5G Technology and Its Significance

The 5G era has arrived! The technology that has become a hot topic in recent years is finally being deployed in various countries such as China, the United States, Japan, and even South Korea. This topic is very important from an exam perspective because nowadays, exams such as UPSC, SSC, Railways, Banking, and others are current affairs oriented.

5-G Technology: An Introduction

• 5G is the fifth generation of cellular technology, which not only improves download and upload speeds over cellular networks (1 Gbps speed) but also reduces latency. The time it takes for the network to respond. It also improves energy efficiency and provides a more stable network connection.
  
• 5G is also designed to deliver signals more reliably than previous cellular networks.
  
• 5G will provide a wider range of frequency spectrum (frequency range) to prevent network congestion. In addition, the connection to the perfect circle is also guaranteed. Everything is connected to everything.
  
• 5G will facilitate the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into our daily lives. To reap the benefits of 5G, users will have to buy new phones and carriers will have to install new transmission equipment to provide faster service.
  
• 5G mainly works in three bands: low, medium, and high-frequency spectrum. All of these have uses and limitations.
  
• The low-band spectrum is promising in terms of coverage but is limited to 100Mbps maximum speeds. This means that while carriers can use and install very fast internet for commercial mobile phone users with no special needs, the low-band spectrum may not be optimal for the specific needs of the industry.  
  
• The mid-band spectrum, on the other hand, offers higher speeds than the low-band but is limited in terms of coverage area and signal penetration. The 5G leading carriers and enterprises are customizing this band to meet the needs of specific industries. It shows that it can be used by industry and professional factory units to build their networks that can be used.
  
• The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all three bands, but has very limited coverage and signal penetration strength. Internet speeds on 5G’s high-band spectrum have been tested at up to 20 Gbit/s (Gigabits per second), while 4G’s maximum Internet data speed is mostly recorded at 1 Gbit/s.

Important Pillers of 5-G 

1. Millimeter-Wave:

• mmWave 5G will ingest massive amounts of data, enabling data transfer speeds exceeding 1 Gbps.
  
• This form of technology is currently used in the United States by carriers such as Verizon and AT&T.
  

2. Small cell:

• Since mmWave cannot overcome obstacles, many mini-cell towers are placed in the area to relay the signal from the main cell towers.
  
• These small cells have to be placed closer compared to traditional masts to allow the user to receive his 5G signal without interruption.
  

3. Massive MIMO (multiple input multiple outputs):

• This technology is used in large cell towers to handle large amounts of traffic. A typical cell tower delivering 4G has 12 antennas handling all cell traffic in the area.
  
• MIMO can support 100 antennas simultaneously, increasing the tower’s total capacity to handle more traffic.
  
• This technology will help make the transmission of 5G signals smoother.
  

4. Beamforming:

• Beamforming is a technology that can periodically monitor multiple frequency sources and switch to a stronger, faster tower when the signal is blocked.
  
• This ensures that certain data is only sent in certain directions. Something like a data traffic light.
  

5. Full duplex

• Full-duplex is a technology that allows nodes to transmit and receive data simultaneously on the same frequency band.
  
• Landlines and shortwave radios use this type of technology.
  
• It’s like a one-way street, allowing the same amount of traffic in either direction.

Major Advantages

1. Fast: Imagine being able to download a full HD movie in less than 3 seconds. This is the download speed on 5G. 5G will deliver speeds of up to 20 Gbps, increasing traffic capacity and network efficiency by a factor of 100.

2. Low latency: In addition, mmWave can also achieve latency as low as 1 ms. This establishes a connection instantly and reduces network traffic afterwards.

3. State-of-the-art technology foundation: 5G’s full potential is envisioned to provide speeds that enable real-time reproduction of augmented reality. This will further lead to the development of more hardware to work with augmented reality. This technology is also the basis for virtual reality, autonomous driving, and the Internet of Things.

4. Ripple Effect: The benefits of 5g will not only improve the smartphone experience but also open up opportunities for progress in other areas such as healthcare, infrastructure, and even manufacturing. 

Major Concerns

1. Capital intensive: Deploying 5G technology is costly. This will require frequencies beyond 3.5GHz, a wider bandwidth than 3G and 4G, forcing carriers to dismantle the current ecosystem.

2. Bandwidth limitation: The sub-6 GHz spectrum is bandwidth limited, so its speed may be slower than mmWave provides. Requires hardware implementation: In addition, mmWave is only effective at short distances and cannot pass through obstacles. It also tends to be absorbed by trees and rain, so a lot of hardware needs to be deployed for 5G to work effectively.

3. Unknown security issues: 5G technology may also have security and privacy issues, but these issues will become more apparent as the technology becomes more accessible.

4. Growing skepticism: 5G is growing, but not as fast as expected. Even at current speeds, multiple reports suggest 5G won’t overtake 4G and 3G by 2025. However, Qualcomm predicts that 5G smartphone shipments will exceed 750 million units by 2022 and 5G connections will exceed 1 billion units by 2023, 2 more than 4G will reach that number. I’m getting older. 

5. Domestic Industry Stress: India’s telecommunications sector has been under stress recently due to the intense competition unleashed by Jio’s entry. Without government support (bank loans and low-band fees), businesses will struggle to adopt 5G shortly.