Ashish Kalam :
5G, a buzzword most of us keep hearing, but what is it and why does it matter? 5G is the 5th generation of wireless communication technology, succeeding but not necessarily replacing 4G.
Like every generation, the technology is a brand new platform, where 4G has reached its maximum potential and 5G is here to start fresh.
How does it work?
1G gave us the first cellphone, 2G introduced texting on phones, 3G brought us mobile internet, 4G gave us enough speed for HD video calls. 5G promises many new things that was previously considered impossible. There five different technologies that make 5G work, Millimeter waves, Small cell, Massive MIMO, Beam Forming and Full duplex.
Each generation uses a different frequency, most of us use 4G now, so it’s a crowded frequency range, 5G therefore uses a very different, unused frequency, millimeter waves. Every mobile service uses frequencies from 3kHz to 6Ghz, while 5G uses 30GHz to 300GHz and may even use up to 500GHz in the future. Millimeter waves have a certain flaw, it cannot penetrate through walls, trees or even heavy rain, Small cell eliminates this problem, these are lower powered towers but are used in higher numbers to navigate signals around obstacles and often strengthen the signal where needed. It is particularly needed in dense cities and forest like areas.
To further power this system, Massive MIMO is used, which are essentially towers with 10 times as many individual signal generators. To avoid heavy interference, Beam Forming is used, which concentrates and redirects signals into specific triangulated locations rather than a general direction. It also works as a traffic control system for signals so that no signal collides or intertwines causing errors. Finally, Full duplex is used, a method by which signals can be sent and received simultaneously, making it faster and free of jamming and interference. All of these make 5G at least 10 times faster, much more reliable and collectively more efficient.
People may be happy with what 4G has to offer, but it is only because people haven’t had a taste of what 5G can do nor has its potential been popularized. A common statistic is that 5G is fast enough to download an HD movie in less than 4 seconds, while that is very accurate; it isn’t very helpful because it would actually take longer to load a downloaded movie from a hard drive. A better example would be that you can now stream movies, not only in 4k but in 360o without interruptions, especially live content. It will also make cloud computing far more achievable and resourceful.
Cloud computing would open doors to many new products. Phones, laptops, gaming consoles would require barely any processing power, meaning the ability of devices would not be limited by the size or components of the device, a cloud service will take care of mass data processing and the tiniest of devices could do whatever the user requires. This also means high end encryption and security will also be readily available for every device. Self-driving cars will become a reality. Robots will not be limited by the lack of processing power; it will only follow detailed, real time instructions from the cloud. Virtual reality and Augmented Reality devices and services will almost entirely depend on Cloud Servers and their massive Graphics processing. Artificial intelligence will be available to many devices without any limitations of functionality. This means devices will only be as powerful as the cloud server; thankfully newer server technologies can now be utilized. Super computers are already being used but now will be mass produced and will become cheaper.
Quantum computers have long been unused in many industries due to its extreme lack of portability and lack of efficiency when processing less data, but now it can be put to use as more powerful, mass data processing will be required. Several new businesses, services and devices will emerge and much like Laptops, Smartphones and services like Facebook, Amazon and Youtube, these new businesses will grow exponentially for decades.
While every company is in a race for 5G in one way or another, only an handful of companies are making 5G a reality. Currently there are four main suppliers of 4G Network equipment, Huawei has the majority of market shares around the world, while Ericsson, Nokia and Zte have less that 30 per cent shares combined. For 5G however, Huawei has a quite a monopoly of estimated 95 per cent market share. Huawei is undoubtedly the pioneer of network technologies, they currently own many crucial patents of network technologies, and own almost all patents when it comes to 5G, they have gone the furthest in terms of real life implementation and production of 5G equipment. Huawei rightfully deserves the monopoly that they have because their technology is 10 to 15 years ahead of its competitors. Meaning anyone not willing to work with Huawei or refusing to use its 5G technologies will miss out on the 5G revolution. Surprisingly, USA of all countries have banned Huawei’s network equipment and has strongly advised its allies to do the same claiming the equipment has critical national security threats but they yet to provide any evidence. If this stance remains consistent, Huawei may deny US products and services access to Huawei’s network equipment. Such companies will include, Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon, and if things go as predicted, US’s dominance in Technology industry will diminish quite rapidly in the next decade and the US will lose trillions of dollars.
Thankfully, countries willing to comply with Huawei will have a good chance to benefit from the 5G revolution which is estimated to be arriving within the next decade. Considering 5G capable smartphone are already in the market, 5G networks could arrive much sooner, starting a grand journey of new opportunities, creativity and life changing solutions.
