What needs to happen for 5G to be a reality?
As this becomes ever further entrenched in our lifestyles it becomes increasingly important–no one wants to experience delays; they simply want their email to be sent, their message received and their favourite TV show to start streaming immediately. Whilst 4G has served us well, that doesn’t stop us looking to the future–hello 5G!
Some may question why we need 5G when 4G is sufficient for most current requirements. However, 5G will provide even faster data speeds, and more importantly, it will, over time, offer enough capacity for users to perform every function they want without loss of connection or drop in speed, no matter how many people are connected at the same time. Indeed 5G could even provide ‘always on’ connectivity.
Furthermore, when it comes to latency and increasing user demand and expectation, 4G simply won’t be able to keep up for much longer. 5G’s proposed ultra-low-latency could be as low as between 1ms and 10ms, compared to 4G’s 40ms to 60ms. It would have the ability to provide the real-time responses users are starting to crave. For example, it would enable a sports spectator at a stadium to watch a live stream of an alternative camera angle of the same game, with no delay.
So what needs to happen for 5G to become a reality?
The initial standard for 5G has just been approved and further iterations will be finalised by 2020. Business applications based on 5G will appear very shortly and it’s fair to assume that we will then start to see consumer access a couple of years later. Analyst house Ovum suggests there will be 24 million 5G subscribers by 2021.
The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea is expect to provide one of the first large-scale tests for 5G, showcasing the types of services of which it will be capable. This includes new kinds of video services to transform the experience of watching live events. However, between now and 2020 there will be numerous trials around the world. Recently, EE conducted its UK-first 5G trial and achieved speeds of nearly 3Gbps, while Vodafone said it had achieved its first 5G data connection in Italy.
5G will run on a new high-spectrum band that uses higher frequency signals than those currently used with 4G. It is likely that 5G will sit on frequency bands up to 6GHz–4G occupies frequency bands up to 20MHz. This means that the new spectrum band will have less congestion–this is vital when you consider the Internet of Things (IoT) and the expectation that this will grow to reach 75 billion devices by 2025, combined with the belief that mobile data use will continue to rocket.
The challenges currently facing 5G
The internet is quickly becoming saturated and a new standard is needed to meet future demand. 5G won’t ‘just’ happen and there are a number of challenges that need to be overcome in the next few years. In many ways these are similar to the challenges that faced 4G when as it was first being deployed. The biggest challenge that needs to be overcome is spectrum availability but cost and network architecture also need to be addressed.
Spectrum availability is always a challenge; however, it remains crucial to the success of 5G. It’s well known that the radio frequencies used for 3G and 4G are overcrowded and therefore new spectrum is needed to cope with increasing demand. 5G will need to use the proposed high frequency 6GHz bands to be able to deliver the desired data speeds. Allocation and management of spectrum is down to governments and to date, there has been little harmonisation across countries. This will need to change for 5G services to work globally.
Additionally, to ensure the 5G spectrum doesn’t run out, it might be necessary to develop ways of using spectrum more smartly. For example, by only assigning the amount needed for each task.
As with 4G, cost is a big consideration. However, until the technology needed for 5G is developed and tested, no one will really know the true cost of deployment of the network infrastructure.
Equally, if the full benefits of 5G are to be realised, the price of 5G capable handsets and services for businesses and the consumer must be affordable. Just because they will be able to download more data, and faster, it does not mean that they will be prepared to pay a huge bill every month in excess of what they now pay for 4G.
An additional consideration is whether devices will actually be ready for 5G. Potentially, we could implement this new, super-fast network and not have any compatible user equipment. This is a big concern for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Byeong-Moo Lee, VP Olympic Business, KT has commented, “We don’t yet know whether we will have sufficient devices. We are working with all the major vendors to get as many as we can. Our priority is smartphones, but we do have some tablets and wearables in mind too.”
Will there ever be a need for 6G?
The pace at which IoT is growing is astronomical. Soon every piece of technology will have a wireless connection, creating a lot of traffic and congestion on the network–from washing machines and fridges, through to farm animal sensors, fitness bands and garbage bins as well as autonomous cars to name but a few. Add to the mix consumer expectation and demand, communication networks have got to keep up–simply, consumers don’t care whether they use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, for example, they just want their devices to work in real-time.
Unlike when previous generation networks, were implemented, such as 1G, 2G and 3G, with 5G it is vital that the correct infrastructure is put in place right away. This will mean that rather than being replaced in the not-to-distant-future it can simply be upgraded. It’s also important that a real emphasis is placed on software and not just hardware.
Typically, mobile data technologies were built around hardware. With 5G a different approach is being taken, with the focus on software which, compared to hardware, can be easily updated. If this done correctly, there will be no need for 6G. However, only time will tell if this is the case.
Looking to a 5G future
While the reality is that it is still some way off, 5G is coming and when it does arrive, people will wonder how they lived without it. 5G has the potential to change the world as we know it. It will dramatically increase the speed at which data is transferred, improve response times and provide enough capacity for the billions of devices that will be connected in the IoT, paving the way for innovative new technologies and services.
About the author:
Richard Edgar is Director of Communications Technology at Ensigma, Imagination Technologies – www.imgtec.com/ensigma
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