrix to a new level—16×16 to 256×256 MIMO—and takes a leap of faith in wireless network speed and coverage. The early blueprint of 5G pilot networks mostly comprises of beamforming technology and small cell base stations.

The goals of 5G technology can be summarized in the following value points:

1,000X increase in capacity

Support for 100+ billion connections

Up to 10 Gbps speeds

Below 1ms latency

Two views of 5G exist today:

View 1 – The hyper-connected vision: In this view of 5G, mobile operators would create a blend of pre-existing technologies covering 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-fi and others to allow higher coverage and availability, and higher network density in terms of cells and devices, with the key differentiator being greater connectivity as an enabler for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) services and the Internet of Things (IoT). This vision may include a new radio technology to enable low power, low throughput field devices with long duty cycles of ten years or more.

View 2 – Next-generation radio access technology: This is more of the traditional ‘generation-defining’ view, with specific targets for data rates and latency being identified, such that new radio interfaces can be assessed against such criteria. This in turn makes for a clear demarcation between a technology that meets the criteria for 5G, and another which does not.

Both of these approaches are important for the progression of the industry, but they are distinct sets of requirements associated with specific new services. However, the two views described are regularly taken as a single set and hence requirements from both the hyper-connected view and the next-generation radio access technology view are grouped together. This problem is compounded when additional requirements are also included that are broader and independent of technology generation.

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Introduction to 5G:

Why do we need 5G Cellular service?

The rapid increase of mobile data growth and the use of smartphones are creating unprecedented challenges for wireless service providers to overcome a global bandwidth shortage.

Great expansion of volume of data as seen in the figure above is a key driver for the development of 5G technologies. The amount of data being carried on mobile networks is growing at between 25 and 50 percent a year and this is expected to continue until 2030 at least, not just because of the applications that require higher data rates but also because of the increases in screen resolution and developments in 3D video. Also, LTE established that voice is now not a dedicated circuit switched service but an application also using packet data connectivity. So data capacity in the end to end network needs to be increased, and this is not only the air interface but the whole access/core network.

The use of a mobile handset and its applications is now an integral part of our fellow citizens’ daily habits. Portable connected devices are increasingly powerful: in many instances they have replaced users’ landline telephones, cameras, computers and even televisions. Today, 5 million videos are watched on YouTube and 67,000 images uploaded to Instagram every minute as seen in the figure below:

Figure above shows what we do over the network today in one minute

The latest Mobility Report from Ericsson indicates that traffic on mobile networks almost doubled in a single year, and that over the next five years it will have increased to 10 times what it is today. New solutions must therefore be found to meet this demand, and to optimize how resources are used.

The increase in the number of applications available, their diversification and the improved quality of mobile networks, the emergence of new uses (connected objects, drones, etc.) and new users have all contributed to driving up demand.

Service requirements cannot be met with 4G as seen in the table below:

Service	Resolution	2D	3D
Smart phone/ Surveillance	720P	~1.5Mbps
	1080P	~4Mbps
	2K	~10Mbps
4K/ Basic VR/AR	4K	~25Mbps	~50Mbps
8K/Immersive VR/AR	8K	~50Mbps	~100Mbps

As today’s cellular providers attempt to deliver high quality, low latency video and multimedia applications for wireless devices, they are limited to a carrier frequency spectrum ranging between 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz. The global spectrum bandwidth allocation for all cellular technologies does not exceed 780 MHz, where each major wireless provider has approximately 200 MHz across all of the different cellular bands of spectrum available to them. Servicing legacy users with older inefficient cellphones as well as customers with newer smartphones requires simultaneous management of multiple technologies in the same band-limited spectrum. Currently, allotted spectrum for operators is dissected into disjoint frequency bands, each of which possesses different radio networks with different propagation characteristics and building penetration losses. This means that base station designs must service many different bands with different cell sites, where each site has multiple base stations (one for each frequency or technology usage e.g., third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), and Long Term Evolution—Advanced (LTE-A). To procure new spectrum, it can take a decade of administration through regulatory bodies such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). When spectrum is finally licensed, incumbent users must be moved off the spectrum, causing further delays and increasing costs.

The following table shows some of the basic characteristics of existing mobile technologies and what 5G will be like when it is released onto the market.

As you can see, in addition to using a higher frequency spectrum, each technology has evolved by following a common three-point strategy to increase the theoretical maximum speeds offered – they have increased the channel bandwidth, the number of carriers (channel aggregation) and also the number of transmit/receive (MIMO) streams/antennas.

Mobile broadband networks need to support ever-growing consumer data rate demands and will need to tackle the exponential increase in the predicted traffic volumes. An efficient radio access technology combined with more spectrum availability is essential to achieve the ongoing demands faced by wireless carriers.

Also, energy consumption represents in today’s networks a key source of expenditure for operators that will reach alarming levels with the increased mobile traffic, as well as a factor that is widely expected to diminish market penetration for next generation handsets as they become more sophisticated and power hungry. So demand for more bandwidth and growing energy consumption by existing networks and handsets prompted development of 5G.

The explosion of smart devices means that demands being placed on computing infrastructure are exceeding what that infrastructure is capable of delivering. IoT is growing so fast that it’s already bumping up against networking’s physical limits. Sensors in industrial equipment are providing not only gobs of data but also a need to analyze that data in real time, which not only imposes bandwidth needs all its own, but also requires a serious upgrade in acceptable latency. And that’s only one aspect of IoT. The consumer retail market is growing IoT even faster than the industrial sector with trends like smart home devices and the services that monitor and respond to them, on-demand entertainment and streaming services, and, of course, the huge and ever-growing mobile website, apps, and services sector.

And right around the corner are new trends like virtual- and augmented reality (AR) work and infotainment services as well as autonomous transports, both of which promise to add huge amounts of real-time data streams to an internet that’s already getting strained at the seams. And worse, all these new applications not only want more data to fit down constrained pipes, they want it all analyzed much more quickly—think real time.

The new data-sharing network that defines so many technical applications would be almost impossible without 5G. Because it transmits data more efficiently, 5G has the potential to be 40 times faster and suffer shorter lag times than the current 4G standard. That speed is critical for autonomous cars, where timely decisions need to be made to avoid crashes. 5G will also be able to transmit video instantly over long distances, allowing one vehicle to share live images with many others. 5G’s potential is yet to be fully realized, but one thing is certain: It makes IoT devices and sensors in robots, machines, cars, and drones matter unlike any other past technology.

As fifth generation (5G) is developed and implemented, the main differences compared to 4G will be the use of much greater spectrum allocations at untapped mmwave frequency bands, highly directional beamforming antennas at both the mobile device and base station, longer battery life, lower outage probability, much higher bit rates in larger portions of the coverage area, lower infrastructure costs, and higher aggregate capacity for many simultaneous users in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum (e.g., the convergence of Wi-Fi and cellular). The backbone networks of 5G will move from copper and fiber to mmwave wireless connections, allowing rapid deployment and mesh-like connectivity with cooperation between base stations.

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Table below shows summary of frequency and data speed from 3G to 5G:

You can see that 5G FWA uses mm wave while 5G cellular uses 3.6 and 6 GHz. So 5G FWA gives more speed and less coverage while 5G cellular gives less speed and more coverage.

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History of 5G development:

In April 2008, NASA partnered with Geoff Brown and Machine-to-Machine Intelligence (M2Mi) Corp to develop 5G communications technology.

In 2008, the South Korean IT R&D program of “5G mobile communication systems based on beam-division multiple access and relays with group cooperation” was formed.

In August 2012, New York University founded NYU WIRELESS, a multi-disciplinary academic research center that has conducted pioneering work in 5G wireless communications.

On 8 October 2012, the UK’s University of Surrey secured £35M for a new 5G research center, jointly funded by the British government’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) and a consortium of key international mobile operators and infrastructure providers, including Huawei, Samsung, Telefonica Europe, Fujitsu Laboratories Europe, Rohde & Schwarz, and Aircom International. It will offer testing facilities to mobile operators keen to develop a mobile standard that uses less energy and less radio spectrum while delivering speeds faster than current 4G with aspirations for the new technology to be ready within a decade.

On 1 November 2012, the EU project “Mobile and wireless communications Enablers for the Twenty-twenty Information Society” (METIS) starts its activity towards the definition of 5G. METIS achieved an early global consensus on these systems. In this sense, METIS played an important role of building consensus among other external major stakeholders prior to global standardization activities. This was done by initiating and addressing work in relevant global fora (e.g. ITU-R), as well as in national and regional regulatory bodies.

Also in November 2012, the iJOIN EU project was launched, focusing on “small cell” technology, which is of key importance for taking advantage of limited and strategic resources, such as the radio wave spectrum. According to Günther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society (2014–2019), “an innovative utilization of spectrum” is one of the key factors at the heart of 5G success. Oettinger further described it as “the essential resource for the wireless connectivity of which 5G will be the main driver”. iJOIN was selected by the European Commission as one of the pioneering 5G research projects to showcase early results on this technology at the Mobile World Congress 2015 (Barcelona, Spain).

In February 2013, ITU-R Working Party 5D (WP 5D) started two study items: (1) Study on IMT Vision for 2020 and beyond, and; (2) Study on future technology trends for terrestrial IMT systems. Both aiming at having a better understanding of future technical aspects of mobile communications towards the definition of the next generation mobile.

On 12 May 2013, Samsung Electronics stated that they had developed a “5G” system. The core technology has a maximum speed of tens of Gbit/s (gigabits per second). In testing, the transfer speeds for the “5G” network sent data at 1.056 Gbit/s to a distance of up to 2 kilometers with the use of an 8X8 MIMO.

On 1 October 2013, NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), the same company to launch world’s first 5G network in Japan, wins Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award at CEATEC for 5G R&D efforts.

On 6 November 2013, Huawei announced plans to invest a minimum of $600 million into R&D for next generation 5G networks capable of speeds 100 times faster than modern LTE networks.

On 3 April 2019, South Korea became the first country to adopt 5G. Just hours later, Verizon launched its 5G services in the United States, and disputed South Korea’s claim of becoming the world’s first country with a 5G network, because allegedly, South Korea’s 5G service was initially launched for just 6 South Korean celebrities so that South Korea could claim the title of having the world’s first 5G network. In fact, the three main South Korean telecommunication companies (SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus) added more than 40,000 users to their 5G network on the launch day.

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Overview of 5G:

5G networks are digital cellular networks, in which the service area covered by providers is divided into small geographical areas called cells. Analog signals representing sounds and images are digitized in the phone, converted by an analog to digital converter and transmitted as a stream of bits. All the 5G wireless devices in a cell communicate by radio waves with a local antenna array and low power automated transceiver (transmitter and receiver) in the cell, over frequency channels assigned by the transceiver from a pool of frequencies which are reused in other cells. The local antennas are connected with the telephone network and the Internet by a high bandwidth optical fiber or wireless backhaul connection. As in other cell networks, a mobile device crossing from one cell to another is automatically “handed off” seamlessly to the new cell.

Mobile Internet Networks fifth generation is expected to be a platform World Wide Wireless Web (wwww) perfect to connect anywhere on earth. A wireless world really, where we can access through the Internet without encountering barriers, restrictions in terms of space and time. In essence, the 5G network has developed on the basis of the 4G but at a higher level. 5G network will support the LAS-CDMA (Large Area Synchronized Code Division Multiple Access), UWB (Ultra Wideband), Network-LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution Service), IPv6, and BDMA (Beam Division Multiple Access).

There are plans to use millimeter waves for 5G. Millimeter waves have shorter range, therefore the cells are limited to smaller size; The waves also have trouble passing through building walls. Millimeter wave antennas are smaller than the large antennas used in previous cellular networks. They are only a few inches (several centimeters) long. Another technique used for increasing the data rate is massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output). Each cell will have multiple antennas communicating with the wireless device, received by multiple antennas in the device, thus multiple bitstreams of data will be transmitted simultaneously, in parallel. In a technique called beamforming the base station computer will continuously calculate the best route for radio waves to reach each wireless device, and will organize multiple antennas to work together as phased arrays to create beams of millimeter waves to reach the device. The new 5G wireless devices also have 4G LTE capability, as the new networks use 4G for initially establishing the connection with the cell, as well as in locations where 5G access is not available. 5G can support up to a million devices per square kilometer, while 4G supports only up to 100,000 devices per square kilometer.

Very high frequency radio signals travel in direct, straight lines, and they attenuate very quickly. In comparison, very low frequency 30 hertz signals can travel more than 10,000 km, or 6,200 miles. Lower frequencies also can better penetrate solid objects like buildings and walls. Because millimeter wavelengths are short, they need more antennas to connect. One of the things that 5G requires is a much denser network. You need many more nodes. That is partly how the capacity increases, which means either more towers or more cells in more places. You need equipment that is running on those cell sites, and then you need chips that go into people’s handsets and devices. At least, the 5G antennas are small and can be installed easily on top of telephone poles and other locations. Because it requires density, 5G mainly is feasible for more populated areas where many antennas can be placed close together. The nature of the infrastructure is that it works in dense areas; it doesn’t work as well in other areas. Will there be 5G in rural areas? The answer is yes, but it won’t be over these high-frequency antennas. It will be basically where 4G is today, so you won’t get the high-capacity service.

This brings another challenge: the widening of the digital divide by geography. There are still too many people who don’t have broadband service and many more who have inferior quality broadband service. The reality is it’s harder and more expensive to provide wireless service and wireline service in rural and hard-to-reach areas.

Previous generations like 3G were a breakthrough in communications. 3G receives a signal from the nearest phone tower and is used for phone calls, messaging and data. 4G works the same as 3G but with a faster internet connection and a lower latency (the time between cause and effect). 4G is supposed to be at least five times faster than existing 3G services and theoretically, it can provide download speeds of up to 100Mbps. 5G Wi-Fi connections are set to be about three times faster than 4G, starting with 450Mbps in single-stream, 900 Mbps (dual- stream) and 1.3G bps (three-stream). So, whilst we are already starting to see a huge growth in IoT and smart devices, 5G’s speed and capacity will enable an even more rapid arrival of this connected future.

In a landmark study conducted on the 5G Economy by Qualcomm, it emerged that the full economic effect of 5G Wireless Technology would appear around 2035 in a broad range of industries which would produce up to $12.3 trillion worth of goods and services that were directly enabled by 5G. It also emerged that the 5G Wireless Technology could potentially generate up to $3.5 trillion in revenue in 2035 and also directly support up to 22 million jobs. It’s anticipated that 5G will be the catalyst for connecting humans and machines together on an unprecedented scale for new business and economic opportunities. An International Data Corporation (IDC) study estimates the amount of data created, captured, and replicated across the world could grow from 33 Zettabytes (ZB) in 2018 to 175 ZB by 2025.

The road to 5G began back in 2015, with the ITU’s IMT-2020 framework, which set out the general requirements and future development of the next-generation mobile technology (IMT stands for International Mobile Telecommunications). Here’s how the performance requirements (which were approved in November 2017) compare to the previous-generation IMT-Advanced (a.k.a. 4G):

	4G (IMT-Advanced)	5G (IMT-2020)
Peak data rate (downlink)	1Gbps	20Gbps
User-experienced data rate	10Mbps	100Mbps
Latency	10ms	1ms
Mobility	350km/h	500km/h
Connection density	100,000 devices/sq. km	1,000,000 devices/sq. km
Energy efficiency	1X	100X
Spectrum efficiency	1X	3X
Area traffic capacity	0.1Mbps/sq. m	10Mbps/sq. m

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Usage scenario:

Though earlier cellular wireless generations served applications other than mobile broadband, the bulk of 2G, 3G, and now 4G LTE cellular services are designed and dedicated to mobile broadband. The goal of 5G technologies, however, goes beyond merely serving mobile broadband, but offers key improvements that enable a much wider range of applications: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (MMC), and fixed wireless access (FWA).

1. Enhanced mobile broadband: Including peak download speeds of at least 20 Gbps and a reliable 100 Mbps user experience data rate in urban areas. This will better support increased consumption of video as well as emerging services like virtual and augmented reality. Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) uses 5G as a progression from 4G LTE mobile broadband services, with faster connections, higher throughput, and more capacity.

2. Ultra-reliable and low latency communications: Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) refer to using the network for mission critical applications that requires uninterrupted and robust data exchange. It includes 1ms latency and very high availability, reliability and security to support services such as autonomous vehicles and mobile healthcare.

3. Massive machine-type communications: Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) would be used to connect to a large number of low power, low cost devices, which have high scalability and increased battery lifetime, in a wide area. It includes the ability to support at least one million IoT connections per square kilometer with very long battery life and wide coverage including inside buildings.

4. Fixed wireless access: Including the ability to offer fiber type speeds to homes and businesses in both developed and developing markets using new wider frequency bands, massive MIMO and 3D beamforming technologies.

This means 5G can offer a far greater range of capabilities from the outset than any previous mobile technology generation. As a result, 5G will not only meet the evolving requirements of consumers, but also have a transformative impact on businesses to the extent that it is being hailed as vital to the so-called “fourth industrial revolution”. 5G is expected to underpin and enable many of the components of this revolution including the Internet of Things, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems and cognitive computing. From automated industrial manufacturing and driverless cars to vast array of connected machines and sensors, 5G enables smarter and more efficient businesses and industry vertical sectors (e.g. utilities, manufacturing, transport etc.).

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Technical Specifications:

5G is a system designed to meet the requirements of IMT-2020 set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) specification M.2083. IMT2020 (5G) is intended to provide far more enhanced capabilities than those provided by IMT Advanced (4G). It is expected to make available much greater throughput, much lower latency, ultra-high reliability, much higher connectivity density, and higher mobility range. The 5G networks are envisioned to provide a flexible, scalable, agile, and programmable network platform over which different services with varying requirements can be provisioned and managed within strict performance bounds. The key performance requirements related to the minimum technical performance of IMT-2020 (5G) as defined by ITU in Report ITU-R M.2410-0 is summarized in Table below:

KEY PARAMETERS	VALUES
Peak Data Rate	Downlink: 20 Gbit/s Uplink: 10 Gbit/s
Peak spectral efficiency	Downlink: 30 bit/s/Hz Uplink: 15 bit/s/Hz
User experienced data rate	Downlink: 100 Mbit/s Uplink: 50 Mbit/s
5^thpercentile user spectral efficiency	Indoor Hotspot	Downlink: 0.3 bit/s/Hz Uplink: 0.21 bit/s/Hz
	Dense Urban	Downlink: 0.225 bit/s/Hz Uplink: 0.15 bit/s/Hz
	Rural	Downlink: 0.12 bit/s/Hz Uplink: 0.045 bit/s/Hz
Average spectral efficiency	Indoor Hotspot	Downlink: 9 bit/s/Hz Uplink: 6.75 bit/s/Hz
	Dense Urban	Downlink: 7.8 bit/s/Hz Uplink: 5.4 bit/s/Hz
	Rural	Downlink: 3.3 bit/s/Hz Uplink: 1.6 bit/s/Hz
Area traffic capacity	Downlink:10 Mbit/s/m² in the Indoor Hotspot
Latency	User Plane	1 ms
	Control Plane	20 ms
Connection density	10⁶ devices per km²
Energy Efficiency	Efficient data transmission in a loaded case Low energy consumption when there is no data
Reliability	1-10⁻⁵ success probability of transmitting a layer 2 PDU (protocol data unit) of 32 bytes within 1 ms
Mobility	Stationary: 0 km/h Pedestrian: 0 km/h to 10 km/h Vehicular: 10 km/h to 120 km/h High speed vehicular: 120 km/h to 500 km/h
Mobility interruption time	0 ms
Bandwidth	100 MHz

5G stands for the fifth generation of the next wireless mobile standard. According to the Next Generation Mobile Network’s 5G white paper, 5G connections must be based on ‘user experience, system performance, enhanced services, business models and management & operations’. The 5G New Radio (NR) specification was released by standards body 3GPP in late 2017 – and chips are already being built ‘5G-ready’. And according to the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) to qualify for a 5G a connection should meet most of these eight criteria:

One to 10 Gbps connections to end points in the field
One millisecond end-to-end round trip delay
1000X bandwidth per unit area
10 to 100X number of connected devices
(Perception of) 99.999 percent availability
(Perception of) 100 percent coverage
90 percent reduction in network energy usage
Up to ten-year battery life for low power, machine-type devices

The 5G New Radio (NR) specification set by 3GPP closely correspond with IMT-2020 performance targets and are somewhat complex, but here’s a general rundown:

Peak data rate: 5G will offer significantly faster data speeds. Peak data rates can hit 20Gbps downlink and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station. Mind you, that’s not the speed you’d experience with 5G (unless you have a dedicated connection), it’s the speed shared by all users on the cell.
Real-world speeds: While the peak data rates for 5G sound pretty impressive, actual speeds won’t be the same. The spec calls for user download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 50Mbps.
Latency: Latency, the time it takes data to travel from one point to another, should be at 4 milliseconds in ideal circumstances, and at 1 millisecond for URLLC.
Efficiency: Radio interfaces should be energy efficient when in use, and drop into low-energy mode when not in use. Ideally, a radio should be able to switch into a low-energy state within 10 milliseconds when no longer in use.
Spectral efficiency: Spectral efficiency is “the optimized use of spectrum or bandwidth so that the maximum amount of data can be transmitted with the fewest transmission errors.” 5G should have improved spectral efficiency over LTE, coming in at 30bits/Hz downlink, and 15 bits/Hz uplink.
Mobility: With 5G, base stations should support movement from 0 to 310 mph. This basically means the base station should work across a range of antenna movements — even on a high-speed train. While it’s easily done on LTE networks, such mobility can be a challenge on new millimeter wave networks.
Connection density: 5G should be able to support many more connected devices than LTE. The standard states 5G should be able to support 1 million connected devices per square kilometer. That’s a huge number, which takes into account the slew of devices that will power the Internet of Things (IoT).

5G brings three new aspects to the table: greater speed (to move more data), lower latency (to be more responsive), and the ability to connect a lot more devices at once (for sensors and smart devices). 5G will be the post-smartphone era. But phones are the first place to launch because they’re such an anchor in our lives from a connectivity standpoint. And indeed the applications of 5G merely begin at smartphones and then branch out to include many new devices and services in multiple industries from retail to education to entertainment!

5G refers to the fifth generation of mobile phone networks. Since the introduction of the first standardized mobile phone network in 1982, succeeding standards have been adopted and deployed approximately every nine years. GSM, the 2nd generation wireless network, was first deployed in 1992, while a variety of competing 3G standards began deployment in 2001. The 4G LTE wireless technology standard was deployed by service providers in 2010. Now, technology companies and mobile network operators are actively deploying 5G cellular networks around the world for new mobile devices. These 5G deployments accompany transitional LTE technologies such as LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro, which are used by network operators to provide faster speeds on mobile devices.

Principally, 5G refers to “5G NR (New Radio),” which is the standard adopted by 3GPP, an international cooperative responsible for the development of the 3G UMTS and 4G LTE standards. Other 5G technologies do exist. Verizon’s 5G TF network operates on 28 and 39 GHz frequencies, and is used only for fixed wireless broadband services, not in smartphones. Verizon’s 5G TF deployments were halted in December 2018, and will be transitioned to 5G NR in the future. Additionally, 5G SIG was used by KT for a demonstration deployment during the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

5G NR allows for networks to operate on a wide variety of frequencies, including the frequencies vacated by decommissioning previous wireless communications networks. The 2G DCS frequency bands, the 3G E-GSM and PCS frequency bands, and the digital dividend of spectrum vacated by the transition to digital TV broadcasts are some of the bands available for use in 5G NR.

5G standards divide frequencies into two groups: FR1 (450 MHz – 6 GHz) and FR2 (24 GHz – 52 GHz). Most early deployments will be in the FR1 space. Research is ongoing into using FR2 frequencies, which are also known as extremely high frequency (EHF) or millimeter wave (mmwave) frequencies. Discussions of the suitability of millimeter wave frequencies have been published in IEEE journals as far back as 2013.

Millimeter wave frequencies allow for faster data speeds, though they do come with disadvantages. Because of the short distance of communication, millimeter wave networks have a much shorter range; for densely-populated areas, this requires deploying more base stations (conversely, this makes it well suited to densely-populated places such as arenas and stadiums). While this would be advantageous in certain use cases, it would be a poor fit for use in rural areas. Additionally, millimeter wave communication can be susceptible to atmospheric interference. Effects such as rain fade make it problematic for outdoor use, though even nearby foliage can disrupt a signal.

It is vital to remember that 5G is not an incremental or backward-compatible update to existing mobile communications standards. It does not overlap with 4G standards like LTE or WiMAX, and it cannot be delivered to existing phones, tablets, or wireless modems by means of tower upgrades or software updates, despite AT&T’s attempts to brand LTE Advanced as “5G E.” AT&T’s 5G E stands for 5G Evolution, or its upgraded 4G LTE network that has a path to real 5G. While upgrades to existing LTE infrastructure are worthwhile and welcome advances, these are ultimately transitional 4G technologies and do not provide the full range of benefits of 5G NR.

How does 5G work?

5G is a new digital system for transforming bytes – data units – over air. It uses a 5G New Radio interface, along with other new technologies, that utilises much higher radio frequencies (28 GHz compared to 700 MHz – 2500 MHz for 4G) to transfer exponentially more data over the air for faster speeds, reduced congestion and lower latency, which is the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction. This new interface, which uses millimeter wave spectrum, enables more devices to be used within the same geographic area; 4G can support about 100,000 devices per square kilometer, whereas 5G will support around one million. This means more Netflix streaming, voice calls and You Tube carried, without interruption, over the limited air space.

Like other cellular networks, 5G networks use a system of cell sites that divide their territory into sectors and send encoded data through radio waves. Each cell site must be connected to a network backbone, whether through a wired or wireless backhaul connection.

5G networks use a type of encoding called OFDM, which is similar to the encoding that 4G LTE uses. The air interface is designed for much lower latency and greater flexibility than LTE, though. With the same airwaves as 4G, the 5G radio system can get about 30 percent better speeds thanks to more efficient encoding. The crazy gigabit speeds you hear about are because 5G is designed to use much larger channels than 4G does. While most 4G channels are 20MHz, bonded together into up to 160MHz at a time, 5G channels can be up to 100MHz, with Verizon using as much as 800MHz at a time. That’s a much broader highway, but it also requires larger, clear blocks of airwaves than were available for 4G. That’s where the higher, short-distance millimeter-wave frequencies come in. While lower frequencies are occupied—by 4G, by TV stations, by satellite firms, or by the military—there had been a huge amount of essentially unused higher frequencies available, so carriers could easily construct wide roads for high speeds.

5G networks need to be much smarter than previous systems, as they’re juggling many more, smaller cells that can change size and shape. But even with existing macro cells, Qualcomm says 5G will be able to boost capacity by four times over current systems by leveraging wider bandwidths and advanced antenna technologies. 5G uses a new digital technology called Massive MIMO, which stands for multiple input multiple output, that uses multiple targeted beams to spotlight and follow users around a cell site, improving coverage, speed and capacity. Current network technologies operate like floodlights, illuminating an area but with lots of wastage of the light/signal. Part of the roll-out of 5G involves installing Massive MIMO and 5G New Radio to all mobile network base stations on top of the existing 4G infrastructure.

The goal is to have far higher speeds available, and far higher capacity per sector, at far lower latency than 4G. The standards bodies involved are aiming at 20Gbps speeds and 1ms latency, at which point very interesting things begin to happen.

New 5G features that will help deliver higher speed, lower latency and higher capacity include Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), beamforming, access to new available (higher) frequencies, New Radio (NR) and network slicing.

Driving for higher yields:

5G is comprised of several technology projects in both communications and data center architecture, all of which must collectively yield benefits for telcos as well as customers, for any of them to be individually considered successful. The majority of these efforts are in one of three categories:

Spectral efficiency — Making more optimal use of multiple frequencies so that greater bandwidths may be extended across further distances from base stations (historically, the main goal of any wireless “G”);
Energy efficiency — Leveraging whatever technological gains there may be for both transmitters and servers, in order to drastically reduce cooling costs;
Utilization — To afford the tremendous communications infrastructure overhaul that 5G may require, telcos may need to create additional revenue generating services such as edge computing and mobile apps hosting, placing them in direct competition with public cloud providers.

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Goals of 5G:

Speed

Any new technology should be significantly faster. The theoretical speed for 5G is set by many to be 10 Gbps. That’s a 10X increase from 4G. Obviously, those numbers are theoretical, and each generation of network never reach those lofty goals in real-world from a user perspective (they sometimes do in the lab). The relative increase in speed does provide an interesting taste of what to expect.

Mobile Network Generation Speeds Compared:

Mobile Network	Average Speed	Peak Speed
2G	0.1Mbps	0.3Mbps
3G	3Mbps	7.2Mbps
3G (HSPA+)	6Mbps	42Mbps
4G LTE	20Mbps	150Mbps
4G LTE Advanced	42Mbps	1Gbps
5G	500-700Mbps	10 or 20Gbps

Note: 5G speed estimates gathered based on current speed tests available on Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network. Carriers claim 5G speeds are 10 or 20 times faster than 4G LTE.

Not all of us will download 4K videos or insanely large games on our phones, so you might be curious how fast you can download an average HD movie, music album, or podcast. Below we show you how fast (or slow) you can download each via 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G networks.

Cellular Network Download Times Compared (based on average speeds)

Downloadable Content	5G Download Time	4G Download Time	3G Download Time	2G Download Time
1080p Netflix film (6GB)	1.5 minutes	1.5 hours	5 hours	14 hours
Music Album (700MB)	9 seconds	11-12 minutes	30 minutes	1.5 hours
Podcast (60MB)	Instantly	15-30 seconds	3 minutes	8 minutes

“Peak speed” of a single 5G connection is less important as performance reduces under heavy load from many users. We all know that sports events and other high-peak use cases can easily overwhelm existing networks. Places like Stadiums often need special 4G LTE accommodations and tuning. 5G is designed to behave much better “out of the box” and support speeds of tens of Mbps, even with tens of thousands of users. Since 4G LTE can be tuned to reach 1 Gbps of peak speed, the ability to provide high-speed to a much larger number of users is a 5G characteristic.

Latency

5G Latency is defined as the time it takes for data to go back and forth between the 5G device and the access point. The current latency for 4G is around 80ms-100ms, which means that only ten requests would already induce a wait time of 1 second. A web page can contain dozens, if not hundreds of requests.

In theory 5G latency could be as low as 1ms. This would make mobile browsing as fast as desktop browsing. In reality, you never see 1ms of latency over regular web traffic (over the public Internet), even on desktop networks and machines. Some 5G actors are aiming for a 5ms latency with as much as 100 devices per square meter. As a comparison, private wired Ethernet networks can easily go “sub-milliseconds”, but wireless has unique challenges and advantages that wired networks could never offer.

Explosion in the number of connected devices

With the rapid rise of the Internet of Things in which many more objects can be connected to the Internet (sensors, appliances, cars, etc.), the overhead caused by each of them needs to be managed. A priority system also needs to be embedded from the ground up because many devices will be part of emergency services, and possibly new life-supporting, safeguarding and medical devices. No-one can predict how many devices will come online with 5G, but the possibilities are endless. With a network that is pervasive enough, cheap enough and fast enough, it’s not even possible to imagine all the potential applications today, and it will take another decade to realize the full potential of 5G. The low-latency would enable more “real-time” applications where “lag” would be bad. Any remote control (drones, machinery, medical, telepresence…) application could benefit from it. Some companies also pushed the idea that autonomous vehicles could transmit “vision data” to be processed into the cloud, but more likely all vision processing will happen onboard. Wireless broadband is simply not pervasive enough for that specific use case.

Network efficiency

As data demand continues to explode, most 5G actors believe that the network has to become intelligent to meet the demand for capacity. While it’s easy to communicate and focus on peak speed, speed only aggravates the capacity problem if not managed properly. Infrastructure providers often have some extra capacity margins, but this is very much an expensive, brute-force approach to the problem of managing peak capacity. The telecom company will either have too much margin and waste money, or not enough margin which leads to poor user experience. Since the budget allocated to building infrastructure isn’t rising as fast as demand for capacity, higher efficiency is required to bridge the gap and to ensure an orderly evolution of the market.

With 5G, some actors want to tighten the work between fixed/wired networks and wireless networks. Most actors agree on the need of local, short-distance access points, but some want to see a wired fiber-optics backbone with mainly short wireless endpoints. Some also want to see QoS (quality-of-service) which is a form of data-packets prioritization. This could lead to more net-neutrality debates, but it raises a good point: real-time systems could use a higher priority than buffered video streams.

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Types of 5G wireless services:

5G is available in two forms: as a mobile service (Mobile 5G) that you can access via your phone from anywhere with proper coverage, and as a fixed service (Fixed Wireless Access / 5G FWA) that works in one place only. There are benefits and disadvantages to each.

Mobile 5G:

Works when you leave home

Could provide 5G internet to other devices on the go

No hardware installation is necessary

FWA 5G:

All your devices get 5G, including computers

Provides a reliable connection

More likely to offer unlimited data usage

Network operators are developing two types of 5G services:

5G fixed wireless broadband services deliver internet access to homes and businesses without a wired connection to the premises. To do that, network operators deploy NRs in small cell sites near buildings to beam a signal to a receiver on a rooftop or a windowsill that is amplified within the premises. Fixed broadband services are expected to make it less expensive for operators to deliver broadband services to homes and businesses because this approach eliminates the need to roll out fiber-optic lines to every residence. Instead, operators need only install fiber optics to cell sites, and customers receive broadband services through wireless modems located in their residences or businesses.

5G Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA) retains the key benefit of current FWA offerings in that it enables the establishment of a quick and cheap broadband service, even in areas that don’t have ready access to fixed line home broadband. 5G FWA doesn’t require any engineering works at the customer end – just the provision of so-called Customer Premise Equipment (CPEs), which can be readily self-installed by the subscriber. The Market Insights report estimates that 5G FWA will reduce the initial cost of establishing ‘last-mile’ connectivity by as much as 40% compared to a physical fiber line approach. 5G FWA will be able to utilise much higher frequency bands than current 4G networks can support. This will include so-called millimeter bands like 28GHz, which have much more available spectrum than LTE. This additional spectrum means that there will be more capacity for data traffic and greater download speeds. These millimeter bands also have a tighter radio beam, so they can be focused for use by fewer users in the immediate vicinity. This means that performance won’t be adversely affected by a high concentration of users, as is the case with current solutions.

5G FWA will support future mobile usage, and will operate to the same standards as forthcoming 5G mobile networks. This presents mobile operators with the opportunity to use 5G FWA as a means to prepare their networks for full-scale 5G network deployments. In other words, 5G FWA can be used as a stepping stone to full 5G mobility. It could potentially contribute to a much smoother and quicker transition from 4G to 5G for mobile users.

The cost and complexity of delivering fixed broadband has continually challenged the roll-out of high-speed data services. While technologies such as WiMAX have attempted to bypass the local loop or prevent the fiber trench, these initiatives largely failed – primarily because they demanded a completely new overlay infrastructure and expensive proprietary equipment. In contrast, 5G FWA employs standardized 3GPP architectures and common mobile components to deliver ultra-high-speed broadband services to residential subscribers and enterprise customers.

Fixed Wireless Access is an anchor service offering that can be exploited by not only by existing Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) with licensed spectrum but by greenfield carriers or classic fixed-line providers. In the latter instances, independent 5G network slices can be quickly created and granularly scaled by larger MNOs to support these Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) who may not own mobile infrastructures or spectrum of their own.

