FEATURE
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5G Saga: Reinventing
Connectivity Dr PSuaPrasadRo
www.networkworld.com
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HINK of a scenario where we are surrounded by a whole
new ecosystem of electronic gadgets such as cars, robots,
refrigerators, mobile phones and even smart cities,
talking and connected to each other wirelessly through their
sensors. An oven that we can ask to preheat or air conditioner to
precool remotely. A refrigerator that we can communicate with
through our smartphone. This is how the upcoming generation
of wireless networks promises to unfold before us.
The next generation wireless networks (commonly known
as 5G), will revolutionise the way we communicate, the way we
carry out business and the way we do everything. 5G networks,
which would work alongside already existing 3G and 4G
2020. 5G would be a complete overhaul and replacement of the
existing wireless architecture all over the globe, promising lower
| Science Reporter | November 2018
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energy consumption and maintenance costs, besides being more
related to speed, scalability, wider spectrum and security.
While the US, China and South Korea are expected to install
full 5G networks, many other countries including India plan to
upgrade their existing wireless technologies to 5G in a phased
manner from 2020.
It is forecast that by 2020 the number of connected devices
will exceed the 50 billion mark across the world and Internet
of Things (IoT) would be all around us, where everything from
daily use appliances to our cars will be connected to wireless
networks. In such a scenario, when current technologies will
as a blessing, ensuring high reliability. It is estimated that 5G
networks will have space for more than 7 trillion devices, which
is far greater than the number of internet connected devices
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expected by 2020. Through 5G, connectivity would become not
only better and widespread but will also offer high data speeds,
thus becoming the lifeline of this new digital economy.
possibilities of expanding our communication horizons beyond
the limitations of 4G, 3G or 2G networks. This promising
in areas such as transport, safety, employment, health, energy,
manufacturing and food production.
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Features of Mobile Networks
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The 5th generation of wireless networks came after 1G, 2G, 3G
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and 4G networks. Each generation of mobile network has its
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own characteristic features of speed, latency, scalability and
coverage, on the basis of which it is differentiated from other
generation networks. Three such features include:
Speed: Quantity of information that a network can transfer in
a given time. It is expressed in kilobits, megabits or gigabits.
Very high-speed mobile internet access allows a large amount
of data to be sent and received within a very short amount of
time. The higher the speed, the more powerful the network.
Mobile coverage: It represents the actual geographical area
where it is possible to use various internet services via our
mobile phone. More coverage means strong wireless network.
Scalability: The ability of mobile networks to adapt to changes
in the volume of demand such as to save energy in the event
of low consumption and also to maintain the quality of service
in the event of peak demand or connection levels is known as
mobile network.
Latency: Latency is the time it takes to run an action to be
executed following an instruction. In current 4G networks,
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latency ranges from 50 milliseconds up to 100 milliseconds.
5G networks would decrease this latency to just 1 millisecond,
making accessing cloud data and virtual experience seamless.
What is 5G?
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5G network is the next generation mobile internet connectivity
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which would offer faster speeds, greater coverage, less-latency
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and higher scalability, than any other previous generation of
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next wireless mobile standard.
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5G is not just about mobile phones connected to high speed
wireless networks but a technology that allows various gadgets
at home such as televisions, smartphones, electric ovens and
heaters, refrigerators and smart watches, to be connected to
each other and self-driving cars to contact each other or even
reality content into their headsets.
According to the
white paper, ‘5G connections must be based on user experience,
system performance, enhanced services, business models and
management & operations’.
The key features of 5G technology include:
eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband): This feature will
improve consumer experience by facilitating very large
connected devices, providing faster connection speeds and
bringing interactive environments with smooth virtual and
augmented reality.
uRLLC (ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications): This
decreases the latency time period and will see applications in
vehicle-to-everything communication, self-driving cars, drone-
related operations, autonomous monitoring, etc.
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Science Reporter | 23
mMTC (massive Machine Type Communications): This
feature of 5G would create wireless applications in health (e.g.
e-health), transport & logistics, environmental monitoring,
smart energy networks, smart power grids, smart agriculture
and smart business. Faster download and upload speeds via mobile
phones and computers (For example, download

5G, which involves sending data only where and when it is movie would be seconds, not minutes).
needed, will have consequences for energy consumption. It
would require considerably less energy. It is expected that
5G would require up to 90% less energy than 4G. One major More reliable mobile connections and faster
manifestation of it would be longer mobile battery life for Internet speeds with a minimum of 25 Mbps
consumers. speed.
To achieve the above goals of faster speeds, latency, energy

working together in unison to achieve these goals. Some key Seamless streaming of high-resolution video
5G technologies and communication techniques include:
Expansion of advanced technologies such as
5G NR: 5G NR represents new a spectrum of frequency bands
which have been allocated to 5G. They are largely in millimetre connected cities.
wave bands.

