5G has been designed to provide more connectivity than was ever available from previous generations. It’s more capable and has extended capacity to allow for new or updated technologies and user experiences.
With high speeds, superior reliability and lower latency, 5G will certainly help our world to evolve. Every industry from transportation, healthcare, and agriculture will be impacted.
Much like any other generation, 5G uses radio frequencies (also known as spectrum) to carry information through the air. The difference is that 5G uses higher radio frequencies that are less saturated. This allows for it to carry more information at a much faster rate.
Now let us break down how 5G works more technically speaking.
A mobile network has two main components, the Radio Access Network and the Core Network.
The Radio Access Network consists of small cells, towers, masts and dedicated in-building and home systems that connect mobile users and wireless devices to the main core network.
Small cells are especially helpful at the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies since the connection range is very short. In order to provide a continuous connection, small cells are distributed in clusters. This complements the macro network, which provides wide-area coverage.
5G Macro Cells use MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antennas to send and receive more data simultaneously. This allows more users to connect simultaneously while also maintaining high throughput. Where MIMO antennas use very large numbers of antenna elements they are often referred to as ‘massive MIMO’, however, the physical size is similar to existing 3G and 4G base station antennas.
Beam steering is a technology that allows the massive MIMO base station antennas to direct the radio signal to the users and devices rather than in all directions. The beam steering technology uses advanced signal processing algorithms to determine the best path for the radio signal to reach the user. This increases efficiency as it reduces interference.
The Core Network is the mobile exchange and data network that manages all of the mobile voice, data and internet connections. For 5G, the “core network” is being redesigned to better integrate with the internet and cloud based services and also includes distributed servers across the network improving response times (reducing latency).
Many of the advanced features of 5G including network function virtualization and network slicing for different applications and services, will be managed in the core.
Network Slicing enables a smart way to segment the network for a particular industry, business or application. Think of the FirstNet dedicated network for first responders. These emergency services can operate on a network slice independently from other users.
Network Function Virtualization (NVF) is the ability to instantiate network functions in real time at any desired location within the operator’s cloud platform. Network functions that used to run on dedicated hardware – for example a firewall and encryption at business premises – can now operate on software on a virtual machine. NVF is crucial to enable the speed efficiency and agility to support new business applications and is an important technology for a 5G ready core.
When it comes to lower latency with 5G, we must look to advancing mobile device technology and mobile network architecture.
With the redesigned core network, a key feature is to move the content closer to the end user and to shorten the path between devices for critical applications. Think of video on demand streaming services where you can choose to store a copy of content in local servers, making the time to access quicker.
To achieve the low latency, the Radio Access Network (RAN) will need to be re-configured in a manner that is highly flexible and software configurable to support the very different characteristics of the types of services that the 5G system anticipates.
Implementing a virtual, dynamic and configurable RAN allows the network to perform at very low latency and high throughput, but it also allows the mobile network to adjust to changes in network traffic, network faults and new topology requirements.