5G cellular means it supports roaming i.e., you can go from one access point to another without losing your connection. 5G cellular services will provide user access to operators’ 5G cellular networks. These services have begun to be rolled out in 2019 when the first 5G-enabled (or -compliant) devices have become commercially available. Cellular service delivery is also dependent upon the completion of mobile core standards by 3GPP. 5G cellular technology needs to provide significant gains over previous systems to provide an adequate business case for mobile operators to invest in any new system. Facilities that might be seen with 5G technology include far better levels of connectivity and coverage. The term World Wide Wireless Web, or WWWW is being coined for this. For 5G technology to be able to achieve this, new methods of connecting will be required as one of the main drawbacks with previous generations is lack of coverage, dropped calls and low performance at cell edges. 5G technology will need to address this.

At the end of the day, a mobile network and a fixed wireless access (FWA) network do exactly the same thing: provide access to the internet. However, like we discussed already above, the difference is that one of them lets you reach the internet from your phone while you’re out and about, while the other is only useful if you need internet at one place, like at home. Not all ISPs offer the same kind of 5G access, so knowing how they differ is important when choosing which provider to go with.

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5G spectrum:

Unlike LTE, 5G operates on three different spectrum bands. While this may not seem important, it will have a dramatic effect on your everyday use. In terms of spectrum bands earmarked for deployment of 5G, they can be sub-divided in three macro categories: sub-1GHz, 1-6GHz and above 6GHz.

Sub-1GHz bands are suitable to support IoT services for low data rate applications and extend mobile broadband coverage from urban to suburban and rural areas. This is because the propagation properties of the signal at these frequencies enable 5G to create very large coverage areas and deep in-building penetration. The 1-6GHz bands offer a reasonable mixture of coverage and capacity for 5G services. This includes spectrum within the 3.3-3.8 GHz range which is expected to form the basis of many initial 5G services. It also includes others which may be assigned to, or refarmed by, operators for 5G including 1800 MHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz etc. In the long term, more spectrum is needed to maintain 5G quality of service and growing demand, in bands between 3 and 24 GHz. Spectrum bands above 6GHz provide significant capacity thanks to the very large bandwidth that can be allocated to mobile communications and thus enable enhanced mobile broadband applications. High frequencies (above 6 GHz) offer real promise for the provision of very high data rates and high system capacity in dense deployments. The downside of using high spectrum bands (so called “millimetre wave”) is the much-reduced coverage size of each cell and its susceptibility to blocking.

Figure below compares varies frequency bands based on their physical properties. Technically, spectrum is technology neutral i.e. any spectrum band can be used for deploying any technology. However, while deciding the deployment of a technology, apart from the technical factors, development of eco-system plays a significant role.

Figure above shows physical properties of different spectrum bands.

Figure below shows that 5G works Best with all the three spectrum bands:

Low-frequency 5G networks, which use existing cellular and Wi-Fi bands, take advantage of more flexible encoding and bigger channel sizes to achieve speeds 25 to 50 percent better than LTE. Those networks can cover the same distances as existing cellular networks and generally won’t need additional cell sites. Sprint, for example, is setting up all of its new 4G cell sites as 5G-ready, and it’ll just flip the switch when the rest of its network is prepared. Rural networks will likely stick with low-band 5G, because low-frequency bands have great range from towers.

To get super-high, multi-gigabit speeds, carriers are first turning to newer, much higher frequencies, known as millimeter-wave. Down in the existing cellular bands, only relatively narrow channels are available because that spectrum is so busy and heavily used. But up at 28GHz and 39GHz, there are big, broad swaths of spectrum available to create big channels for very high speeds. In this range, 26 GHz and 28 GHz have emerged as two of the most important bands. What makes them such a valuable resource for mobile networks is the amount of spectrum available.

Those bands have been used before for backhaul, connecting base stations to remote internet links. But they haven’t been used for consumer devices before, because the handheld processing power and miniaturized antennas weren’t available. Millimeter-wave signals also drop off faster with distance than lower-frequency signals do, and the massive amount of data they transfer will require more connections to landline internet. So cellular providers will have to use many smaller, lower-power base stations (generally outputting 2-10 watts) rather than fewer, more powerful macro cells (which output 20-40 watts) to offer the multi-gigabit speeds that millimeter-wave networks promise.

There’s a third set of airwaves being used: mid-band. These frequencies, ranging from 3.5GHz to 7GHz, are slightly above current cellular bands but have quantities of spectrum (and speeds) that start to look like millimeter-wave. Mid-band networks won’t require quite as many cell sites as millimeter-wave, although they’d still be pretty dense; probably every third to half-mile.

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Mm wave:

Multiple frequency ranges are now being dedicated to 5G. The portion of the radio spectrum with frequencies between 30 GHz and 300 GHz is known as the millimeter wave, since wavelengths range from 1-10 mm. Frequencies between 24 GHz and 100 GHz are now being allocated to 5G in multiple regions worldwide.

The “millimetre” band, also referred to as millimetre wave spectrum, aka frequencies above 6 GHz, are essential to enabling 5G to mark a departure from 4G.

At the latest World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-15 in Geneva), a conference under the aegis of ITU whose objective is to change the way frequencies are allocated between users, discussions over the definition of future mobile bands made it possible to focus future 5G studies, for millimetre wave frequencies, on a certain number of bands situated between 24 GHz and 86 GHz (33.25 GHz identified in total): 24.25 – 27.5 GHz, 31.8 – 33.4 GHz, 37 – 43.5 GHz, 45.5 – 50.2 GHz, 50.4 – 52.6 GHz, 66 – 76 GHz, 81 – 86 GHz. It is important to stress that, even if the above-listed bands have been identified as “5G bands”, at this stage there is no way to know whether they can actually be used to deploy this new generation system: only the results of technical studies will make it possible to establish the constraints and rules of compliance, and to validate the feasibility of these hypotheses.

Figure above shows millimetre wave frequencies identified at WRC-15

Contrary to the conclusions of the Conference, which reflect European recommendations, the United States and certain Asian countries (South Korea, Japan) have decided to perform 5G trials in the 28 GHz band, and equipment suppliers such as Qualcomm and Samsung, have begun manufacturing 28 GHz- band products.

Meanwhile Europe, following the publication of an RSPG (Radio Spectrum Policy Group within which France is represented by ANFR) opinion, decided to focus its first studies on the 26 GHz band (pioneer band), then on the 32 GHz and 42 GHz bands. Later, studies will be carried out on introducing 5G in all of the other bands identified by WRC-15. The rapid choice of the 26 GHz band as the pioneer band was made to enable economies of scale for equipment production, since it is very likely that dual-mode equipment, i.e. compatible with both the 26 GHz and 28 GHz band, will be available for pioneer rollouts. China, Japan and Russia are opposing the use of the 26 GHz band as they’re planning to use it for their military operations. All three were in support of using alternative bands to provide 5G services. India unlikely to allow commercial 5G use on 26 GHz as Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) plans to use 26 GHz spectrum band for satellite services.

Mmwave and 5G are used almost synonymously, but there are key differences between the two. The mmwave technology is just one part of what future 5G networks will use. I have discussed “low band” frequencies and “sub-6GHz,” both of which will also be part of the standard, and when combined will offer up much faster data speeds to customers, among other benefits.

The term mmwave refers to a specific part of the radio frequency spectrum between 24GHz and 100GHz, which have a very short wavelength. This section of the spectrum is pretty much unused, so mmwave technology aims to greatly increase the amount of bandwidth available. Lower frequencies are more heavily congested with TV and radio signals, as well as current 4G LTE networks, which typically sit between 800 and 3,000MHz. Another upside of this short wavelength is that it can transfer data even faster, though its transfer distance is shorter. The lower frequency bands cover much greater distances but offer slower data speeds, while high-frequency bands cover much smaller areas but can carry much more data. Mmwave is just part of the 5G picture, but carriers are particularly fond of talking about it because it allows for extremely high bandwidth and shows off the most impressive data speed figures.

The objective with mmwave is to increase the data bandwidth available over smaller, densely populated areas. It will be a key part of 5G in many cities, powering data in sports stadiums, malls, and convention centers, as well as basically anywhere data congestion might be a problem. Out in rural towns and villages, sub-6GHz and low bands below 2GHz will probably play a more crucial role in ensuring consistent coverage.

mmwave doesn’t penetrate walls:

This is perhaps the most common issue cited with upcoming 5G networks and it’s true to some extent. Most building materials, such as cement and brick, attenuate and reflect very high-frequency signals with a big enough loss you’re unlikely to receive a very useful signal moving from inside to outside. Even the air produces signal loss, which limits frequencies above 28GHz to about a kilometer anyway. Wood and glass attenuate high-frequency signals to a smaller degree, so you’ll likely still be able to use 5G mmwave next to a window. This reflective property works both ways — you don’t need line-of-sight with a 5G antenna to receive the signals. 5G networks will use beamforming to direct waves off and around obstacles to your phone. This works in part because 5G equipment uses multiple antennas to send and receive signals, combining the data from multiple streams to strengthen the overall signal and increase the bandwidth. This works both outdoors, by reflecting signals off buildings, as well as indoors by reflecting signals off walls. Carriers could definitely install beamforming transmitters inside stadiums or large malls.

In summary, very high-frequency 5G signals don’t travel very far and don’t transition very well from indoors to outdoors. However, massive MIMO and beamforming ensure that strict line-of-sight isn’t a requirement to make use of millimeter wave. A mmwave signal may not be able to penetrate buildings, but it will bounce around them to ensure a decent signal. Indoors, people will just have to rely more on rely on sub-6GHz and LTE signals.

It can’t get through your hand either:

This is also partially true, for similar reasons mentioned above. Human bodies are reasonably good at blocking high-frequency radio — we’re part water and reasonably dense. That’s partly why Bluetooth headphones don’t always work if your phone is blocked by your body. While your hand probably isn’t enough to block the entire signal, it could certainly get in the way enough to make an already mediocre or poor signal worse, useless even. At the very least it could slow down your speeds or cause interrupt the flow of data. Worst case scenario, grabbing your phone could be the difference between one and zero bars of signal. That’s clearly no good. There’s a solution to this problem through — placing multiple millimeter wave antennas around the phone. After all, you’ll very rarely cover both sides and the top of your phone at once. Qualcomm’s reference design suggests three antenna modules should be used in a smartphone to ensure robust signal coverage. Four if you’re moving up to a 5G hotspot that can handle the extra power draw. These three antenna modules don’t have to all be on at once. Smartphones will switch these modules on and off depending on which ones are receiving the best coverage to reduce the power draw.

5G won’t work when it rains:

It’s not like 5G doesn’t work in the rain at all, but there is some truth to this. Much like the two previous points, rain in the air adds an extra level of density and therefore attenuation to signals as they travel. Humidity can cause the same problem. This isn’t a new phenomenon for 5G though. “Rain fade” is an issue for modern GPS and other high-frequency satellite communication systems but those operate all the way out in space, and 5G will potentially suffer issues over just hundreds of meters. Millimeter-wave signal strength will degrade somewhat when it rains, which will first result in slightly slower speeds and then potentially connection problems. How much it degrades will depend on just how hard it’s raining, and other factors like the distances from the cell tower. Rain will cause the most problems when connecting at the edge of a mmwave base station’s range.

mmwave doesn’t go far enough for good coverage:

Mmwave is definitely the shortest-range technology being used for next-generation networks, but it’s not so short as to be useless. Base stations will likely offer up to a kilometer of directed coverage, although 500 meters (~1,500 feet) is probably a safer bet, after taking into account obstacles and foliage. That’s obviously not a huge area. Many more base stations will need to be packed closer together to cover the same areas 4G networks cover now. This is why we’re unlikely to see mmwave deployed out in the countryside or small towns. It will probably only be used in urban centers, where it covers the maximum number of consumers in a small space.

Remember, mmwave is just a small part of the bigger 5G spectrum. the Wi-Fi-like sub-6GHz and low band spectrum should have you covered when high-frequency signals can’t reach you, providing a backbone that still offers fast data speeds.

5G isn’t any faster than gigabit LTE, so what’s the point?

Speed, and to a lesser extent latency, are the two big selling points for consumers, and 5G simply makes this easier to achieve. While 4G LTE can hit gigabit and higher speeds in ideal situations, in many countries there simply isn’t the spectrum or capacity to offer these speeds to every consumer on current LTE networks. 5G is all about increasing the amount of available bandwidth by using a broader range of spectrum, making gigabit and higher speeds easier to achieve.

In the course of several decades increased transport capacity requirements and greater site density have promoted the use of ever higher frequency bands. The physics of radio waves propagation determine the relation among capacity, availability and link length. Since the available spectrum is proportional to the center frequency, the highest frequencies are also those that carry the most capacity, but also cover the comparatively shortest link lengths.

Figure above shows Interdependence between frequency, capacity and availability.

As a rule of thumb, frequencies below 13 GHz can be considered mostly unaffected by the intensity of rainfall and frequencies above are more and more influenced by the attenuation caused by rain, so that as a general principle higher frequency are used for shorter links, as described in figure above.

Bands and Carrier Aggregation (BCA) is a concept enabling an efficient use of the spectrum through a smart aggregation, over a single physical link, of multiple frequency channels (in the same or different frequency bands). BCA (multi-band aggregation), the combination of different frequency bands on the same radio link, allows combining the best of both worlds in terms of capacity, availability and link length.

In addition to the millimeter wave, underutilized UHF frequencies between 300 MHz and 3 GHz are also being repurposed for 5G. The diversity of frequencies employed can be tailored to the unique applications considering the higher frequencies are characterized by higher bandwidth, albeit shorter range. The millimeter wave frequencies are ideal for densely populated areas, but ineffective for long distance communication. Within these high and lower frequency bands dedicated to 5G, each carrier has begun to carve out their own discrete individual portions of the 5G spectrum.

Signal boosters:

You can’t beat the laws of physics. The higher frequencies used in 5G networks may be great for carrying large amounts of data at once, but they’re terrible at penetrating obstacles. In fact, mmwave 5G can be stopped by your hands! This means that you’re unlikely to get 5G coverage inside a building unless the network has placed indoor signal boosters. Even in open spaces, 5G signals drop off rapidly. This is why the 5G rollouts that have taken place so far have been restricted to dense urban areas, with networks placing cell transmitters at short distances.

5G cell phone signal boosters will be pivotal because the 5G network signals are more prone to get blocked by building materials and they do not travel as far 4G signals do, from their 5G transmitter (cell tower). Since they will bypass home networks and enable point-to-point cellular communication, it is pivotal that we can get them to reach in every nook and cranny of indoor spaces. The arrival of the 5G network will likely lead to a rise in cellular-based streaming video in homes, thus increasing the demand for cell phone signal boosters. In fact, arrival of the 5G cellular network will probably make cell phone signal boosters a “must have” for all new homes because low-e glass, innovative building materials, and geography, will always interfere with wireless signals from mobile towers. It is definitely anticipated that 5G frequencies will be more vulnerable to signal blockage, or attenuation, than today’s 4G LTE frequencies. This means there will be more demand for signal boosting solutions. The major difference between 4G LTE and 5G is that, with 5G, cell towers won’t be required. Instead, many thousands of small antennas will be appropriately placed, instead of relying on just one tower. Homes may not require a Wi-Fi network because 5G will provide exceptional coverage with much faster speeds.

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5G standards:

The wireless telecommunication networks are widely deployed across the globe to tackle tremendous growth in the mobile handset market. This has led to development of wireless standards from 1G to 6G. 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) has been formed by group of companies in order to develop and maintain protocols for mobile telecom technologies. It has started with major success in GSM standardization followed by UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, LTE, LTE-advanced, 5G NR and 6G. Each of these standards support different wireless technologies which offer various data rates, coverages, subscriber densities and unique advanced features (services) for the users.

Initially, 5G standard was associated with the International Telecommunication Union’s IMT-2020 standard, which required a theoretical peak download speed of 20 gigabits per second and 10 gigabits per second upload speed, along with other requirements. Then, the industry standards group 3GPP chose the 5G NR (New Radio) standard together with LTE as their proposal for submission to the IMT-2020 standard.

The development of 5G standard has two schemes. One is to improve the technology step by step, based on the current 4G LTE technologies to improve the network capacity and performance – 5G LTE. Another scheme is to design completely new network structures and wireless technologies to construct a whole new mobile communication network – the revolutionary 5G New Radio (NR).

5G NR is a new wireless radio interface that will support revolutionary improvements in throughput, capacity and efficiency, particularly at frequencies above 6 GHz, more commonly known as mmwave. This opens up massive amounts of new spectrum and offering new capacity. On devices, mmwave support will require a new product architecture and significant technical design and integration effort, and thus will be disruptive for customers. The standard is still being defined, with the non-standalone version completed in December 2017.

5G LTE is an evolution of LTE Advanced Pro Release 14. It is an essential part of a true 5G system that entails many LTE Advanced Pro features such as consistent user experience, seamless handoff, low-cost, high coverage and longer battery life requirements of LPWA applications. The 3GPP has submitted 5G LTE along with 5GNR as a 5G candidate to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

In contrast to the complexity of integrating a completely new technology and product architecture for 5G NR, existing wireless infrastructure will only require a software upgrade to support 5G LTE in most cases. 5G NR will require new infrastructure and large numbers of new cell sites. As a result, large-scale deployment of 5G LTE networks are likely to be sooner than that of 5GNR, which will not see mass-scale commercialization until the 2019-2020 timeframe. 5G LTE product transition is also going to be simple and straightforward like moving from LTE to LTE Advanced. However, it will be 5G NR that renders a disruptive change for customers although it will take time to evolve to support all the use cases such as massive machine type communications targeted for 5G.

The next-generation mobile communication system is more than just about speed. 5G fixed many of the technical weaknesses of 4G technologies, which has significantly improved the quality of service, time delay, throughput speed, energy efficiency, and system performance.

5G NR:

The term 5G refers to fifth generation of wireless technology. With several years of research and testing 5G NR has been introduced recently in April, 2019. It precedes 4G LTE technology and follows same 3GPP roadmap. The specifications have been introduced from 3GPP Release 15 and Beyond. New Radio (NR) is the new standard for the radio interface of 5G and is a new type of signalling allowing spectrum to be used more efficiently and therefore get more bandwidth. There are several new innovations that define NR, all focussing on getting the most out of the available spectrum over all the frequency bands. 5G NR (New Radio) is a new air interface developed for the 5G network. 5G NR is a new way of encoding data through the air which is more efficient than previous generations. It is supposed to be the global standard for the air interface of 3GPP 5G networks. 5G NR can include lower frequencies (FR1), below 6 GHz, and higher frequencies (FR2), above 24 GHz. However, the speed and latency in early FR1 deployments, using 5G NR software on 4G hardware (non-standalone), are only slightly better than new 4G systems, estimated at 15 to 50% better.

5G NR frequency bands

The air interface defined by 3GPP for 5G is known as New Radio (NR), and the specification is subdivided into two frequency bands, FR1 (below 6 GHz) and FR2 (mmwave), each with different capabilities.

Frequency range 1 (< 6 GHz)

The maximum channel bandwidth defined for FR1 is 100 MHz, due to the scarcity of continuous spectrum in this crowded frequency range. The band most widely being used for 5G in this range is around 3.5 GHz. The Korean carriers are using 3.5 GHz although some millimeter wave spectrum has also been allocated.

Frequency range 2 (> 24 GHz)

The minimum channel bandwidth defined for FR2 is 50 MHz and the maximum is 400 MHz, with two-channel aggregation supported in 3GPP Release 15. In the U.S., Verizon is using 28 GHz and AT&T is using 39 GHz. 5G can use frequencies of up to 300 GHz. The higher the frequency, the greater the ability to support high data transfer speeds without interfering with other wireless signals or becoming overly cluttered. Due to this, 5G can support approximately 1,000,000 devices per square kilometer.

FR2 coverage

5G in the 24 GHz range or above use higher frequencies than 4G, and as a result, some 5G signals are not capable of traveling large distances (over a few hundred meters), unlike 4G or lower frequency 5G signals (sub 6 GHz). This requires placing 5G base stations every few hundred meters in order to utilize higher frequency bands. Also, these higher frequency 5G signals cannot easily penetrate solid objects, like cars, trees and walls, because of the nature of these higher frequency electromagnetic waves.

5G NR: Operating Bandwidth:

In NR, there are roughly two large frequency range specified in 3GPP. One is what we usually call (sub 6 GHz) FR1 and the other is what we usually call millimeter wave FR2. Depending on the ranges, the maximum bandwidth and subcarrier spacing varies. In sub 6 GHz, the maximum bandwidth was 100 MHz and in millimeter wave range the maximum bandwidth was 400 MHz in 2018. Some subcarrier spacing (15, 30 Khz) can be used only in Sub 6 Ghz and some subcarrier spacing (120 Khz) can be used in millimeter wave range only, and some subcarrier spacing (60 Khz) can be used both in sub 6 Ghz and millimeter wave range.

South Korea has currently allocated 2,680MHz for 5G use but aims to add up to another 2,640MHz by 2026. The project, dubbed 5G+ Spectrum Plan, aims to have the world’s widest spectrum available for use in 5G. If the goal is achieved, there will be a total of 5,320MHz of 5G spectrum available in 2026.

Non-Standalone 5G NR vs. Standalone 5G NR:

There are two types of 5G NR. Non-standalone 5G NR leverages existing 4G deployments and requires only minor modifications to the 4G network. The focus is primarily on enhanced mobile broadband: ISPs use this to provide high-speed connectivity to users with 5G-enabled devices. In non-standalone mode, LTE is used for control (C-Plane) functions e.g. call origination, call termination, location registration etc. whereas 5G NR will focus on U-Plane alone. User plane is protocols for the actual flow of data. In non-standalone (NSA) scenario, the NR radio cells are combined with LTE radio cells using dual connectivity to provide radio access and the core network.

In standalone mode, UE (user equipment) works by 5G RAT (radio access technology) alone and LTE RAT is not needed. This means that the NR is used for both control plane and user plane. The standalone 5G NR has defined three use cases, according to 3GPP. They include enhanced mobile broadband but also extend to ultrareliable and low-latency communications for critical applications, and massive machine-type communications to support the Internet of Things. Standalone 5G NR requires a new end-to-end architecture that is defined by capabilities including network slicing, which logically sectorizes a network so that separate services with different requirements that need to exist simultaneously are supported by each separate logical network. Network slicing builds on software-defined networking and network functions virtualization to make networks flexible and adaptive to meet the needs of businesses.

In a nutshell, initial 5G NR launches will depend on existing LTE (4G) infrastructure in non-standalone (NSA) mode (5G NR software on LTE radio hardware), before maturation of the standalone (SA) mode (5G NR software on 5G NR radio hardware) with the 5G core network.

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5G architecture:

Fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications networks could revolutionize the digital economy by enabling new applications that depend on ultra-fast communications at industrial scale. Many of these new applications, such as driverless cars, telemedicine, factory automation, smart electric grids, and smart cities, will capitalize on advances in artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G networks themselves will be AI-enabled.

A 5G network is a collection of microprocessors that rapidly send packets of data among themselves. At the “edge” of the network, devices including smartphones, cars, and robots will send and receive data over radio waves at 5G frequencies by connecting to a new generation of small-cell radio units that form the radio access network (RAN). The RAN links individual devices to routers and switches that compose the “core” network, where data traffic is transported to and from other devices and the internet (or the cloud).

A mobile network has two main components, the ‘Radio Access Network’ and the ‘Core Network’.

The Radio Access Network (RAN) – consists of various types of facilities including small cells, towers, masts and dedicated in-building and home systems that connect mobile users and wireless devices to the main core network. Small cells will be a major feature of 5G networks particularly at the new millimetre wave (mmwave) frequencies where the connection range is very short. To provide a continuous connection, small cells will be distributed in clusters depending on where users require connection which will complement the macro network that provides wide-area coverage. 5G Macro Cells will use MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antennas that have multiple elements or connections to send and receive more data simultaneously. The benefit to users is that more people can simultaneously connect to the network and maintain high throughput. Where MIMO antennas use very large numbers of antenna elements they are often referred to as ‘massive MIMO’, however, the physical size is similar to existing 3G and 4G base station antennas.

The Core Network – is the mobile exchange and data network that manages all of the mobile voice, data and internet connections. For 5G, the ‘core network’ is being redesigned to better integrate with the internet and cloud based services and also includes distributed servers across the network improving response times (reducing latency). And a big advantage of the 5G Core Network is that it can integrate with the internet much more efficiently and it also provides additional services like cloud-based services, distributed servers that improve response times, etc. Another advanced feature of the Core Network is network slicing.

5G Mobile Network Architecture:

Figure above shows the system model that proposes design of network architecture for 5G mobile systems, which is all-IP based model for wireless and mobile networks interoperability. The system consists of a user terminal (which has a crucial role in the new architecture) and a number of independent, autonomous radio access technologies. Within each of the terminals, each of the radio access technologies is seen as the IP link to the outside Internet world. However, there should be different radio interface for each Radio Access Technology (RAT) in the mobile terminal. For an example, if we want to have access to four different RATs, we need to have four different accesses – specific interfaces in the mobile terminal, and to have all of them active at the same time, with aim to have this architecture to be functional. Routing of packets should be carried out in accordance with established policies of the user.

The core is basically the network’s brain. It controls authentication, encryption and other elements vital to security and privacy, such as sensitive customer data. The RAN, on the other hand, is the network’s arms and legs. Sitting at the network’s outer edge, it takes signals from smartphones and other devices and transmits them back to the core, using cell phone towers or base stations.

One-way 5G networks differ from prior generations is in the physical location of critical functions. Generally speaking, the core of a telecom network is where more sensitive functions, such as user access control, data authentication, data routing, and billing, occur. The edge is where base stations and other RAN equipment connect user devices to the core network. But in 5G, the distinction between core and edge is less clear. Advanced uses of 5G will require high-volume communications with low latency (the delay in sending and receiving data): for example, the anti-collision sensors on a driverless car require instantaneous and reliable data connections. The distance between devices communicating with one another needs to be shortened to provide such high speed and reliability. Thus in 5G networks, some functions traditionally performed in the core will be performed in the RAN.

5G networks will also be significantly more complex than previous generations, which were designed primarily for consumer voice and data services. 5G networks will support at least three different major functions. These are (1) enhanced mobile broadband, which will enable faster download speeds for consumers; (2) ultra-reliable low-latency communication, designed for autonomous vehicles and other applications requiring no gaps in communication; and (3) massive machine-to-machine communications, or the Internet of Things (IoT), in which billions of devices constantly communicate among themselves. Prior generations of mobile technology involved devices connecting to the network in a hub-and-spoke architecture; in 5G, billions of IoT devices will connect with one another in a weblike environment.

An ‘end-to-end’ approach to 5G:

You can’t go far in 5G-land without encountering the term ‘end to end’ (or E2E) with reference to network architecture. That’s because there’s a lot more involved in being a network operator than winning RF spectrum and building a radio-access network (RAN): other key components are backhaul (or transport) from the base stations to the core network, plus supporting IT operations. A full 5G deployment requires architecture changes at every stage:

Network softwarization:

5G architectures will be software-defined platforms, in which networking functionality is managed through software rather than hardware. Advancements in virtualization, cloud-based technologies, and IT and business process automation enable 5G architecture to be agile and flexible and to provide anytime, anywhere user access. 5G networks can create software-defined subnetwork constructs known as network slices. These slices enable network administrators to dictate network functionality based on users and devices. Network softwarization – through network functional virtualization (NFV), software defined networking (SDN), network slicing and Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) – aims to increase both the pace of innovation and the pace at which mobile networks can be transformed.

NFV – replaces network functions on dedicated appliances – such as routers, load balancers, and firewalls, with virtualized instances running on commercial off-the-shelf hardware, reducing the cost of network changes and upgrades.
SDN – allows the dynamic reconfiguration of network elements in real-time, enabling 5G networks to be controlled by software rather than hardware, improving network resilience, performance and quality of service.
Network slicing – permits a physical network to be separated into multiple virtual networks (logical segments) that can support different RANs or several types of services for certain customer segments, greatly reducing network construction costs by using communication channels more efficiently. [vide infra]
C-RAN – is presented as a key disruptive technology, vital to the realization of 5G networks. In earlier generations of mobile networks, Radio Access Networks are located close to the base station. Traditional RANs are complex, required costly infrastructure, periodic maintenance and limited efficiency. 5G technology will be using Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) for better efficiency. Network operators can provide ultra-fast internet from a centralized cloud-based radio access network.

Network Slicing:

Perhaps the key ingredient enabling the full potential of 5G architecture to be realized is network slicing. This technology adds an extra dimension to the NFV domain by allowing multiple logical networks to simultaneously run on top of a shared physical network infrastructure. This becomes integral to 5G architecture by creating end-to-end virtual networks that include both networking and storage functions. Operators can effectively manage diverse 5G use cases with differing throughput, latency and availability demands by partitioning network resources to multiple users or “tenants”.

Network slicing becomes extremely useful for applications like the IoT where the number of users may be extremely high, but the overall bandwidth demand is low. Each 5G vertical will have its own requirements, so network slicing becomes an important design consideration for 5G network architecture. Costs, resource management and flexibility of network configurations can all be optimized with this level of customization now possible. In addition, network slicing enables expedited trials for potential new 5G services and quicker time-to-market.

As a sign of how intelligent and flexible 5G will be, network slicing will enable distinct virtual networks to be carved out within the physical network environment. As such, expect to see many more Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) popping up, increasing competition and potentially forcing down mobile plan prices.

Backhaul in 5G:

In a hierarchical telecommunications network, the backhaul portion of the network comprises the intermediate links between the core network, or backbone network, and the small subnetworks at the edge of the network. Backhaul networks connect the radio network (RAN) to the core network. The ultra-high capacity, fast speeds and low latency requirements of 5G require a backhaul network capable of meeting these high demands. Fiber is often considered the most suitable type of backhaul by mobile operators due to its longevity, high capacity, high reliability and ability to support very high capacity traffic.

However, fiber network coverage is not ubiquitous in all cities where 5G is expected to launch initially – and even less so in suburban and rural areas. Building new fiber networks in these areas can often be prohibitive in terms of cost for operators. In this case, a portfolio of wireless backhaul technologies should be considered in addition to fiber, including point-to-multipoint (PMP) microwave and millimeter wave (mmwave). PMP is capable of downstream throughput of 1Gbit/s and latency of less than 1ms per hop over a 2-4 km distance. mmwave has significantly lower latency and is capable of higher throughput speeds.

While most focus is being given to terrestrial technology, there is also a role for high altitude platform systems (HAPS) and satellite technology in 5G. HAPS and satellite systems (including non-geostationary constellations) can deliver very high data rates (> 100 Mbit/s – 1 Gbit/s) to complement fixed or terrestrial wireless backhaul networks outside major urban / suburban areas and can deliver video transmission to fixed locations. HAPS and satellites may be integrated with other networks rather than function as a standalone network to provide 5G, thereby augmenting the 5G service capability and addressing some of the major challenges regarding the support of multimedia traffic growth, ubiquitous coverage, machine-to-machine communications and critical telecom missions.

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Architectural Features of 5G:

To realize all the expected benefits of 5G wireless networks some new architectural approaches need to be adopted. Here some of the important architectural features of 5G are briefly explained.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is an application of Nano-Science in process control to design functional systems at Nano-Scale. Miniaturization of hardware circuitry is gaining more and more attention from researchers and engineers not only because of cute little end products and power efficiency but also because nanotechnology can offer greater processing power and memory storage. Once this technology hits the manufacturing and process industry with it is expected to revolutionize the whole electronic market. Telecommunication industry will also be greatly influenced by applications of nanotechnology because future mobile applications require more computing power, memory storage and higher data rates and current hardware technology is not able to meet these requirements with little area and power cost. Nanotechnology will have a substantial impact on mobile telephone devices and core network of 5G.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a model of ubiquitous and on-demand network access to distributed and configurable computing resources like storage, applications, services and servers with least management efforts. It is technology that allows users to maintain data and use applications remotely using internet and a central remote server. In 5G, this central remote server could be a service provider. And because of real WWWW access, this trend of using applications and data remotely, without bothering to install them on a device, is sure to soar high.

The internet is not just the conduit for content, but the facilitator of connectivity in wide-area networks (WAN). 5G wireless offers the potential for distributing cloud computing services much closer to users than most of Amazon’s, Google’s, or Microsoft’s hyperscale data centers. In so doing, 5G could make telcos into competitors with these cloud providers, particularly for high-intensity, critical workloads. This is the edge computing scenario you may have heard about: Bringing processing power forward, closer to the customer, minimizing latencies caused by distance. If latencies can be eliminated just enough, applications that currently require PCs could be relocated to smaller devices — perhaps even mobile devices that, unto themselves, have less processing power than the average smartphone.

All IP-based Network

To converge different technologies to make a single unified 5G core we need a common platform to interact. This can be realized using flat IP architecture. The All-IP network is an evolution from 3GPP system to meet increasing demands of telecommunication industry. Flat IP architecture can cope with users’ demands for real time data applications delivered over mobile broadband networks. The main focus of All-IP Network is to enhance packet switched technology by providing a continued evolution and optimization of the system concept to increase performance and decrease cost. The key benefits of Flat IP architecture include low cost, universal seamless access, improved user experience, reduced latency and decoupling of radio access and core network evolution. Although mobile telecommunication technology is leaping forward towards better and better services for the customers on competitive price, user’s expectations and involvement in mobile subscriber’s community are increasing even further. According to a study, within next few years, more than 10 billion fixed and mobile devices are expected to be connected to the Internet whereas around one billion are already connected. To accommodate and serve such an overwhelming number of users, flat IP architecture is the only suitable approach.

IPv6

To ensure smooth roaming for a mobile customer across various networks, 5G will make full use of IP v6. Mobile user will be able to connect to the Internet and access information which will be modified on the go for the network being used. In 5G each device is supposed to have a permanent home IP address plus a care-of IP address which is changeable and is based on current location. When some device needs to connect to another mobile device over the Internet, it would send a packet to receiver’s home address. A directory server on the home network will forward the packet to the receiver on its care-off address and will inform the sender about receiver’s current care-off address so that further communication is done directly to the receiving device. This should enable TCP session to be established and HTTP traffic to flow as receiver roams across different type of networks. As this type of communication needs numerous addresses and multiple layers of subnetting, IP v6 is natural choice for this type of mobility.

Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) is an important element of 5G architecture. MEC is an evolution in cloud computing that brings the applications from centralized data centers to the network edge, and therefore closer to the end users and their devices. This essentially creates a shortcut in content delivery between the user and host, and the long network path that once separated them. This technology is not exclusive to 5G but is certainly integral to its efficiency. Characteristics of the MEC include the low latency, high bandwidth and real time access to RAN information that distinguish 5G architecture from its predecessors. This convergence of the RAN and core networks will require operators to leverage new approaches to network testing and validation. 5G networks based on the 3GPP 5G specifications are an ideal environment for MEC deployment. The 5G specifications define the enablers for edge computing, allowing MEC and 5G to collaboratively route traffic. In addition to the latency and bandwidth benefits of the MEC architecture, the distribution of computing power will better enable the high volume of connected devices inherent to 5G deployment and the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Beam Division Multiple Access (BDMA)

In order to achieve target of increasing system capacity and quality within the limited available frequency and time for wireless technology, multiple access technique is required as the goal of communication system is to provide improved and flexible services to a larger number of mobile users at lower costs. Some multiple access technology are already in use, they are frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) techniques, etc. In future, it is needed that a capacity required in a mobile communication system will increase as the number of mobile stations increase in future and an amount of data required in respective mobile stations is increased. But, currently in mobile communication system, a capacity of mobile communication system is limited depending on given frequency and time as limited frequency and time are divided to be used among multiple users. Thus, in order to increase a capacity of the system, there is a demand for a technical development, which uses other resources than frequency, time resources. In BDMA, it divides the antenna beam according to the location of mobile stations because base station allocates separate beam to each mobile station. BDMA increases the capacity of the system.

