The Future of 5G: The Internet for Everyone and Everything

The Future of 5G: The Internet for Everyone and Everything

Today’s 4G networks continue to offer faster data access, but there’s a great amount of uncertainty about the road beyond 4G, especially as the rapid consumption of wireless data continues to outpace the industry’s ability to meet demand.

Fortunately, researchers all over the world are envisioning new networks referred to as fifth generation, or 5G, that will transform our lives and unleash enormous economic potential, but there are challenges to achieving this. The current spectrum that service operators paid governments billions of dollars to acquire has simply run out.

We now have the opportunity to redefine our networks with 5G technologies to enable faster data access and to support greater capacity and accommodate a wealth of new and diverse connected devices that comprise the Internet of Things (IoT). But to unlock the potential of the IoT, researchers need the right tools and technologies to explore the next spectrum and to design and rapidly prototype their 5G concepts faster, expediting the time to market and deployment.

Billions of Connected Devices

By 2020, industry analysts predict 50 billion devices will be connected to mobile networks worldwide. Mobile traffic is also expected to exceed 127 exabytes.

The explosion of devices in the IoT may incorporate sensors to measure pressure, temperature, or stress, and perhaps actuators to turn on and off devices or make adjustments in real time. One example is traffic lights that are not just timed but connected and controlled remotely so that traffic congestion sites are immediately known and offloaded. If vehicles were connected directly to a traffic controller, then traffic lights may not even be necessary.

Buildings, bridges and roads could be monitored continuously for structural health. Corporations and governments could use air-pollution monitoring data to regulate emissions and apply corrective action. Patient vital sign data could be logged and monitored to better understand the cause and effect of certain health conditions.

5G will be the platform to enable growth of connected devices in many industries, starting with the IT industry, but also extending to cars, entertainment, agriculture and robotics industries.

5G: Increased speeds, connectivity and capabilities

It’s clear that 5G networks must accommodate many more users and devices while delivering more data to each user at any instant in time. While 5G networks are still a few years away, researchers from leading companies and universities, including Nokia, National Instruments (NI), Samsung, Intel, TU Dresden and NYU Wireless, are already working to advance 5G technologies to increase wireless speeds, connectivity and capabilities, and define the future of 5G by prototyping real world systems.

In fact, Nokia and NI recently collaborated to develop the fastest cellular 5G technology ever tested at peak speeds of 10 Gigabits per second, which is 40 times faster than 4G. To provide a frame of reference, a user can download a two-hour HD video in 40 minutes using today’s highest speed networks in good conditions, but with 5G speeds, a user can download this same video in a matter of seconds.

The future of 5G networks may use wavelengths in high-frequency spectrum bands that are largely unlicensed or lightly licensed. The use of new spectrum bands is one of the key ingredients in future 5G networks, enabling the delivery of very low latency, which is important when using mobile apps or playing games on a phone, for example. Very low latency enables phones to respond immediately after a control is pressed. It’s also necessary to handle the vast range of connected devices and support applications for smart homes, connected cars and augmented reality.

Making the Vision a Reality
5G technologies to address these challenges are moving forward, and the vision of an Internet for everyone and everything comes closer to reality every day. As with any new wireless technology, the transition from concept to prototype impacts the time to actual deployment and commercialization. And the faster researchers can build 5G prototypes, the sooner society can benefit from the innovations.
Source : business2community
 
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