5G – The Opportunities of New Cellular Technology
The hunger for mobile data is growing exponentially – by an average of 50 percent from year to year. Due to the steadily growing enthusiasm for mobile video streaming and other data-intensive services, an end to this development is not in sight. In addition, new technologies are in the starting blocks, whether in the transport sector with autonomous driving (self-driving cars), air taxis, Industry 4.0, which will be implemented via mobile Internet connections. The latest generation of 5G mobile radio offers even higher transmission rates and is therefore currently on everyone’s lips.
However, the new network technology not only offers higher frequencies or speeds for data transmission than LTE, but also extremely fast response times (latency). With 5G there is new potential and usage scenarios for smartphone users, such as augmented reality. But not only there, but especially in machine communication (M2M) and the networking of everyday objects (IoT – Internet of Things), the new standard of the future of the network will play a central role. This is how the Internet of Things will finally become a reality with 5G.
But what distinguishes the new cellular technology and how will users benefit from it? In the following we give an overview of the technical opportunities and possibilities of 5G.
5G – Explanation of the high-speed network in mobile communications
The higher bandwidth of 5G technology is achieved by bundling several frequency ranges. This means that more space can be made available to the user for data transmission and the data rate increases. Through what is known as network slicing, data rates tailored to personal needs can be made available to the individual user. The cellular network is cut into different slices, so to speak, and can be used flexibly. This makes it possible to allocate tailor-made capacities to the end user and to react individually to power peaks. With the help of the so-called multi-user beachforming technology, the various partial antennas of the 5G station can be specifically controlled and made available to the user.
This flexibility in the use of the network plays a central role in 5G, since in addition to the networking of private customers, communication between a wide variety of devices and machines (M2M) should be guaranteed with the new network. Low latency times, which are reflected in the new technology, are essential for this. 5G offers response times of less than a millisecond (with 3G it was around 100 milliseconds), which leads to fast data transmission in real time. The new technology has great potential, especially in processes that rely on fast and reliable data transmission, such as autonomous driving.
Fifth generation mobile communications – building and expanding technology
In order to be able to set up a 5G network, the use of new, previously unused frequency bands is an essential requirement. The frequencies for this were auctioned off by the Federal Network Agency to the four major network operators: 1 & 1, Telekom, Vodafone and o2.
The frequency blocks in the 3.6 GHz range of the Federal Network Agency are particularly important here. The high speeds are achieved via these frequency bands. The frequencies in the 2 GHz range that were also auctioned by the Federal Network Agency, however, are currently also being used for UMTS technology (3G). Some of the frequency bands will not be available until 2026. You can find out everything about 3G shutdown in the linked article.
As a rule of thumb, the higher the frequency, the lower the range. Since the 5G frequencies are high compared to LTE, which also transmits over the 800 MHz band, the expansion of the new 5G mobile network will initially take place in urban areas. Here it is much easier to reach a large number of people, even with short transmission ranges, since the population density is significantly higher. The network operators plan to have 5G available to most of Germany by the end of 2022. Since it is particularly suitable for industrial applications, the successor to the fourth generation will be operated and gradually expanded by the network operators in parallel to the current mobile communications standard -the existing LTE network .
Another prerequisite for the network operator’s 5G network structure is the connection of the mobile radio cells to the fiber optic network, as this is the only way to achieve the necessary speeds. In addition, a higher antenna density is required than with the cellular technology previously in use, as the range of the radio masts is less.
The future cellular standard: features of 5G
Up to 100 times higher data rates than LTE: With 5G, speeds of theoretically 10 gigabits per second can be achieved. With LTE, however, 50 Mbit / s to 100 Mbit / s are widespread, so that with 5G the surfing speed increases by 100 times.
Extremely low latency (less than a millisecond): The industry in particular benefits from the extremely fast response times. Robots and machines have to communicate with each other in real time, for example to coordinate production processes.
Higher network capacity: With the new cellular standard, significantly more users and 5G cell phones can be supplied via one cell. Compared to LTE, the capacity will be around 1000 times higher in terms of subscribers and devices.
Lower energy and power consumption: 5G networks consume less energy in relation to the amount of data transferred.
5G application areas – new opportunities in private and industrial areas
So far, a new cellular standard has represented a further development of existing technologies. With LTE, much higher data transmission speeds can be achieved than with 3G; Overall, however, 4G is based on the structures of the previous 3G technology. Users mainly benefit from the faster and more stable performance of the networks and can surf on the move as fast as in the broadband network.
In addition to faster performance, the 5G network opens up numerous new fields of application that have great potential. After primarily people have been networked with one another up to now, with 5G it is the Internet of Things and thus objects or machines that can communicate. In this respect, 5G is far more than the next generation of mobile communications and opens up completely new business areas for companies and applications for end consumers. Possible applications of the new technology made possible by network operators are autonomous driving, medical technology and industrial applications, and the Internet of Things.
Industry: Thanks to the real-time transmission of 5G, a significantly higher degree of flexibility and changeability for companies is expected for production processes. In this way, production lines in the factory of the future can be adjusted and controlled faster than ever. The same applies to agriculture, where the potential for automation is particularly high.
Medicine: In the future, doctors in hospitals can use 5G to find out, for example, the health status of an injured person in real time from the scene of the accident. This allows communication between the paramedic and doctor to be made even more efficient. Concrete and quick help measures that increase the likelihood of survival can be carried out.
Autonomous driving: The low latency times of the 5G network can play an important role, especially for autonomous driving. For example, it is possible for traffic data to be exchanged between the individual vehicles in real time and for possible danger spots to be recognized at an early stage.
Augmented Reality: The ultra-fast transmission of sensor-based information from the environment in just fractions of a second promises new forms of use in the field of augmented reality, from which end consumers also benefit.
Internet of Things and smart cities: The 5G network that network operators will be building in the next few years also has great potential for the more efficient design of living space and cities. With the help of intelligent house control (Smart Home) and a link between waste supply, energy and traffic at the municipal level, numerous savings and an improved ecological balance can be achieved here.
Conclusion: 5G frequency – what will the new technology bring in the future?
Experience shows: New technologies are usually overestimated in the short term, but the long-term effect is often underestimated. In contrast to LTE, the end user will probably benefit primarily indirectly. In the first step, companies from industry will play the pioneering role in using the new technological possibilities thanks to the 5G network. Private customers will also benefit from the applications and business models developed there, e.g. in autonomous driving or in medicine.
What is certain, however, is that end users will not only benefit from the higher speed of the mobile Internet for using data-intensive and popular applications such as video streaming, but also from the networking of devices and machines.
However, the new network technology not only offers higher frequencies or speeds for data transmission than LTE, but also extremely fast response times (latency). With 5G there is new potential and usage scenarios for smartphone users, such as augmented reality. But not only there, but especially in machine communication (M2M) and the networking of everyday objects (IoT – Internet of Things), the new standard of the future of the network will play a central role. This is how the Internet of Things will finally become a reality with 5G.