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5G technology:

Making 5G NR a reality is incredibly complex. 5G NR must meet an expanding and radically diverse set of connectivity requirements that will not only interconnect people, but also interconnect and control machines, objects, and devices across a wide range of industries and services. This unified air interface needs to be flexible and nimble at applying the right techniques, spectrum and bandwidth to match the needs of each application, and to support efficient multiplexing for future services and device types. 5G NR also needs to get the most out of every bit of spectrum across a wide array of available spectrum regulatory paradigms and bands — from low bands below 1 GHz, to mid bands from 1 GHz to 6 GHz, to high bands known as millimeter-wave. This requires new technology inventions that build upon the foundation that was created when we pioneered 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi. There is no one single technology component that defines 5G. Instead, 5G will be built out of many disparate technology innovations.

5G technology will introduce advances throughout network architecture. 5G New Radio, the global standard for a more capable 5G wireless air interface, will cover spectrums not used in 4G. New antennas will incorporate technology known as massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output), which enables multiple transmitters and receivers to transfer more data at the same time. But 5G technology is not limited to the new radio spectrum. It is designed to support a converged, heterogeneous network combining licensed and unlicensed wireless technologies. This will add bandwidth available for users. 5G also enhances digital experiences through machine-learning (ML)-enabled automation. Demand for response times within fractions of a second (such as those for self-driving cars) require 5G networks to enlist automation with ML and, eventually, deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Automated provisioning and proactive management of traffic and services will reduce infrastructure cost and enhance the connected experience.

Several, sometimes competing radio access technologies are currently being examined. Some have already been pre-implemented by equipment manufactures and can be used in trials, notably massive MIMO and NFV. Others, such as NOMA modulation and mobile edge computing (MEC), will no doubt take longer before they are ready to be used. In any event, a consensus will need to be found when defining 5G standards, to ensure the systems’ interoperability.

Key concept of 5G technology:

1) Real wireless world with no more limitation with access and zone issues.

2) Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), where a visiting care-of mobile IP address is assigned according to location and connected network.

3) One unified global standard

4) Pervasive networks providing ubiquitous computing: The user can simultaneously be connected to several wireless access technologies and seamlessly move between them. These access technologies can be a 2.5G, 3G, 4G or 5G mobile networks, Wi-Fi, WPAN or any other future access technology. In 5G, the concept may be further developed into multiple concurrent data transfer paths.

5) Cognitive radio technology, also known as smart-radio: allowing different radio technologies to share the same spectrum efficiently by adaptively finding unused spectrum and adapting the transmission scheme to the requirements of the technologies currently sharing the spectrum. This dynamic radio resource management is achieved in a distributed fashion, and relies on software defined radio.

6) High altitude stratospheric platform station (HAPS) systems.

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New technologies for 5G:

As the number of mobile users and their demand for data rises, 5G must handle far more traffic at much higher speeds than the base stations that make up today’s cellular networks. To achieve this, wireless engineers are designing a suite of brand-new technologies. Together, these technologies will deliver data with less than a millisecond of delay (compared to about 70 ms on today’s 4G networks) and bring peak download speeds of 20 gigabits per second (compared to 1 Gb/s on 4G) to users. At the moment, it’s not yet clear which technologies will do the most for 5G in the long run, but a few early favorites have emerged. The front-runners include millimeter waves, small cells, massive MIMO, full duplex, and beamforming etc. To understand how 5G will differ from today’s 4G networks, it’s helpful to walk through these technologies and consider what each will mean for wireless users.

Millimeter Waves [vide supra]:

One way to get around that problem is to simply transmit signals on a whole new swath of the spectrum, one that’s never been used for mobile service before. That’s why providers are experimenting with broadcasting on millimeter waves, which use higher frequencies than the radio waves that have long been used for mobile phones. Millimeter waves are broadcast at frequencies between 30 and 300 gigahertz, compared to the bands below 6 GHz that were used for mobile devices in the past. They are called millimeter waves because they vary in length from 1 to 10 mm, compared to the radio waves that serve today’s smartphones, which measure tens of centimeters in length.

Until now, only operators of satellites and radar systems used millimeter waves for real-world applications. Now, some cellular providers have begun to use them to send data between stationary points, such as two base stations. But using millimeter waves to connect mobile users with a nearby base station is an entirely new approach.

There is one major drawback to millimeter waves, though—they can’t easily travel through buildings or obstacles and they can be absorbed by foliage and rain. That’s why 5G networks will likely augment traditional cellular towers with another new technology, called small cells.

Small Cells

Small cells are portable miniature base stations that require minimal power to operate and can be placed every 250 meters or so throughout cities. To prevent signals from being dropped, carriers could install thousands of these stations in a city to form a dense network that acts like a relay team, receiving signals from other base stations and sending data to users at any location. While traditional cell networks have also come to rely on an increasing number of base stations, achieving 5G performance will require an even greater infrastructure. Luckily, antennas on small cells can be much smaller than traditional antennas if they are transmitting tiny millimeter waves. This size difference makes it even easier to stick cells on light poles and atop buildings. This radically different network structure should provide more targeted and efficient use of spectrum. Having more stations means the frequencies that one station uses to connect with devices in one area can be reused by another station in a different area to serve another customer. There is a problem, though—the sheer number of small cells required to build a 5G network may make it hard to set up in rural areas. In addition to broadcasting over millimeter waves, 5G base stations will also have many more antennas than the base stations of today’s cellular networks—to take advantage of another new technology: massive MIMO.

Massive MIMO (Multiple Inputs – Multiple Outputs)

Today’s 4G base stations have a dozen ports for antennas that handle all cellular traffic: eight for transmitters and four for receivers. But 5G base stations can support about a hundred ports, which means many more antennas can fit on a single array. That capability means a base station could send and receive signals from many more users at once, increasing the capacity of mobile networks by a factor of 22 or greater. This technology is called massive MIMO. It all starts with MIMO, which stands for multiple-input multiple-output. MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) is an antenna technology for wireless communications in which multiple antennas are used at both the source (transmitter) and the destination (receiver). MIMO is effectively a radio antenna technology as it uses multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver to enable a variety of signal paths to carry the data, choosing separate paths for each antenna to enable multiple signal paths to be used. Massive MIMO takes this concept to a new level by featuring dozens of antennas on a single array. Massive MIMO (multiple input and multiple output) antennas increases sector throughput and capacity density using large numbers of antennas and Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Each antenna is individually-controlled and may embed radio transceiver components. Nokia claimed a five-fold increase in the capacity increase for a 64-Tx/64-Rx antenna system. The term “massive MIMO” was coined by Nokia Bell Labs researcher Dr. Thomas L. Marzetta in 2010. MIMO is already found on some 4G base stations.

Massive MIMO technology involves the use of a large number of smart micro-antennae, located on the same panel (128-antenna array in a 64-transmit/64-receive configuration today, but the number will increase with the use of frequencies above 6 GHz). The appeal of using massive MIMO is twofold: first, the technology makes it possible to increase data rates, thanks to spatiotemporal multiplexing; second, it makes it possible to focus energy on a device to improve its link budget, thanks to beamforming.

Massive MIMO looks very promising for the future of 5G. However, installing so many more antennas to handle cellular traffic also causes more interference if those signals cross. That’s why 5G stations must incorporate beamforming.

Beamforming

By broadcasting various signals and examining client feedback, the wireless LAN infrastructure could very well modify the signals it transmits. This way, it can identify the ideal path the signal must follow to get to a client device. Beamforming, as the name suggests, is used to direct radio waves to a target. This is achieved by combining elements in an antenna array in such a way that signals at particular angles experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. This improves signal quality and data transfer speeds. 5G uses beamforming due to the improved signal quality it provides. Beamforming can be accomplished using Phased array antennas.

Beamforming is a traffic-signaling system for cellular base stations that identifies the most efficient data-delivery route to a particular user, and it reduces interference for nearby users in the process. Depending on the situation and the technology, there are several ways for 5G networks to implement it. Beamforming can help massive MIMO arrays make more efficient use of the spectrum around them. The primary challenge for massive MIMO is to reduce interference while transmitting more information from many more antennas at once. At massive MIMO base stations (macro cell), signal-processing algorithms plot the best transmission route through the air to each user. Then they can send individual data packets in many different directions, bouncing them off buildings and other objects in a precisely coordinated pattern. By choreographing the packets’ movements and arrival time, beamforming allows many users and antennas on a massive MIMO array to exchange much more information at once. The use of beamforming additionally helps with reducing interference with other base stations. The result is a further increase in bandwidth. Another way to look at it is that the more devices that share the same frequency band, the less time each device has access to that frequency band (they all have to take turns to use the band). If individual devices are targeted with a beam, each device can maximize their use of the band without interfering with neighboring devices as they will only be communicating via the beam.

When combined with complex algorithms, the 5G radio base station can determine the best way to steer the beam to provide the highest data connectivity. The use of beamforming therefore also helps to reduce the energy wasted by the mast as individual users are targeted rather than radio waves being emitted in all directions.

For millimeter waves, beamforming is primarily used to address a different set of problems: Cellular signals are easily blocked by objects and tend to weaken over long distances. With 5G data transmission occupying the millimeter wave, free space propagation loss, proportional to the smaller antenna size, and diffraction loss, inherent to higher frequencies and lack of wall penetration, are significantly greater. In this case, beamforming can help by focusing a signal in a concentrated beam that points only in the direction of a user, rather than broadcasting in many directions at once. This approach can strengthen the signal’s chances of arriving intact and reduce interference for everyone else. At high-frequency ranges, data losses become an increasing risk. In a 5G ecosystem, such problems can be bypassed through dynamic beamforming.

Besides boosting data rates by broadcasting over millimeter waves and beefing up spectrum efficiency with massive MIMO, wireless engineers are also trying to achieve the high throughput and low latency required for 5G through a technology called full duplex, which modifies the way antennas deliver and receive data.

Full Duplex

In classic systems, transmission and reception takes place either on different frequency bands, i.e. frequency division duplexing (FDD), or at different times: time division duplexing (TDD). The full duplex is intended to enable the simultaneous transmission and reception of data, on the same frequencies, at the same time and in the same location.

Today’s base stations and cellphones rely on transceivers that must take turns if transmitting and receiving information over the same frequency, or operate on different frequencies if a user wishes to transmit and receive information at the same time.

With 5G, a transceiver will be able to transmit and receive data at the same time, on the same frequency. This technology is known as full duplex, and it could double the capacity of wireless networks at their most fundamental physical layer: To achieve full duplex in personal devices, researchers must design a circuit that can route incoming and outgoing signals so they don’t collide while an antenna is transmitting and receiving data at the same time. This is especially hard because of the tendency of radio waves to travel both forward and backward on the same frequency—a principle known as reciprocity. But recently, experts have assembled silicon transistors that act like high-speed switches to halt the backward roll of these waves, enabling them to transmit and receive signals on the same frequency at once. One drawback to full duplex is that it also creates more signal interference, through a pesky echo.

Wi-Fi-cellular convergence

One expected benefit of the transition to 5G is the convergence of multiple networking functions to achieve cost, power and complexity reductions. LTE has targeted convergence with Wi-Fi band/technology via various efforts, such as License Assisted Access and LTE-WLAN Aggregation, but the differing capabilities of cellular and Wi-Fi have limited the scope of convergence. However, significant improvement in cellular performance specifications in 5G, combined with migration from Distributed Radio Access Network (D-RAN) to Cloud- or Centralized-RAN (C-RAN) and rollout of cellular small cells can potentially narrow the gap between Wi-Fi and cellular networks in dense and indoor deployments. Radio convergence could result in sharing ranging from the aggregation of cellular and Wi-Fi channels to the use of a single silicon device for multiple radio access technologies.

NOMA

NOMA Multiplexing (Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access): LTE uses what is referred to as orthogonal multiplexing, with each device using a portion of the resource blocks in a unique fashion at any given time. For 5G to provide improved spectrum efficiency compared to 4G, the plan is to use non-orthogonal multiplexing methods, whereby several users can use the same frequencies at the same time. A distinction can be made between several users by assigning different codes to each user – referred to as SCMA or sparse code multiple access – a combination of 3G’s code division multiple access (CDMA) and 4G’s orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) or by playing on the difference in users’ signal to noise ratios (power domain NOMA).

IoT waveforms

New waveforms are being explored for the future deployment of 5G IoT in mobile bands. But although mass market IoT is one of the main challenges put forth for 5G, no concrete results have yet been made public. Operators are starting to deploy new standards (EC-GSM or Extended Coverage GSM, LTE-(e)MTC or enhancements for MachineType Communications, NB-IoT or NarrowBand IoT) which were defined by 3GPP in Release 13 but, as they are based on 2G and 4G, they do not deliver the performance levels, notably in terms of autonomy, coverage and density, that are compatible with the targets set for future 5G networks.

Distributed antenna system (DAS) to overcome Indoor Connectivity problem:

Higher-frequency radio signals are less capable of penetrating obstructions, which presents an immense problem in indoor networks. The key to effective indoor mobile cellular coverage and capacity is a far-traveling, uninterrupted radio signal. Modern buildings are unfortunately the perfect countermeasure against radio signals because of the materials with which they are built, such as treated glass, steel frames, and metalized insulation. It’s hard enough for some of today’s licensed spectrum to get through building walls, which will be further complicated by 5G’s high-frequency transmission. The higher the frequency, the shorter the range. Even at the low end of projected 5G frequencies, the signal range will be very short; even standard plaster walls will block the signal, let alone the high-tech building materials used for modern construction.

A distributed antenna system, or DAS, is a network of spatially separated antenna nodes connected to a common source via a transport medium that provides wireless service within a geographic area or structure.

DAS comprises of cabling, small remote units, and antennas that are distributed throughout a building and linked to a central distribution hub, which connects to the RF source used by the mobile operators. Through a DAS, the operators’ wireless signal is distributed to all parts of the building.

Because the signal used to support a DAS is separate from outdoor cellular towers, capacity is dedicated to the building, unlike for users of repeaters, which take the capacity away from outdoor towers. Since it’s actually an operator-provided and supported cellular signal being brought into the building, users receive a guaranteed level of service, as opposed to unguaranteed performance of a voice-over-Wi-Fi, for example. Calls can also seamlessly hand off from the inside to the outside network as users move from inside to outside the building.

Some DAS are capable of supporting all of the most common cellular and public safety frequencies at the first installation, with no additional hardware needed to add new frequencies or wireless operators. New technologies that take advantage of radio frequencies, like location-based services and Internet of Things (IoT) devices need no additional infrastructure either, greatly saving on costs over the lifetime of a system.

Wi-Fi off loading

This is a technique used by wireless carriers to basically reduce usage of their cellular networks by having you use your home or free local Wi-Fi hotspots for your smartphone’s data connection. Offloading occurs at the user or device level when one switches from a cellular connection to Wi-Fi. Wi-fi offloading is one the main feature of the future networks. It allows the user to connect using wi-fi network and the cellular network can be allocated to other users. It would be suitable for some places where cellular network quality is poor and user still have the option to connect to the network without cellular reception. The amount of traffic offloaded from 4G was 57 percent at the end of 2017, and it will be 59 percent by 2022, Cisco estimates. On 5G networks, Wi-Fi offload could be as high as 71 percent, Cisco estimates.

Device to device communication

In a conventional cellular system, devices are not allowed to directly communicate with each other in the licensed cellular bandwidth and all communications take place through the base stations. Device-to-Device (D2D) communication in cellular networks is defined as direct communication between two mobile users without traversing the Base Station (BS) or core network. D2D communication is technique where network authorize two adjacent devices communicate each other directly. Device-to-device (D2D) communication often refers to the technology that allows user equipment (UE) to communicate with each other with or without the involvement of network infrastructures such as an access point or base stations. D2D is promising as it is used to make ultra-low latency communication possible.

Dynamic spectrum management in 5G:

Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM) allows adaptive allocation of spectrum to various users in a multiuser environment as a function of the physical-channel demographics, to meet certain performance metrics. DSM technology allows radios to share multiple frequency bands without interfering with other systems by combining digital signal processing (DSP), networking and detection capabilities with software algorithms.

DSM focuses on three characteristics- frequency, location and time. Devices continually use spectrum sensors to assess the radio spectrum environment and dynamically allocate or adjust frequencies as needed. Depending on the availability of frequencies in a given location and time, DSA will move users to unoccupied channels. This allows multiple network operators to use the same spectrum in different geographic locations as well as deploy more than one application per spectrum band. Additionally, implementations of DSA can use principles associated with cross-layer optimization, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), link adaptation, bandwidth management and interference estimation.

In the last decade global mobile data traffic has approximately doubled each year, growth that is projected to continue unabated, due mainly to the introduction of new services and features specified by standards bodies. Thus, the wireless industry is asked to fulfill an increase in mobile data demand by a factor of 1000, which is one of the most challenging requirements that the 5G system design has to address. There are various opportunities to enhance the network capacity, for example, by exploiting advanced receiver techniques, novel cooperative multipoint transmissions schemes, innovative multi-antenna solutions, and finally, an effective and broad deployment of heterogeneous networks. Unfortunately, these foreseen technical innovations on small cells and macrocells seem insufficient to reach the 1000 target. One of the key enablers that can allow supporting the required data traffic is to exploit additional bands, and to guarantee access to as much licensed and unlicensed spectrum as possible. Therefore, the wireless community has to focus much more on enhanced, more effective, and also completely new spectrum management techniques like dynamic spectrum management for 5G.

The fifth generation mobile communication networks are conceived to provide high date rates, spectral efficiency, low latency, and energy consumption, as well as better quality of service. Dynamic spectrum management represents interesting techniques in 5G, which improve the spectrum efficiency based on allowing unlicensed secondary users to access the licensed spectrum without interfering with licensed primary users. The secondary users must rendezvous with other intended secondary users on the same available channel at the same time before data transmission. The rendezvous process is the first key process for secondary users to communicate with each other. The channel hopping technique is a superior technique, providing rendezvous for dynamic spectrum management.

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5G is bringing a wide range of technology inventions in both the 5G NR (New Radio) air interface design as well as the 5G NextGen core network. The new 5G NR air interface introduces many foundational wireless inventions, and most important of them are as follows:

Scalable OFDM numerology with 2n scaling of subcarrier spacing
Flexible, dynamic, self-contained TDD subframe design
Advanced, flexible LDPC channel coding
Advanced massive MIMO antenna technologies
Advanced spectrum sharing techniques

These key inventions are just a few of the amazing innovations that are part of 5G design.

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5G enablers:

Communication networks are undergoing their next evolutionary step towards 5G. The 5G networks are envisioned to provide a flexible, scalable, agile and programmable network platform over which different services with varying requirements can be deployed and managed within strict performance bounds. In order to support different services with varying requirements, a paradigm shift is taking place in the technologies that drive the networks, and thus their architecture. Innovative techniques as shown in figure below, are being developed to power the next generation mobile networks. Mobile network functions are being split-up, distributed and virtualized to provide the best combination of latency, throughput and cost effectiveness for various potential applications.

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5G deployment:

Most outdoor 4G mobile network deployments are currently based on macro-cells. However, macro-cells that cover large geographical areas will struggle to deliver the dense coverage, low latency and high bandwidth required by some 5G applications. To deliver the dense coverage and high capacity network required by 5G, wireless operators are now investing in the densification of their 4G radio access network (RAN) – particularly in densely populated urban areas – by deploying small cells. Small cells, while serving a much smaller geographical area than a macro cell, increase network coverage, capacity and quality of service as seen in the figure below:

The deployment of small cells is one way of boosting the capacity and quality of existing 4G networks while laying the foundation for commercial 5G networks and early eMBB services. Small cells are already being used by some wireless operators to boost the capacity and coverage of their existing 4G networks particularly in a dense urban setting. Small cells boost network capacity without the need for additional spectrum, making them attractive to operators with a low spectrum holding or where spectrum is scarce. Furthermore, the industry view is that the deployment of small cells in dense urban to boost existing 4G network quality is likely to support the anticipated high capacity requirements of 5G networks and early eMBB services.

Macro and small cell coverage:

Due to the dense coverage that small cells need to provide, small cell antennae need to be installed onto street furniture – bus shelters, lampposts, traffic lights, etc. These are often accompanied by a street cabinet to accommodate the operator radio equipment, power and site connectivity. Massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) scales up to hundreds of antennae, increasing data rates and supporting beamforming, essential for efficient power transmission. Massive MIMO mounted on macro cell increases spectral efficiency and in conjunction with dense small cell deployment, will help operators to meet the challenging capacity requirement of 5G. The 5G timeline includes the installation of macro cell sites and small cell sites, both requiring significant fiber backhaul.

Small cells:

As the demand for higher data rates increases, one of the solutions available to operators is to reduce the size of the cell. By reducing the size of the cell, area spectral efficiency is increased through higher frequency reuse, while transmit power can be reduced such that the power lost through propagation will be lower. Additionally, coverage can be improved by deploying small cells indoors where reception may not be good and offloading traffic from macro cells when required. This solution has only been made possible in recent years with the advancement in hardware miniaturization and the corresponding reduction in cost. Additionally, changes to the functional architecture of the access network allowed data and control signals to tunnel through the Internet, enabling small cells to be deployed anywhere with Internet connectivity. Small cells can have different flavors, with low powered femtocells typically used in residential and enterprise deployments, and the higher powered picocells used for wider outdoor coverage or filling in macro cell coverage holes.

The concurrent operation of different classes of base stations, macro-, pico-, and femto- base stations, is known as heterogeneous networks (or HetNets). This is used to provide a flexible coverage area and improve spectral efficiency. Overlaying different classes of base stations can also potentially provide a solution for the growing data traffic, especially when the transport of data is optimized to take advantage of the characteristics of heterogeneous networks.

In wireless systems one needs to accept a trade-off among various parameters /desires. In wireless we basically have that the lower the frequency used the better is the propagation (and less complex the transmitting and receiving equipment), the higher the frequency the more capacity to carry information, therefore the bigger the bandwidth. The usage of frequencies above 5GHz is critical from the point of view of propagation (easy to imagine how much more critical it would be the usage of frequencies above 50GHz!). The solution is to adopt smaller cells where propagation is less of a concern. Hence, the use of higher frequencies in 5G will multiply the available bandwidth because:

-being the frequency higher it will be possible to use a larger portion of radio spectrum (assigning 10 MHz of band at 1GHz is equivalent to assign 500MHz of band at 50GHz and in 500MHz you can squeeze 50 times more information)

-being the cell smaller there will be fewer users per cell to share the available bandwidth, hence each of them will get more band

-covering the same area will require more cells, hence the available bandwidth over a given area will be multiplied by the number of cells covering it.

Small cells, which have a smaller coverage area than macro cells, are categorised as follows:

Microcell, less than 2 kilometres

Picocell, less than 200 metres

Femtocell, around 10 metres

5G coverage range in different 5G small cells:

Cell types		Deployment environment	Max. number of users	Output power (mW)	Max. distance from base station
5G NR FR2	Femto cell	Homes, businesses	Home: 4–8 Businesses: 16–32	indoors: 10–100 outdoors: 200–1000	10s of meters
	Pico cell	Public areas like shopping malls, airports, train stations, skyscrapers	64 to 128	indoors: 100–250 outdoors: 1000–5000	10s of meters
	Micro cell	Urban areas to fill coverage gaps	128 to 256	outdoors: 5000−10000	few hundreds of meters
	Metro cell	Urban areas to provide additional capacity	more than 250	outdoors: 10000−20000	hundreds of meters
Wi-Fi (for comparison)		Homes, businesses	less than 50	indoors: 20–100 outdoors: 200–1000	few 10s of meters

Usually in cellular technology, range refers to area covered by cell towers to provide service to mobile phones or smartphones. It is also known as coverage range. In 5G network terminology, it refers to the range from 5G small cells to 5G compatible mobile phones or smartphones.
5G range is lesser than supported by 4G LTE or 3G networks. It is more of equivalent to Wi-Fi range than cellular range.
In 5G, mobile phones are connected to 5G small cells placed very close to them. These small 5G cells are connected with 5G cell towers in order to extend coverage in non-accessible areas. The 5G coverage concept is shown in the table above. This is due to the fact that 5G frequencies have lower wavelengths and they cannot easily penetrate into solid objects such as walls, trees, cars etc.
Small cells are portable base stations placed every few hundred meters (about 250 meters) throughout the city to provide cellular coverage. They are like Wi-Fi APs which operates in licensed spectrum and managed by network operators.
The table above shows different 5G range supported by 5G small cell types. As mentioned typically 5G cell type viz. metro cell covers range in few hundred meters.

Samsung Corp. said recently that it tested its 28Ghz infrastructure with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) for its home-brewed fixed 5G service at ranges of up 1,500 feet (500 meters). If those ranges hold true beyond the customer trials — note if — that would mean a 5G radio deployed every couple of blocks in Manhattan, just for a fixed wireless service. It would also mean that they won’t be nationwide rollouts. Even with mesh topologies and the beam forming characteristics of smart antennas, 5G requires considerably more antennas and higher deployment costs than traditional cellular networks. Rather than tall towers with antennas that can cover thousands of households, 5G will likely be installed on light poles in neighborhoods to cover a dozen or so households. … Network operators will need right-of-way agreements with cities, but with space on poles limited, there will likely be less competition, not more. Don’t expect wide deployment of 5G any time soon, especially in sparsely populated rural environments or mountainous or densely forested environments.

Beyond mobile operator networks, 5G is also expected to be widely used for private networks with applications in industrial IoT, enterprise networking, and critical communications. As of April 2019, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association had identified 224 operators in 88 countries that are actively investing in 5G (i.e. that have demonstrated, are testing or trialing, or have been licensed to conduct field trials of 5G technologies, are deploying 5G networks or have announced service launches). When South Korea launched its 5G network, all carriers used Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia base stations and equipment, except for LG U Plus, who also used Huawei equipment. Samsung was the largest supplier for 5G base stations in South Korea at launch, having shipped 53,000 base stations at the time, out of 86,000 base stations installed across the country at the time. The first fairly substantial deployments were in April 2019. In South Korea, SK Telecom claimed 38,000 base stations, KT Corporation 30,000 and LG U Plus 18,000; of which 85% are in six major cities. They are using 3.5 GHz (sub-6) spectrum in non-standalone (NSA) mode and tested speeds were from 193 to 430 Mbit/s down. 260,000 signed up in the first month and the goal is 10% of phones on 5G by the end of 2019. Nine companies sell 5G radio hardware and 5G systems for carriers: Altiostar, Cisco Systems, Datang Telecom, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung and ZTE.

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It’s Expensive to roll out 5G:

Important factor that’s delaying a wider rollout of 5G is that deployment of a brand-new mobile network isn’t cheap. A mobile network operator has to pay for all of the following, and more, during a 5G rollout before it can even reach customers:

Spectrum licensing
The physical hardware used in the 5G deployment
Hiring technicians to install the necessary hardware
Testing and retesting of the network
Deployment fees demanded by regulators

For any new technology to be of practical use, it must not be prohibitively expensive. The mass adoption of 5G might face some initial roadblocks regarding this. For starters, the initial subscription plans are likely to be more expensive than the ones currently available. The annual investments required for upgrading to 5G might push towards the $200 billion mark – raising questions over the justifications of actually switching over from 4G to 5G. In fact, telecom companies are expected to invest as much as $275 billion into 5G infrastructure before 2025. For an idea of how pricey spectrum acquisitions alone can be, consider that T-Mobile purchased nearly $8 billion worth of low-band spectrum, and Telstra invested over $380 million in a 3.6 GHz spectrum auction. A 2016 report suggested that nationwide 5G coverage for the United States would probably cost more than $300 billion. In addition, carriers will also have to incur heavy expenses for upgrading their existing infrastructure to accommodate the new devices and antennas required by 5G systems. It’s going to be a full-blown overhaul, and it isn’t going to be cheap.

Telecom operators, including Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea will need to invest $30.5 billion to roll out 5G services in India, according to an analysis done by UBS. 5G technology dictates fiberisation levels of over 70%, versus 25-30% levels at present. But fiberisation is expensive; it comes on top of spectrum costs that are sky-high at current prices. According to UBS, the need for a dense site footprint and fiber backhaul in 5G will likely shift the balance of power towards larger and integrated operators with strong balance sheets. Lack of financial bandwidth and need for massive fiberisation investment will drive telcos to hive off assets, share networks, or diversify to play the 5G game. I wonder how India’s debt-ridden telecommunication companies will roll out 5G in India. Indian mobile companies are likely to push back 5G network deployments by at least five years due to exorbitant base prices, insufficient spectrum, and unavailability of newer bands. About 275 MHz bandwidth is available for 5G auction in India between 3300-3400 MHz and 3425 to 3600 MHz band.

What is the economic benefit of investment in 5G?

During the last decade, numerous studies have focused on quantifying the socio-economic benefits of mobile broadband and 5G technologies on local, national, and regional economies. The study below focuses on the impacts of making mmwave bands available for 5G.

The economic impacts of mmwave spectrum are quantified over a 15-year period, 2020-2034, assuming mmwave bands are successfully identified at WRC-19 and made available in a timely manner at the national level.

The results of this study support three key findings:

5G is expected to provide important economic benefits globally,
mmwave spectrum will grow to become a significant piece of this impact over time, and
Although economic benefits are greater in the early adopting economies over the period studied, the rate of contribution of mmwave in later adopting economies outpaces that of early adopters in the later years of the study.

The study concludes, under conservative assumptions, that by 2034 mmwave spectrum will underlie an increase of $565 billion in global GDP and $152 billion in tax revenue producing 25% of the value created by 5G as seen in the figure below:

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5G and Location technology:

You should be aware that with 5G you are not getting just faster and easier communication and location addresses, you are also sacrificing your privacy! With 5G, you can quickly get the location information you need but your privacy will be disrupted. Today, you cannot use new mobile technology without sacrificing your privacy. With 5G your location is visible to your mobile provider. Does it mean that you have to say goodbye to your location privacy? Well, the answer is that anyone with access to your cell tower data can know your exact location. The location is more precise under the 5G network. The 4G network technology has a wide coverage area with a single 4G tower, but with the 5G network technology, there are dozens of 5G towers that have a smaller coverage area. So, you can conclude that it has a significant impact on location technology. A single 4G tower will be replaced with many 5G towers that can bring everyone the exact location they need. This will connect people and places more efficiently, but it will also ruin everyone’s privacy. When you have a 5G mobile network, you will be able to find the location you need, but your mobile network will pinpoint your location much more accurately. Also, as you move around, your mobile network provider can chart the path you take.

Up-to-date location information is the most significant improvement of 5G.

Taking cars as an example, up-to-date location information is the biggest improvement because it has a high impact on traffic flow, energy efficiency, and safety. With 5G, you can have all the necessary location information that serves you for navigation purposes, especially if you are driving to a new town or state. The capabilities of 5G play a big role in the location technology. Also, we must mention that 5G is crucial for the future development of self-driving vehicles. Using the fifth generation of mobile connectivity, you can easily find and locate your new home address, job place, grocery store or even your Dubai Personal Trainers. With 5G you are easily connected with every location, Internet and to one another because there is up-to-date location information available to every consumer.

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5G Challenges to Overcome:

Technological Challenges:

Inter-cell Interference

This is one of the major technological issues that need to be solved. There is variations in size of traditional macro cells and concurrent small cells that will lead to interference.

Efficient Medium Access Control

In a situation, where dense deployment of access points and user terminals are required, the user throughput will be low, latency will be high, and hotspots will not be competent to cellular technology to provide high throughput. It needs to be researched properly to optimize the technology.

Traffic Management

In comparison to the traditional human to human traffic in cellular networks, a great number of Machine to Machine (M2M) devices in a cell may cause serious system challenges i.e. radio access network (RAN) challenges, which will cause overload and congestion.

Compatibility

It will be crucial that apps have compliance with older network protocols like 4G and 3G, as well as older devices and operating systems. There are many devices on the market that aren’t 5G-certified yet.

Interoperability

Apps will need architectural changes, and these will continually need to be discovered and supported as 5G technology improves. Ensuring interoperability between apps, platforms, and operating systems will be critical. Researchers are facing technological challenges of standardization and application of 5G services.

Data/Signal losses

I have already discussed about the probable losses in the 5G millimeter wave. These losses can happen due to different reasons – right from penetration problems, to foliage losses, rain attenuation, and a host of other factors. It also remains to be seen whether the ‘speed advantage’ of 5G indeed matches the expectations of software developers and end-users. The technology is still under development, the final specifications are yet not confirmed by the IEEE – and the speeds that can be achieved in a controlled test environment might be impossible to achieve in a real-world scenario, thanks to technological shortcomings.

Uncertainties over Coverage and Radio Frequencies

There are reports indicating that 5G macro-optimized will, in all probability, use the 6 GHz (maybe, slightly lower) frequency. The catch over here is, this radio frequency band is already being used by satellite links and many other different signal types. This particular frequency range is already overcrowded – and it is very much possible that there will be some lingering problems with data transmissions (i.e., in sending/receiving signals) in this radio frequency. Complicating matters further is the fact that the 5G network cells will offer lower coverage than those of 4G (in spite of the exponentially higher bandwidth). This would mean that more cell towers will be needed to make 5G technology mainstream over time. The coverage of 5G can be up to 300 meters in the outdoor environment and a rather lowly 2 meters indoors. Many geolocations will not be fully compliant with 5G at first. Existing 4G towers need to be updated to support the new 5G network since it uses shorter, more precise radio frequencies. This will require strategic (and costly) placement of new base station radios in order to support long-range 5G coverage.

Common Challenges:

Multiple Services

Unlike other radio signal services, 5G would have a huge task to offer services to heterogeneous networks, technologies, and devices operating in different geographic regions. So, the challenge is of standardization to provide dynamic, universal, user-centric, and data-rich wireless services to fulfil the high expectation of people.

Security and Privacy

This is one of the most important challenges that 5G needs to ensure the protection of personal data. 5G will have to define the uncertainties related to security threats including trust, privacy, cybersecurity, which are growing across the globe. For all the advanced computing and networking power of 5G technology, there still remain doubts over how it will handle critical security and privacy concerns. A mid-2017 report revealed that both 3G and 4G were exposed to ‘stingray’ attacks, and other alarmingly common forms of data hacks. To make 5G a viable and ‘safe’ technology, the onus will lie on the carriers to incorporate robust endpoint security standards (behavior-based instead of the regular signature-based) for identifying/removing malware, create pre-tested firewalls, monitor DNS activities and establish strong data integrity assurances. Better identity management systems will be required as well, along with smart sandboxing solutions. Cloud networks and data virtualization will have very important roles to play in 5G environments – and if the security assurances are not up to the mark, people might be wary of adopting the new wireless generation.

Legislation of Cyberlaw

Cybercrime and other fraud may also increase with the high speed and ubiquitous 5G technology. Therefore, legislation of the Cyberlaw is also an imperative issue, which largely is governmental and political (national as well as international issue) in nature.

Need for Skilled Personnel

Making 5G operational on a worldwide basis will need the active involvement of a really large number of highly-trained software and data network engineers. Since the existing infrastructures (mostly) will be overhauled, the importance of providing training to the available manpower would be paramount. From conceptualization and installation to deployment, maintenance and fault-detection/repairs/debugging – every phase of 5G will require expert human help. In the mobile app development space per se, the need will be for developers and testers who can collaborate to design truly 5G-compatible applications.