5G, a buzzword most of us keep hearing, but what is it and why does it matter? 5G is the 5th generation of wireless communication technology, succeeding but not necessarily replacing 4G.
Like every generation, the technology is a brand new platform, where 4G has reached its maximum potential and 5G is here to start fresh.
How does it work?
1G gave us the first cellphone, 2G introduced texting on phones, 3G brought us mobile internet, 4G gave us enough speed for HD video calls. 5G promises many new things that was previously considered impossible. There five different technologies that make 5G work, Millimeter waves, Small cell, Massive MIMO, Beam Forming and Full duplex.
Each generation uses a different frequency, most of us use 4G now, so it’s a crowded frequency range, 5G therefore uses a very different, unused frequency, millimeter waves. Every mobile service uses frequencies from 3kHz to 6Ghz, while 5G uses 30GHz to 300GHz and may even use up to 500GHz in the future. Millimeter waves have a certain flaw, it cannot penetrate through walls, trees or even heavy rain, Small cell eliminates this problem, these are lower powered towers but are used in higher numbers to navigate signals around obstacles and often strengthen the signal where needed. It is particularly needed in dense cities and forest like areas.
To further power this system, Massive MIMO is used, which are essentially towers with 10 times as many individual signal generators. To avoid heavy interference, Beam Forming is used, which concentrates and redirects signals into specific triangulated locations rather than a general direction. It also works as a traffic control system for signals so that no signal collides or intertwines causing errors. Finally, Full duplex is used, a method by which signals can be sent and received simultaneously, making it faster and free of jamming and interference. All of these make 5G at least 10 times faster, much more reliable and collectively more efficient.
People may be happy with what 4G has to offer, but it is only because people haven’t had a taste of what 5G can do nor has its potential been popularized. A common statistic is that 5G is fast enough to download an HD movie in less than 4 seconds, while that is very accurate; it isn’t very helpful because it would actually take longer to load a downloaded movie from a hard drive. A better example would be that you can now stream movies, not only in 4k but in 360o without interruptions, especially live content. It will also make cloud computing far more achievable and resourceful.
Cloud computing would open doors to many new products. Phones, laptops, gaming consoles would require barely any processing power, meaning the ability of devices would not be limited by the size or components of the device, a cloud service will take care of mass data processing and the tiniest of devices could do whatever the user requires. This also means high end encryption and security will also be readily available for every device. Self-driving cars will become a reality. Robots will not be limited by the lack of processing power; it will only follow detailed, real time instructions from the cloud. Virtual reality and Augmented Reality devices and services will almost entirely depend on Cloud Servers and their massive Graphics processing. Artificial intelligence will be available to many devices without any limitations of functionality. This means devices will only be as powerful as the cloud server; thankfully newer server technologies can now be utilized. Super computers are already being used but now will be mass produced and will become cheaper.
Quantum computers have long been unused in many industries due to its extreme lack of portability and lack of efficiency when processing less data, but now it can be put to use as more powerful, mass data processing will be required. Several new businesses, services and devices will emerge and much like Laptops, Smartphones and services like Facebook, Amazon and Youtube, these new businesses will grow exponentially for decades.
While every company is in a race for 5G in one way or another, only an handful of companies are making 5G a reality. Currently there are four main suppliers of 4G Network equipment, Huawei has the majority of market shares around the world, while Ericsson, Nokia and Zte have less that 30 per cent shares combined. For 5G however, Huawei has a quite a monopoly of estimated 95 per cent market share. Huawei is undoubtedly the pioneer of network technologies, they currently own many crucial patents of network technologies, and own almost all patents when it comes to 5G, they have gone the furthest in terms of real life implementation and production of 5G equipment. Huawei rightfully deserves the monopoly that they have because their technology is 10 to 15 years ahead of its competitors. Meaning anyone not willing to work with Huawei or refusing to use its 5G technologies will miss out on the 5G revolution. Surprisingly, USA of all countries have banned Huawei’s network equipment and has strongly advised its allies to do the same claiming the equipment has critical national security threats but they yet to provide any evidence. If this stance remains consistent, Huawei may deny US products and services access to Huawei’s network equipment. Such companies will include, Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon, and if things go as predicted, US’s dominance in Technology industry will diminish quite rapidly in the next decade and the US will lose trillions of dollars.
Thankfully, countries willing to comply with Huawei will have a good chance to benefit from the 5G revolution which is estimated to be arriving within the next decade. Considering 5G capable smartphone are already in the market, 5G networks could arrive much sooner, starting a grand journey of new opportunities, creativity and life changing solutions.
