Mobile 5G, which stands for “5th generation,” is about as indistinct and nebulous as the term. The organization governing all cellular standards, AKA 3GPP, has already released its first formal standards and Chipmakers have already started on creating more and more 5G hardware prototypes for future use.
So what does all of this mean? We should see 5G capability in mobile devices any day now; is it?
Not so fast! We still have miles to go. 5G isn’t expected to be functional until 2020 even though a huge number of companies are already investing a substantial sum of their money to prepare for this new wireless standard.
Now, in this post, I have tried to throw a bit more light on the technology from a very layman’s point of view, discussing the potential benefits and the prospects it may bring in the long term. Have a look.
Understanding 5G in respect to its predecessors
Mobile 5G can be understood better when it’s compared to that of its predecessors – 4G, 3G, and 2G.
2G debuted in the early 90s and made it possible for wireless phones to expand from a voice-based technology to one supporting text messaging. 3G carried data in addition to phone calls and text messages. 4G Long-term Evolution (4G LTE), on the other hand, enhanced those capabilities with increased speed and reliability.
5G brings with it more improvements with a suite of new technologies. The most popular contenders include:
- Small cells – These are scaled-down mobile phone towers that can supposedly be stationed in discreet places like building roofs and light poles. They would not need as much power as full-sized towers and can perform exceptionally well when grouped together.
- Millimeter waves – Miniature cell phone towers AKA small cells transmit data through millimeter waves. They are called “millimeter waves” because of their narrower than average wavelength.
- MIMO (Multiple-input Multiple-output) – MIMO is a wireless system which uses multiple radios to send and receive data at one and the same time.
- Beamforming – Beamforming is a procedure of using algorithms to choreograph the movement of wireless signals and increase their strength by focusing them in a beam.
- Full duplex: The full duplex technology helps to boost the signal even further by routing incoming and outgoing signals simultaneously, doubling bandwidth at the same time.
Potential benefits of 5G Technology
- High resolution and large bandwidth shaping.
- Ability to gather al networks on a single platform.
- More efficiency and reliability.
- Technology for facilitating subscriber supervision tools for a quick action.
- Huge broadcasting of data (in Gigabits) which should likely support over 60,000 connections.
- More technologically sound for supporting heterogeneous services (such as a private network).
- Easily manageable in comparison to its predecessors.
- Providing uninterrupted, uniform, and consistent wireless connectivity across the globe.
To know more about the expected application of 5G in our daily life, refer to the below infographic.
Source- Inspire WiFi