Small cell deployment

In some countries, regulation and local authority policy have slowed the development of small cells through excessive administrative and financial obligations on operators, thus blocking investment. Constraints to deploying small cells include prolonged permitting processes, lengthy procurement exercises, excessive fees and outdated regulations that prevent access.

Fiber backhaul

Deploying fiber backhaul networks for small cells – to support high data rates and low latency – will be one of the largest challenges faced by operators due to the poor availability of fiber networks in many cities. The UK, for example, has one of the lowest fiber penetration rates in Europe at 2 per cent penetration. This compares to a European average of around 9 per cent. To incentivize investment in fiber networks, the UK Government has introduced a five-year relief from business rates on new fiber networks infrastructure. Where it is not cost effective to deploy fiber backhaul, operators should consider wireless backhaul.

Net neutrality

BEREC, the European telecoms regulator, has published final guidelines on how to strengthen net neutrality by requiring Internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally, without favouring some services over others. However, 17 mobile operators including Deutsche Telekom, Nokia, Orange, Vodafone and BT lobbied heavily for BEREC to adopt a more relaxed interpretation of the rules, saying these “create significant uncertainties around 5G return on investment”. Furthermore they stated that they would not introduce high-speed 5G networks unless BEREC took a softer approach to net neutrality.

Network Densification

Network densification will be an integral part of deploying 5G architecture that promises vastly increased data rates, from megabits per second (Mbps) to gigabits per second (Gbps), and ultra-reliable lower latency, from tens of milliseconds to milliseconds. The 4G radio access network (RAN) is roughly 10x denser than the 3G network, and that densification is predicted to continue through 2022 before new 5G equipment takes over the growth trend. Macro cell towers carried the bulk of 4G mobile traffic, with small cells deployed where the capacity is needed most – close to the consumer. It is predicted that 5G networks will need to be 10x denser than 4G networks, a 100x increase over 3G. 5G densification will need to be accomplished in space, time and frequency.

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5G availability:

You can use 5G today, but availability is very limited – large-scale deployment is unlikely before 2020. South Korea (SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus) launched the world’s first nationwide 5G mobile on April 3, 2019. In the US, Verizon began rolling out its 5G services in Chicago and Minneapolis on April 3, 2019. AT&T has 5G service in San Francisco, New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, amongst others. T-Mobile serves 5G to San Francisco, Cleveland, Dallas, and other places, while Sprint 5G is available in Houston, Atlanta, and a few other cities. Other cities across the world you can get 5G include Seoul, Sydney, Melbourne, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Milan, Turin, Basel, Zurich, Shanghai, and several more. As you can see, 5G so far seems restricted to dense urban areas, and even then, 5G coverage is usually restricted to business districts.

China’s three major state-run telecom operators have unveiled their 5G network, as the country aims at becoming the global leader in next generation telecom technology surpassing the US and other western nations.

The US, the UK and South Korea have already rolled out their 5G networks this year. State-owned carriers China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom rolled out their 5G data services across the country recently. The entry of 5G means consumers can now get access to superfast speeds as more than 86,000 base stations, covering 50 cities, have already been set up in China. The 5G commercial services are now available in 50 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Shanghai had activated 11,859 5G base stations by mid-October 2019, which will support the 5G network coverage across the city’s key outdoor areas. The three major mobile operators have already registered over 10 million 5G users before the official commercialisation launch. According to an estimate made by the China Telecom, the country is expected to be a front-runner in the adoption of 5G services with over 170 million 5G subscribers by next year.

5G will account for just 0.1% of all wireless subscribers by the end of 2019. The situation will have changed markedly by end-2025, however, when 5G is expected to have 1.93 billion users and 21.5% of the overall mobile market.

Here are the current world leaders in 5G network deployment as of May 2019:

Country	5G networks	Commercially available	Limited availability
Switzerland	229	229	0
United States	21	2	19
South Korea	18	2	16
Australia	12	0	12
China	7	7	0

Launch of 5G will not solve UK’s rural connectivity problems, research claims:

The introduction of 5G networks will not solve the connectivity issues affecting many rural communities across the UK, new research has claimed. uSwitch.com says its latest survey has found that many phone users are still struggling with 4G signal, and many have no current plans to upgrade to 5G because most of the launch sites are cities and urban areas. According to its research, a third of adult smartphone users in the UK have trouble connecting to 4G at least once a week i.e. some 23million phone users are struggling to get 4G signal on a weekly basis. It adds that the focus on an initial urban rollout for 5G means that only 28% of the UK will be covered by the next-generation network by the end of 2019. As a result, uSwitch says it found that only one in seven phone users (14%) plans to upgrade to 5G in the next year, and only 19% believe it will improve connectivity.

T-Mobile CTO says 5G’s high-frequency spectrum won’t cover rural America:

While all four major nationwide carriers in the United States have overhyped 5G to varying degrees, T-Mobile made a notable admission about 5G’s key limitation. T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray wrote in a blog post that millimeter-wave spectrum used for 5G “will never materially scale beyond small pockets of 5G hotspots in dense urban environments.” That would seem to rule out the possibility of 5G’s fastest speeds reaching rural areas or perhaps even suburbs. Ray made his point apparently showing that millimeter-wave frequencies are immediately blocked by a door closing halfway while the lower 600MHz signal is unaffected.

With 4G, carriers prioritized so-called “beachfront spectrum” below 1GHz in order to cover the entire US, both rural areas and cities. 5G networks will use both low and high frequencies, but they’re supposed to offer their highest speeds on millimeter waves. Millimeter-wave spectrum is usually defined to include frequencies between 30GHz and 300GHz. But in the context of 5G, carriers and regulators have generally targeted frequencies between 24GHz and 90GHz. T-Mobile’s high-frequency spectrum includes licenses in the 28GHz and 39GHz bands. Millimeter waves generally haven’t been used in cellular networks because they don’t travel far and are easily blocked by walls and other obstacles. This has led us to wonder how extensive higher-speed 5G deployments will be outside major cities, and now T-Mobile’s top technology official is saying explicitly that millimeter-wave 5G deployments will just be for “small pockets” of highly populated areas.

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5G devices:

Can 5G device work in 4G network?

5G is nothing but the next generation of 4G technology and hence all the 5G phones should be backward compatible with 4G just like the previous generations of 3G and 2G. As far as 5G phone is concerned it should work seamlessly with carriers that support 4G. So there is nothing to worry about as all the 5G phones will work on carriers that only support 4G. However, you must remember that if you are using a carrier that only supports 4G you are not using your 5G phone optimally in that situation because you are compromising on the 5G speeds by using your 5G phone on a 4G carrier.

Can 4G LTE smartphones support 5G?

No, the transceivers used for 4G and 5G are different from each other. The maximum supported bandwidth of receiving and transmitting data is different. The threshold bandwidth of 5G hardware tends to be higher than the ceiling bandwidth of 4G hardware, so there’s no chance of interoperability. 5G New Radio uses different bands, bandwidths, timings and coding so a new hardware is required.

Do I need a new phone for 5G?

Yes. To access a 5G network you need a smartphone with a 5G modem. There are a handful now on sale, including Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G, the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 3 5G, LG’s V50, Oppo Reno 5G and a few others. Most 5G phones are top-of-the-line and therefore expensive. They are also big – with the largest screens.

How will I know I’m on 5G?

Simply put, you’ll see a “5G” icon in your smartphone’s status bar. But things are a little more complicated in the beginning. For the next couple of years, the 4G network is going to still be used for most things other than downloading data even when connected to 5G, including calls and managing connections. It won’t be until 2022 that 5G will take over all of these “core network” functions and you will no longer drop down to the 4G network to make a call. A similar situation happened in the initial phases of the 3G to 4G transition.

5G phones available today:

There aren’t that many 5G devices on the market yet. Part of the reason is that 5G modems are few. Despite the limited availability of 5G phones, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and OnePlus 7 Pro 5G are already out. Motorola also makes a 5G Moto Mod for the Z3, while LG has its dual-screen V50 ThinQ 5G, and Xiaomi makes the Mi MIX 3 5G. And waiting in the wings are the Huawei Mate X (yes, the foldable phone), along with devices from pretty much every smartphone brand. As for Apple, it might release at least one 5G variant of the iPhone this year, with next year’s crop hopefully offering even more choice (Apple has bought Intel’s modem business).

5G modem:

Most people don’t give much thought to modems when they buy a phone, but you’ll want to check the spec sheet before buying your first 5G phone. Since Intel dropped out of the race and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with Huawei, Qualcomm is the only name when it comes to modems, and the first-generation X50 modem that’s in the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and other phones is truly a freshman effort. The first phones equipped with Qualcomm’s second-generation X55 5G modem will start hitting shelves in 2020, and it’s a massive improvement over the X50 modem that powers first-generation 5G phones. Snapdragon X55 is a 7-nanometer single-chip integrated 5G to 2G multimode modem that supports 5G NR mmwave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands with up to 7 gigabits per second (Gbps) download speeds and 3 Gbps upload speeds over 5G, and Category 22 LTE with up to 2.5 Gbps LTE download speeds. Because it’s an integrated chip, it’s smaller, faster, and more efficient than its predecessor. The X50 modem was strictly a 5G modem, so it needed to be paired with a second 4G LTE modem alongside the Snapdragon 855 processor. But now that the X55 is a fully integrated solution, it will be much more versatile, and the next crop of 5G phones will likely be thinner and lighter than the current crop. Since X55 has an integrated LTE modem on board, switching between the two networks (5G and 4G) should be faster and more seamless. That’s important because 5G networks are still being built out, and phones will need to jump between the networks regularly. So whether you’re buying an Android phone or an iPhone with 5G, you’ll want Qualcomm’s latest X55 modem inside.

5G laptops will appear in 2020.

Lenovo has already announced its intentions to make a 5G connected PC in early 2020, and several other 5G-capable laptops may also surface. We may not actually see those laptops hit the market for a while, but you’d better believe that some laptop-makers will lunge at the chance to be one of the first to bring 5G to computing — just as you see happening right now with phones. The main difference between 5G laptops and 5G phones is that there will be far fewer of them, even when 5G starts becoming much more stable and widespread. Phones are connected to the network by definition. You can live your whole life without needing a cellular data connection on your laptop, so long as you’ve got Wi-Fi or a hotspot.

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5G usage:

The 5G standard will be up to 100 times faster than 4G at 20 gigabits per second with almost no lag, opening up new possibilities for businesses. The standard will serve as the foundation of Industry 4.0 technologies — the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” entailing smart and autonomous manufacturing — which are expected to bring about $540 billion in economic benefits by 2030.

SK Telecom is developing a service that uses a special device to stream holographic video of pop duo TVXQ and other South Korean stars in partnership with SM Entertainment. Holograms require about 1 gigabyte of data per square centimeter, more than a two-hour movie. SK tested the technology last year when South Korean soccer player Son Heung-min, who plays in London, appeared as a live hologram to talk with some elementary school fans back home. The realistic three-dimensional rendering brought some of the boys to tears. The company is also developing virtual reality content.

If 5G does become widely adopted, we could see progress in areas that use real-time communication, such as:

Autonomous Vehicles

Cloud & Virtual Reality Gaming

Immersive Entertainment

Instant Movie Streaming

Internet of Things

Remote Healthcare

Smart Cities

Smart Factories

Smart Grid

Smart Homes

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5G brings brand new services:

5G will bring new unique service capabilities for consumers and also for new industrial stakeholders (e.g. vertical industries, novel forms of service providers or infrastructure owners and providers).

Firstly, it will ensure user experience continuity in challenging situations. HD video or teleworking will be commonplace and available anywhere, regardless of if the user is in a dense area like a stadium or a city center, or in a village or in a high-speed train or an airplane. 5G Systems will provide user access anywhere and will select transparently for the user the best performing 5G access among heterogeneous technologies like Wi-Fi, 4G and new radio interfaces. The choice of the best performing access will not only be based on throughput but on the most relevant metrics depending on the nature of the service e.g. latency may be more important than throughput for an online game.

In addition, 5G will be a key enabler for the Internet of Things by providing the platform to connect a massive number of objects to the Internet. Sensors and actuators will spread everywhere. Since they require very low energy consumption to save battery lifetime, the network will have to support this effectively. Objects, users and their personal network, whether body worn or in a household, will be producer and consumer of data. Future smart phones, drones, robots, wearable devices and other smart objects will create local networks, using a multitude of different access methods. 5G will allow all these objects to connect independently from a specific available network infrastructure.

Furthermore, some mission critical services will become feasible natively on the 5G infrastructure thanks to the unprecedented performance achievable on demand. It will cover services which were handled by specific networks for reliability reasons such as public safety. It will also cover new services requiring a real time reactivity such as Vehicle-to-Vehicle or Vehicle-to-Road services paving the way towards the self-driving car, factory automation or remote health services.

5G disruptive capabilities:

5G will provide disruptive capabilities which will be an economy booster by fostering new ways to organize the business sector of service providers, as well as fostering new business models supported by advanced ICT. In addition, 5G should pave the way for a larger number of partnerships and Business to Business to Customers (B2B2C) business models through APIs deployed at different levels (assets, connectivity, enablers). The 5G architecture and technology will allow using only the necessary network functions and resources for each specific service (e.g. some M2M devices may not need mobility), as well as sharing infrastructure and spectrum costs in a flexible way between a rich ecosystem of service providers.

At the societal level, the 5G disruptive capabilities will provide ubiquitous access to a wide range of applications and services. These will be provided with increased resilience, continuity, and much higher resource efficiency including a significant decrease of energy consumption. At the same time security and privacy will be protected. In addition, 5G should provide enormous improvements in capacity and boost user data rates. In particular, peak data rates in the order of 10 Gb/s will be required to support services such as 3D telepresence on mobile devices. In addition, a capacity of 10 Tb/s/km² will be required to cover e.g. a stadium with 30.000 devices relaying the event in social networks at 50 Mb/s. Moreover, reduced end-to-end latencies of the order of 5 ms are needed to support interactive applications and ensure ultra-responsive mobile cloud-services. Future 5G infrastructure is expected to cope with 30-50 Mb/s for a single video transmission (before channel coding) and perform most of the light-field and sound-field processing in the network, in order to adapt the data stream with (close to) “zero latency”.

Besides human-centric applications outlined above it is expected that a wide variety of Internet of Things (IoT), Massive MachineType Communication (M-MTC), and Ultra-reliable Machine-Type communication (U-MTC) will be prevalent by 2020. Supporting the diverse requirements coming from IoT verticals may require restructuring key architecture components of mobile systems.

The highly demanding disruptive capabilities of 5G require an enormous research effort for industry and academia, because it requires orders of magnitude of improvement over the current technology and infrastructure.

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The high speeds and low latency promised by 5G will propel societies into a new age of smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT). Industry stakeholders have identified several potential use cases for 5G networks, and the ITU-R has defined three important categories of these as seen in the figure below:

Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) – enhanced indoor and outdoor broadband, enterprise collaboration, augmented and virtual reality.
Massive machine-type communications (mMTC) – IoT, asset tracking, smart agriculture, smart cities, energy monitoring, smart home, remote monitoring.
Ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) – autonomous vehicles, smart grids, remote patient monitoring and telehealth, industrial automation.

For applications that require enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), such as 4K, 8K or 3D video or virtual reality, a certain number of performance indicators, such as spectrum efficiency, peak data rate and area traffic capacity, can be reached only at the expense of others, such as latency or connection density.

On the flipside, when a massive simultaneous connection of connected objects (mMTC) needs to be managed, the network will concentrate its resources and use the technologies required to achieve this task, but will not be able, for instance, to use spectrum as efficiently or to guarantee low latency.

Lastly, when ultra-reliable and low latency communications (uRLLC) are required, the number of simultaneous connections, data rates and spectrum efficiency may be reduced.

This flexibility, or ability to adapt, that network slicing brings can only be achieved thanks to the softwarisation and virtualisation of a sizeable number of network components– a process referred to as Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV). Behind these acronyms is a common idea, namely to use as many generic and reconfigurable components as possible, rather than bespoke ones that are permanently dedicated to very specific tasks. This evolution towards software-based systems has been in the works for several years, but is now becoming possible thanks to improved performances from all of these reconfigurable components, including those that are the closest to the elementary tasks of wireless communications (detection, baseband coding, bitstream management, frequency handover, signal processing, etc.).

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5G will have impact on many sectors. In 2017, 5G Americas published a report titled “5G services and use cases” highlighting potential 5G use cases (see figure below) in different sectors. Some use cases in key sectors are listed below:

Healthcare

(i) Remote patient monitoring and communication with sign measuring devices such as blood pressure, ECG, temperature etc., which is possible with immediate, automatic or semi-automatic responses.

(ii) Remote surgery applications that can provide control and feedback communication technique for surgeons from ambulance, remote areas etc., which requires low latency and highly reliable networks.

Smart cities

(i) Consistent user experience, hotspot broadband access in highly dense areas, urban city centers etc.

(ii) Access to broadband in public transport system such as high-speed trains by providing communication link and high-quality internet for entertainment or work.

(iii) Can control real and virtual objects like autonomous cars, which requires real time reaction.

(iv) Support safety applications to mitigate road accidents, traffic efficiency etc., which requires ultra-low latency for warning signals and high data rates.

Industrial IoT

(i) Integrate and enable automation process which will be useful for many industries like oil and gas, chemicals and water.

(ii) Communication transfers will enable time critical factory automation across wide range of factories such as metals, pharmaceuticals etc.

Emergency, disaster and public safety

(i) Highly efficient communication during natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods etc.

(ii) Provides real time accurate location and communication for better safety.

Figure above shows 5G Use Cases grouped by type of interaction and different performance requirements.

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Potential 5G use cases:

Figure above illustrates the latency and bandwidth/data rate requirements of the various use cases which have been discussed in the context of 5G to date. These potential 5G use cases and their associated network requirements are described below.

Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Immersive or Tactile Internet

Virtual reality is the placement of a user (typically with a headset) in a completely simulated, digital world. Augmented reality is the placement of digital constructs on top of a live feed of the real world. In both cases, the user is interacting in real-time with their environment. When this is being done without the need for cellular connection (e.g.: the landscape for the VR world is downloaded locally, or the AR object layered on the world is pre-configured) that’s not an issue. When the user needs to interact in real-time with the digital environment over a cellular connection, (e.g.: Facebook’s virtual reality world), it’s only with the low latency of 5G that there can be a seamless, responsive experience.

These technologies have a number of potential use cases in both entertainment (e.g. gaming) and also more practical scenarios such as manufacturing or medicine, and could extend to many wearable technologies. For example, an operation could be performed by a robot that is remotely controlled by a surgeon on the other side of the world. This type of application would require both high bandwidth and low latency beyond the capabilities of LTE, and therefore has the potential to be a key business model for 5G networks. However, it should be pointed out that VR/AR systems are very much in their infancy and their development will be largely dependent on advances in a host of other technologies such as motion sensors and heads up display (HUD). It remains to be seen whether these applications could become profitable businesses for operators in the future.

Tactile internet is essentially real-time, haptic feedback on a machine, is perhaps the most interesting prospect. In surgery, for example, a surgeon could in theory control robotic equipment to perform the surgery with, which allows him/her to make much more precise movements than just the human hand. With tactile internet then, the device they’re using will be able to buzz/move/etc. at certain positions so that the doctor controlling the equipment can feel what the machine “feels”, such as the firmness of a bone or pumping of blood through an artery. This allows them to benefit from the senses of a human, while using the precision of a machine. To be able to simulate what something feels like over the internet in response to real world events, though, requires a (perceived) instantaneous transfer of information, which only the low-latency of 5G can allow. It’s possible the same technology could even be used for remotely performed surgeries.

Autonomous driving/Connected cars

Enabling vehicles to communicate with the outside world could result in considerably more efficient and safer use of existing road infrastructure. If all of the vehicles on a road were connected to a network incorporating a traffic management system, they could potentially travel at much higher speeds and within greater proximity of each other without risk of accident – with fully-autonomous cars further reducing the potential for human error.

While such systems would not require high bandwidth, providing data with a command response time close to zero would be crucial for their safe operation, and thus such applications clearly require the 1 millisecond delay time provided in the 5G specification. In addition a fully ‘driverless’ car would need to be driverless in all geographies, and hence would require full road network coverage with 100% reliability to be a viable proposition.

5G’s low latency (in tandem with powerful edge-computing algorithms) would allow autonomous vehicles to respond quickly to any sudden environmental shifts, while also potentially communicating with nearby vehicles to optimize traffic and route times. To clarify, edge computing essentially designates a significant portion of computational activity to the car itself, rather constantly relaying information back and forth all the way between the car and a remote server (thus placing less burden on the cellular networks). 4G networks even then aren’t able to handle such high-speed, high-volume transfers of information, nor send data with low enough latency to keep passengers safe.

Machine-to-machine connectivity (M2M)

M2M is already used in a vast range of applications but the possibilities for its usage are almost endless, and our forecasts predict that the number of cellular M2M connections worldwide will grow from 250 million this year to between 1 billion and 2 billion by 2020, dependent on the extent to which the industry and its regulators are able to establish the necessary frameworks to fully take advantage of the cellular M2M opportunity.

Typical M2M applications can be found in ‘connected home’ systems (e.g. smart meters, smart thermostats, smoke detectors), vehicle telemetric systems (a field which overlaps with Connected cars above), consumer electronics and healthcare monitoring. Yet the vast majority of M2M systems transmit very low levels of data and the data transmitted is seldom time-critical. Many currently operate on 2G networks or can be integrated with the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) – so at present the business case for M2M that can be attached to 5G is not immediately obvious.

Smart cities: Here, it’s a general combination of 5G’s core capabilities (high-speed, low latency, larger capacity) that creates the possibility of smart cities. The smart city is basically applying IoT capabilities to every function/service in a city, ranging from the power grid to public transportation. For example, (self-driving) buses could target locations with the highest population density at any given moment (as determined by connected security cameras), eradicating the need for constant, permanent bus stops as the system evolves. Everything connected to the internet is suddenly optimized to interact with the rest of the city.

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5G Banking:

While customers will mostly observe that 5G facilitates lightning-fast downloads, connects millions of IoT (Internet of Things) devices like smartphones, smartwatches, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered devices, and connecting cars to one another, they may not realize that 5G will also be a major factor in augmenting their banking experience. 5G will enable higher productivity with connected devices and will be a vehicle for an optimized, personalized digital banking experience in the coming years. Customers are increasingly opting for digital wallets. With 5G just around the corner, customers will experience a brand new homogeny between their phones, watches, wearables – to the degree that they can depend totally on digital wallets. The accessibility, together with amplified transaction speed and personalized offers, will make digital payments more important for everyone involved. 5G can enable real-time digital transactions cutting settlement cycles and eradicating latencies. As 5G enables even more advanced innovations, it will likely boost consumer assurance in entirely digital payments and help influence more consumers to reassess their payment behaviours.

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5G Healthcare:

Many healthcare hardware and application vendors are touting 5G as potentially transformational for healthcare applications. The benefits may be enormous:

Adding a high-speed 5G network to existing architectures will help quickly and reliably transport huge data files of medical imagery like MRIs and PET scans. The PET scanner at a Cancer Center generates huge files — up to 1 gigabyte of information per patient per study. With low bandwidth networks, transmission can take a long time or even abort. This means the patient waits even longer for treatment and providers can see fewer patients in the same amount of time.
5G will finally bring telemedicine into the healthcare Internet of Things forefront because it will enable real-time high-quality mobile-based video. Carriers tout projections that patients will be treated sooner and have access to specialists outside of their areas, and doctors will be able to collaborate more efficiently. A study by Market Research Future reported that the telemedicine market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5% from 2017 to 2023, but 5G in both urban and rural areas will be needed. Greater network speeds mean that the demand by patients of “anytime, anywhere” medicine will continue to grow. However rural roll out of 5G is unlikely.
Fast and accurate remote health monitoring: Revisiting the IoT sphere, healthcare providers will be able to monitor patients and gather essential data real-time, which will improve personalized and preventive care. According to Anthem, 86% of doctors say wearables already increase patient engagement with their own health, and they are predicted to decrease hospital costs by 16% in the next five years. 42 percent of cross-industry decision makers expect 5G to enable devices to consume less power, which is key in remote monitoring situations.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential to improve diagnoses, determine best treatment plans for specific patients, and predict post-operative complications to enable early interventions when necessary. The large amounts of data needed for real-time rapid learning require ultra-reliable and high-bandwidth networks and 5G can make them happen.
Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and spatial computing already provide limited applications in healthcare. 5G is expected to enhance a doctor’s ability to deliver innovative, less invasive treatments. AT&T reports that it is “already collaborating with VITAS® Healthcare to study the effects of eventual 5G-enabled AR and VR on patient engagement. The goal is to reduce pain and anxiety for terminally ill patients in hospice by providing calming, distracting content via 5G-enabled AR and VR.”
Remote robotic surgery: Robotic surgery is already a reality, but the surgeon still stands next to the robot. Nearly half of consumers feel that remote robotic surgery would be okay with them, yet sixty-one percent believe such procedures are risky with our current internet speeds, according to Ericsson, a major communications provider. 5G networks will provide 1-millisecond response latency, key to connecting surgeons to a remote robot conducting remote surgeries.
5G is a game-changing technology that when fully implemented will help support better hospital operations as well as provide the highest quality patient and staff experience. High-speed, low-latency 5G technology will help enable care to be delivered virtually anywhere at any time. The technology will enhance access to care, even from long distances, while also helping to decrease costs and improve efficiency. Imagine sometime in the not too distant future, for example, a doctor performing a virtual visit with a patient while downloading an entire MRI scan within seconds.

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5G IoT:

5G IoT will be used to improve quality of life for everyday users from personal application to, fundamentally changing how we work and how we live. With 5G IoT, facilities will continue improving to send critical upgrades to entire networks without freezing functionality, halting operations, or overheating and overloading servers.

Current industries that will continue benefiting from these 5G IoT enhancements include:

Automotive and Transportation

Smart Factories

Smart Buildings

Smart Cities

Smart Utilities

Security and Surveillance

Agriculture

Retail

Healthcare

Aerospace

LTE continues to evolve with higher speed upgrade along with the release of new cellular IoT solutions like Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) as operators are eyeing the immense revenue opportunity from the IoT market. Yet the spectrum of IoT applications is so broad that each IoT use case presents unique requirements for bandwidth, range, latency and other connectivity features. Today, there are numerous connectivity options, both cellular and non-cellular, offering different capabilities that cater for specific types of IoT services. However, no technology (not even 5G) fits all the specific needs of an IoT solution or device.

The parts of IoT that fall within the exclusive purview of 5G are those that are either much larger in scale or are mission critical, which demand low latency. Massive scale IoT applications could include logistics tracking, energy and grid management, while mission-critical applications could include connectivity for robotics in industrial settings and traffic management in cities.

Many of the present IoT projects work fine with the low data rate solutions they require to function, along with the low costs, low power consumption and extensive coverage features. This explains the fast-growing deployments of cellular LPWAN in licensed spectrum, including LTE-M and NB-IoT. LTE-M is the abbreviation for LTE Cat-M1 or Long Term Evolution (4G), category M1. This technology is for Internet of Things devices to connect directly to a 4G network, without a gateway and on batteries. Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is a LPWAN radio technology standard developed by 3GPP to enable a wide range of cellular devices and services.

The IoT capability comparison – 5G vs 4G IoT:

	5G	NB-IoT	LTE-M	LTE	Wi-Fi 802.11n
Throughput / Data rate	10Gbps	200kbps	1Mbps	>10Mbps	450Mbps
Spectrum	Licensed (700- 900MHz)	LTE bands (900MHz)	LTE bands	4G bands	2.4/5 GHz unlicensed
Coverage	Very good (<15km)	Excellent (22km)	Excellent (34km)	Excellent (<100km)	Small (<300m)
Latency	Very low	Low	Low	Low	High (no guarantee)
Battery life	Long (10+ years)	Long (10+ years)	Long (10+ years)	Low	Low (3 months)
Overall cost	Low	Low	Low	High	High

5G incorporates NB-IoT and LTE-M:

Most people know NB-IoT and LTE-M as a 4G technology, but they also play a vital role in a 5G system to support 5G LPWA (Low-Power Wide-Area) use cases. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the standards group specifying 5G and other wireless networking standards, has indicated LTE-M and NB-IoT will be part of 5G and are the only 5G technology to support 5G LPWA use cases in the foreseeable future.

When NB-IoT and LTE-M were initially designed, special attention was given to make sure they operate in-band with an LTE system so that the LTE spectrum can be shared. The same is possible with 5G NR, where special attention was given to the design of 5G NR to make certain NB-IoT and LTE-M can operate or co-exists in-band to an NR system. This provides a forward compatible path for NB-IoT and LTE-M well into the 5G future, which may not include LTE.

3G UMTS and 4G LTE technologies use different core networks, which creates additional complexity and costs that drive operators to deprecate 3G technologies to get to a single core network. The same issue is not true for the newly specified 5G core network, which can connect to 5G NR as well as 5G LTE. To ensure similar compatibility for LTE-M and NB-IoT, 3GPP is in the process of studying mechanisms to allow NB-IoT and LTE-M to connect to the 5G core network. This will allow the 5G systems of the future to support LTE, NR, NB-IoT and LTE-M using the same core network. This is further evidence that NB-IoT and LTE-M are on the path to 5G.

NB-IoT and LTE-M enable IoT Applications today:

In healthcare, many patient monitoring devices only need to record and transmit small amounts of data on a patient’s condition to a hospital. Similarly, in agriculture, the amount of weather or soil condition data that needs to be transmitted is minimal, and for smart cities, the same is true of sensors designed to detect how full a city dumpster is or how polluted the air is.

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5G benefits for businesses:

The most-discussed 5G feature is increased speed and bandwidth. With a data rate of up to 10 Gbps, 5G will bring 10 times to 100 times improvement over the existing 4G LTE technology. Cellular is now a potential technology for branch office automation because WAN connections finally have enough bandwidth. For businesses, the real benefit of 5G might not be the actual bandwidth, but the pressure that 5G exerts on market prices of incumbent WAN connectivity.

5G’s low latency, as low as 1 millisecond, will be the other key for WAN usage. Customers are using MPLS or dedicated lines today primarily for low latency in line-of-business applications. 5G’s low latency may bring additional flexibility that lets businesses jettison some of their branch office MPLS infrastructure in favor of the less expensive and more flexible 5G connections to branches. This is especially true in retail or shared infrastructure or very remote environments.

5G density will enable up to 10 times more connected devices in the same physical area that 4G LTE operates today, while maintaining 99.999% availability. While this density may bring business advantages for mobile workforces, the real benefit is increasing the size of the mobile customer market. Mobile e-commerce is growing faster than retail and traditional computer-based e-commerce. More customers than ever use mobile technologies to shop online, so greater density increases the overall addressable market.

An estimated 90% reduction in power consumption for devices means minor power savings at the smartphone level. But, from an infrastructure perspective, especially for IoT devices, the power savings could be significant. Combining IoT devices with a cellular 5G communication means lower power overhead in design and actual consumption. Remote devices can be expected to last significantly longer when running on battery alone. Some estimates even show that a 10-year remote battery life may be achievable for IoT-based sensor devices deployed in remote locations.

Security is always a concern for mobile devices and IoT devices because the latter live on the edge of the corporate network. With 5G, stronger security than 4G LTE will be available for designers, including hardware security modules, key management services, over the air, secure element and others. This will help ensure that the data transmitted over the 5G network is secure while also hardening network endpoints.

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5G concerns:

Interference issues:

Spectrum used by various 5G proposals will be near that of passive remote sensing such as by weather and Earth observation satellites, particularly for water vapor monitoring. Interference will occur and will potentially be significant without effective controls. An increase in interference already occurred with some other prior proximate band usages. Interference to satellite operations impairs numerical weather prediction performance with substantially deleterious economic and public safety impacts. Acting NOAA director Neil Jacobs testified before the House Committee in May 2019 that 5G out-of-band emissions could produce a 30% reduction in weather forecast accuracy.

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Surveillance concerns:

Due to fears of potential espionage of foreign users by Chinese equipment vendors, several countries (including Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as of early 2019) have taken actions to restrict or eliminate the use of Chinese equipment in their respective 5G networks. Chinese vendors and the Chinese government have denied these claims.

Western governments are grappling with the risks posed by Huawei and other Chinese vendors of 5G infrastructure equipment. On May 15, 2019, U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order laying the groundwork for a ban on Huawei equipment in U.S. networks, a long-anticipated move that was accompanied by the Commerce Department’s even more consequential decision to restrict the company’s access to U.S. components. Excluding Huawei from U.S. networks, however, is not the same as securing those networks. Instead, U.S. policymakers need to adopt a broader strategy that includes technical measures, regulatory adjustments, a sensible legal liability regime, diplomacy, and investments in research and cybersecurity skills training.

Huawei is the world’s largest producer of the equipment needed to operate 5G networks. It is positioned to expand its market share, given the low cost of its products, its investment in research and development, and its ability to offer efficient end-to-end solutions that cover devices, networks, and data centers. But the U.S. government has significant national security concerns about Huawei because of the cybersecurity risks inherent to 5G, Huawei’s past business practices, and the nature of the relationship between Chinese tech companies and the Chinese government.

The security concerns around Huawei are both specific to Huawei and structural to 5G. There is evidence that Huawei’s engineering practices are often shoddy and could be exploited by any malicious cyber actor. The UK’s Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, a watchdog that audits the security of Huawei equipment, identified in March 2019 a litany of persistent and “concerning issues in Huawei’s approach to software development bringing significantly increased risk to UK operators.”

There is also evidence that Huawei routinely violates local laws in countries where it operates. In January, the U.S. Justice Department accused the company of fraud, money laundering, violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, and stealing trade secrets from its U.S. business partner T-Mobile. In another case in January, the Polish government arrested a Huawei sales director on espionage charges. Huawei has also been linked to the theft of intellectual property from Cisco, and U.S. startup CNEX has accused Huawei and its deputy chairman of conspiring to steal its trade secrets. These and other incidents, combined with Huawei’s secrecy and mysterious ownership structure, contribute to concerns about the company’s operations and intentions.

But Western governments’ larger concern is Huawei’s relationship with the Chinese government. If requested, Huawei and other Chinese telecom equipment companies would be legally and politically required to assist the Chinese government in “intelligence work.” The Chinese party-state has in recent years expanded its presence in Chinese corporations, waged a global campaign of state-sponsored cybertheft of foreign intellectual property, and launched sweeping domestic digital-surveillance programs. Given this history, Huawei’s inability to credibly claim independence from the Chinese government is especially problematic.

Economic concerns also carry security implications. U.S. and European officials argue that Chinese telecom subsidies give companies like Huawei unfair commercial advantages and leverage in the development and deployment of global telecom networks. Similarly, Beijing has been accused of politicizing the process of setting 5G standards by creating an expectation that Chinese companies participating in the standard-setting Third Generation Partnership Project will vote for Chinese-proposed standards whether or not they are superior. Companies whose technology becomes a global standard can gain market advantages through standard-essential patents. Market advantage can then become a structural security advantage as firms leverage the economic benefits of patent royalties to drive growth and expand their presence in global networks.

