Everything you need to know about 5G
The “G” in 5G stands for the fifth generation of wireless technology.
The first mobile technology generation, or 1G, was primarily focused on voice—the capability to use a phone while driving or away from home.
In 2G, a short-messaging layer was introduced. The first smartphones could be introduced thanks to the 3G core network speeds.
Additionally, 4G LTE’s fast data transfer rates allowed us to view mobile video with less buffering and paved the way for many of the connected devices and location-based services we take for granted today.
With speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon’s average 4G LTE speed, Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband opens up a whole new universe of game-changing possibilities.
Download rates on 5G are vastly faster than those on earlier networks. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband, for instance, is up to ten times quicker than Verizon 4G LTE. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband enables:
- You can download a song in a few seconds and a movie in a few minutes.
- HD audio and video are available.
- You can play games of console caliber while on the move.
- While connected, you may stream, share, post, and work in open spaces without being slowed down by those around you.
America’s most dependable 5G network—an honor we’ve received three times in a row—is also available with Verizon. The 5G network that America depends on is us.
The 5th generation of mobile networks, or 5G. After 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, it is a new international wireless standard.
In order to connect practically everyone and everything together, including machines, objects, and gadgets, 5G enables a new type of network.
The goal of 5G wireless technology is to provide more users with faster multi-Gbps peak data rates, extremely low latency, enhanced reliability, vast network capacity, and a more consistent user experience.
New user experiences are enabled by increased performance and efficiency, which also connects new industries.
Who created 5G?
5G is not owned by any one organization or individual, but a number of businesses working inside the mobile ecosystem are making it a reality.
The numerous fundamental technologies that underpin 5G, the upcoming wireless standard, and propel the industry forward were developed in large part by Qualcomm.
We are the core of the 3GPP, the industry group that establishes the international standards for 3G UMTS (including HSPA), 4G LTE, and 5G technologies.
From the air interface to the service layer, 3GPP is responsible for numerous crucial innovations in 5G design.
Additional 3GPP 5G participants include mobile network operators, component/device makers, infrastructure vendors, and vertical service providers.
The previous generations of mobile networks are 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G.
The 1980s: 1G delivered analog voice.
The early 1990s: 2G introduced digital voice (e.g. CDMA- Code Division Multiple Access).
The early 2000s: 3G brought mobile data (e.g. CDMA2000).
The 2010s: 4G LTE ushered in the era of mobile broadband.
1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G all led to 5G, which is designed to provide more connectivity than was ever available before.
A more efficient and unified air interface is 5G. It has been built with a larger capacity to support new deployment patterns, empower next-generation user experiences, and deliver new services.
The mobile ecosystem will be expanded into new areas because of 5G’s fast speeds, excellent dependability, and little latency.
Every business will be impacted by 5G, which will make things like safer transportation, remote healthcare, precision farming, digitalized logistics, and more a reality.
How is 5G superior to 4G?
There are various factors that will make 5G superior to 4G:
- 5G is significantly faster than 4G
- 5G has more capacity than 4G
- 5G has significantly lower latency than 4G
- 5G is a unified platform that is more capable than 4G
- 5G uses spectrum better than 4G
A more capable platform than 4G, 5G is unified.
Whereas 4G LTE concentrated on providing substantially faster mobile broadband services than 3G, 5G is intended to be a unified, more powerful platform that enables new services like mission-critical communications and the vast IoT in addition to improving mobile broadband experiences.
Moreover, 5G can natively support all spectrum types (licensed, shared, unlicensed), bands (low, mid, and high), a variety of deployment patterns (from conventional macro-cells to hotspots), and novel interconnection techniques (such as device-to-device and multi-hop mesh).
5G uses spectrum better than 4G.
In addition, 5G is intended to maximize spectrum use across a variety of regulatory regimes and bands, including low bands below 1 GHz, mid bands between 1 GHz and 6 GHz, and high bands known as millimeter wave (mmWave).
Faster than 4G is 5G.
With peak data rates of up to 20 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and average data rates of more than 100 Megabits per second (Mbps), 5G has the potential to be much faster than 4G.
Above 4G, 5G has a higher capacity.
A 100x increase in network efficiency and traffic capacity is what 5G is intended to support.
Above 4G, 5G has less latency.
5G offers a 10x drop in end-to-end latency down to 1 ms, which enables it to provide more instantaneous, real-time access.
How and when will 5G have an impact on the world economy?
- 5G is driving global growth.
