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Everything You Need to Know about 5G!
5G is the latest mobile broadband technology. Since it is the 5th generation mobile network, it offers the fastest data speed and highly reliable services.
What does this mean to you?
Simple! With a 5G network, you can download a high-definition film in less than a second! Remember, 4G LTE, which is currently the best, takes 10 minutes, at best.
What is 5G?
5G stands for the 5th generation mobile network, aiming to either replace or augment the current 4G LTE connection. It is a robust network; therefore, it aims at virtually connecting everybody and everything together – machines, objects, and devices.
The exponentially faster download and upload speeds make it unique. Higher reliability, ultra-low latency, massive network capacity, increased availability, and consistent user experience is a sign of higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds
However, 5G works efficiently within towns and cities. Within the town, you can set up short-range transmitters or a higher number of small cells. Such an arrangement provides the same geographic coverage as 4G.
Wireless engineers are still working on this technology. However, the technology can boost the development of technologies like virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things.
How Does 5G Work?
5G utilizes a suite of brand new technologies to deliver high speeds and low latency. Typically, it delivers data with less than a millisecond of delay and gives users a peak of 20 gigabits per second.
5G Technologies
Five technologies set 5G apart from 4G. They include:
Millimeter Waves
It aims to solve the less bandwidth that users get from previous wireless networks.
Millimeter Waves utilize higher frequencies than radio waves. Typically, it broadcast at frequencies of between 30 and 300 GHz, which is higher than the standard <6 GHz.
Their length varies from 1 to 10 mm, unlike today’s radio waves, which measure tens of centimeters.
Satellites and radar systems commonly use millimeter waves for real-world applications. However, cellular providers are using them, thanks for their capacity to support 5G. Precisely, cellular providers use them to send data between stationary points.
Drawback: can’t pass through obstacles such as buildings. Still, rain and foliage can absorb them.
Small Cells
Small cells refer to portable miniature base stations that operate with minimal power within cities. Wireless engineers install them approximately 250 meters apart within cities. However, to prevent signal drop, engineers can install thousands of small cell stations in a city to build a dense network.
The network acts like a relay team, i.e., it receives signals from other base stations and transmitting data to users at any location.
Massive MIMO
5G base stations can support approximately a hundred ports. So you can fit more antennas on a single array. That means a base station can send and receive signals from multiple users at once. This increases the capacity of mobile networks 22 times or more, hence the name, massive MIMO.
MIMO is a wireless system that uses more than one transmitter and receivers to send and receive more data at once. Massive MIMO is promising, but installing multiple antennas to handle cellular traffic results in colossal interference. That is why 5th Generation stations must have beamforming.
Beamforming
Beamforming is a traffic-signaling system that identifies the most efficient data-delivery route to a specific user. And, in the process, it minimizes interference for nearby users.
Beamforming helps massive MIMO arrays to utilize the spectrum around them efficiently. Signal-processing algorithms plot the best transmission route at massive MIMO base stations, through the air to each user.
They can send individual data packets in numerous directions, bouncing them off buildings and other objects in a precisely coordinated pattern.
Full Duplex
Full-duplex transmission means the transceivers can transmit and receive information over the same frequency simultaneously.
Further 5G Details
- Peak data rate: you should get faster data speeds with peaks of 20Gbps downlink and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station. It’s the speed that all users share on the cell.
- Real-world speeds: the actual speeds maybe something like download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 50Mbps
- Latency: it should be 4 milliseconds ideally, but it can be at 1 millisecond for utmost speed use cases, e.g., remote surgeries.
- Spectral efficiency: spectral efficiency should be higher than LTE – at 30bits/Hz downlink, and 15 bits/Hz uplink.
- Mobility: base stations should support movement from 0 to 310 mph.
- Connection density: it should support more devices than LTE. The standard rate at 1 million connected devices per square kilometer.
5G FAQ
Do I need another phone to use 5G?
You need a 5G compatible smartphone. Snapdragon X55 and Snapdragon X60 Modem-RF System support the 5th generation network.
Companies like Samsung, Motorola, and Apple are creating phones.
Where can I use 5G today?
Multiple cities in the US support the 5th generation network. They include Atlanta, Denver, and Washington. Check more here.
What can 5G do?
The application includes:
- Improve broadband
- Communication between vehicles
- Remote control heavy machinery
- Improve healthcare system
- Massive IoT
- 5G sallow efficient operation within cities
The rolling out of 5G means a new world for internet users. Faster downloads with minimal latency mean you can access much information within a short time. Considering is multiple applications, it means improved healthcare systems, efficiency in operating machines, and efficiency in running cities.
You may want to check out: What is Smart Home Technology?
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