National governments face difficult cost-security tradeoffs in deciding whether to exclude or limit Huawei or other equipment providers from their 5G networks. For many developing countries focused on the economic benefits of building out these networks, espionage is likely to be a secondary concern. For the United States, keeping any particular company’s hardware out of U.S. and allies’ network infrastructure will not eliminate the threat of espionage or sabotage. Iranian, North Korean, Russian, and other hackers have already proven their ability to penetrate U.S. networks to cause harm—and the networks they broke into did not use Chinese equipment. Regardless of whether Huawei is excluded from U.S. or allies’ 5G infrastructure, Chinese networks and Chinese equipment will connect to those networks. The challenge is how to embrace interoperability and efficiency while also optimizing security.

The US recently blacklisted Chinese telecom giant Huawei, citing security and espionage-related concerns, and is now persuading its allies, and countries like India, to block the world’s largest provider of networking gear and the second biggest smartphone maker, from their new and upcoming mobile networks.

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Health concerns:

The development of the technology has stoked fear that 5G radiation could have adverse health effects and 5G technology could cause cancer, infertility, autism, Alzheimer’s, and mysterious bird deaths. In April 2019, the city of Brussels in Belgium blocked a 5G trial because of radiation laws. In Geneva, Switzerland, a planned upgrade to 5G was stopped for the same reason. The Swiss Telecommunications Association (ASUT) has said that studies have been unable to show that 5G frequencies have any health impact.

Health concerns related to radiation from cell phone towers and cell phones are not new. Although electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not scientifically recognized, effects such as headaches and neurasthenia has been claimed from 4G and Wi-Fi. 5G technology presents new issues which depart from 4G technology, higher microwave frequencies from 2.6 GHz to 28 GHz, compared to 700–2500 MHz typically used by 4G. Because the higher millimeter wave used in 5G do not easily penetrate objects, this requires the installation of antennas every few hundred meters, which has sparked concern among the public.

Critics of 5G say that these millimeter wave frequencies used by 5G have not been extensively tested on the general public; most experts believe that more scientific research is needed, even as millimeter wave technology has been used in technology such as radar for many decades. United States Senator Richard Blumenthal in 2018 said “I know of no reliable studies — classified or otherwise that have been done about 5G technology. There may have been studies by the military but so far as I know they failed to meet the specifications that are required in terms of the numbers of animals or other ways of measuring that would be required.”

In January 2019, over 180 scientists and doctors from 36 countries sent a letter to officials of the European Union demanding a moratorium on 5G coverage in Europe until potential hazards for human health have been fully investigated. According to the “Statement on emerging health and environmental issues (2018)” edited by European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER), “5G networks will soon be rolled out for mobile phone and smart device users. How exposure to electromagnetic fields could affect humans remains a controversial area, and studies have not yielded clear evidence of the impact on mammals, birds or insects. The lack of clear evidence to inform the development of exposure guidelines to 5G technology leaves open the possibility of unintended biological consequences.”

In July 2019, the New York Times wrote an article detailing how an influential study from the year 2000, which determined that wireless technology carried a high chance of causing negative health effects in humans, made a scientific error by failing to study the protective benefits of human skin. The article claimed that many of the alleged health concerns around 5G and other wireless technologies in humans have not been scientifically proven. On August 2019, a court in the USA decided that 5G technology will not be deployed without environmental impact and historic preservation reviews.

Are 5G cell towers more dangerous?

All cell towers emit Radio Frequency (RF) Radiation. There are literally hundreds of peer reviewed scientific studies from around the world that have linked this “non-ionizing” form of electromagnetic radiation to things like cancer, DNA damage (especially in infants and fetuses), and infertility. And Kevin Mottus of the US Brain Tumor Association says that within the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, the higher the frequency, the more dangerous the radiation is.

5G Cell Towers are more dangerous for Two Main Reasons:

First, 5G emits “ultra-high frequencies”. The higher the frequency, the shorter the length of each wave. This means more waves hit our bodies in the same amount of time. Previous cellular generations emitted from 1 to 6 GHz frequencies. 5G cell towers may emit frequencies as high as 300 GHz.

Second, 5G technology requires “ultra-high intensity”. Since the shorter length millimeter waves used in 5G do not travel as far (or through objects), with our current number of cell towers the cell signal will not be reliable. To compensate 5G cell towers will have to emit the lower 3G & 4G waves as well, and many more “mini cell towers” will have to be installed. It is estimated that they will need a mini cell tower every 2 to 8 houses. All of this combined will greatly increase our RF Radiation exposure.

With RF Radiation, how close the source is to our physical bodies is more important than the power level (or wattage) of the radiation. RF Radiation dissipates with distance. In other words, a low powered exposure right next to someone, is more dangerous than a more powerful exposure a long way away. Also the longer the exposure time is, the more dangerous it is. 5G will be the worst of both worlds. We will have more sources around us, and closer to us. And they will be more powerful and continuous emissions.

Activists, researchers and health professionals alike have concern for the high frequency millimeter radio signals that 5G uses. Since many small cells will be installed in close proximity to people, there must be a concerted effort to further research and evaluate the effects it could have. There are physicians who warn that the amount of radiation 5G small cells emit can have irreversible effects on people who live or are exposed to these radio waves on a daily basis. These reports are alarming and can be a cause for fear. While most critics point out the possible harm 5G can cause, there have been no significant studies that positively without a doubt prove that wireless networks have increased cancer or other illnesses. Epidemiological studies don’t have any conclusive evidence that correlates wireless and mobile use to higher incidents of diseases like cancer.

The high frequency in question is the range 5G uses, which can go as high as 300 GHz. In the electromagnetic spectrum the range of harmful waves are in the gamma ray and x-ray range. The range 5G uses is in the microwave range of the spectrum. Some activists wrongly believe that 5G signals are like that used in microwave ovens. While that is true, that 5G signals are in the microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum, there is a difference between a small cell and an oven. Microwave ovens use high energy to cook food from the inside out. Small cells use low energy to transmit and receive radio signals. They have different applications of radio waves.

An electromagnetic field (EMF) is a field of energy that results from electromagnetic radiation, a form of energy that occurs as a result of the flow of electricity. Electric fields exist wherever there are power lines or outlets, whether the electricity is switched on or not. Magnetic fields are created only when electric currents flow. Together, these produce EMFs. Electromagnetic radiation exists as a spectrum of different wavelengths and frequencies, which are measured in hertz (Hz). This term denotes the number of cycles per second. Power lines operate between 50 and 60 Hz, which is at the lower end of the spectrum. These low-frequency waves, together with radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, and some of the ultraviolet spectrum — which take us into the megahertz (MHz), GHz, and terahertz spectra — make up what is known as nonionizing radiation. Above this lie the petahertz and exahertz spectra, which include X-rays and gamma rays. These are types of ionizing radiation, which mean that they carry sufficient energy to break apart molecules and cause significant damage to the human body.

Graphic below shows the difference between ionising and non-ionising waves:

The energy of electromagnetic wave is proportional to their frequency. Those that are sufficiently energetic to eject electrons from an atom and cleave chemical bonds are known as ionizing radiation. Those that lacks this requisite energy is conversely known as nonionizing radiation.

Ionizing radiation is detrimental to our health, capable of damaging DNA and killing cells. Ultimately this can lead to cancer, with the same principle used in radiotherapy to kill cancer cells. RFR is undoubtedly nonionizing, being thousands of times less energetic than even visible light.

To put it in context, the weakest visible light is more than 17,000 times more energetic than the highest-energy 5G photon possible. Anti-5G activists should be orders of magnitude more concerned about light bulbs than cellular phones. The reality is that for RFR, there is no known plausible biophysical mechanism of action for harm, nor does the combined weight of epidemiological data support this conjecture.

Lower frequency radio waves, like what’s used for LTE mobile networks, are non-ionizing — they can’t cause the same type of damage. Certain non-ionizing wavelengths can still be bad for you, as they produce heat at extremely high power level. Your microwave can warm up dinners but it requires more than a thousand watts of power to do so. The FCC’s safe limit for mobile phones is a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1.6 watts per kg (1.6 W/kg) of mass, nowhere near enough to warm up your body. Smartphones marketed in the U.S. must demonstrate compliance with this limit before they go on sale. ICNIRP guidelines used in Europe and most other countries set this limit at around 2.0 W/kg. These are the absolute legal limits of exposure. Most of the time the real-world values are significantly lower, especially when we put our phones down.

If you live in a sunny region, you are already being exposed to more radiation than microwave signals from 5G. This is because visible light has a higher frequency than 5G signals and people are more exposed to sunlight. People can also get diseases from too much exposure from a component in sunlight that comes from ultraviolet rays. The range of high frequency radiation above visible light that poses dangers to health are gamma rays and x-rays aka “ionizing radiation”. Prolonged exposure causes cell damage and also affects DNA so they are very harmful. That is why during an x-ray a patient is given special preparation and only a quick exposure to them. This is because x-rays can penetrate through skin and bone, thus we can develop them as an image on film making them highly valuable diagnostic imaging systems for healthcare. 5G signals do not penetrate human skin and bone. Most of the radiation in this range of frequencies is in the form of heat, which does not disrupt or destroy human tissue during transmission of radio waves.

Radiofrequency EMFs (RF-EMFs) include all wavelengths from 30 kilohertz to 300 GHz. For the general public, exposure to RF-EMFs is mostly from handheld devices, such as cell phones and tablets, as well as from cell phone base stations, medical applications, and TV antennas. The most well-established biological effect of RF-EMFs is heating. High doses of RF-EMFs can lead to a rise in the temperature of the exposed tissues, leading to burns and other damage. But mobile devices emit RF-EMFs at low levels. Whether this is a cause for concern is a matter of ongoing debate, reignited by the arrival of 5G.

Radiofrequency waves and cancer:

In 2011, 30 international scientists, who are part of the working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), met to assess the risk of developing cancer as a result of exposure to RF-EMFs. The working group published a summary of their findings in The Lancet Oncology. The scientists looked at one cohort study and five case-control studies in humans, each of which was designed to investigate whether there is a link between cell phone use and glioma, a cancer of the central nervous system. The team concluded that, based on studies of the highest quality, “A causal interpretation between mobile phone RF-EMF exposure and glioma is possible.” Smaller studies supported a similar conclusion for acoustic neuroma, but the evidence was not convincing for other types of cancer. The team also looked at over 40 studies that had used rats and mice. In view of the limited evidence in humans and experimental animals, the working group classified RF-EMFs as “possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B).” “This evaluation was supported by a large majority of working group members,” they write in the paper. For comparison, Group 2B also contains aloe vera whole leaf extract, gasoline engine exhaust fumes, and pickled vegetables, as well as drugs like progesterone-only contraceptives, oxazepam, and sulfasalazine.

WHO says ‘no adverse health effects’.

At present, the WHO state that “To date, no adverse health effects from low level, long term exposure to radiofrequency or power frequency fields have been confirmed, but scientists are actively continuing to research this area.”

In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission state that “At relatively low levels of exposure to RF radiation — i.e., levels lower than those that would produce significant heating — the evidence for production of harmful biological effects is ambiguous and unproven.”

Over the past 50 years a large amount of research on radio waves and health has been conducted. More than 30 independent expert groups and health agencies, including the World Health Organization, have reviewed the available scientific data and have all come to the same conclusion: there are no established health effects from radio waves emitted from mobile phones and base stations complying with international limits.

In 2016, the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) released draft findings of studies examining the effects of non-ionizing radiation on rats and mice. Several populations establish a control group, with males exposed to either CDMA or GSM cellphone radiation, and females exposed to GSM cellphone radiation. That’s 2G rather than modern 4G. Researchers applied the following exposure protocol to test the animals:

-Rats and mice were exposed to GSM or CDMA signals with whole-body exposures of zero to 15 W/kg (rats were given a lower dose).

-Exposure was initiated in utero.

-All exposures applied 7 days a week, for about 9 hours a day.

-A single, common group of unexposed rats or mice of each sex served as controls.

After two years, the study found several rats and mice exhibited tumors. However, these results mostly concerned full-body exposure rather than partial-body exposure for humans. There also weren’t adequate controls for exposure uniformity, making it tough to tell exactly how much exposure each rat actually received.

However, it is important to remember a few rats getting tumors when exposed to between two and four times the allowed limit (1.6W/kg) of RF EMR for cellphones does not constitute proof of anything. You will never be exposed to the amount of RF EMR used in this study. With the mice, they used ludicrously high power levels up to 10W/kg for 2-year studies and 15W/kg for short-term ones. All test groups actually had higher survival rates than the control groups, illustrating how correlation is not causation.

Many foundations like the American Cancer Society report this study without taking a strong stance, but the FDA, National Cancer Institute, and FCC all note that the overwhelming evidence points to the safety of cellphones and technologies like Bluetooth and WiFi — even after considering the study’s results.

The Ramazzini Institute Study

Another popular report doing the rounds is the Ramazzini Institute Study of far-field radiation effects on rats. This very large study used radiation levels up to 60 times lower than the NTP study, within the range of what humans may experience. There have been several notable critiques of this research. While the total number of rats in the study was large, the number in each experimental group was still small. The only statistically significant finding of the report was an increase in the incidence of heart schwannomas (mostly benign tumors in the heart) observed in treated male rats at the highest dose (50 V/m) of radiation. The group estimated this to a SAR for comparison with the NTP study and FCC regulations which equates to roughly 0.1 W/kg, well within legal limits. The research highlighted the male incident rate as statistically significant, noted at 1.4 percent, but not for the females. This is because the male control group exhibited a zero percent spontaneous schwannoma rate, compared to one percent in the female group. In other words, this data assumes male rats can’t develop schwannomas from any other sources, while females can. Accounting for some expected spontaneous schwannoma, the results quickly fall back into the statistically insignificant realm. The bottom line is the male-only data appears suspect, especially compared to the female results. Other lower tested power levels of 25V/m (0.03W/kg) and 5V/m (0.001W/kg) showed no such links. There are also further anomalies in the data. There was a higher schwannoma rate in female rats at the lowest exposure level.

Stephen Chanock, director at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, is skeptical about the results. The institute tracks brain tumors in the general population and has found nothing to report since work began in 2004. Furthermore, he sees no evidence from the Ramazzini study to suggest current safety limits for cell phone radiation are inadequate.

The most reliable data come from large and robust trials, with careful controls and large sample groups. The 13-country INTERPHONE study is one example: its unequivocal conclusion was that there was no causal relationship between phone use and incidences of common brain tumors such as glioblastoma and meningioma. The dose-response curve from this undertaking is telling, because it clearly does not betray any obvious signs of correlation. A similar Danish cohort study also did not reveal any obvious link between phone usage and tumor rates.

While it’s pragmatic and laudable to constantly monitor for any potential emergent effects, the overwhelming weight of the evidence to date does not support the hypothesis that our current cellular technology is carcinogenic. Even at higher exposures, there is no reputable indication of carcinogenicity. Long-term studies of radar workers do not show a hint of increased cancer incidence, despite the exceptional levels of RFR to which these subjects are exposed.

General cancer trends:

Let’s quickly look at the historical statistics of cancer incidence rates. The coverage of cellphone networks and the number of bands dedicated to its use have expanded rapidly over the past decade, surrounding us with more wireless networks than ever before. If the radiation is dangerous, cancer rates should definitely be increasing. SEER Cancer Incidence data for the U.S. population is at odds with this line of thinking. Plotting U.S. cellular subscriptions alongside this data reveals cancer rates were actually increasing well before even a small percentage of people had cellphone plans. Since then the trend has reversed — cancer incidence rates have actually fallen as feature and smartphone usage increased. Brain cancer rates remain virtually unchanged over the last four decades. The cancer incidence rate is up only 1.14 percent since the launch of the first U.S. consumer cell phone network in 1983. Rates are actually down 9.56 percent compared to when the GSM and CDMA networks launched, causing the explosion of mobile phone use in the late 90s. Obviously, it would be ludicrous to suggest cell phone networks are reducing cancer rates — remember, even here correlation doesn’t equal causation.

What about 5G and mmwave?

There is no compelling evidence linking cellular networks to cancer, but what about upcoming 5G technologies?

Most of these frequencies occupy existing low frequency and Wi-Fi bands, so there aren’t really any new risks. Higher frequency mmwave technologies still don’t reach close to ionizing wavelengths and the technology actually extends further away from the maximum human RF absorption frequency of about 70MHz.

Mmwave will mostly deploy in the 24 to 29GHz spectrum, which suffers from very high reflection rates. Therefore, energy absorption is confined to the surface layers of the skin rather than deeper tissue touched by lower frequencies. Penetrating bones or the skull is out of the question, so you can throw out those brain tumor arguments.

mmwave 5G devices are bound by the same safety standards as existing 4G LTE, Bluetooth, and WiFi products. The FCC’s FR safety regulations apply all the way up to 100GHz, so mmwave 5G devices are bound by the same safety standards and energy limits as existing 4G LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi products. According to research, a 60GHz mmwave outputting a whopping 50W/m2 of power (which wouldn’t be close to passing FCC regulations) only raises skin temperature by 0.8 degrees Celsius, which is below the IEEE standards temperature threshold of 1 degree Celsius for mmwave radiation guidelines.

The technology appears to be safe, and the current FCC and global regulations already have these frequencies covered.

Experts such as Kenneth Foster, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, who has been studying the health effects of radio-frequency energy for nearly 50 years, says that Pall and other 5G activists have been cherry-picking findings from studies that support their views while ignoring other research that contradicts or finds no link between cellphone radiation and health hazards. We need more systematic reviews of the existing research and more well-done studies focusing on health-related endpoints. Foster, who sits on the IEEE’s standards committee for setting radio-frequency exposure limits, acknowledges that unlike at 3G and 4G radiation levels, which have been studied for at least two decades, there isn’t as much research on the biological effects of using millimeter wavelengths for 5G service.

Samet, who chaired the WHO’s 2011 committee on cellphone radiation, said it’s still too early to know based on population studies if cellphone radiation causes tumor growth in humans. He said that it took at least 20 to 25 years after cigarettes began being mass produced for epidemiologists to notice the link between lung cancer and smoking tobacco. Since widespread cellphone use is relatively recent, we could still be a number of years away before we’d see an epidemic of cancer due to cellphone radiation exposure, he said.

On June 9, 2017, scientists with the International EMF Scientist Appeal submitted a letter of comment to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in opposition to FCC Docket Numbers 17-79 and 15-180, which would allow streamlined approval of 5G infrastructure to be built on existing utility poles, in greater number than current cellular antennas. The group is comprised of over 225 reputable scientists from 41 countries who have peer reviewed publications on electromagnetic fields. Their letter calls on “The FCC to critically consider the potential impact of the 5th generation wireless infrastructure on the health and safety of the U.S. population before proceeding to deploy this infrastructure.” The letter includes: “FCC is urging an accelerated deployment schedule for the 5th generation wireless infrastructure, to be installed pervasively throughout the United States. This is being done without public health review of the growing body of scientific evidence that includes reports of increasing rates of cancer and neurological diseases that may be caused by exposure to EMF from wireless sources.” The scientists went on to say: “Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines.” These effects can include an increased cancer risk, genetic damage, structural and functional changes to the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, and neurological disorders.

5G radiation is similar to the waves used to cook food in your microwave. Because of that, in 2016, Dr. Yael Stein of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University sent a letter to the FCC Commissioners, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, outlining the effect of 5G radiation on human skin. According to Dr. Stein, over ninety percent of microwave radiation is absorbed by the epidermis and dermis layers of human skin, essentially making it an absorbing sponge for microwave radiation. Also, the sweat ducts in our skin’s upper layer act like helical antennas, which are antennas specially designed to respond to electromagnetic fields. In essence, our bodies will conduct 5G radiation, and how this will effect babies, pregnant women, and the elderly is not known.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has returned serve to the myriad submissions made to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications Inquiry into 5G in Australia that state 5G is a health threat to humans and fauna. “Higher frequencies do not mean higher exposure levels,” ARPANSA bluntly stated in its submission. “Current research indicates that there is no established evidence for health effects from radio waves used in mobile telecommunications. This includes the upcoming roll-out of the 5G network. ARPANSA’s assessment is that 5G is safe.” The agency stated that while the frequencies used in 4G and 5G mean some energy is absorbed into the body, it is too low to create any “significant heating of tissue”, and the higher millimeter-wave frequencies set to be used for 5G in the future do not “penetrate past the skin”. “The power level will be low and no appreciable heating will occur in the skin,” the agency said. If exposed to energy levels 50 times higher than the Australian standard, heating of tissue can occur, such as when welding or exposed to AM radio towers, but that is why safety precautions are taken, ARPANSA said. The submission also reiterated the scientific fact that radio waves are non-ionising, and cannot break chemical bonds that could lead to DNA damage. “There is no established evidence that low-level exposure to radio waves causes cancer,” the submission said.

FAQ about radio waves and health:

Are there any safety limits on human exposure to radio waves?

Yes. Most national authorities have adopted international science-based safety guidelines specifying radio wave exposure limits. The limits have been set with wide margins to provide protection from established adverse effects on health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the limits set by International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

Why have some countries adopted more restrictive limits for base station exposure?

Authorities in some countries or regions have chosen to use lower limits, despite the science-based international limits recommended by the World Health Organization, due to public concerns.

Do base stations and mobile devices meet safety standards and limits?

Base stations and mobile devices are designed, manufactured and tested to meet relevant safety standards and regulations. Related product information on safe installation and usage is provided to customers and consumers.

What are the exposure levels from mobile phones?

Wireless connected devices, such as mobile phones are tested to meet relevant radio frequency (RF) safety standards. RF exposure limits are expressed as SAR levels (unit watt per kilogram). SAR stands for Specific Absorption Rate, which is a measure of the rate of RF energy absorption in body tissue. Mobile phones have SAR information in the packaging, including the maximum SAR value. SAR information also is provided on the Mobile & Wireless Forum’s (MWF) website. Variations in SAR do not mean that there are variations in safety. While there may be differences in SAR levels among phone models, all models must meet radio wave exposure guidelines. Present scientific information does not indicate the need for any special precautions for use of mobile phones. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) gives some guidance for people who want to further limit their exposure to radio frequency energy, for example using hands free equipment to keep the mobile phones away from the head and body.

Is it safe to be close to base station antennas?

Yes. There is only a small area in front of the antennas where the radio frequency (RF) exposure could exceed the safety limits. The size of this area varies from a few centimeters up to some meters, depending on the type of base station site and the power transmitted. The antennas are to be installed in such a way that people cannot get into this area.

What are the exposure levels from base stations?

Base stations use relatively low power for transmission. The antenna output power level is typically between 10 and 100 watts for a large outdoor base station and less than 10 watts for smaller equipment used in cities and indoor environments. This is about the same power levels as used by light bulbs in homes. The intensity of the radio waves is drastically reduced with increasing distance from the base station antenna. Radio base station antennas are installed in such a way that the exposure levels are below established exposure limits for the general public. In fact, typical exposure levels are a few percent, or less, of the limits.

Will people who live in buildings with wall- or rooftop-mounted base station antennas be more exposed to radio waves than others?

No. To give coverage over a wider area, the antennas direct the radio waves away from the buildings they are mounted on. The antennas could be compared to the headlights of a car, which light up the road, but not the car itself. Inside and around the building, the intensity of the radio waves is far below the exposure limits.

What about children using mobile phones and other connected devices?

There is no conclusive evidence of a link between mobile phones and adverse health effects for any age group, including children and teenagers. The exposure limits endorsed by WHO are designed to protect everyone, including children. The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) recommend limiting the time that kids and teenagers spend on mobile devices.

Are there any safety issues with the new 5G technology?

5G equipment, whether it be mobile devices or base stations, meet the same safety standards as the equipment used in current networks. Existing RF EMF exposure limits are applicable also for the new frequency bands that are being made available for 5G. 5G base stations and devices may use advanced antennas to transmit the radio signals in the direction of the receiver. This technology is called beamforming and it enables higher performance, e.g. data rates, while keeping the radio wave exposure levels below the exposure limits. Although the number of connected devices will increase dramatically with 5G, the overall exposure to radio waves will be only marginally higher and still far below established limits.

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Security concerns:

There is no perfect system that is 100% secure from cybersecurity attacks. All it takes is putting a server out on a public network and it is exposed to all users, good and bad. Since 5G aims to provide a backbone that brings more speed for IoT devices in homes and businesses, it also increases the threat vectors for hackers. This is to be taken seriously since more devices will have capabilities to connect to high speed networks. That is also an opportunity for hackers to target more devices. An issue with new IoT devices connected to public networks is the configuration. Some owners may just put their device online without configuring it properly. Internet cameras can lead to an invasion of privacy if not properly configured. There have already been studies about the dangers of IoT due to vulnerabilities that users may not be aware of. To address these concerns, cybersecurity experts always advise users to apply updates to their IoT devices and to make sure that they don’t use simple easy to guess passwords. Despite these warnings, people still do careless things.

Faster networks can also mean faster ways for viruses and malware to spread. If more users are on the network, then you also have the potential for more infected devices and systems than ever before. More malicious malware like “ransomware” can proliferate with more connected devices. Greater speed is a plus for users, but it’s also a tool for malicious attackers. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks will likely increase, as 5G will boost IoT’s participation in real-time enterprise systems. And IoT is built on the old client/server model, with old security mechanisms. This will take time to adaptively correct.

To counter the threats that faster 5G may bring, cybersecurity vendors are offering a new class of threat management and network security devices. There are now security products even for smartphones, since these devices will have the most connections to 5G networks. An AV (antivirus) installed on mobile devices like the same way they are installed on desktop computers provides a layer of defense for users by monitoring the device for any malicious activity. 5G network operators will also have to keep a close watch for bad actors who can issue attacks on their systems. The small cell towers can even be targeted, so they must be installed in such a way that they are not easily compromised. The small cells will likely have sensors and cameras to make sure that they are not being tampered with.

5G Cybersecurity Risks:

5G networks will undergird a host of critical functions, including autonomous vehicles, smart electric grids, intelligent medicine, and military communications. As such, it is extremely difficult to distinguish “critical” 5G network infrastructure from the noncritical sort; all of 5G is arguably what U.S. officials call a “national critical function.” As companies and individuals become increasingly dependent on these networks, they become more vulnerable to the theft of sensitive data traversing the network, attacks on and disruptions of the functioning of connected devices by other devices, and attacks that disrupt or degrade the network itself. 5G networks will expand the number and scale of potential vulnerabilities, increase incentives for malicious actors to exploit those vulnerabilities, and make it difficult to detect malicious cyber activity.

One threat is manipulation of equipment in the core network—for example, the installation of a secret portal known as a “backdoor” that allows interception and redirection of data or sabotage of critical systems. This can happen even after the systems have passed a security test, since the manufacturer will continually send updates to the equipment. Such a threat could negate front-end security measures such as inspecting source code or equipment for backdoors and other vulnerabilities. Additionally, functions of the core network will take place primarily in the cloud, depending on AI to manage complexity and network resource allocation. Hackers can attack or manipulate the algorithms that operate these AI-based systems.

Security is even more complicated at the edge. Backdoors can be installed in mobile base stations, enabling data interception or manipulation from one of the numerous access points in the RAN. Such activity can be difficult to detect: if, for example, data is being copied and exfiltrated, base stations could still appear to be operating normally. In addition, the devices that connect to 5G networks can themselves pose cyber threats. In 2016, major internet activities were shut down after hackers hijacked low-cost chips in security cameras and digital video recorders (DVRs) to take down multiple internet domains. The weblike architecture of IoT devices dramatically expands the opportunities for, and consequences of, such attacks.

On 18 October 2018, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Lorraine and the University of Dundee released a paper titled “A Formal Analysis of 5G Authentication”. It alerted that 5G technology could open ground for a new era of security threats. The paper described the technology as “immature and insufficiently tested,” the one that “enables the movement and access of vastly higher quantities of data, and thus broadens attack surfaces.” Simultaneously, network security companies like Fortinet, Arbor Networks, A10 Networks, and Voxility advised on personalized and mixed security deployments against massive DDoS attacks foreseen after 5G deployment. IoT Analytics estimated an increase in the number of IoT devices, enabled by 5G technology, from 7 billion in 2018 to 21.5 billion by 2025. This can raise the attack surface for these devices to a substantial scale, and the capacity for DDoS attacks, cryptojacking, and other cyberattacks could boost proportionally.

With 5G in place, end-to-end innovation—both in terms of technology and the network architecture that supports it—will rapidly transform mobile infrastructure into a platform and catalyst for value creation and service innovation. The “flat” packet-based architecture of 5G potentially increase a mobile infrastructure’s exposure to cyberattacks, especially as they are now part of the end-to-end IP core infrastructure. This expanded attack surface will be comprised of thousands or even millions of interconnected nodes that can be highly susceptible to exploitation and abuse. Because of these vulnerabilities, along with the transition to edge clouds, end-to-end security from the mobile core to the edge is imperative. This will drive the demand for embedding security features and functions directly into the edge as well, far beyond its typical state of being “bolted on” to the traditional network. These extended, shifting, and hyperconnected networks require a fabric-based security strategy that goes beyond the isolated security devices and platforms deployed in yesterday’s static networks to cover and adapt to this expanded and evolving network. Achieving this requires protection that is broad, powerful, integrated, and automated—just like the makings of the network it needs to protect.

Broad: Security solutions need to be applied broadly enough to span all network environments and protect all devices.

Powerful: Security needs to be able to keep up with bandwidth growth that is expanding faster than Moore’s law, such as using Fortinet’s Virtual SPU technology for boosting virtual firewall performance. It must extend capabilities beyond legacy stateful firewalls, including deep application security, inspection of encrypted traffic at digital speeds etc.

Integrated: A security architecture needs to correlate data across, and between security layers, whether physical, logical, or virtual, to detect threats anywhere they occur

Automated: All security tools need to be able to dynamically respond to detected events as a coordinated system, without having to wait for human intervention.

Is 5G more secure than 4G?

There’s no reason to think 5G is inherently more vulnerable, or riskier, than previous generations of mobile technology. If anything, when it’s fully deployed, 5G can be more secure than 4G for comparable services and functionality. 5G makes use of 4G’s best defensive technology, while implementing new security protocols that address previously unresolved threats. Two examples are enhanced user authentication and stronger data encryption.

Authenticating users who want access to the network is the front line of cyber defense. In a 4G network, telecommunications operators authenticate users with a SIM card placed inside smartphones and other devices. However, because internet of things (IoT) connections vary in size and power consumption, as well as in the type and quantity of data they can send and receive, a single SIM from a single telecommunications operator can’t cope with the IoT’s diverse range of devices and requirements. 5G solves this problem by assigning unique identities to each individual device, eliminating the need for a SIM card and shifting responsibility for authentication from the operator to individual service providers.

5G also provides better roaming encryption. When a 4G phone connects to a base station, it authenticates the user’s identity, but does so without encrypting the information, leaving it vulnerable to attack. So although any subsequent calls or texts are encrypted in 4G, the user’s identity and location are not. 5G uses 256-bit encryption, a substantial improvement on the 128-bit standard used by 4G. With 5G, the user’s identity and location are encrypted, making them impossible to identify or locate from the moment they get on the network.

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Is 5G unsafe for birds?

Most likely, the claim that 5G killed 297 birds near the Hague is a hoax,

The 5G waves don’t physically differ much from the Wi-Fi network in your home. It is being introduced all over the world and no one else reported any similar incidents. The frequency of this electromagnetic radiation is even lower than the frequency of the visible light. It may cause no ionization or cancer and is probably undetectable by animals, let alone dangerous for them.

Like microwave ovens, the only qualitative influence of this radiation on organisms is some heating. If you’re not getting dangerously hot by being close to a 5G antenna or any similar antenna, then nothing bad may be happening to you. The power consumption of the antennas is rather low and may be compared to a microwave oven. But it’s an open oven – it is not hard to understand that an oven couldn’t heat up a whole room.

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5G Network uses nearly same frequency as Weaponized Crowd Control Systems:

mmwave may cause our pain receptors to flare up in recognition of the waves as damaging stimuli. Consider that the US Department of Defense already uses a crowd-dispersal method called the Active Denial System (ADS), in which mmwaves are directed at crowds to make their skin feel like it’s burning. Research that was commissioned by the U.S. Army to find out why people ran away when the beam touched them. The U.S. Department of Defense explains how: “If you are unlucky enough to be standing there when it hits you, you will feel like your body is on fire. The sensation dissipates when the target moves out of the beam. The sensation is intense enough to cause a nearly instantaneous reflex action of the target to flee the beam.”

The ADS works by firing a high-powered beam of 95 GHz waves at a target, which corresponds to a wavelength of 3.2 mm. The ADS millimeter wave energy works on a similar principle as a microwave oven, exciting the water and fat molecules in the skin, and instantly heating them via dielectric heating. One significant difference is that a microwave oven uses the much lower frequency (and longer wavelength) of 2.45 GHz. The short millimeter waves used in ADS only penetrate the top layers of skin, with most of the energy being absorbed within 0.4 mm (1⁄64 inch), whereas microwaves will penetrate into human tissue about 17 mm (0.67 inch). ADS uses radio frequency millimeter waves in the 95 GHz range to penetrate the top 1/64 of an inch layer of skin on the targeted individual, instantly producing an intolerable heating sensation that causes them to flee. The ADS’s effect of repelling humans occurs at slightly higher than 44 °C (111 °F), though first-degree burns occur at about 51 °C (124 °F), and second-degree burns occur at about 58 °C (136 °F). In testing, pea-sized blisters have been observed in less than 0.1% of ADS exposures, indicating that second degree surface burns have been caused by the device. The radiation burns caused are similar to microwave burns, but only on the skin surface due to the decreased penetration of shorter millimeter waves. The surface temperature of a target will continue to rise so long as the beam is applied, at a rate dictated by the target’s material and distance from the transmitter, along with the beam’s frequency and power level set by the operator. Most human test subjects reached their pain threshold within 3 seconds, and none could endure more than 5 seconds. This ADS technology is becoming ubiquitous in top world militaries, demonstrating how genuinely effective this radio frequency energy can be at causing harm to humans and anything else. And ironically the same mmwave 5G rollout is well underway, and we soon may see new small cell towers near all schools, on every residential street, dispersed throughout the natural environment, and pretty much everywhere.

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5G Wireless Networks could interfere with Weather Forecasts:

Wireless radio frequencies being auctioned by government for mobile 5G networks could interfere with weather forecasts and make them much less accurate, meteorologists warn. Information about atmospheric water vapor is plugged into computer models to predict how weather systems will behave. The vapor transmits a faint signal at a 23.8-gigahertz frequency. Meteorologists say a 5G station transmitting close to that same frequency could be mistaken for water vapor, and, they warn, that could make forecasts less accurate. The mobile network could cause interference that prevents satellites from detecting concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere accurately. Without this data, the nation’s forecasting capacity would be reduced to the accuracy of the forecasts produced in the 1970s.

The 23.8-gigahertz frequency is the frequency at which water vapor in the atmosphere emits a faint signal. Satellites monitor energy radiating from Earth at this frequency to assess humidity in the atmosphere below, and measurements can be taken during the day or at night, even if clouds are present. Forecasters feed these data into models to predict how storms and other weather systems will develop in the coming hours and days. But a 5G station transmitting at nearly the same frequency will produce a signal that looks much like that of water vapour. We wouldn’t know that that signal is not completely natural. Forecasts would become less accurate if meteorologists incorporated those bad data into their models. The worry is that the 5G rollout could inadvertently throw off weather forecasting because 5G networks are planning to use a frequency band very close to the one satellite use to observe water vapor. That interference could cost lives and fortunes when it comes to preparing for disastrous weather events. Meteorologists are worried that 5G could be a noisy neighbor, unintentionally leaking signals into bands next door, which could interfere with their ability to monitor water vapor. Studying water vapor is important for predicting the trajectory of storms, forecasting sunny weather or rain, and keeping tabs on the changing climate.

