Unwrapping 5G - vol.1

Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins

Note: If you're a 5G nerd or in the technology domain where you work on 5G related products/solutions, I'll save your time by asking you to skip this article. This article is focused on readers who do not work on 5G but have heard so much about it and want to understand without reading all white-papers and lengthy documents already published.

Disclaimer: All the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organization, committee, or other group or individual.

What is 5G?

In simple terms, 5G is the fifth-generation technology used in cellular communication for driving enhanced and advanced use cases. It is a new standard defined by global consortium 3GPP which is meant to provide faster data with a peak greater than 10 Gb/s, connect millions of sensors and devices with really low power requirements and provide higher reliability.

Breaking it down in simple terms, I can download an entire movie in less than a second. If I am using sensors that run on battery and rely on the current LTE connection for the internet, I do not need to change the batteries for years. Now, I can play the online game using my latest VR headset without downloading it anywhere I want or even requiring a full machine to support it. Delay of a few seconds that I used to feel while being on an international phone/video call will be negligible, making it real-time.

How does it differ from what I use currently?

Currently most of the providers in the world offer 4G/LTE based data connectivity. It has made a significant leap over its predecessor 3G in terms of speed and reliability but it has it's own limitation and prohibits us to adopt the next generation of use cases. 3G was in use for data connectivity from late 2000 till 2010 and was peaked at 2Mbps. Let me put it in simple terms, if you had to watch an HD 1080p movie back then with 3G, it would have taken close to 2.25 hours to download. 4G improved it and it was possible to download it in less than 20 mins to watch. 5G will be taking us in the next era making it instantaneous.

Below image provides a good breakdown of key differences between 4G/LTE and 5G:

How do latency and reliability play a role?

Latency is the time it takes for data or a request to go from the source to the destination. RTT (Round Trip Time) is another metric relevant in this space which refers to the overall time from request send to the response received. For applications where a response is required in real-time and delay of 100ms can vary the result requires a low latency network. A simple example could be dynamic sensors controlling the production belt in manufacturing. Typically, these applications have been predominantly deployed in an on-premise network thus limiting their usability with a high cost of ownership. 5G network with the capability to host low-latency applications at the edge will enable customers to consume these applications cost-effectively and also open it up for future automation of use cases.

Reliability is referred to as the ability of a network to carry out its desired function, it's different than the availability of a network. Availability number can differ from reliability as a network can be considered up even if it's dropping traffic thus non-reliable. Reliability plays a critical role in applications where dropped traffic can have a catastrophic effect, think about utility companies for gas and power where outputs reported by sensors can have a high impact on decision making this requiring highly reliable network.

How will 5G impact my life or be useful for me (User View)?

1)   I am the king of all, a simple user

As a user, it'll enable us to watch 4K content over the phone in both roaming and stationary mode. Browse an enormous amount of data through your phone with cellular connection instead of WiFi. It'll pave the path for 8K content and the opportunity to watch live sports with AR/VR from home.

It'll let us play AR/VR games over cellular connection extending the use cases for other future innovation where you could play in live sports alongside your favorite players.

For people living in remote places without Fiber connectivity reach, 5G will provide an option to extend the internet connectivity as wired access thus bringing them on a journey to 1Gbps and higher data plans.

2)   Manufacturing Industry

Currently, manufacturing processes are automated and adoption of these solutions is siloed & limited at a high cost. Robotics is in use, however, control processes around robotics are still governed with static use cases thus not adopting the full potential of human-less production reducing risk and enhancing quality. Using 5G solutions in future dynamic control measures can be developed by connecting massive sensors, video-based monitoring systems, and leveraging cloud-based automation to bring the cost of adoption down, providing higher reliability and lower latency for critical applications.

3)   Healthcare Industry

We have already moved in the era of telemedicine and virtual checkups but the current network limits us to perform remote surgeries and invasive tests which can be enabled with the 5G solution. It'll be a driver for innovation in the space of remote surgeries, blood testing, sample collections, etc.

4)   Transport Industry

The gain for Logistics vertical will be two-fold, one will be focused around using sensors and video mechanisms for audit, inspection, and control of fleets itself. The second will be communication channels between each car, truck, traffic light enabling more secure and shorter drives reducing challenges of traffic and accidents.

5)   Mining Industry

Autonomous Robotics and video-controlled automation will gain momentum as innovation in this vertical and will enable safety for humans and reduce casualty.

6)   Public Safety

Proactive threat recognition by enhancing current video surveillance and facial recognition systems. The capability of the camera and battery life will be extended making it cost-effective to set up a wireless video surveillance system and use it for threat identification making this world safer.

7)   Advertising & Marketing Industry

Digital advertisement and billboards will be the latest move and personalized advertisements while driving down the free-way will be the future. Cars communicating with billboards to showcase personalized advertisement with interest.

8)   Power Industry

A simple use case for the power industry will be to inspect and fix high-tension wires without requiring helicopters and utilizing drones. This will enable the industry to move in a proactive mode of operation conducting safety tests versus current cost-prohibitive reactive fixes using helicopters.

9)   Communication Service Providers (CSPs)

Lastly, let's touch the value of 5G for CSPs. 5G will enable CSPs to offer differentiated services and enable them to move in edge cloud space thus providing both infrastructure and connectivity for application consumption. CSPs will own the channel to each subscriber and enterprise customers creating a marketplace for the consumption of various in-built services with their platform. It'll help revive the telecom sector as well as drive innovation to think outside the box for offering new services that have been limited to phone, internet, and TV till now.

5G is going to enable a future that will drive innovation in each domain changing human behavior and bringing higher productivity. 5G is commonly termed as an enabler of Industry 4.0 with an ongoing automation revolution.

Are you interested in learning more about 5G architecture and solution elements, challenges and how service providers are upgrading? Review the Volume 2 article available now.