5G

In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular

networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the
planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectivity to most current cellphones.
5G networks are predicted to have more than 1.7 billion subscribers worldwide by 2025,
according to the GSM Association.[1] Like its predecessors, 5G networks are cellular networks, in
which the service area is divided into small geographical areas called cells. All 5G wireless
devices in a cell are connected to the Internet and telephone network by radio waves through a
local antenna in the cell. The main advantage of the new networks is that they will have greater
bandwidth, giving higher download speeds, eventually up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbit/s).[2] In
addition to 5G being faster than existing networks, 5G can connect more different devices, and
even if people are in crowded areas, the servers will be more unified, improving the quality of
Internet services.[3] Due to the increased bandwidth, it is expected the networks will increasingly
be used as general internet service providers (ISPs) for laptops and desktop computers,
competing with existing ISPs such as cable internet, and also will make possible new
applications in internet-of-things (IoT) and machine-to-machine areas. 4G cellphones are not
able to use the new networks, which require 5G-enabled wireless devices.
 5G

3GPP's 5G logo

Developed by 3GPP

Introduced July 2016

Industry Telecommunications

Overview

5G networks are cellular networks, for which the service area is divided into small geographical
cells. The 5G wireless devices in a cell communicate over RF in the cell, over frequency channels
assigned by the base station. Each cell comprises of a base station and remote radio heads
(antennas), The base stations, termed as gNBs, are connected through the 5G Core to switching
centers in the telephone network and routers for Internet access by high-bandwidth optical fiber
or wireless backhaul connections. As in other cell networks, a mobile device moving from one
cell to another is automatically handed off seamlessly to the current cell. 5G can support up to a
million devices per square kilometer, while 4G supports only one-tenth of that capacity.

Several network operators use millimeter waves called FR2 in 5G terminology, for additional
capacity and higher throughputs. Millimeter waves have a shorter range than microwaves,
therefore the cells are limited to a smaller size. Millimeter waves also have more trouble passing
through building walls. Millimeter-wave antennas are smaller than the large antennas used in
previous cellular networks. Some are only a few centimeters long.

Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) was deployed in 4G as early as 2016 and

typically used 32 to 128 small antennas at each cell. Multiple bitstreams of data are transmitted
simultaneously.

The increased speed is achieved partly by using additional higher-frequency radio waves in
addition to the low- and medium-band frequencies used in previous cellular networks. However,
higher-frequency radio waves have a shorter useful physical range, requiring smaller geographic
cells. For wide service, 5G networks operate on up to three frequency bands – low, medium, and
high.

5G can be implemented in low-band, mid-band or high-band millimeter-wave 24 GHz up to 54

GHz. Low-band 5G uses a similar frequency range to 4G cellphones, 600–900 MHz, giving
download speeds a little higher than 4G: 30–250 megabits per second (Mbit/s).[4] Low-band cell
towers have a range and coverage area similar to 4G towers. Mid-band 5G uses microwaves of
2.3–4.7 GHz, allowing speeds of 100–900 Mbit/s, with each cell tower providing service up to
several kilometers in radius. This level of service is the most widely deployed, and was deployed
in many metropolitan areas in 2020. Some regions are not implementing the low band, making
Mid-band the minimum service level. High-band 5G uses frequencies of 24–47 GHz, near the
bottom of the millimeter wave band, although higher frequencies may be used in the future. It
often achieves download speeds in the gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s) range, comparable to cable
internet. However, millimeter waves (mmWave or mmW) have a more limited range, requiring
many small cells.[5] They can be impeded or blocked by materials in walls or windows.[6] Due to
their higher cost, plans are to deploy these cells only in dense urban environments and areas
where crowds of people congregate such as sports stadiums and convention centers. The
above speeds are those achieved in actual tests in 2020, and speeds are expected to increase
during rollout.[4] The spectrum ranging from 24.25–29.5 GHz has been the most licensed and
deployed 5G mmWave spectrum range in the world.

The industry consortium setting standards for 5G is the 3rd Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP). It defines any system using 5G NR (5G New Radio) software as "5G", a definition that
came into general use by late 2018. Minimum standards are set by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Rollout of 5G technology has led to debate over its security and relationship with Chinese
vendors. It has also been the subject of health concerns and misinformation, including
discredited conspiracy theories linking it to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Application areas

The ITU-R has defined three main application areas for the enhanced capabilities of 5G. They are
Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and
Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC).[7] Only eMBB is deployed in 2020; URLLC and
mMTC are several years away in most locations.[8]

Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) uses 5G as a progression from 4G LTE mobile broadband
services, with faster connections, higher throughput, and more capacity. This will benefit areas
of higher traffic such as stadiums, cities, and concert venues.[9]

Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) refer to using the network for mission
critical applications that require uninterrupted and robust data exchange. The short-packet data
transmission is used to meet both reliability and latency requirements of the wireless
communication networks.

Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) would be used to connect to a large number

of devices. 5G technology will connect some of the 50 billion connected IoT devices.[10] Most
will use the less expensive Wi-Fi. Drones, transmitting via 4G or 5G, will aid in disaster recovery
efforts, providing real-time data for emergency responders.[10] Most cars will have a 4G or 5G
cellular connection for many services. Autonomous cars do not require 5G, as they have to be
able to operate where they do not have a network connection.[11] However, most autonomous
vehicles also feature teleoperations for mission accomplishment, and these greatly benefit from
5G technology.[12][13] While remote surgeries have been performed over 5G, most remote surgery
will be performed in facilities with a fiber connection, usually faster and more reliable than any
wireless connection.
 Performance

Speed

5G speeds will range from ~50 Mbps to over 1 Gbps. The fastest 5G speeds would be in the
mmWave bands and can reach 4 Gb/s with carrier aggregation and MIMO.

Sub-6 GHz 5G (mid-band 5G), by far the most common, will usually deliver between 100 and
4400 Mbps but will have a much further reach than mmWave, especially outdoors. C-Band
(n77/n78) is expected to be deployed by various operators by the end 2021.

The Low-band spectrum offers the greatest range, thereby a greater coverage area for a given
site, but its speeds are lower than the mid and high bands.

Latency

In 5G, the "air latency" is of the order of 8–12 milliseconds. The latency to the server must be
added to the "air latency" for most comparisons. Verizon reported the latency on its 5G early
deployment is 30 ms: Edge Servers close to the towers can reduce latency to 10–20 ms; 1–4 ms
will be extremely rare for years outside the lab. The latency is much higher during handovers;
ranging from 50–500 milliseconds depending on the type of handover. Reducing handover
latency is an ongoing area of research and development.

Error rate

5G uses adaptive modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to keep the bit error rate extremely low.
Whenever the error rate crosses a (very low) threshold the transmitter will switch to a lower
MCS, which will be less error-prone. This way speed is sacrificed to ensure an almost zero error
rate.

Range
The range of 5G depends on many factors; frequency is the most important of all. mmWave
signals tend to have a range of only a couple of hundred meters whilst low band signals
generally have a range of a couple of kilometers.

Since there is a lot of marketing hype on what 5G can offer, simulators and drive tests are used
for the precise measurement of 5G performance.

Standards

Initially, the term was associated with the International Telecommunication Union's IMT-2020
standard, which required a theoretical peak download speed of 20 gigabits per second and 10
gigabits per second upload speed, along with other requirements.[14] Then, the industry
standards group 3GPP chose the 5G NR (New Radio) standard together with LTE as their
proposal for submission to the IMT-2020 standard.[15][16]

5G NR can include lower frequencies (FR1), below 6 GHz, and higher frequencies (FR2), above
24 GHz. However, the speed and latency in early FR1 deployments, using 5G NR software on 4G
hardware (non-standalone), are only slightly better than new 4G systems, estimated at 15 to 50%
better.[17][18][19]

IEEE covers several areas of 5G with a core focus in wireline sections between the Remote Radio
Head (RRH) and Base Band Unit (BBU). The 1914.1 standards focus on network architecture and
dividing the connection between the RRU and BBU into two key sections. Radio Unit (RU) to the
Distributor Unit (DU) being the NGFI-I (Next Generation Fronthaul Interface) and the DU to the
Central Unit (CU) being the NGFI-II interface allowing a more diverse and cost-effective network.
NGFI-I and NGFI-II have defined performance values which should be compiled to ensure
different traffic types defined by the ITU are capable of being carried. 1914.3 standard is creating
a new Ethernet frame format capable of carrying IQ data in a much more efficient way
depending on the functional split utilized. This is based on the 3GPP definition of functional
splits. Multiple network synchronization standards within the IEEE groups are being updated to
ensure network timing accuracy at the RU is maintained to a level required for the traffic carried
over it.
5G NR

5G NR (New Radio) is a new air interface developed for the 5G network.[20] It is supposed to be
the global standard for the air interface of 3GPP 5G networks.[21]

Pre-standard implementations
5GTF: The 5G network implemented by American carrier Verizon for Fixed Wireless Access in
late 2010s uses a pre-standard specification known as 5GTF (Verizon 5G Technical Forum).
The 5G service provided to customers in this standard is incompatible with 5G NR. There are
plans to upgrade 5GTF to 5G NR "Once [it] meets our strict specifications for our customers,"
according to Verizon.[22]

5G-SIG: Pre-standard specification of 5G developed by KT Corporation. Deployed at

Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.[23]

Internet of things

In the Internet of things (IoT), 3GPP is going to submit evolution of NB-IoT and eMTC (LTE-M) as
5G technologies for the LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) use case.[24]

Deployment

5G 3.5 GHz cell site of Deutsche Telekom in Darmstadt, Germany