Weather forecasters lost the battle for strict interference limits on 5G on 22 November 2019:

Weather forecasters pushing for strict limits on 5G’s rapidly growing footprint were dealt a blow by the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 in Egypt. Delegates there voted to create a new international standard that places much looser limits on interference from 5G operating in a specific radio frequency that’s crucial to accurate weather forecasting. Meteorology experts worry that this decision could one day seriously impact their ability to forecast severe storms, leaving communities around the world vulnerable to extreme weather events. The decision is the culmination of a months-long turf battle between scientists and 5G proponents over the prized 24GHz radio frequency band. Telecommunications companies need to occupy higher frequencies, including that band, to reach the faster speeds 5G is supposed to offer. But by expanding their reach, they’re butting up against the frequency scientists use to study water vapor. Weather forecasters say there’s not much they can do to protect themselves if 5G winds up being a noisy neighbor since the water vapor molecules they track naturally emit a slight radio signal right around 24GHz, 23.8 GHz to be precise.

The United Nations International Telecommunication Union convenes the World Radiocommunication Conference once every three or four years to hash out new radio regulations on contested frequencies like 24GHz. Their job is particularly tricky because radio frequencies are messy, with lots of different technologies and natural phenomena operating in a highly crowded space on the spectrum. To keep order, the conference tries to establish buffers between groups that use similar frequencies to avoid conflict. These buffers are called out-of-band emissions limits. They are measured in units called decibel watts (dBW), which tell people the strength of a signal that’s strayed out of its boundaries. A strict interference limit leaves a larger gap between frequencies, preventing stronger signals from spilling over into signals that have been deemed particularly important or protected by world governments and industry.

Under the newly adopted regulatory regime, 5G handsets and infrastructure will need to protect the satellite observations of Earth by limiting their emissions in 24 GHz band to -29 dBW and to -35 after 2027. Similarly, the 5G towers emissions will be limited to -33 dBW and -39 after 2027. That’s less stringent than what the World Meteorological Organization had sought to allow at -42 dBW. The new limit is still tougher than the -20 dBW limit that the Federal Communications Commission had proposed in March. The FCC had auctioned off licenses for the 24GHz channel in March as part of its mission to make the US a global leader in 5G technology. But studies by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that the emissions limit should actually be as much as -52.4 dBW to keep 5G from interfering with satellites that are collecting weather data. That part of the electromagnetic spectrum is necessary to make predictions as to where a hurricane is going to make landfall. If you can’t make that prediction accurately, then you end up not evacuating the right people and/or you evacuate people that don’t need to evacuate, which is a problem.

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Marketing of non-5G services as 5G:

In various parts of the world, carriers have launched numerous differently branded technologies like “5G Evolution” which advertise improving existing networks with the use of “5G technology”. However, these 4G/4.5G networks are actually existing improvement on specification of LTE networks that are not really 5G, and thus they are being described as “misleading”.

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Climate change:

There are some concerns that 5G network will increase GHG emission.

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5G energy use:

The tremendous popularity of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, as well as cloud-based services for business and personal use, means that around 70% of users in Europe now access the Internet via wireless connections. Globally, about 1.6 Exabytes of mobile data was being generated per month, according to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index (VNI) report published back in 2014. All this is having a dramatic effect on mobile network power consumption. Today, operators are spending an estimated $2 billion a year simply to power their networks, and base stations are consuming a high proportion of that budget. According to figures from Vodafone, base stations account for almost 60% of total mobile network power consumption, while 20% is consumed by mobile switching equipment and around 15% by the core infrastructure. A typical 3G base station uses about 500W of input power to produce only about 40W of output RF power. The typical average annual energy consumption of a 3G base station is around 4.5MWh. So it is no wonder that with an estimated 5 million base stations globally, researchers are looking at ways of reducing the energy bill as well as the large amount of carbon dioxide emissions and heat.

5G Energy Efficiency:

In the communications space, power consumption and the resulting energy-related pollution are becoming major operational and economical concerns. The exponential increases projected in network traffic and the number of connected devices makes energy efficiency increasingly important. Thus, increasing energy efficiency in mobile networks will reduce the costs of capital and operational expenditures. 5G design requirements specify that energy use be reduced to 10 percent of current 4G networks. This includes reducing power requirements for radio base station antennas, as well as client devices such as smartphones and IoT devices to extend battery life.

Traditional mobile networks spend about 15 to 20 percent of overall power consumption on actual data traffic. The unused energy is wasted. Increasing energy efficiency has a huge potential to harness wasted power and deploy new technologies, which would further reduce power consumption. New technologies are being deployed in Mobile network infrastructures to reduce power consumption. These include cloud and virtualization technologies, new efficient antenna hardware, 5G small cell network architectures and more efficient network protocols.

Energy saving features of 5G New Radio:

The 5G NR standard has been designed based on the knowledge of the typical traffic activity in radio networks as well as the need to support sleep states in radio network equipment. By putting the base station into a sleep state when there is no traffic to serve i.e. switching off hardware components, it will consume less energy. The more components that are switched off, the more energy we will save.

In previous network technologies, such as LTE, there are frequent transmissions of always-on signals, like for instance cell specific reference signals (CRSs). These are needed to secure cell coverage and good connection with users. As a result, there are only very short durations (less than 1 ms) for the base station to sleep until the next required signal transmission occurs and only a small number of components with very fast reactivation times can thus be switched off when the base station is in idle mode, and this limits the possible energy savings of LTE.

5G NR, on the other hand, requires far less transmissions of always-on signaling transmissions. This, in turn, allows for both deeper and longer periods of sleep when there are little or no ongoing data transmissions, which has a significant impact on the overall network energy consumption.

Energy efficiency:

Measuring networking power consumption requires the capacity to determine how much energy wired and wireless networks consume. These amount to fairly big numbers of devices and power draw. According to Huawei’s Andrae, fixed access networks consumed about 167 TWh of electricity in 2015 while wireless networks consumed roughly 50 TWh globally. That’s a big number – 1 TWh is a trillion watts/hour. Because energy efficiency (EE) has become a priority, an efficiency measure, the number of bits transmitted per Joule of energy expended, has become a standard. Energy efficiency is usually defined as the number of bits that can be sent over a unit of power consumption which is usually quantified by bits per Joule. Having an efficiency metric to work with is useful especially as electricity costs in providing mobile phone/data service represent about 70 percent of the bill. However, a common concern is that if 5G offers much greater speed, say twenty times as much, a similar rise in energy consumption could follow. A general concern is that higher data rates can only be achieved by consuming more energy; if the EE [energy efficiency] is constant, then 100X higher data rate in 5G is associated with a 100X higher energy consumption. Today’s cellular site delivering 28Mbit/sec has an energy consumption of 1.35kW, leading to an EE of 20 Kbit/Joule. Recent research papers report EE numbers in the order of 10Mbit/Joule in 5G systems. So, it’s pretty clearly understood that just allowing unabated increases in power consumption is impossible and the aim for industry is to push energy utilization down, significantly.

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5G will in fact increase Energy Consumption!!

Telecoms operators will need to optimize electricity consumption in 5G networks to make services pay. The move to 5G could result in increased total network energy consumption of 150-170 percent by 2026. Research suggests most telecommunications professionals think that 5G is likely to increase telecommunication and mobile operators’ power consumption given the additional equipment and sites needed to provide greater coverage density. The operator is currently examining various ways to minimize that impact, including new cooling systems to improve thermal safety, greater use of renewal energy supplies, virtualized radio cores and remote infrastructure management platforms.

Challenges of 5G deployment, according to Zhengmao Li, EVP China Mobile (biggest operator on the world).

5G needs 3X base stations for same coverage as LTE due to higher frequencies
Power consumption of a 5G base station is 3X LTE
5G base station costs 4X price of LTE

The increased power consumption of next-generation base stations may be one of the dirty little secrets of 5G, which might not be a secret much longer as operators roll out initial networks. 5G base stations bump up the power requirements over 4G LTE, in part because of the massive antenna arrays (MIMO) used for the next generation tech. Earl Lum, president of EJL Wireless Research, says that MIMO increases the “power amplifiers” and “analog-to-digital paths” required, as well as overall digital circuitry in the units. For instance, typical 4G base stations now use 4 transmitter and 4 receiver (4T4R) elements, while 5G is expected to use 64T64R MIMO arrays.

The 5G Dilemma: More Base Stations, More Antennas—Less Energy?

A lurking threat behind the promise of 5G delivering up to 1,000 times as much data as today’s networks is that 5G could also consume up to 1,000 times as much energy. Concerns over energy efficiency are beginning to show up at conferences about 5G deployments, where methods for reducing energy consumption have become a hot topic. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has published challenging, measurable requirements on the data rates, latency, and reliability that a network needs to satisfy to be called 5G. While the ITU has also aimed for greater energy efficiency, it hasn’t established any measurable goals for it.

There are two elements expected to be fundamental parts of 5G networks: an increase in the number of small cells and the rise of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas.

When you deploy more small cells, the total energy consumption of a network will grow although energy consumption in a small cell is much lower than in a conventional cell. But, many more small cells will be needed to cover an area. That makes it hard to predict how large their net energy consumption will be.

There is one particular feature that will make 5G networks less energy demanding: the base stations in 5G can be put into a “sleep mode” (referred to as “ultra-lean design”) whenever there are no active users. This happens much more frequently than one might think. 4G networks need to transmit a lot of control signals even when no one is listening—for example, at night. According to recent research, the ultra-lean design that 5G networks are capable of will make it possible to put more components to sleep for a longer time, reducing energy consumption by almost 10 times compared to current systems when there are no users.

When it comes to massive MIMO, the technology involves the use of arrays with many more antennas at each base station. As a result, there are many more hardware components per base station. This will probably increase the total energy consumption of 5G base stations compared to 4G. But as massive MIMO technology develops, its energy efficiency may also improve over time. The upside of the refinements to massive MIMO hardware over time will be that this equipment can serve many more users at the same time and frequency. This capability is called spatial multiplexing and because of it, energy consumption is divided between users. If you spatially multiplex 10 users and need to spend twice the energy to do that, you will still be five times more energy efficient.

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Cooling issue:

The world’s telcos need a different, far less constrained, business model than what 4G has left them with. The only way they can accomplish this is with an infrastructure that generates radically lower costs than the current scenario, particularly for maintaining, and mainly cooling, their base station equipment.

Cooling and the costs associated with facilitating and managing cooling equipment, according to studies from analysts and telcos worldwide, account for more than half of telcos’ total expenses for operating their wireless networks. Global warming is a direct contributor to compound annual increases in wireless network costs. Ironically, as 2017 study by China’s National Science Foundation asserts, the act of cooling 4G LTE equipment alone may contribute as much as 2% to the entire global warming problem.

The 2013 edition of a study by China Mobile, that country’s state-licensed service provider, examined the high costs of maintaining energy-inefficient equipment in its 3G wireless network, which happens to be the largest on the planet in both territory and customers served. In 2012, CM estimated its network had consumed 14 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually. As much as 46% of the electricity consumed by each base station, it estimated, was devoted to air conditioning. That study proposed a new method of constructing, deploying, and managing network base stations. Called Cloud architecture RAN (C-RAN), it’s a method of building, distributing, and maintaining transmitter antennas that history will record as having triggered the entire 5G movement. One of the hallmarks of C-RAN cell site architecture is the total elimination of the on-site base band unit (BBU) processors, which were typically co-located with the site’s radio head. That functionality is instead virtualized and moved to a centralized cloud platform, for which multiple BBUs’ control systems share tenancy, in what’s called the baseband pool. The cloud data center is powered and cooled independently, and linked to each of the base stations by no greater than 40km of fiber optic cable. Moving BBU processing to the cloud eliminates an entire base transmission system (BTS) equipment room from the base station (BS). It also completely abolishes the principal source of heat generation inside the BS, making it feasible for much, if not all, of the remaining equipment to be cooled passively — literally, by exposure to the open air. The configuration of that equipment could then be optimized. The goal for this optimization is to reduce a single site’s power consumption by over 75%.

Keep in mind, though, that China Mobile’s figures pertained to deploying and maintaining 3G equipment, not 5G. But the new standards for transmission and network access, called 5G New Radio (5G NR), are being designed with C-RAN ideals in mind, so that the equipment never generates enough heat to require air-conditioning.

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Is 5G good for your Smartphone Battery?

The goal for 5G devices is to increase battery life to:

At least three days for smartphones
Up to 15 years for cellular IoT devices

There are two main thoughts on this. Put simply, experts argue that your battery will either be vastly improved or dramatically reduced.

The debate about 5G’s impact on battery life first came to prominence at the 2018 MWC. Lowell McAdam, the head of Verizon, claimed at the 2018 MWC that the natural consequence of 5G will be month long phone battery. McAdam’s suggested that 5G phones will have a lower latency, going from 100ms to less than 1ms. This improvement, coupled with the Internet of Things becoming more important with devices, would dramatically increase battery life. Automating daily tasks would mean much of the computing power that drains your battery wouldn’t be needed, ensuring thinner devices and extremely extended battery life.

However, not everyone follows this point of view. In fact, Mike Elgan has written that because 5G is currently a city-based technology, it is going to ‘disappoint everyone’. Large cities around the world have already begun testing 5G coverage, but most countries don’t have full 4G coverage yet. The rollout of 5G won’t be for everyone with a 5G enabled phone. The chips that power 5G, Elgan claims, are incredibly draining to phone battery. The batteries announced with 5G Folding phones are currently disappointing. Moreover, companies such as Qualcomm announced that their phones will have all day battery life. This is a far cry from the month-long battery McAdam’s has predicted.

If you’ve been holding off on buying a 5G device because you’re concerned about cellular power drain, don’t fret: 5G devices are actually capable of delivering greater energy efficiency than 4G LTE models, according to a new study by the Signals Research Group (SRG), though either 5G or 4G may consume less power depending on the bit rates and applications being used at a given moment.

SRG’s test in Minneapolis, Minnesota used Verizon’s 5G and 4G networks with the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, specifically the U.S. model containing the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and X50 modem components used in other early 5G devices. Armed with test equipment from Accuver and Spirent, SRG ran battery current tests at 5Mbps, 30Mbps, and “maximum possible” bit rates, switching between two 5G radio conditions and multiple 4G conditions, including two- and three-carrier aggregation.

The results were mixed but generally positive for 5G devices. At maximum possible bit rates, which on Verizon’s millimeter wave 5G network can be in the 1Gbps range, 5G could be “meaningfully more energy efficient than LTE.” That continued to be true for “relatively modest 5G” speeds compared with much faster LTE than is generally found in the U.S. But the tables turned when the network was constrained to lower bit rates, where 4G was more energy efficient than 5G, presumably since 5G uses more power when it’s on, and needs to stay on longer to transmit the same amount of data. In other words, early 5G chips are able to blast huge amounts of data (say, one large file) with much greater power efficiency than typical 4G, but suffer when they’re forced to dribble data (say, typical web pages with tons of small files) out at 4G-like speeds. Since early 5G devices can simultaneously connect to 4G and 5G networks, software optimizations should enable them to make better choices about where to transmit their data.

Practically, SRG says that 5G’s power advantages and disadvantages don’t matter much, since other elements of phone usage — particularly the backlight — have much larger impacts on battery life than the cellular chip. To the extent that 5G enables a user to cut down on screen time during downloads or waiting for results, that could carry over to reducing backlight use as well. 5G device users should expect enough battery life from a 4,400mAh cell to last an entire normal work day, unless they aggressively attempt to deplete it under extreme conditions. In the early stages of 5G, there may be increased battery usage due to switching between signals as you move in and out of 5G service areas. As coverage increases battery life will improve and should become better than LTE with chip improvements.

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Power failure may put 5G networks in peril:

As this new technology becomes an essential element of daily life, a power blackout shutting it down could have dire consequences. Many do not realize that a major blackout – man-made or caused by a natural disaster – could not only disrupt 5G networks, but also bring down a large chunk of the economy with it. Just like its predecessors, 5G networks are reliant on a constant supply of power. However, unlike its predecessors, 5G is anticipated to play a much more important role in our daily lives. Therefore, there is a genuine risk that in the near future blackouts or power shortages could disrupt 5G networks and have perilous consequences for society at large. In the event of a 5G network failure, the entire ecosystem of countless connected devices could collapse. Autonomous vehicles, drones and other driverless types of technology would come to a standstill, people could be locked out of their smart homes, municipal infrastructure could stop working, and some critical service providers would take a hit too. In other words, large segments of the society and the economy could come to a screeching halt. Obviously, blackouts already can and do have dire consequences. However, as society becomes more dependent on 5G networks, the stakes of these events will rise exponentially. This is because even devices or machinery that do not rely on a continuous flow of electricity, as they have built-in power storage or generation capacity, would also go down in the event of a power outage – not directly because of the blackout itself but because they rely on 5G, which is disabled by the blackout. Therefore, when preparing for the onset of 5G technology, it would be wise for relevant authorities to take into consideration not only the benefits, but also the potential risks that greater interdependencies and connectivity might lead to. To this end, the energy industry needs to double down on efforts to strengthen power grids and related infrastructure resilience.

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SWIPT:

In addition to transmitting or harvesting data, energy can also be moved in 5G networks. With 5G, one of the novel technologies being considered is Radio Frequency (RF) harvesting; converting energy in transmitted radio waves to user devices or even wireless infrastructure (microcells, antenna arrays, etc.). Since RF signals can carry both energy and information, theoretically RF energy harvesting and information reception can be performed from the same RF input signal. This scheme is referred to as the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). The hardware to support this doesn’t exist yet, but it has promise. However, since the operating power of the energy-harvesting component is much higher than that of the information decoding component, the energy harvesting zone is smaller than the information transmission zone.

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5G pros and cons:

Advantages of 5G

Data rates of about 10 Gbps or higher can be achieved. which provides the user with better experience and download and upload speeds will be higher.
High resolution and bi-directional large bandwidth shaping.
5G mmwave can achieve latency rate less than 1 ms. which will lead to immediate connection establishment and release with the 5G network by 5G smartphones. Hence traffic load is decreased on 5G
Possible to provide a uniform, consistent and uninterrupted, connectivity across the world.
Technology is able to gather all networks on one platform.
5G offers 10x decrease in latency, 100x traffic capacity, 10x connection density, 3x spectrum efficiency, and 100x network efficiency.
Easily manageable with the previous generations.
Technology facilitates subscriber supervision tools for quick action.

Technological sound to support heterogeneous services (including private network).
Parallel multiple services, such as you can know weather and location while talking with other person.
You can control your PCs by handsets.
Education will become easier − A student sitting in any part of world can attend the class.
Medical Treatment will become easier & frugal − A doctor can treat the patient located in remote part of the world.
Monitoring will be easier − A governmental organization and investigating offers can monitor any part of the world. Possible to reduce the crime rate.
Visualizing universe, galaxies, and planets will be possible.
Possible to locate and search the missing person.
Possible, natural disaster including tsunami, earthquake etc. can be detected faster.
5G will usher in a large number of new applications – for use cases that are not even close to being possible in the 3G/4G regime. 5G will be of value for drones for delivery, autonomous vehicles, monitoring and predictive maintenance, and creation of smart cities. All 5G use cases in general, and the AR/VR capabilities in particular will make use of very high bandwidth application.
Along with artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing, 5G wireless technology will be right at the heart of the burgeoning IoT revolution over the next half a decade or so. Apart from expanding the realms of possibilities for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), 5G is also expected to play a major role in the development of Industry 4.0 in general, smart city applications, smart industrial software, powering connected cars, and smart homes & buildings. Seamless mobility, negligible latency, full scalability, and (hopefully) reliability will help 5G in making many high-end, mission-critical IoT projects implementable with ease. The general feeling is that the improved performance levels and network capacities of 5G technology will make it a key driver of ‘massive IoT’.
5G is switch to a Software-Defined Standard. 5G might very well turn out to be the last incremental update in wireless connectivity. Unlike 4G (and older generations), which is determined by modulation and frequency (i.e., interface-defined), 5G will be the first-ever software-defined wireless standard. New frequency bands/waves can be quickly included in 5G networks, and since everything becomes programmable – newer wireless protocols will become available via software updates.
5G is a solution for the “Last-Mile Issue”. 5G should finally be able to offer a way to resolve the much-talked-about ‘last-mile issue’, related to the non-availability of network connectivity in rural/sparsely populated semi-urban areas. Even in a developed nation like the United States, these problems exist in a big way – and what’s more, the creation of hi-speed fiber-based networks is not an economically viable solution for such areas. With the help of the 5G technology, it will be possible to build powerful wireless hotspots and make internet in non-urban areas more mainstream.

Disadvantages of 5G:

5G types of equipment are costly, requires skilled engineers to install and maintain a 5G network. This increases the cost of 5G deployment and maintenance phases
5G technology is still under process and research is going on.
5G smartphones are costly. Hence it will take time for the common man to make use of 5G technology. 4G handsets cannot be transformed into 5G handsets.
Security and privacy issue yet to be solved in 5G.
Coverage distance of up to 2 meters (in indoor) and 300 meters (in outdoor) can be achieved due to higher losses at high frequencies (such as millimeter waves). 5G mmwave may suffer many such losses (penetration loss, attenuation due to rain, foliage loss, etc. A genuine drawback is that 5G’s range isn’t great, especially when obstructions such as trees or buildings exist. As a result, telecom carriers will deploy many more small cellular radios or antennas, called small cells and sized like a backpack, in areas that get a 5G signal — as close to each other as hundreds of feet apart. They are typically installed on existing utility poles or streetlights.
Telecom network operators can charge huge amount from users to provide the 5G services.
The biggest issue may be rural access: how will carriers bring 5G to northern Arizona or southern New Mexico, for example, where no G’s are still often the reality? The FCC plans to cover 90% of the population with millions of small cells in the next five years, but that 90% only covers 36% of geography — mostly urban areas. Getting massive bandwidth to rural America using the current 5G infrastructure technology that relies on small cell antennas is essentially impossible. When it is impossible for rural America, it is impossible for rural areas of the rest of the world.

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4G vs. 5G:

Comparison of key capabilities of IMT-Advanced (4G) with IMT-2020 (5G) according to ITU-R M.2083 are depicted in the figure below:

If you’ve ever watched YouTube on your phone and noticed the streaming quality plummet, you’ve been a victim of network congestion and low bandwidth. This is a common problem on 3G and 4G networks, where the radio frequencies used to transfer data can only support a limited number of devices at once. 5G technology looks to change that. Because 5G uses higher radio frequencies, it supports higher data speeds with less device interference. In fact, 5G can support 10 times more devices per meter than 4G can. That translates to more consistent data speeds for high-quality streaming (like HD videos) for more devices per square kilometer. That’s especially useful in a place like New York City, where millions of people use the same networks in a small area. But 5G doesn’t come without its drawbacks. The same radio frequencies used to improve speeds and network congestion do not penetrate buildings or walls very well, and they also don’t travel as far. That’s why 5G phones also come with 4G antennas to seamlessly switch between 5G and 4G cellular networks as needed. Through a combination of high speeds, massive bandwidth and super low latency, 5G will allow for improvements in AR, VR, robotics, cloud gaming, immersive education, healthcare and more. It will allow you to send so much more data so much faster and technology will be more responsive.

How 5G to differ from 4G in performance:

Improved precision:

5G uses unique radio frequencies that are higher and more directional than those used by 4G. The directionality of 5G is important because 4G towers send data all over, which can waste power and energy and ultimately weaken access to the internet. 4G networks use frequencies below 6 GHz, while 5G will use much higher frequencies in the 30 GHz to 300 GHz range. The larger the frequency, the greater its ability to support fast data without interfering with other wireless signals or becoming overly cluttered. 5G also uses shorter wavelengths than 4G, which means antennas can be shorter without interfering with the direction of the wavelengths. 5G can therefore support approximately 10 times more devices per kilometer than 4G. On 5G, more data will more quickly get to more people with less latency and disruption to meet surging data demands. 5G networks can also more precisely understand the data being requested and can self-modulate power mode (low when not in use or high when you’re streaming HD video, for example), generally making devices more user-friendly.

Low latency:

With 5G, it takes less time for the signal to travel, which translates to low levels of latency i.e. latency of a millisecond on 5G networks. Pages will load much faster, allowing for a significantly greater immersive experience, particularly in the realms of VR and AR. Technologies such as AI and machine learning offer great potential, but require high bandwidth and low latency to achieve optimal performance. Autonomous cars could use live maps for real-time navigation on 5G, which is crucial to their efficacy, and could eliminate some of the problems currently experienced with self-driving cars.

Higher download speeds:

Everybody wants their device to be working at peak speed, and this is easier to achieve when there are fewer devices and other interferences affecting speed. 5G has the potential to be 20 times faster than 4G, meaning you can download things 20 times faster or download more in less time. 5G has a peak speed of 20 Gb/s, while 4G’s is only 1 Gb/s.

How 4G and 5G network differ:

The main difference is that 5G can use a higher frequency… 60GHz vs 5GHz, 3.7GHz or 1.8Ghz – popular cellular frequencies. Because the carrier frequency is higher, it can support a much higher data rate. One should also note that 5G cellular is not a replacement for 4G cellular service. The range is much too short at the higher frequencies it uses. Rather, it is a potential replacement for Wi-Fi. The advantage is that unlike Wi-Fi, it is cellular, which means it supports roaming i.e., you can go from one access point to another without losing your connection. Can’t do that with Wi-Fi. There may also be some manufacturing efficiencies because of the similarity to 4G.

First and foremost, while the LTE-based 4G networks are going through a rapid deployment, 5G networks mostly comprise of research papers and pilot projects. The wireless industry is broadly targeting 2020 for the widespread deployment of 5G networks.
Wireless networks till 4G mostly focused on the availability of raw bandwidth, while 5G is aiming on providing pervasive connectivity to lay grounds for fast and resilient access to the Internet users, whether they are on a top of a skyscraper or down under a subway station. Although LTE standard is incorporating a variant called machine type communications (MTC) for the IoT traffic, 5G technologies are being designed from grounds up to support MTC-like devices.
The 5G networks are not going to be a monolithic network entity and will be built around a combination of technologies: 2G, 3G, LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, M2M, etc. In other words, 5G will be designed to support a variety of applications such as the IoT, connected wearables, augmented reality and immersive gaming.

Unlike its 4G counterpart, 5G network will offer the ability to handle a plethora of connected devices and a myriad of traffic types. For example, 5G will provide ultra-high-speed links for HD video streaming as well as low-data-rate speeds for sensor networks.

The 5G networks will pioneer new architectures like cloud RAN and virtual RAN to facilitate a more centralized network establishment and make the best use of server farms through localized data centers at the network edges.
Finally, 5G will spearhead the use of cognitive radio techniques to allow the infrastructure to automatically decide about the type of channel to be offered, differentiate between mobile and fixed objects, and adapt to conditions at a given time. In other words, 5G networks will be able to serve the industrial Internet and Facebook apps at the same time.

Today we enjoy the benefits of on-the-go mobile data thanks to 4G wireless technology. 4G LTE advanced comes equipped with an alphabet soup of features like multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), further enhanced intercell interference coordination (FeICIC), co-ordinated multipoint (CoMP), beamforming, enhanced multimedia broadcast multicast system (eMBMS), license assisted access (LAA), higher order modulation with 256QAM, carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC) and many more all supported in frequency and time division duplex (FDD and TDD) bands. But all that is a prologue to the rollout of the fifth generation of wireless technology, better known as 5G. Obviously, 5G should be better than its predecessor.

A new type of mobile network wouldn’t be new if it wasn’t, in some way, fundamentally different than existing ones. One fundamental difference is 5G’s use of unique radio frequencies to achieve what 4G networks cannot. The radio spectrum is broken up into bands, each with unique features as you move up into higher frequencies. 4G networks use frequencies below 6 GHz, but 5G uses extremely high frequencies in the 30 GHz to 300 GHz range. These high frequencies are great for a number of reasons, one of the most important being that they support a huge capacity for fast data. Not only are they less cluttered with existing cellular data, and so can be used in the future for increasing bandwidth demands, they’re also highly directional and can be used right next to other wireless signals without causing interference. This is very different than 4G towers that fire data in all directions, potentially wasting both energy and power to beam radio waves at locations that aren’t even requesting access to the internet. 5G also uses shorter wavelengths, which means that antennas can be much smaller than existing antennas while still providing precise directional control. Since one base station can utilize even more directional antennas, it means that 5G can support over 10 times more devices per kilometer than what’s supported by 4G. What all of this means is that 5G networks can beam ultrafast data to a lot more users, with high precision and little latency. However, most of these super-high frequencies work only if there’s a clear, direct line-of-sight between the antenna and the device receiving the signal. What’s more is that some of these high frequencies are easily absorbed by humidity, rain, and other objects, meaning that they don’t travel as far. It’s for these reasons that we can expect lots of strategically placed antennas to support 5G, either really small ones in every room or building that needs it or large ones positioned throughout a city; maybe even both. There will also probably be many repeating stations to push the radio waves as far as possible to provide long range 5G support. While 4G LTE relies upon relatively few large masts that are built miles apart, 5G will require lots of small cells much closer together. These mini 5G base stations may be placed on top of streetlights or on the sides of buildings every few hundred feet in urban areas. Logistically building a network like this out is going to be a challenge, it’s going to be expensive, and it’s going to take time. Another difference between 5G and 4G is that 5G networks can more easily understand the type of data being requested, and are able to switch into a lower power mode when not in use or when supplying low rates to specific devices, but then switch to a higher powered mode for things like HD video streaming.

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4G and 5G coexistence:

Will 5G replace 4G? No.

5G cell phones will fall back to 4G coverage mode when no 5G signal is detected (just like 4G defaults to 3G when no 4G signal detected) for current 4G signal boosters to help out. This will happen quite extensively because: A) 5G coverage area is going to be limited to very few cities initially. B) 5G frequencies have much weaker penetration power than 4G frequencies so in-building coverage will mostly fall-back to 4G LTE. The current 4G frequencies that the cell carriers operate today will continue to be used well into the future for their 4G LTE backup network.

The move from 4G to 5G is different from past network upgrades. 5G isn’t replacing 4G, like how 4G overtook 3G. Instead, 5G is building on 4G LTE, using updated radios and software. Right now, if you have an early 5G phone and upload videos to Google Photos, you’re actually using a 4G LTE connection for that uplink. This is the first time so many aspects of the old and new network are shared. Some things we’ll do for 5G are inherently backward compatible and will lift the capabilities of 4G. According to a GSMA Intelligence report, 15% of global mobile connections will be on 5G by 2025. By that same year, 4G LTE usage will be about 59% — an increase from 43% in 2018. In short, 5G will not replace LTE in the way that 4G did with 3G when it launched. Even if 5G becomes an even bigger part of the market by 2025 than estimated today, it will complement rather than replace LTE.

The first 5G connections still need 4G

Right now, 5G networks are something called “non standalone.” They need 4G as the anchor to make that initial handshake between a phone and network before passing the device along to a 5G connection. Using non standalone technology allows carriers to roll out 5G more quickly than if they had to completely overhaul their entire networks with new hardware. With non standalone mode, [carriers] retain the same 4G core network and simply add 5G radios. The next flavor of 5G network, called “standalone,” lets a phone go straight to 5G, but it could take several years to roll out globally.

4G will remain great (for some)

Even when 5G is widespread, phones and networks in world will need to access older wireless technologies. Parts of rural areas, may not have 5G for years, and there are some devices, like smart locks and other smart home products, that may use 4G for a decade or longer. Until they do get an upgrade, 4G is more than enough for Internet of Things devices. Right now, most smart home devices don’t even use 4G but instead opt for Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections. Those products typically don’t use a lot of data, so a super fast network isn’t critical. Smart home products also require long battery life, and 5G’s power consumption may not be low enough for battery-powered IoT devices. At the same time, 5G chips are pricey, so something like a $10 smart light bulb may need cheaper connectivity components.

4G and 5G networks can share spectrum

All wireless signals travel over invisible airwaves via radio frequency called spectrum. The amount of spectrum is limited, and two carriers can’t use the same spectrum at the same time. 2G, 3G and 4G connections can’t share the same spectrum, either. They each need their own dedicated lanes to deliver service. Something called spectrum refarming lets carriers shift older spectrum to new wireless networks, like moving from 3G to 4G. Spectrum re-farming is the process of re-deploying spectrum from available users and re-allocating it to others. That’s essential to free up spectrum for new uses, like all of those apps we download on our 4G devices. In the past, carriers had to wait until essentially all users of an older network had left a particular spectrum band before it could be changed to the newer technology. It was either 3G or 4G — not both. The problem with refarming was it could take 10 years. That changes when it comes to 5G, thanks to something called dynamic spectrum sharing, or DSS. DSS technology allows carriers to employ the same spectrum band for 4G and 5G. As people transition to 5G, “lanes” for 4G will be kept open for smart home devices and users who aren’t on 5G yet. As more people leave 4G, its capacity increases and so will speeds. And something called dual connectivity, which is available today, lets phones run on both 4G and 5G networks to make sure you never drop a signal even if you move out of 5G range. It also combines the two to give you faster speeds. Sprint’s 5G network, which uses mid-band spectrum has a feature called “split-mode” — essential dual connectivity — that lets Sprint simultaneously deliver 4G LTE Advanced and 5G service. It gives Sprint “a nearly identical footprint for both 4G LTE and 5G NR coverage. On the same hardware, you kill two birds with one phone.

Combining 4G and 5G signals

Another 4G and 5G technology, called carrier aggregation, has the ability to combine multiple wireless signals into one. This allows for even higher speeds than when running on one band by itself. It’s like combining several one-lane roads to make a multi-lane highway with a faster speed limit. Carrier aggregation is commonly used to combine 4G signals with other 4G signals, which provided a huge performance and capacity lift. Soon carriers soon will be able to combine 4G and 5G with carrier aggregation. In the US, the network operators could start using the technology as soon as 2020. When 5G carrier aggregation happens, operators can combine millimeter wave for downloads and sub-6Ghz for uploads. Or they can do a combination of sub-6Ghz and sub-6Ghz, or sub-6Ghz plus 4G LTE and so on and so forth.

4G connections should get faster

While 5G is new and will keep improving, so too will 4G. 5G builds on 4G, so users will see faster 4G LTE speeds — particularly when paired with 5G. They’ll also see lower latencies thanks to the steps operators are taking with 5G. But 4G chips likely won’t see huge speed increases on their own. Instead, it will seek to boost 4G speeds only on modems that also have 5G connectivity. For standalone 4G chipsets, the speeds we have [today] is the way they’ll remain but when a customer buys a 5G solution, they’ll get 5G plus a much higher 4G [speed] built in. The fastest version of 4G LTE available in the US today is called LTE Advanced (AT&T calls it 5G E). In the case of Qualcomm’s X24 modem, devices can use carrier aggregation and other techniques to get peak download rates of 2Gbps. As more people move to 5G, there won’t be as many phones on 4G networks. That frees up capacity and gives you speeds closer to the peaks. Because of DSS, the carriers know they can easily switch their 4G connections to 5G when more devices connect to the newer network, so there’s little downside in building out 4G right now.

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Which is better for you? 4G or 5G?

The answer to this question depends on where you live, your budget and your business and personal needs. At the moment, it’s probably not going to make much difference to you whether you’re connected with 4G or 5G. The things we do with our phones today are all things that 4G can do just fine: browse Facebook, stream music and watch Netflix. 5G’s faster speeds will be most noticeable for high intensity use like downloading and uploading large files. On top of that, at the moment, 5G networks are only available in some cities. And there are only a few 5G phones and 5G mobile broadband devices on the market. However, 5G connectivity and devices will start to become more widely available over the next few years. And as they do, our phone usage will likely change in response to the new possibilities. At some point in the future, there will probably be things you want to do with your phone that you can’t do with 4G. But by then, your phone and your network will probably be 5G capable.