Millimetre Waves: Till now mobile and wireless networks have

been using complete radio frequency spectrum between 3 KHz
and 6 GHz. Every day there is an increase in the number of
mobile phones and other connected devices such as self-driving
cars, smart watches, virtual reality, augmented reality and now moments of the game from various viewing
the internet of things. This exponential rise in connected devices angles and with high def inition on mobile
phone, tablet or computer.
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continuously put constant pressure on the existing wireless
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networks, thus limiting their network capability. Seamless access to cloud-based services such
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If all these devices are to remain in the currently established

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frequency spectrum, no device would get an appropriate condition to driverless cars.

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bandwidth to operate as designed which would ultimately

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slow the operation and drop the connection. This increasing would be among the most exciting applications
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demand of spectrum would lead to exploitation of spectrum

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above 6 GHz.
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Researchers have now successfully tested wave

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broadcasting over and above 6 GHz such as 73 GHz. Such

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waves that transmit data over the normal limit of 6 GHz are
known as Millimetre Waves. What Millimetre waves would do
is to open up the frequency spectrum from 6 GHz all the way up
to 300 GHz. 5G networks are going to use this Millimetre wave 5G speeds would enable simultaneous translation
spectrum, giving us more choice and range of spectrum bands. between people attending a teleconference.
5G would expand and speed-up the Internet of
Small Cells: A large number of transmitting devices such Things.
as mobile towers generate distortion for other neighbouring
devices. To tackle this problem, small cells or compact
Massive MIMO: The second prime technology for 5G
transmitting devices are put at places where signals from
networks is Massive MIMO. It is used for increasing the
large towers get blocked by obstacles such as buildings, trees,
network capacity and transmission by adding more transmitting
vehicles, etc. These small devices, which are known as ‘Small
and receiving antennas to the system. It is needed to provide
Cells’, act as low transmitting stations which cover a small
connections to a very large number of devices in particularly
geographical area. They help mobile operators to deliver
high-density areas. MIMO stands for ‘massive multiple input
high-quality network coverage with uninterrupted service and
and multiple output’. It strengthens the wireless network by
higher data rate. Such small transmitters are most suitable for
increasing data rate as well as network capacity.
cities that suffer from poor signals. In the Small Cell concept,
Beamforming: Conventional base stations (e.g. mobile towers)
transmit signals in all directions which either distort or interfere
large transceiver.

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Science Reporter | November 2018
 Internet of Things Speed up to 10 GB/S
Uses of 5G
and longer battery life
with other devices and frequency bands. Beamforming is a data
transmission technique where transmission stations would detect
and locate the user and then transmit the signals in that direction
only. It is like a crossing-guard, only sending out signals
where and when they are needed by specially tracking them
until they reach their target device. This targeted transmission
technique helps the network in supporting more devices and
Full Duplex: In most mobile networks today, mobile devices
do not receive any signal while it is transmitting a signal and
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vice versa. In the present mobile network systems, only one
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mode remains active at a time because the system works only
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on one allocated band at a time. Otherwise two bands have to
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be allocated to transmit and receive simultaneously.
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In the full duplex mode, the wireless network uses
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high-speed switching system with modulation techniques to
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simultaneously transmit as well as receive signals. This helps
utilise the spectrum and also to facilitate smooth connectivity.
Developments in 5G Technology
Collaborations are happening at various levels, between leading
mobile companies, academic and research institutes across the
world, to produce 5G wireless technologies and instruments.
The world’s leading mobile technology brands such as Nokia,
Erickson and others have already started designing and building
5G platforms.
software called 5G radio network software in 2018, which
would enable various operators to launch their 5G services.
Nokia launched ‘5G First’ in 2017, which is a platform
aiming to provide end-to-end 5G support for mobile carriers.
Ericsson has also collaborated with companies such as BT
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Group (formerly British Telecom) and Verizon as well as
Faster Response time
which was tested in London using a 5G network slice in BT’s
network in February 2018.
Wireless network operators around the world have also
started investing in their expected 5G rollout. EE of United
Kingdom is beginning its 5G rollout in 2019 end and Vodafone
is expected to offer full 5G services from early 2020. Vodafone
2018. Ooredoo, the mobile network operator of Qatar has
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already launched its commercial 5G service in 3.5 GHz band.
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Other tech companies such as Orange of Poland and
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SK Telecom of South-Korea have recently carried out 5G
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cloud-based tests with Nokia. S.K. Telecom has successfully
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demonstrated data transmission using 5G NR SA with Nokia.
Countries such as Finland, UK, US, Poland and South Korea
are investing heavily in 5G technology and are fast becoming
centres of excellence for 5G. Finland has already started trials
of 5G technology.
The Indian Scenario
India plans 5G rollout in a phased manner, starting from 2020.
The country aims to produce state-of-the-art 5G technologies
with R&D activities being carried out in various research
institutes through multiple collaborations between private and
public sector.
Erickson, a Swedish telecom and networking company, has
lab in collaboration with IIT-Delhi. The major focus of this
research facility at IIT-Delhi is to design and develop 5G
technology for the telecom industry, academia, industry and
startups in the country. R&D centres have also been set up in
other IITs and engineering institutes in the country to build 5G
equipment and carry out necessary research.
Mr Rayies Altaf is a science communicator. Address: A163, 2nd
raiesaltaf@gmail.com
November 2018 | Science Reporter | 25