What is 5G?

One of the most exciting innovations in the tech world expected to arrive within the next few years is undoubtedly 5G. With development underway and all major telecom companies racing to test new networks, this new standard will change the way we communicate.

The Fifth Generation

5G, or generation five of wireless communications, is a new set of cellular communication standards currently under development. It follows 4G, which came about in 2009, and 3G in the early 2000s. In essence, each new network generation brings about big upgrades in speed and bandwidth, allowing for new activities. 3G brought Internet access to phones, while 4G allows for the broadband connection required to stream high-definition video. However, 5G is set to become more than just a single generational upgrade. 5G will require a whole new infrastructure for it to become accessible, but once it’s up and running it could bring many changes to our lives.

Improvements

Instead of using traditional lower frequency radio bands, 5G will use radio bands at much higher frequencies. The wavelength of these bands is measured in millimeters, much smaller compared to the centimetres or metres used for most 4G bands. These bands will reach frequencies of 86 GHz and offer many improvements with few drawbacks.

The first improvement that 5G will bring is speed. Peak 5G speeds will be roughly 20 times today’s maximum, at 20 Gbps. This will mean faster downloads from the network to our personal devices. These channels at higher frequencies are also rarely used, allowing for an incredibly large bandwidth. Finally, latency (the time taken to send data from one point to another) will be much lower, with a goal of one millisecond.

As more and more devices become connected to global networks, concepts such as high speed, large bandwidth, and low latency become increasingly important. Tons of small devices and sensors with “smart” features, making up the Internet of Things, will be able to interact over the Internet. Self driving cars will also be able to communicate to each other extremely quickly over these new networks, allowing for increased road safety.

The Present

Currently, cell towers are few and far between as the low-frequency waves used can travel long distances and penetrate buildings. However, the higher frequency bands that 5G use travel shorter distances and penetrate objects less easily. This means that a much higher number of antennas will have to be installed in urban areas to ensure total coverage on a 5G network, as the radius of each antennas range will be very small.

Several companies are working towards functional 5G networks, in what is becoming a race towards the new technology. Chinese, American, and Canadian companies are all racing to develop working large-scale implementations. While its exact final form and the changes it will be bring about are still up in the air, 5G will definitely make the next few years of advancements in network communications very interesting to watch.