Will 5G be more expensive than 4G?

Right now, the answer is yes, for a couple of reasons. The first is that 5G smartphones on the market right now are super expensive. The second is that telcos will probably charge a premium for 5G network access, in the early years of the technology’s adoption. The reason for the premiums is that, as with all new technologies, 5G networks and phones are just really expensive to make. Phone manufacturers and network providers are likely to offset the cost of the new tech’s research and development by passing it on to consumers. The good news is that, just like all good new technologies, prices should go down over time, until 5G is just another feature, and not one you’ll pay extra for.

What will happen to 4G and 3G networks?

It’s important to note that 5G won’t replace 4G, in the same way that 4G didn’t replace 3G. Right now, 4G and 3G networks exist simultaneously, with 3G offering essential support to the 4G networks and acting as a bridge between the major cities. 3G also provides the backbone coverage in many less populous areas. We expect 4G and 5G to work together in a similar way. But the arrival of 5G will mean the end for 3G, with telcos already winding down parts of their 3G networks. Nearly every modern phone in west is 4G-capable, so this shouldn’t make a difference to whether or not you can use your phone. What it does mean is that we’ll all get a minimum of 4G coverage everywhere, which is great news for those living in remote areas.

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Is it worth upgrading to 5G?

New research is suggesting London 5G speeds are getting the promised boost, though the overall experience might disappoint a few. Global Wireless Solutions, a US network benchmarking, analysis and testing firm, released its examination of the London networks of EE, Vodafone and O2, and while there is success evident in the first months, there is still plenty of work to be done. The spikes in the test data reveal that promises of faster speeds can be delivered, but ultimately, it’s the consistency and reliability that is most important to consumers. Based on the limited number of sites with 5G antennas combined with the distance constraints of higher frequency 5G signals, it’s going to be a challenge to get 5G access in buildings. According to the analysis, the MNOs are delivering the high-speed download experience which has been promised through 5G, though only if you are standing in the right place. On the latency side, Global Wireless Solutions has indicated there is no meaningful upgrade from 4G connectivity. This is not entirely surprising, as without a 5G core the full-suite of latency services will not be available, though one might have expected an incremental upgrade. Secondly, the team has noted the drop-off rate is high. By making use of higher-frequency airwaves for 5G connectivity, coverage will be shorter. There is no way around this, the laws of physics dictate the state of play here. As 5G is currently being built on existing passive infrastructure, designed for 4G spectrum with larger coverage cones, the problem is unavoidable.

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Wi-fi vs. 5G:

Wi-Fi is a short name for Wireless Fidelity. Wi-Fi is a family of wireless networking technologies, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access. Wi-Fi relies on unlicensed spectrum which is free for anyone to use, but the signal is relatively weak. We pay an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to deliver the internet to our door and then use a router to fill our house with Wi-Fi. Using the same frequency band as your neighbors can be a problem, especially if you live in a very densely populated area. The two frequencies that Wi-Fi uses are 2.4GHz and 5GHz. In simple terms, 2.4GHz has a lower potential top speed but penetrates better, so it has a longer range than 5GHz. Each frequency band used in Wi-Fi is divided up into multiple “channels”. It’s worth noting that 5GHz Wi-Fi has absolutely nothing to do with 5G mobile networks.

In everyday life, most of us rely on Wi-Fi at home or in the office — or in coffee shops — and mobile networks when we step out the front door and move out of range of the router. Our smartphones switch automatically and we don’t have to give it any thought, because the important thing is simply having a good connection at all times. That scenario will continue to be the case for the vast majority of people after 5G rolls out. The difference is that both mobile networks and Wi-Fi are going to get faster.

Wi-Fi has traditionally been very confusing in terms of the naming conventions for standards. It went from 802.11b to 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11n, and then 802.11ac, but thankfully the Wi-Fi Alliance (and hopefully the industry at large) has accepted the need for something less perplexing and so the next standard, 802.11ax is going to be called Wi-Fi 6. This simpler naming convention is also being retrofitted, so 802.11ac will become Wi-Fi 5 and so on. The new Wi-Fi 6 standard should offer speeds at least four times greater than Wi-Fi 5, but it will also bring improvements in efficiency and capacity designed to cope with the growing number of devices in the average home that connect to the internet. Just like 5G, Wi-Fi 6 will complement, not replace, existing Wi-Fi standards.

Wi-Fi is nearly ubiquitous for connecting mobile laptops, tablets and other devices to enterprise networks. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is the latest version of Wi-Fi and brings the promise of increased speed, low latency, improved aggregate bandwidth and advanced traffic management. There are two key technologies speeding up Wi-Fi 6 connections: MU-MIMO and OFDMA. Wi-Fi 6 expands the Wi-Fi band from 80 MHz to 160 MHz, doubling the channel width and creating a faster connection from your router to the device. With Wi-Fi 6, you can enjoy 8K movies, large file downloads and uploads, and responsive smart home devices – all without buffering. While it has some similarities with 5G (both are based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access), Wi-Fi 6 is less prone to interference, requires less power (which prolongs device battery life) and has improved spectral efficiency. As is typical for Wi-Fi, early vendor-specific versions of Wi-Fi 6 are currently available from many manufacturers. The Wi-Fi alliance plans for certification of Wi-Fi 6-standard gear in 2020. Most enterprises will upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 standard. The new Wi-Fi 6 wireless standard (also known as 802.11ax) shares traits with 5G, including improved performance. Wi-Fi 6 radios can be placed where users need them to provide better geographical coverage and lower cost. Underlying these Wi-Fi 6 radios is a software-based network with advanced automation.

The new 802.11ah standard aims to deliver superior penetration and power savings to boot by operating in the unlicensed 900MHz spectrum. Today’s Wi-Fi gear operates at either 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Their higher frequencies make it harder for the signals to maintain their strength as they pass through obstructions. Way down at 900MHz, though, things like walls, floors, and doors won’t be as much of a problem. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, 802.11ah will also achieve nearly double the range of current standards. There’s another bonus, too. Because the signal doesn’t degrade as much when it passes through objects, devices don’t consume as much power while sending and receiving data. Wi-Fi 802.11ah is not Wi-Fi 6 but associated technology.

5G vs. 5G E vs. 5GHz:

5G is a new cellular standard, 5GHz Wi-Fi is an established home networking system, and “5G E” is just AT&T marketing for its 4G advanced network.

5GHz Wi-Fi is a short range, home networking system that operates in the five-gigahertz radio band. It’s been around since 1999, but it became more popular when 802.11n home routers were released in 2009. Most Wi-Fi devices support it now. Wi-Fi primarily uses two frequency bands, 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Because the 2.4GHz band is the default for most devices, only has three available clear channels, and is shared by Bluetooth, remote controls, and microwave ovens, the 2.4GHz band can get very crowded and speeds can become very low. 5GHz Wi-Fi has more available channels and can typically run much faster, but it has somewhat shorter range than 2.4GHz. If you can use 5GHz Wi-Fi at home, you probably should.

5G Cellular is neither 5GHz nor “5G E”

The 5G that all of the wireless carriers are installing is the fifth generation of cell phone networks. If you’re talking about Wi-Fi, “5G(Hz)” refers to a frequency band: five gigahertz. If you’re talking about cellular, the “G” stands for “generation.” They’re completely different terms.

5GHz Wi-Fi is not same as 5G Wi-Fi.

5G is the next-generation mobile technology defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). Wi-Fi is defined/standardized by IEEE and promoted/certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, not 3GPP. A 5G user will be able to seamlessly use 5G, 4G, and Wi-Fi since 5G will interwork both with 4G and Wi-Fi, allowing a user to simultaneously be connected to 5G New Radio (NR), LTE or Wi-Fi. Similar to Wi-Fi, 5G NR will also be designed for unlicensed spectrum without requiring access to licensed spectrum, which allows more entities to deploy 5G and enjoy the benefits of 5G technology.

5G Wi-Fi:

5G Wi-Fi is simply Wi-Fi that’s providing internet access from a 5G wireless network. We all have wi-fi router at home which connects to 4G cellular network to provide internet to our laptop. Here we need special router (5G hub) that connects to 5G network and provide internet to our laptop or smartphone. One way this works is through 5G fixed wireless access (FWA), which is a base station that wirelessly connects directly to an end-user’s location, specifically to a fixed wireless terminal (FWT) on the premises, like your home or business. You can also use a 5G hotspot to turn the mobile network connection into Wi-Fi for your local devices like a tablet, iPod touch, laptop, etc. 5G Wi-Fi could be a good idea for a number of reasons. For starters, it’s really fast—at a minimum theoretical speed of 20 Gbps (2.5 GBs) per cell, it’s over 10 times faster than 4G and most likely faster than many types of wired home connections. Another aspect is the extremely low latency standard that 5G networks are required to abide by. This means that everything you currently do on the internet is a lot faster with 5G Wi-Fi, like when downloading files, sharing data, uploading videos, playing online games, streaming movies, etc. All your devices can connect to the internet without suffering from congestion, video buffering, random disconnects, and other bandwidth related hiccups, meaning even more bandwidth-demanding devices can be used at home like virtual reality headsets, augmented reality apps, etc. Another benefit to 5G Wi-Fi is its reduced cost. Lots of the expense related to network infrastructure, especially high-speed technology like fiber, is the hardware between the provider and the home or business. For traditional wired networks, this means lots and lots of cabling and other equipment, most of which goes away in a 5G Wi-Fi system.

Verizon is currently the only major carrier that offers 5G Wi-Fi in the United States, but it’s only available in a few cities. You can’t get 5G Wi-Fi everywhere just yet because not all companies have upgraded their infrastructure to support 5G technology. Its release date depends on many factors, including your location and service provider, but most are looking at 2020 to be the year 5G really emerges as the next big mobile networking technology.

The flip side is that you can connect to cellular towers almost everywhere. Even with the increasing spread of public Wi-Fi networks, you can’t connect to Wi-Fi as frequently as you can your cell phone network. One way we’re being promised that 5G will change the connected future is by keeping more devices online in more places for more of the time—think the security camera in your living room or the self-driving car roving around your nearest city.

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For 5G, Wi-Fi will continue to be a complementary solution:

5G, and specifically 5GNR, has the potential to be disruptive in wireless hotspot connectivity. Despite that, Wi-Fi is also evolving and is achieving gigabit speeds with the latest version of 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6). The ax standard solves the congestion problems of Wi-Fi by completely redesigning how Wi-Fi works and taking some best practices from LTE, making it significantly faster and less congested. It will also improve battery life.

From a technological point of view, 5G cellular is powerful enough to substitute existing Wi-Fi and could provide a much more consistent user experience. However, it needs a strong business case to justify the transition given the two technologies have very different market positioning. Any proposed replacement technology must have a demonstrable and sustainable competitive advantage in at least one dimension (technology, financial, operations and so on), or it will fail.

Wi-Fi is a technology which is a local-area wireless network-based internet service. Despite using unlicensed spectrum, Wi-Fi has gained mass adoption commercially due to its cost effectiveness, devices support and ease of deployment. Various versions of Wi-Fi have been in place today with 4G LTE to supplement indoor connectivity and help offload the network traffic. Wi-Fi also has access to a large trunk of spectrum, owing to a lengthy base of experience. Through dense deployments, spectrum is optimized via specialized protocols and is reused efficiently via small cells. Its massive installed base has helped Wi-Fi achieve the economy of scale that is very difficult to be replaced.

Wi-Fi is widely used as an indoor connectivity solution everywhere in the world. Operators will continue to implement a strategy of heterogeneous networks (HetNet) comprising 5G, LTE and Wi-Fi, which is the most cost-effective option to cooperate wireless WANs and LANs.

Wi-Fi 6 vs 5G:

When it comes to Wi-Fi 6 vs 5G, it’s not really an either or situation—they’re both likely to end up being widely used in the years to come. As is the case now, the cellular tech will probably continue to be more frequently used in the outdoors at a large scale, while Wi-Fi will probably still be of most use indoors.

5G hub can replace your Wi-Fi router:

5G hubs that work like Wi-Fi for your home are already here (HTC 5G hub). The 5G Hub is able to work on 5G and 4G networks, can support up to 20 devices via Wi-Fi, and has a single Ethernet port and USB-C port. The Hub is said to be capable of up to 24 hours of active use, runs Android 9 Pie, and has a 5-inch touch screen. It’s a small, wedge-shaped device that you can leave at home or work, or toss in your backpack to use on the go. It’s heavier than a phone, but not enough to be dramatically noticeable if it’s in a bag. There’s a SIM inside, and in the U.S. it will be powered by Sprint’s 5G network.

Think of the 5G Hub as a secondary phone or tablet, because it’s running Android 9.0 Pie and has a 5-inch HD (1,280 x 720) touchscreen. You can install all the usual Android apps you love through the Google Play Store, stream video and play games, and there’s a USB-C port on the back to connect the device to a TV (USB-C to HDMI) so you can stream 4K content without interruptions and at a high quality thanks to 5G’s promised gigabit-per-second speeds.

The Hub is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor with the X50 modem that enables it to connect to 5G networks. It’s a special version of the X50, though, as it supports the sub-6GHz spectrum. It supports the new Wi-Fi 6 standard as well, has 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and even has a MicroSD card slot. There’s a 7,660mAh battery inside, which should keep it going for quite some time, though it’s unclear what kind of battery drain 5G commands.

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Fiber broadband vs. 5G:

Fiber Optic System is widely used as wired line connectivity due to higher data carrying capacity (Bandwidth of about 11THz).

Following are the benefits of fiber optic system.

The fiber can carry large amount of data due to larger bandwidth capacity. Data can be transmitted at very high speed usually 1.6 Tbit/sec in the field. Due to this fact, next generation internet will be based on light. It is known as LiFi (i.e. Light Fidelity).
Fiber incur low loss to the signal usually 0.3 dB/Km. Hence optical repeaters are not needed for long distances.
Though the initial installation cost is higher. It benefits for long run due to more benefits compare to earlier coaxial based systems.
The fiber optic system is immune against EM interference and hence can be laid near the high frequency towers and places where electro-magnetic radiation is a concern. Moreover it does not radiate any EM waves as it operates on light and hence will not affect any nearby EM signal based systems such cellular, microwave, satellite etc.
It has higher electrical resistance and hence can operate safely near to high voltage lines and equipment.
It is light in weight and hence easy to install.
The optical fiber transmission power is very less. Moreover light carried by cables do not leak other than beginning and end of the system. Hence it does not have any crosstalk effect between the optical cables.
It does not generate any spark. Due to this fact it finds applications in automobile industry also.
Unlike RF based systems which can be tapped and intruded by the intruder, fiber based communication cannot be tapped as light is transported within the cable itself. This enhances security for individuals as well as business enterprises.

Following are the drawbacks of fiber optic system.

Cost: The initial installation cost is higher due to expensive optical transmitter and receiver. Moreover it requires specific tools for maintenance and repair.
It is difficult to splice compare to wires usually at the starting and end joints. Moreover interfacing tools and connectors are costly.
When the light comes in contact with imperfection during travel and optical power is higher, it leads to destruction of fiber cable. This can be prevented using fiber fuse devices, which breaks the circuit to prevent further damage.
Fiber optic system cannot carry electrical power which is often requirement at terminal equipment/devices.

5G Wireless technology

The specifications of 5G are specified in 3GPP Rel. 15 and beyond. 5G technology supersedes 4G LTE standard. The 5G NR (New Radio) initial specifications have been finalized by 3GPP in December 2017. 5G will be deployed in two phases viz. non-standalone and standalone. In non-standalone phase, control mechanism is leveraged using existing 4G LTE network and data transfer takes place using 5G network infrastructure. In standalone phase, control and data mechanism both are carried out using 5G network elements.

Following are the benefits of 5G cellular system.

Data rates of about 10 Gbps or higher can be achieved.
Latency of connection establishment/release is very less about 1 ms. Hence traffic load is decreased on 5G base stations.
Antenna size is smaller at higher frequencies. This leads to use of massive MIMO concept to achieve higher data rates.
Dynamic beamforming is employed to overcome pathloss at higher frequencies.
Due to improved 5G network architecture handoff is smooth and hence it does not have any effect on data transfer when mobile user changes cells.
Typically 5G offers 10x throughput, 10x decrease in latency, 10x connection density, 3x spectrum efficiency, 100x traffic capacity and 100x network efficiency.

Following are the drawbacks of 5G cellular system.

It requires skilled engineers to install and maintain 5G network. Moreover 5G equipment are costly. This increases cost of 5G deployment and maintenance phases.
5G smartphones are costly. Hence it will take some time for the common man to make use of 5G technology.
The technology is still under development and will take time before it is fully operational without any issues.
Coverage distance of upto 2 meters (in indoor) and 300 meters (in outdoor) can be achieved due to higher losses at high frequencies (such as millimeter waves). 5G mmwave suffers from many such losses (penetration loss, attenuation due to rain, foliage loss etc.)
It will take time for security and privacy issues to be resolved fully in 5G network.

Difference between 5G and fiber optic:

Following table mentions the difference between 5G and fiber optic on various parameters which help us to compare 5G vs fiber.

Specifications	5G	Fiber optic
Wireless support	Yes	No
Capacity or bandwidth	in Gb/sec	Unlimited 70 Tbit/s for a single fiber link
Deployment time	Fast	It increases with distance and vary linearly
Feasibility to provide service in terrain	Easier by installing 5G cell tower or replacing 2G/3G/4G equipment with 5G equipment at existing cell tower locations	Difficult
Re-use	Cellular equipment can be removed and reused in other cell tower locations if needed	Fiber once deployed cannot be re-located in most of the cases
Climate effect	5G cellular uses EM waves and hence links are influenced by fading channel conditions	Normally fiber is not influenced except in the flood conditions

Fiber internet is a cutting-edge technology that uses fiber optic cables to deliver ultra-fast internet into your home—the only issue here is that those fiber optic cables are expensive and cost a good deal of money to lay in the ground. Whereas, 5G home internet uses the power of small cell antennas that are placed all throughout your town or city. While they are wireless and don’t require expensive construction, each node’s range can be quite small so several need to be used to cover each small region of a city or town.

Fiber internet relies on the power of light to transmit data at outrageous (gig) speeds through fiber optic cables. The key reason that the connection is so fast is because, well, light travels ultra-fast and the cables themselves don’t slow down as it travels from its source to your home. The downside to fiber internet is that it’s not widely available at this time. More, if you’d like a fiber company to create a connection for you, the fees can be pretty high—and by “pretty high” we mean “really high.”

5G internet requires mobile companies to attach small cell towers or “nodes” to wired fiber networks, then those nodes send digital data to your home router. From there, your Wi-Fi modem sends data to your devices. In some instances, the 5G network is just as fast as fiber internet, but it’s still subject to some issues that don’t slow fiber broadband down—such as network congestion and weak signals. To fix this, mobile companies merely need to install more towers in densely populated regions.

Both 5G home internet and fiber internet require you to use a router and a Wi-Fi modem to deliver digital data to your home and devices. With 5G home internet, the tech cannot install the service without confirming full coverage and if your home does have weaker signal areas, then that can be solved with Wi-Fi extenders.

Though with fiber internet, you’re dealing with a few possible issues: ultra-high installation fees (because they actually need to lay the wires down to your home), getting sold “fiber to the curb” or “fiber to the neighborhood” which is not actually fiber (but it’s labelled as fiber because it’s 90% fiber, but the data speeds are then subject to the limitations of the wires used to your door—which can be pretty slow), and potential dead zones within your home. Dead zones can be improved with Wi-Fi boosters, but there’s little that can be done about the fees or accidentally signing up for the wrong plan type.

Advantage of 5G over fiber:

5G gives consumers the opportunity to bin their fixed line, enjoy faster speeds and save money. Wireless home broadband means that we can speed up access to super-fast internet services at a lower cost, without installation delays or inflexible contracts. The efficient and widespread rollout of superfast broadband across households and businesses is crucial to the growth of economy. Advantages of 5G wireless broadband technology are not just in speed: wireless is more flexible, does not require long-term contracts, is faster and cheaper to deploy and less of a burden for customers – no waiting time, no engineer visits. With low availability of fibre and high cost of deployment, 5G Wireless becomes a viable alternative to fixed-line broadband.

Internet service types, compared:

Connection type	Typical bandwidth (Mbps)	Price range (per month)
Fiber	50-1,000	$50-$100
Cable	25-200	$50-$150
DSL	5-45	$40-$80
Satellite	10-30	$50-$150
Fixed wireless LTE	5-10	$50-$85
Dial-up	0.4-0.5	$5-$20
5G	200-4,000	$50-$70

Fiber better than 5G, EFF Says:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) issued a white paper outlining why fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) will remain the superior choice over coaxial cable and emerging 5G networks from here to eternity. Electronic Frontier Foundation have argued that 5G hype overshadows these same companies’ long-standing failures to deploy real fiber broadband to rural and less affluent urban markets (despite billions in tax breaks, subsidies, and regulatory favors), and 5G shouldn’t be seen as synonymous with the fast, reliable fiber connections these same companies should have deployed years ago.

On a performance and operations basis, there’s little argument that FTTP holds a multitude of advantages over these other wired and new wireless/mobile platforms. But the EFF made the point that transitioning the “last mile” of the network will “require a massive effort from industry and government” while also criticizing the stunted FTTP rollouts of major telcos such as AT&T and Verizon. The EFF, a non-profit tasked with “defending civil liberties in the digital world,” is also critical of the US telecommunications industry at large for positing that 5G or current DOCSIS infrastructure is “more than up to the task of substituting for fiber.” It contends that such arguments have “confused lawmakers, reporters, and regulators into believing we do not have a problem.” “By every measurement, fiber connections to homes and businesses are, by far, the superior choice for the 21st century. It is not even close,” the EFF claimed in the paper, titled “The Case For Fiber to the Home, Today: Why Fiber is a Superior Medium for 21st Century Broadband.” “And without national coverage policies, it added, low-income Americans and rural Americans have been left behind.”

Absolutely no way is wireless service ever going to be competitive with high-speed wireline services. The fastest speeds the industry is boasting about for the future of wireless has already been surpassed by fiber to the home years ago. 5G and the technical limitations of millimeter-wave spectrum, make this next-gen technology a supplement, rather than a direct competitor, to FTTP, the EFF said.

The only true issue with fiber plans is that they are sometimes “mislabelled” as fiber when they’re not actually 100% fiber. Some customers might sign up for a “fiber plan” that’s 100Mbps with the hopes that they could increase their speeds later on, if needed. However, if the cable that leads to your home isn’t actually capable of gig-speeds, then you really won’t benefit much from a fiber plan. The only thing that really matters with your fiber plan is the type of cable that leads to your door: no matter what providers might tell you.

This isn’t the case with 5G wireless broadband, but your speeds can be impacted by signal strength and network congestion. Even though your 5G home internet can surpass fiber speeds, your speeds are likely to slow down if there aren’t enough small cell towers in the vicinity of your house or if there are too many people using the service at the same time. The good news is that you will notice fewer issues like as more towers are installed.

Fiber is best:

Internet and Telecommunications data can be transmitted either through wires or through the air “wirelessly”. Wired transmissions are faster, safer, more reliable, and far more cyber secure and energy efficient than wireless transmissions. So in the best of all worlds, we should rely on wired transmissions for the vast majority of our Internet and Telecommunications needs, and reserve wireless for short communications when out-and-about. Unfortunately, that is not the infrastructure Telecom is designing for us, as wireless is cheaper and more profitable for industry than is fiber.

The threat of 5G to wired broadband business is not significant any time soon. That’s because fiber is going to be the most economical way to deliver high-quality broadband. Any fiber rival will need high capacity, high speed and … high reliability. Between the different ways, different levels of spectrum and approaches to 5G, it’s really hard to see how there’s a path to any one of those being a broadly addressable solution for residential broadband in the world.

Can 5G ever replace fiber broadband at home?

No.

3G was the end of home broadband. No. 4G was the end of home broadband. No. You are sure 5G will be the end of home broadband, this time for real. Not really.

The reasoning is quite simple. Radio is a limited resource. There’s a lot of encoding efficiency that can be invented, and there’s more bandwidth that can be obtained anytime the technology’s sensibility increases, but it’s still limited. On the other hand, fiber cables are, in practice, basically unlimited, with the current speeds being limited just by the price that the operator wants to spend on the equipment on each end. A single fiber cable can transport more bandwidth than thousands of users can ever fill up. Cables have dozens of fibers. So once the cost and effort of passing the fiber is done, it’s all profits from that point onwards, with the connection being future proof for many decades.

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The role of fiber in 5G networks:

Substantial fiber investment key to activate complex 5G network:

5G Backhaul Options:

Mobile operators have a challenging time backhauling the mobile voice and data traffic from varied environments, such as urban, suburban, rural, offices, residential homes, skyscrapers, public buildings, tunnels, etc. Table below outlines how mobile operators rely on a variety of backhaul approaches to transmit their traffic to and from macro and small cell base stations.

Figure above shows Mobile Backhaul Technology Trade-Offs, Wireless versus Fixed versus Satellite.

Mobile carriers are increasingly facing the reality of having to deploy a Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) architecture of macro and small cells that may rely on 3G, 4G, and 5G. Microwave and millimeter bands (V-band (60 GHz) and E-band (70/80 GHz)) are suitable for HetNet backhaul because it allows for outdoor cell site and access network aggregation of traffic from several base stations, which can then be handed off to the mobile switching centers and finally the core network.

At the end of 2017, research estimates the majority share of backhaul links (an aggregate of macro cells and small cells) were supported by traditional microwave 7 GHz to 40 GHz (56.1%) backhaul equipment. The higher bandwidth requirements of LTE are driving a significant roll-out of fiber (26.2%). Bonded copper xDSL connections (3.5%) are available in 2017, but the need for this technology will continue to decline. Satellite-based backhaul, which primarily plays a role in backhauling traffic in peripheral locations or rural environments where microwave may not exist, represents 1.9% of backhaul links worldwide. Satellite backhaul has a minority share of the market-place but it is still an important backhaul access technology.

On a worldwide basis, fiber-optic backhaul is expected to grow to 40.2% of macro cell sites by 2025, which just eclipses microwave in the 7 GHz to 40 GHz band with 38.2%. Microwave Line-of-Sight (LoS) in the 7 GHz to 40 GHz bands is still a long-term viable solution for macro cell sites. Microwave links in the 41 GHz to 100 GHz bands will double from 5.1% to 12.6%.

Regardless of the wireless technology employed, fiber will be the supporting infrastructure for 5G networks. In order to achieve the full potential of 5G speeds, an underlying consideration is that networks need to be supported by an advanced fiber infrastructure. From the macro cells and small cells, to the data centers that deliver apps and services, it is crucial that fiber connects all non-wireless aspects of the network. The key to building an ultrafast, 5G-ready network is to have greater density of fiber and bringing fiber as close as possible to the end user. More fiber allows for a greater number of cells, and ultimately more reliable bandwidth. This is integral to ushering the way for upcoming developments in AI, such as autonomous vehicles and virtual reality, which all require large amounts of bandwidth. With growing appetite for bandwidth-heavy and high-performance activities such as high definition video streaming and advanced gaming, it is more important than ever to ensure infrastructure is capable of meeting greater computing and connectivity needs. Robust fiber infrastructure is also key for industries looking to implement futuristic technologies such as IoT which require more advanced networks. By supporting the expansion of fiber coverage, consumers in the region are able to experience high performance capabilities enabled by 5G connectivity.

5G is as much about fiber as wireless. The ultra-high bandwidth and trillions of devices to be supported by 5G will magnify the challenge of how to accommodate the extraordinary increases in data volume and performance expectations. Fiber will play a huge role as the preferred technology for backhaul and fronthaul, as well as a critical element of the low latency networks that will support the IoT. As data takes off, bandwidth pressures are increasingly in backhaul and transmission rather than access. Virtualization is likely to intensify the need for fiber behind radio head, because unprocessed or semi-processed radio signal requires fatter pipes than traditional backhaul. There is an imminent need to increase spending tackling the bottlenecks to improve customer experiences.

5G, which operates at much higher frequencies than LTE, implies a multiple-fold increase in cell density versus the current 4G networks. Such network densification is essential to providing the increase in capacity, particularly in high-traffic areas and necessary to meeting the demand for access both from subscribers and IoT. Furthermore, the use of millimeter wave will be associated with dense small cells more than ever due to their low propagation characteristics, to meet massive indoor coverage needs. This will put significant strain to the underlying transport networks that connect the Radio Access Network (RAN) to the packet core network. Front-haul, backhaul and various hybrid architectures will be needed to accommodate the cost efficient, backwards compatible and dense deployment of network infrastructure which is necessary to providing for the broadband and low latency demands of 5G systems. Having and building fiber is thus very important to activate the small cells.

5G wireless small cells and their fiber wireline networks will never be mutually exclusive. To understand the relationship between wireless and wireline networks, it’s helpful to think of a city’s network in physiological terms: 5G will function splendidly as the capillaries (mobile fronthaul) of a city’s networking system — but internet traffic will travel nearly its entire journey in the veins or arteries (fiber backhaul). In fact, much like the human bloodstream, only about 11% of traffic is carried by wireless networks, according to a study by Deloitte. The other 90% of internet traffic is supported and carried by the wireline network. In a 5G world, the customer experience will be improved by better small cell wireless access points. But ultimately, the quality and reliability of the wireless network will depend on the wireline (fiber) network carrying traffic to and from the 5G small cells.

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Fiber-optic cable and electrical cable in the same conduit:

Fiber optic cables, unlike copper cables, do not conduct electricity and are therefore not negatively affected by electromagnetic interference. There is no technical reason not to run fiber cable and low voltage (110~220V) electrical cables in the same conduit, it’s done regularly. High voltage electrical cables can and will induce currents in conventional fiber cable sheaths (corona effect) which can cause them to break down prematurely, so separation distances between them is specified.

Three types of fiber-optic cables are commercially available for installation in high-voltage lines:

Optical Ground Wire (OPGW)is a cable encased within the ground wire. Used in transmission lines on ground conductors with the fiber-optic cable embedded inside. OPGW (an optical fiber composite overhead ground wire) is a type of cable that is used in overhead power lines. Such cable combines the functions of grounding and communications. OPGW is primarily used by the electric utility industry, placed in the secure topmost position of the transmission line where it “shields” the all-important conductors from lightning while providing a telecommunications path for internal as well as third party communications. OPGW as a communication medium has some advantages over buried optical fiber cable. Installation cost per kilometre is lower than a buried cable.
Wrapped Round the Phase conductor or the ground wire (WRAP) is spiral wrapped cable around existing overhead ground conductors or in some cases, phase conductors.
All Dielectric Self Supporting (ADSS) is a cable which generally electric utilities often select it as the best solution for several of reasons; ADSS is a self-supporting optical fiber cables. It has no metal component and can be installed on live lines with no outages. Since it is the most economical of all 3 types and has many more fibers channels per cable its easier and faster to repair in the event of damage or breakage moreover, its installation is easy and cheap and is suitable for hot line installation without deenergization of line.

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6G:

The term 6G refers to sixth generation of wireless technology. It is proposed to integrate advanced features in the existing 5G technology to fulfil objectives at individual and group levels. Some of the 6G services include holographic communications, Artificial intelligence, high precision manufacturing, new technologies such as sub-THz or VLC (Visible Light Communications), 3D coverage framework, terrestrial and aerial radio APs to provide cloud functionalities and so on.

Today 5G has been installed and tested in major cities where as 6G wireless is undergoing research. Companies such as Samsung and SK Telecom have started research in 6G wireless technology domain. Moreover SK telecom has joined hands with Ericsson and Nokia for research in 6G technology. 6G uses cell-less architecture in which UE connects to the RAN and not to a single cell.

6G Network Architecture is depicted in figure below:

Following are the key technical features introduced in 6G wireless:

New Spectrum: Due to increase in traffic demand and scarcity of spectrum resources THz (Terahertz) and Visible light bands have been introduced for communication in 6G mobile communication system.
New channel coding has been introduced based on Turbo, LDPC, Polar, etc.
Sparse theory (compressed sensing)
Very large-scale antenna processing for THz
Advanced signal processing
Flexible spectrum (Full (free) spectrum, Spectrum sharing)
AI based wireless communication
Space-Air-Ground-Sea integrated communication
Wireless Tactile Network

Following table compares 5G vs 6G with respect to various parameters and mentions difference between 5G and 6G wireless technologies. The information has been collected from various research conducted on 5G and 6G areas across the globe.

Features	5G	6G
Frequency Bands	• Sub 6 GHz, • mmwave for fixed access	-Sub 6 GHz, -mmwave for mobile access -exploration of THz bands (above 140 GHz), -Non-RF bands (e.g. optical, VLC) etc.
Data rate	1 Gbps to 20 Gbps (Downlink Data Rate – 20 Gbps, Uplink Data Rate – 10 Gbps)	1 Tbps
Latency (End to End Delay)	5 ms (Radio: 1 ms)	< 1 ms (Radio: 0.1 ms)
Architecture	• Dense sub 6 GHz smaller BSs with umbrella macro BSs • Mmwave small cells of about 100 meters (for fixed access)	• Cell free smart surfaces at high frequencies (mmwave tiny cells are used for fixed and mobile access) • Temporary hotspots served by drone mounted BSs or tethered Balloons. • Trials of tiny THz cells (under progress)
Application types	• eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband) • URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications) • mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications)	• MBRLLC • mURLLC • HCS • MPS
Device types	• Smartphones • Sensors • Drones	• Sensors & DLT devices • CRAS • XR and BCI equipment • Smart implants
Spectral and energy efficiency gain	10 x in bps/Hz/m²	1000 x in bps/Hz/m³
Traffic Capacity	10 Mbps/m²	1 to 10 Gbps/m²
Reliability	10^-5	10^-9
Localization precision	10 cm on 2D	1 cm on 3D
User experience	50 Mbps 2D everywhere	10 Gbps 3D everywhere

6G will achieve terabits-per-second speeds:

Initial, upcoming 5G is going to be a disappointment, a University of Oulu researcher says. 6G, with frequencies up to terahertz, will be needed for true microsecond latency and unlimited bandwidth. The first of the upcoming 5G network technologies won’t provide significant reliability gains over existing wireless, such as 4G LTE, according to a developer involved in 5G. Additionally, the millisecond levels of latency that the new 5G wireless will attempt to offer—when some of it is commercially launched,—isn’t going to be enough of an advantage for a society that’s now completely data-driven and needs near-instant, microsecond connectivity. Ultra-reliability will be basically not there. 5G’s principal benefits over current wireless platforms are touted as latency reduction and improved reliability by marketers who are pitching the still-to-be-released technology.

A prospective update in 5G networks leading to 6G networks could be the integration of satellite communication networks with the mobile communicational networks. According to the mobile communications technologies evolution trends, 6G is expected to arrive in 2030. This integration would lead to coverage on global scale. Since satellite networks provide abundant number of services including navigation, weather prediction, telecommunication, etc. thus taking the services in 6G networks to extend further in terms of telephony, location identification, multimedia, high-speed internet connectivity, resource monitoring, etc.

The goal of 6G technology is to fulfil vision of 5G technology and in addition to meet Wisdom connection, Deep connectivity, Holographic connectivity and Ubiquitous connectivity. 5G accommodates different types of networks where as 6G aggregates them dynamically.

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Moral of the story:

Radio frequency (RF) signals carrying information (voice, video, data) can be transmitted via radio waves (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G and wi-fi), via RF current in RF cable (coaxial cable, twin-lead cable) and via light in fiber cables (optical fibers).

The G in 5G means generation of wireless technology. The wireless generation (G) generally refers to a change in the nature of the system, speed, technology, frequency, data capacity, latency etc. Each generation have some standards, different capacities, new techniques and new features which differentiate it from the previous one. There are a number of different digital radio technologies that are used for transmitting signals between mobile phones/devices and base stations — including 2G, 3G and 4G — that use increasingly efficient methods of coding signals on to radio waves (modulation) creating faster data connections. These increasingly spectrum efficient technologies mean more data can fit into a specific amount of spectrum. While most generations have technically been defined by their data transmission speeds, each has also been marked by a break in encoding methods, or “air interfaces,” that make it incompatible with the previous generation.

LTE is an advanced form of 3G that marks an audacious shift from hybrid data and voice networks to a data-only IP network. However, with improvements, it became possible for LTE networks to offer speeds close to that of ‘True 4G’. This led to the ITU allowing for LTE to be classified as a 4G technology. 5G offers the same fundamental features as its predecessors (SMS messaging, cellular voice calls, and internet connectivity), largely built upon the core of 4G LTE technology. There are four notable changes here, though: average internet speed is expected to reach up to 1 Gigabit per second, decreased latency times (one millisecond), energy efficiency, and greater network capacity.

The term 5G refers to fifth generation of wireless technology. 5G means fifth generation wireless cellular (mobile) network technology and fifth generation fixed wireless access (5G FWA). 5G cellular means it supports roaming i.e., you can go from one access point to another without losing your connection. A 5G network is a collection of microprocessors that rapidly send packets of data among themselves. At the “edge” of the network, devices including smartphones, cars, and robots will send and receive data over radio waves at 5G frequencies by connecting to a new generation of small-cell radio units that form the radio access network (RAN). The RAN links individual devices to routers and switches that compose the “core” network, where data traffic is transported to and from other devices and the internet (or the cloud).

Radio waves are defined by ITU as electromagnetic waves with a frequency of less than 3,000 GHz, but for all practical purposes, radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). The radio waves that are used in wireless communication are created artificially using alternating current (AC). This type of current constantly changes direction because the poles that create the electric current are constantly switched at a very high frequency. The changing direction of the electric current causes an oscillating electromagnetic field which produces radio waves.

Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves; in this article, microwaves are just a type of radio waves.

Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 30 GHz and 300 GHz are known as the millimeter waves (mmwaves), as their wavelengths range from 1-10 mm. All mmwaves are microwaves. These high-frequency bands are referred to as “mmwave” due to the short wavelengths that can be measured in millimeters. Although the mmwave bands extend all the way up 300 GHz, it is the bands from 24 GHz up to 100 GHz that are expected to be used for 5G.

Carrier frequency is the basic operative frequency of radio wave that carries information (voice, video, data) from one place to another place by modulation. In radio communication, used in radio and television broadcasting, cell phones, two-way radios, wireless networking and satellite communication among numerous other uses, radio waves are used to carry information across space from a transmitter to a receiver, by modulating the radio signal (impressing an information signal on the radio wave by varying some aspect of the wave) in the transmitter. Mixing of low frequency information signal carrying voice, video and data with high frequency carrier signal is called modulation. This process of imposing an input signal onto a carrier wave is called modulation. In other words, modulation changes the shape of a carrier wave to somehow encode the voice, video and data information that we were interested in carrying. The information signal can vary the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the carrier signal. A modulator mixes information signal with a carrier signal. The transmitter couples the resulting modulated and amplified signals to an antenna, which is designed to interface the signal to the air. The modulated signal then departs the antenna and propagates through the air. The receiving station antenna couples the modulated signal into a demodulator, which derives the information signal from the signal carrier.

Bandwidth is used to refer to analog signal bandwidth measured in hertz, meaning the frequency range between lowest and highest attainable frequency while transmitting information signal with reasonable fidelity. A modulated carrier radio wave, carrying an information signal, occupies a range of frequencies. The information (modulation) in a radio signal is usually concentrated in narrow frequency bands called sidebands just above and below the carrier frequency. The width in hertz of the frequency range that the radio signal occupies, the highest frequency minus the lowest frequency, is called its bandwidth (BW). Bandwidth is the range of frequencies associated with signal that can pass through a medium. The transmitted signal can be voice, video and data. Different information signals have different range of frequencies. Bandwidth is a measure of the frequency range that is occupied by a modulated signal (carrier wave + information). A given amount of bandwidth can carry the same amount of information (data rate in bits per second) regardless of where the carrier frequency is located all else being equal, so bandwidth is a measure of information-carrying capacity. For example, a 3 kHz bandwidth can carry a telephone conversation no matter whether carrier frequency is 700 MHz or 2100 MHz; although higher carrier frequency can carry more number of conversations due to availability of higher spectrum bandwidth.

The bandwidth required by a radio transmission depends on the data rate of the information (modulation signal) being sent, and the spectral efficiency of the modulation method used; how much data it can transmit in each kilohertz of bandwidth. Spectral efficiency is expressed in bits per second per hertz (bps/Hz).

The need to use spectrum more effectively by using its bandwidth efficiently is driving many additional radio innovations such as trunked radio systems, digital modulation, spread spectrum (ultra-wideband) transmission, frequency reuse, dynamic spectrum management, dynamic spectrum sharing, frequency pooling, and cognitive radio.

Radio waves, no matter how complex the modulation of the radio wave, are fundamentally analog. Radio wave transmission is always analog no matter whether it is transmitting analog or digital data. Encoding of analog data to analog radio waves involve analog modulation techniques such as Amplitude Modulation, Frequency Modulation and Phase Modulation of analog data. Encoding of digital data to analog radio waves involve digital modulation techniques such as Amplitude Shift Keying ASK, Frequency Shift Keying FSK, Phase Shift Keying PSK, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) etc.

When your original data is analog (e.g. your speech), analog-to-digital converter makes it digital data. This digital data is then transmitted over analog radio waves by encoding digital data into analog signal. Remember radio waves are always analog and therefore they can only carry analog signals; all digital data of voice, video and text must be converted into analog signals, the process known as digital modulation. 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G uses digital modulation in radiofrequency signal transmission. Digital modulation is the process of digital-to-analog conversion, and different “modulation alphabets” can be used to encode the digital signal with different efficiency. The combination of the alphabet and the symbol rate is what then determines the final throughput of the channel.

An antenna is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors used with a transmitter or receiver. The length of simple antenna ought to be half the wavelength of radio waves it intends to receive so that there is resonance in antenna leading to highest efficiency of energy reception leading to generation of alternating current. However it’s also possible to make antennas that are a quarter of the wavelength and compact miniaturized antennas that are about a tenth the wavelength.

Remember greater the wave length of radio wave to be received or transmitted, greater the length of antenna. In AM broadcasting, the antenna and the tower are the same thing, this is because AM wavelengths are so big that they require an antenna the size of an entire tower – so the solution is just to use a metal tower as the radiator. In 5G, centimeter and millimeter waves are used, so transmitting and receiving antenna are small.

In free space (space in which there is nothing to obstruct the progress of the radio waves), radio waves decay proportionally at the square of the distance, and in inverse proportion to the square of the wave length of the radio waves. As radio waves travel farther from the transmitting antenna, radio waves spread out so their signal strength (intensity in watts per square meter) decreases, so radio transmissions can only be received within a limited range of the transmitter, the distance depending on the transmitter power, antenna radiation pattern, frequency of radio waves, receiver sensitivity, noise level, and presence of obstructions between transmitter and receiver.

Spectrum is range of radio frequencies allocated to the mobile industry and other sectors for communication purposes over radio waves. The radio spectrum is divided into a number of radio bands on the basis of frequency allocated to different uses. Useable radio spectrum is a scarce resource where rapidly growing demand exceeds supply. Because the mobile industry has demonstrated its potential to generate economic value and social benefit, operators are urging national regulators to release sufficient, affordable spectrum in a timely manner for mobile. Additional frequencies, including both coverage and capacity bands, means mobile operators can connect more people and offer faster speeds.

Spectrum also means available bandwidth of spectrum i.e. spectrum bandwidth. Spectrum bandwidth is the allowable frequency range over which information signals can be transmitted. For example, if the allowable frequency range were 100kHz to 200kHz (spectrum bandwidth 100 kHz), and we needed 20kHz signal (signal bandwidth 20 kHz) to be transmitted, we can get 5 signals transmitted. If the allowable frequency range were 100MHz to 200MHz (spectrum bandwidth 100 MHz), we can transmit 5,000 signals.

Besides the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, land-based transportation, public safety, maritime and air travel, weather forecasting, news gathering and dissemination, education, space exploration and research, banking, entertainment all use one or more radiocommunication services and they all rely on the same core elements: the availability of radio frequencies i.e. availability of spectrum. So many vital services are completely reliant on spectrum that it forms an indispensable part of all of our lives.

The airwaves (radio waves) are a resource shared by many users. Two radio transmitters in the same area that attempt to transmit on the same frequency will interfere with each other, causing garbled reception, so neither transmission may be received clearly. Interference with radio transmissions can not only have a large economic cost, it can be life threatening (for example, in the case of interference with emergency communications or air traffic control). To prevent interference between different users, the artificial generation and use of radio waves is strictly regulated by national laws, coordinated by an international body, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which allocates bands in the radio spectrum for different uses. Radio transmitters must be licensed by governments, under a variety of license classes depending on use, and are restricted to certain frequencies and power levels.

To prevent overlapping uses of the radio waves, frequency is allocated in bands, which are simply ranges of frequencies having similar characteristics available to specified applications. The bands are further divided into small ranges of frequencies called channels assigned for a specified service.

The physics of radio wave propagation determine the relation among capacity, availability and link length. Since the available spectrum bandwidth is proportional to the center frequency (carrier frequency), the highest frequencies are also those that carry the most capacity, but also cover the comparatively shortest link lengths. Greater the frequency of carrier radio wave, lesser is the wavelength, greater is the modulation capacity (information carrying capacity) and lesser is the range. Lesser the frequency of carrier radio wave, greater is the wavelength, lesser is the modulation capacity and greater is the range. So mmwave carries far greater information albeit for short range. The shorter the wave length of radio waves becomes, the more they take on the qualities of light, and the greater their straightness becomes. In other words, their energy is concentrated in one direction, and they are said to have strong directivity. Furthermore, the higher the frequency, the more acute is the attenuation of the wave’s energy. So, all radio frequencies are not equal. They differ in how well they can provide coverage and capacity (i.e. the amount of data they can carry). Lower frequency bands provide wider coverage because they can penetrate objects effectively and thus travel further, including inside buildings. However, they tend to have relatively poor capacity capabilities because this spectrum is in limited supply so only narrow bands tend to be available. Contrastingly, higher frequency bands don’t provide as good coverage as the signals are weakened or even stopped by obstacles such as buildings. Low frequency radio waves can penetrate nonconducting materials, such as wood, bricks, and concrete, fairly well. But very high-frequency radio waves cannot penetrate walls and even fade in air. Radio waves with frequencies higher than several GHz are scattered and absorbed by rain, snow, fog and the like, and their power tends to attenuate. However, they tend to have greater capacity because there is a larger supply of high frequency spectrum making it easier to create broad frequency bands, allowing more information to be carried. Low-frequency signals travel farther and cover large areas (macro cells), but at the cost of requiring larger antennas and having more clients competing for access. On the other hand, high-frequency signals can transfer more data but won’t travel as far, resulting in smaller coverage areas (small cells) and a requirement for more infrastructure. For devices that transmit data at high frequencies, much more power is needed in order for them to cover the same range as compared to lower frequency transmitting devices. High-frequency broadcasts are less susceptible to interference from electronic sources, while low-frequency transmissions are less susceptible to interference from physical objects like walls that block communication.

Remember, radio waves cannot pass through electrical conductors such as gold, iron, and silver.

Different frequencies of radio waves have different propagation characteristics in the Earth’s atmosphere; long waves can diffract around obstacles like mountains and follow the contour of the earth (ground waves), shorter waves can reflect off the ionosphere and return to earth beyond the horizon (skywaves), while much shorter wavelengths bend or diffract very little and travel on a line of sight, so their propagation distances are limited to the visual horizon. Line of sight is the only method of propagation possible at frequencies above 40 MHz. And since all our mobile internet is run by radio waves much above 40 MHz, line of sight is the only method of radio wave propagation for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G. This refers to radio waves that travel in a straight line from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna. However, it does not necessarily require a cleared sight path; at lower frequencies radio waves can pass through buildings, foliage and other obstructions. Radio waves exhibit the same wave properties of light: reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, polarization, scattering and standing waves.

If we consider an example of an urban area where there are many buildings, there are direct waves that arrive directly, reflected waves that arrive after hitting buildings and the like, diffracted waves that circumvent the shadows of buildings, transmitted waves that arrive by passing through the glass or walls of buildings, and so on. The radio waves emitted by the transmitter arrive at the receiver by a variety of paths, so the received field strength varies due to the effects of the different routes taken and differences in distance. Due to multipath fading, the aggregate radio wave received by the antenna may experience interference and may fluctuate widely. If the signals are in phase, the field strength is high, but when they are out of phase, it gets weak. The wave length of high frequency radio waves is particularly short so the impact of multipath is especially acute.

In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals and traffic types. In context of Internet access, broadband is used to mean any high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than dial-up access. Currently broadband internet access means 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream speed. DSL, Coaxial cable and Fiber are wired broadband while wireless broadband include 4G/5G fixed wireless and 4G/5G mobile broadband (4G/5G cellular).

The performance of any wireless network is fundamentally limited by a small number of well-known parameters. Specifically, the amount of allocated bandwidth, the signal-to-noise ratio between receiver and sender, and encoding efficiency. Larger the available bandwidth greater the internet speed, all else being equal. Remember, bandwidth is in Hertz, and internet speed & throughput are in bits per second; but many use the terms bandwidth and internet speed synonymously which is incorrect. I request all researchers, engineers and authors to use the terms bandwidth and internet speed differently.

All radio access technologies have to solve the same problems: to divide the finite RF spectrum among multiple users as efficiently as possible. GSM uses TDMA and FDMA for user and cell separation. UMTS, IS-95 and CDMA-2000 use CDMA. WiMAX and LTE use OFDM. 5G uses OFDM and BDMA.

A wireless network is a communication network where the last link is wireless. A cellular network is a wireless mobile network that provides services by using a large number of base stations with limited power, each covering only a limited area. This area is called a cell. These base stations provide the cell with the network coverage which can be used for transmission of voice, data, and other types of content. A cell typically uses a different set of frequencies from neighboring cells, to avoid interference and provide guaranteed service quality within each cell. When joined together, these cells provide radio coverage over a wide geographic area. All cell phones are mobile phones but all mobile phones are not cell phones for example satellite phone.

Today’s wireless networks have run into a problem: More people and devices are consuming more data than ever before, but it remains crammed on the same bands of the radio-frequency spectrum that mobile providers have always used. That means less bandwidth for everyone, causing slower service and more dropped connections. The rapid increase of mobile data growth and the use of smartphones are creating unprecedented challenges for wireless service providers to overcome a global bandwidth shortage. The increase in the number of applications available, their diversification and the improved quality of mobile networks, the emergence of new uses (connected objects, drones, etc.) and new users have all contributed to driving up demand. New solutions must therefore be found to meet this demand, and to optimize how resources are used. An efficient radio access technology combined with more spectrum availability is essential to achieve the ongoing demands faced by wireless carriers.

The demand for more bandwidth and growing energy consumption by existing networks and handsets prompted development of 5G. Mobile operators are keen to develop a mobile standard that uses less energy and less radio spectrum while delivering speeds faster than current 4G.

IMT 2020 (5G) is intended to provide far more enhanced capabilities than those provided by IMT Advanced (4G). 5G is expected to make available much greater throughput, much lower latency, ultra-high reliability, much higher connectivity density, and higher mobility range. One of the main drawbacks with previous generations is lack of coverage, dropped calls and low performance at cell edges. 5G technology will address it. 5G networks can beam ultrafast data to a lot more users, with high precision and little latency.

The development of 5G standard has two schemes. One is to improve the technology step by step, based on the current 4G LTE technologies to improve the network capacity and performance – 5G LTE. Another scheme is to design completely new network structures and wireless technologies to construct a whole new mobile communication network – the revolutionary 5G New Radio (NR). New Radio (NR) is the new standard for the radio interface of 5G and is a new type of signaling allowing spectrum to be used more efficiently and therefore get more bandwidth. 5G NR is a new way of encoding data through the air which is more efficient than previous generations. In contrast to the complexity of integrating a completely new technology and product architecture for 5G NR, existing wireless infrastructure will only require a software upgrade to support 5G LTE in most cases. 5G NR will require new infrastructure and large numbers of new cell sites. As a result, large-scale deployment of 5G LTE networks are likely to be sooner than that of 5G NR.

Initial 5G NR launches will also depend on existing LTE (4G) infrastructure in non-standalone (NSA) mode (5G NR software on LTE radio hardware), before maturation of the standalone (SA) mode (5G NR software on 5G NR radio hardware) with the 5G core network.

5G NR can include lower frequencies (FR1), below 6 GHz, and higher frequencies (FR2), above 24 GHz (mmwave). In sub 6 GHz the available bandwidth was 100 MHz and in millimeter wave range the available bandwidth was 400 MHz in 2018. South Korea has currently allocated 2,680MHz bandwidth for 5G use but aims to add up to another 2,640MHz by 2026. The project, dubbed 5G+ Spectrum Plan, aims to have the world’s widest spectrum bandwidth available for use in 5G. If the goal is achieved, there will be a total of 5,320MHz of 5G spectrum bandwidth available in 2026.

The actual 5G radio system, known as 5G NR, isn’t compatible with 4G. but in early FR1 deployment, software can be installed on 4G hardware making it non-standalone 5G NR which is distinct from 5G LTE. Non-standalone 5G NR leverages existing 4G deployments and requires only minor modifications to the 4G network. The focus is primarily on enhanced mobile broadband: ISPs use this to provide high-speed connectivity to users with 5G-enabled devices. The speed and latency in early FR1 deployments, using 5G NR software on 4G hardware (non-standalone), are only slightly better than new 4G systems. 5G networks use a type of encoding called OFDM, which is similar to the encoding that 4G LTE uses. The air interface is designed for much lower latency and greater flexibility than LTE, though. With the same airwaves as 4G, the 5G radio system can get about 30 percent better speeds thanks to more efficient encoding even with existing macro cells.

In standalone mode, UE (user equipment) works by 5G RAT (radio access technology) alone and LTE RAT is not needed. The standalone 5G NR has defined three use cases, according to 3GPP. They include enhanced mobile broadband but also extend to ultrareliable and low-latency communications for critical applications, and massive machine-type communications to support the Internet of Things.

It is vital to remember that standalone 5G NR is not an incremental or backward-compatible update to existing mobile communications standards. It does not overlap with 4G standards like LTE or WiMAX, and it cannot be delivered to existing phones, tablets, or wireless modems by means of tower upgrades or software updates.

New 5G features that will help deliver higher speed, lower latency and higher capacity include massive MIMO, beamforming, access to new available (higher) frequencies, New Radio (NR) and network slicing.

There are two types of 5G wireless services: 5G Fixed Wireless service and 5G Cellular (mobile) service. 5G FWA uses mm wave while 5G cellular uses 3.6 and 6 GHz. So 5G FWA gives more speed and less coverage while 5G cellular gives less speed and more coverage.

Salient 5G technologies:

-1. MIMO is effectively a radio antenna technology as it uses multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver to enable a variety of signal paths to carry the data, choosing separate paths for each antenna to enable multiple signal paths to be used. Massive MIMO takes this concept to a new level by featuring dozens of antennas on a single array. The appeal of using massive MIMO is twofold: first, the technology makes it possible to increase data rates, thanks to spatiotemporal multiplexing; second, it makes it possible to focus energy on a device to improve its link budget, thanks to beamforming.

-2. Beamforming is used to direct radio waves to a target. This is achieved by combining elements in an antenna array in such a way that signals at particular angles experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. This improves signal quality and data transfer speeds. Beamforming can help massive MIMO arrays make more efficient use of the spectrum around them. By choreographing the packets’ movements and arrival time, beamforming allows many users and antennas on a massive MIMO array to exchange much more information at once. The use of beamforming additionally helps with reducing interference with other base stations. The result is a further increase in bandwidth. For millimeter waves, beamforming is primarily used to address a different set of problems: Cellular signals are easily blocked by objects and tend to weaken over long distances. In this case, beamforming can help by focusing a signal in a concentrated beam that points only in the direction of a user, rather than broadcasting in many directions at once. This approach can strengthen the signal’s chances of arriving intact and reduce interference for everyone else.

-3. With 5G, a transceiver will be able to transmit and receive data at the same time, on the same frequency. This technology is known as full duplex, and it could double the capacity of wireless networks at their most fundamental physical layer.

-4. Unlike 4G, 3G and 2G standards, which are determined by modulation and frequency (i.e., interface-defined), 5G will be the first-ever software-defined wireless standard; although it also has novel encoding methods or “air interfaces”. The softwarisation and virtualisation of a sizeable number of network components to use as many generic and reconfigurable components as possible rather than bespoke ones that are permanently dedicated to very specific tasks, gives rise to flexibility or ability to adapt to different requirements of spectrum efficiency, peak data rate, latency and area traffic capacity for different applications.

5G operates on three different spectrum bands; sub-1GHz low-band, 1-6GHz mid-band and above 6GHz high-band. The mmwave at frequencies between 24 GHz and 86 GHz is high-band 5G spectrum and therefore mmwave and 5G are not synonymous. The mmwave technology is just one part of 5G networks. Mmwave is just part of the 5G picture, but carriers are particularly fond of talking about it because it allows for extremely high bandwidth and shows off the most impressive data speed figures.

Sub-1GHz bands are suitable to support IoT services for low data rate applications and extend mobile broadband coverage from urban to suburban and rural areas. Low-frequency 5G networks, which use existing cellular bands, take advantage of more flexible encoding and bigger channel sizes to achieve speeds 25 to 50 percent better than LTE.

The 1-6GHz bands offer a reasonable mixture of coverage and capacity for 5G services. This includes spectrum within the 3.3-3.8 GHz range which is expected to form the basis of many initial 5G services.

Spectrum bands above 6GHz provide significant capacity thanks to the very large bandwidth that can be allocated to mobile communications and thus enable enhanced mobile broadband applications. High frequencies (above 6 GHz) offer real promise for the provision of very high data rates and high system capacity in dense deployments. The downside of using high spectrum bands (so called “millimeter wave”) is the much-reduced coverage size of each cell and its susceptibility to blocking. Millimeter-wave signals drop off faster with distance than lower-frequency signals do, and the massive amount of data they transfer will require more connections to landline internet. So cellular providers will have to use many smaller, lower-power base stations (generally outputting 2-10 watts) rather than fewer, more powerful macro cells (which output 20-40 watts) to offer the multi-gigabit speeds that millimeter-wave networks promise. Macro-cells that cover large geographical areas in 4G will struggle to deliver the dense coverage, low latency and high bandwidth required by some 5G applications. Small cells, while serving a much smaller geographical area than a macro cell, increase network coverage, capacity and quality of service.

Mmwave can be blocked by cement wall, rain and even human hand. High propagation loss of high frequencies can be compensated by massive MIMO and beamforming. Massive MIMO and beamforming ensure that strict line-of-sight isn’t a requirement to make use of millimeter wave. A mmwave signal may not be able to penetrate buildings, but it will bounce around them to ensure a decent signal.

Remember, mmwave is just a small part of the bigger 5G spectrum. The Wi-Fi-like sub-6GHz and low band spectrum should have you covered when high-frequency signals can’t reach you.

I would classify 5G as mmwave 5G and non-mm wave 5G.

The coverage of mmwave 5G can be up to 300 meters from base station in the outdoor environment. The solution is to adopt smaller cells where propagation is less of a concern. Hence, the use of higher frequencies in 5G will multiply the available bandwidth because:

-being the cell smaller there will be fewer users per cell to share the available bandwidth, hence each of them will get more band

-covering the same area will require more cells, hence the available bandwidth over a given area will be multiplied by the number of cells covering it.

The biggest impact 5G is going to have on the world is due to its superior latency. This is because as far as speeds go, the internet isn’t moving slowly in most parts of world and download times are already pretty fast in 4G LTE. The decrease in latency is going to pave the way for innovations in the internet of things, self-driving cars etc. Latency is the time it takes for a message, or a packet, to travel from its point of origin to the point of destination. In 5G, the “air latency” target is 1–4 milliseconds; this is the latency between the user device and the cell tower and not total latency between the content (a web page) and the mobile device. Verizon reports that total latency on its 5G early deployment is 30 milliseconds. Significant changes in both the Core Network (Core) and Radio Access Network (RAN) are required to deliver low latency.

5G services requiring a delay time of 1 millisecond must have all of their content served from a physical position very close to the user’s device and this distance is less than 1 kilometer, which means that any service requiring such a low latency will have to be served using content located very close to the customer. This will likely require a substantial uplift in capital expenditure spent on infrastructure for content distribution and servers. If any service requiring 1 millisecond delay also has a need for interconnection between one operator and another, this interconnectivity must also occur within 1 kilometer of the customers. Today, inter-operator interconnect points are relatively sparse, but to support a 5G service with 1 millisecond delay, there is need to be interconnection at every base station, thus impacting the topological structure of the core network. It is unlikely that we will get 5G 1 millisecond latency unless we go through hard engineering, architecture, planning, and tight collaboration with peers throughout the Internet.

If 1 millisecond delay is relaxed or possibly removed entirely from 5G, then services such as augmented and virtual reality, immersive internet and autonomous driving with mobility will become unviable; and if these services are removed from the expected service set, the justification for the technological view of 5G would also become questionable.

5G will serve as the foundation of Industry 4.0 technologies — the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” entailing smart and autonomous manufacturing. 5G is expected to underpin and enable many of the components of this revolution including the Internet of Things, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems and cognitive computing. From automated industrial manufacturing and driverless cars to vast array of connected machines and sensors, 5G enables smarter and more efficient businesses and industry vertical sectors (e.g. utilities, manufacturing, transport etc.). 5G telecommunications networks could revolutionize the digital economy by enabling new applications, such as driverless cars, telemedicine, factory automation, smart electric grids, and smart cities.

Why 5G will not replace 4G?

-1. 5G cell phones will fall back to 4G coverage mode when no 5G signal is detected

-2. The move from 4G to 5G is different from past network upgrades. 5G isn’t replacing 4G, like how 4G overtook 3G. Instead, 5G is building on 4G LTE, using updated radios and software (5G LTE and non-standalone 5G NR).

-3. About 15% of global mobile connections will be on 5G by 2025. By that same year, 4G LTE usage will be about 59% — an increase from 43% in 2018. In short, 5G will not replace LTE in the way that 4G did with 3G when it was launched. Even if 5G NR becomes bigger part of the market by 2025 than estimated today, it will complement rather than replace LTE. Even when 5G is widespread, phones and networks in world will need to access older wireless technologies in rural areas where 5G may not be available.

-4. Those with 4G phones may see a boost in speed as 5G networks roll out because as more people move to 5G, there won’t be as many phones on 4G networks. That frees up capacity and gives you speeds closer to the peaks. Also, as 5G is rolled out, concurrently LTE advanced is also rolled out which will boost 4G speed due to carrier aggregation, MIMO and other techniques.

Which is better for you? 4G or 5G?

5G smartphone works seamlessly with carriers that support 4G network as 5G phones are backward compatible with 4G but 4G LTE smartphone will not work in 5G network. You will have to buy a new 5G smartphone to access 5G network as you need a smartphone with 5G modem.

The exponential increases projected in network traffic and the number of connected devices makes energy efficiency increasingly important. 5G design requirements specify that energy use be reduced to 10 percent of current 4G networks. New technologies being deployed to reduce power consumption include cloud and virtualization technologies, new efficient antenna hardware, ultra-lean design, 5G small cell network architectures and more efficient network protocols. Energy efficiency of today’s cellular site is 20 Kbit/Joule. Recent research papers report energy efficiency numbers in the order of 10Mbit/Joule in 5G systems.

On the other hand, most telecommunications professionals think that 5G is likely to increase telecommunication and mobile operators’ power consumption given the additional equipment and sites needed to provide greater coverage density. 5G needs 3 times more base stations for same coverage as LTE due to higher frequencies. Power consumption of a 5G base station is 3 times higher than LTE base station.

Energy carried by radio wave (any electromagnetic wave) is directly proportional to frequency and square of amplitude. High frequency waves generation need more energy expenditure and since they propagate less, need higher amplitude (intensity in watts per square meter) to travel further, thereby increasing energy expenditure.

In the early stages of 5G, there may be increased smartphone battery usage due to switching between signals as you move in and out of 5G service areas. As coverage increases battery life will improve and should become better than LTE with chip improvements. Also 5G enables user to cut down screen time during downloads or waiting for results due to fast speed thus reduces battery consumption.

Health concerns related to radiation from cell phone towers and cell phones are not new. Studies have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines. These effects can include an increased cancer risk, genetic damage, structural and functional changes to the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, and neurological disorders. On the other hand, various expert groups and health agencies, including the World Health Organization, have reviewed the available scientific data and have all come to the same conclusion that there are no established health effects from radio waves emitted from mobile phones and base stations complying with international limits. While it’s pragmatic and laudable to constantly monitor for any potential emergent effects, the overwhelming weight of the evidence to date does not support the hypothesis that our current cellular technology is carcinogenic. Even at higher exposures, there is no reputable indication of carcinogenicity. Long-term studies of radar workers do not show a hint of increased cancer incidence, despite the exceptional levels of RFR to which these subjects are exposed. In fact, cancer incidence rates have actually fallen as feature and smartphone usage increased. The higher millimeter-wave frequencies set to be used for 5G do not penetrate past the skin. The power level will be low and no appreciable heating will occur in the skin. Unlike 3G and 4G radiation levels, which have been studied for at least two decades, there isn’t as much research on the biological effects of using millimeter wavelengths for 5G service. We need more systematic reviews of the existing research and more well-done studies focusing on health-related endpoints.

Wireless radio frequencies being auctioned by government for mobile 5G networks could interfere with weather forecasts and make them much less accurate. The 5G rollout could inadvertently throw off weather forecasting because 5G networks are planning to use a frequency band very close to the one satellite use to observe water vapor. 5G emissions could reduce weather forecast accuracy by 30% and that could cost lives and fortunes when it comes to preparing for disastrous weather events. If you can’t make prediction as to where a hurricane is going to make landfall accurately, then you end up not evacuating the right people and/or you evacuate people that don’t need to evacuate.

Weather forecasters pushing for strict limits on 5G’s rapidly growing footprint are dealt a blow by the World Radiocommunication Conference which recently voted to create a new international standard that places much looser limits on interference from 5G operating in 24 GHz that’s crucial to accurate weather forecasting.

Due to fears of potential espionage of foreign users by Chinese equipment vendors, several countries have taken actions to restrict or eliminate the use of Chinese equipment in their respective 5G networks. Chinese vendors and the Chinese government have denied these claims.

As governments, companies and individuals become increasingly dependent on 5G networks, they become more vulnerable to the theft of sensitive data traversing the network, attacks on and disruptions of the functioning of connected devices by other devices, and attacks that disrupt or degrade the network itself as a result of immature and insufficiently tested technology having movement and access of vastly higher quantities of data thereby broadening attack surfaces.

5GHz Wi-Fi has absolutely nothing to do with 5G mobile networks although 5 and G are there. 5G is a new cellular standard, 5GHz Wi-Fi is an established home networking system. Most of us rely on Wi-Fi at home or in the office — and use mobile (cellular) networks when we step out of home/office. That scenario will continue to be the case for the vast majority of people after 5G rolls out. The difference is that both mobile networks and Wi-Fi are going to get faster. 5G and Wi-Fi 5/6 will complement each other as the cellular tech will continue to be most frequently used in the outdoors, while Wi-Fi will probably still be of most used indoors.

5G Wi-Fi is simply Wi-Fi that’s providing internet access from a 5G wireless network. We all have Wi-Fi router at home which connects to 4G network to provide internet to our laptop/smartphone. Here we need special router (5G hub/5G hotspot) that connects to 5G network and provide internet to our laptop or smartphone. 5G hotspot can connect to 5G fixed wireless access and 5G cellular. You can use a 5G hotspot (HTC 5G Hub, Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot) to turn 5G network connection into Wi-Fi for your local devices like a tablet, iPod touch, laptop, etc. 5G Wi-Fi could be a good idea for a number of reasons. For starters, it’s really fast—at a minimum theoretical speed of 20 Gbps per cell, it’s over 10 times faster than 4G and most likely faster than many types of wired home connections. Another aspect is the extremely low latency standard that 5G networks are required to abide by. This means that everything you currently do on the internet is a lot faster with 5G Wi-Fi, like when downloading files, sharing data, uploading videos, playing online games, streaming movies, etc. All your devices can connect to the internet without suffering from congestion, video buffering, random disconnects, and other bandwidth related hiccups, meaning even more bandwidth-demanding devices can be used at home like virtual reality headsets, augmented reality apps, etc.

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light (infra-red light) through an optical fiber made of glass or plastic. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling (coaxial cable) when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference are required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and data through local area networks, computer networks, or across long distances. The per-channel light signals propagating in the fiber have been modulated at rates as high as 111 gigabits per second (Gbit/s).

5G wireless is more flexible, does not require long-term contracts, faster and cheaper to deploy and less of a burden for customers – no waiting time, no engineer visits. With low availability of fiber and high cost of deployment, 5G Wireless becomes a viable alternative to fixed-line broadband. However, the fastest speeds the industry is boasting about 5G wireless has already been surpassed by fiber to the home years ago. In 5G wireless broadband your speeds can be impacted by signal strength and network congestion. Even though your 5G home internet can surpass fiber speeds, your speeds are likely to slow down if there aren’t enough small cell towers in the vicinity of your house or if there are too many people using the service at the same time. Wired transmissions are faster, safer, more reliable, and far more cyber secure and energy efficient than wireless transmissions. Unfortunately, telecom companies are promoting 5G as it is more profitable than fiber. 5G can never replace fiber broadband at home because radio spectrum is a limited resource. There’s a lot of encoding efficiency that can be invented, and there’s more bandwidth that can be obtained anytime the technology’s sensibility increases, but it’s still limited. On the other hand, fiber cables are, in practice, basically unlimited resource, with the current speeds being limited just by the price that the operator wants to spend on the equipment on each end.

5G hype overshadows telecom companies’ long-standing failures to deploy real fiber broadband to rural and less affluent urban markets, and 5G shouldn’t be seen as equal to the fast, reliable fiber connections these same companies should have deployed years ago. Ironically the same companies are installing fiber as the most suitable type of backhaul in 5G due to its longevity, high reliability and ability to support very high capacity traffic to achieve the full potential of 5G speeds.

Mmwave 5G will never materially scale beyond small pockets of dense urban environments. That would seem to rule out the possibility of 5G’s fastest speeds reaching rural areas or perhaps even suburbs.

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Dr. Rajiv Desai. MD.

December 1, 2019

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Postscript:

I envision world where every home has fiber broadband, and fiber & electricity cable are in the same conduit so that when your home gets electricity connection, fiber broadband is automatically installed. Electricity supply and broadband internet connection are must in every home, why not bring them together?

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5G

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