- $13.1 Trillion dollars of global economic output
- 22.8 Million new jobs created
- $265B global 5G CAPEX and R&D annually over the next 15 years
We discovered through a groundbreaking analysis of the 5G Economy that the full economic impact of 5G will likely be felt globally by 2035, supporting a variety of businesses and potentially enabling up to $13.1 trillion in products and services.
In comparison to prior network generations, this influence is substantially bigger.
The new 5G network’s development requirements are also extending beyond the traditional mobile networking companies to sectors like the automobile industry.
According to the report, the 5G value chain (which includes OEMs, operators, content producers, app developers, and consumers) may sustain up to 22.8 million jobs on its own, or more than one job for each person living in Beijing, China.
Furthermore, there are a lot of new and emergent applications that will still need to be described in the future.
The complete “5G effect” on the economy won’t be known for some time.
How will 5G affect me, you ask?
5G is intended to do several things that can improve our lives, such as enhancing connectivity for billions of devices, enabling faster download rates, and reducing latency for virtual reality (VR), the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) (AI).
For instance, 5G enables access to fresh and enhanced experiences like almost instant cloud service access, multiplayer cloud gaming, augmented reality purchasing, real-time video translation and collaboration, and more.
Where is 5G used today?
In general, 5G is utilized by the huge IoT, mission-critical communications, and enhanced mobile broadband, which is three of the key connected service types.
One distinguishing feature of 5G is that it is built for forward compatibility, or the flexibility to enable future services that are currently unimaginable.
Superior mobile broadband
Along with improving our devices, 5G mobile technology has the potential to bring forth new immersive experiences like VR and AR with faster, more consistent data rates, lower latency, and lower cost-per-bit.
With ultra-reliable, accessible, low-latency networks, 5G can enable new services that can alter sectors, such as remote control of crucial infrastructure, automobiles, and medical operations.
Enormous IoT
By the capacity to scale down in data rates, power, and mobility, 5G is intended to seamlessly connect a huge number of embedded sensors in practically anything, offering incredibly lean and affordable connection options.
How are consumers utilizing 5G?
In 2022, it is anticipated that the typical customer will use around 11 GB of data on their smartphone per month.
2 This is caused by the tremendous increase in always-connected cloud computing and services, as well as the explosive expansion of video traffic as media consumption shifts from desktop to mobile.
How we consume information has been fundamentally altered by 4G. The mobile app market has advanced significantly over the last ten years in relation to services like video streaming, ride-sharing, food delivery, and more.
The mobile ecosystem will grow to include new sectors thanks to 5G. Innovative user experiences like limitless extreme reality (XR), seamless IoT capabilities, new enterprise applications, local interactive content, and rapid cloud access, to mention a few, will be made possible thanks to this.
How is 5G used by businesses?
5G will have a significant influence on businesses thanks to its fast data rates and greater network stability.
Businesses will operate more effectively because of 5G’s advantages, and individuals will have quicker access to more information.
Some organizations can fully utilize 5G capabilities depending on their industry, especially those that require the high speed, low latency, and network capacity that 5G is intended to offer.
Industrial Ethernet, for instance, may be operated via 5G in smart factories to assist them to improve operational productivity and accuracy.
How is 5G used in cities?
Smart cities could transform people’s lives in a number of ways with the help of 5G, primarily by offering greater efficiencies like increased connectivity between people and things, faster data speeds, and lower latency than ever before in areas like infrastructure, entertainment, VR, and automotive safety.
How quickly is 5G?
According to the IMT-2020 specifications, 5G is built to provide peak data rates of up to 20 Gbps. The Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM X65, the company’s flagship 5G solution, is intended to deliver peak downlink data rates of up to 10 Gbps.
Nevertheless, 5G is more than just a matter of speed.
5G is intended to offer substantially more network capacity by extending into the new spectrum, such mmWave, in addition to higher peak data speeds.
Moreover, 5G can offer significantly lower latency for faster response times and can offer a more consistent user experience overall so that data speeds remain high even when users are moving around.
Also, a Gigabit LTE coverage base that can deliver ubiquitous Gigabit-class connection supports the upcoming 5G NR mobile network.
How does 5G function?
Similar to 4G LTE, 5G will function using the same mobile networking concepts and is similarly OFDM-based (Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing).
The new 5G NR (New Radio) air interface will improve OFDM further in order to provide a significantly better level of flexibility and scalability.
Compared to 4G LTE, 5G will not only offer faster and better mobile broadband services, but it will also open up new service opportunities like mission-critical communications and linking the vast IoT.
Several novel 5G NR air interface design strategies, such as a new self-contained TDD subframe design, make this possible.
Does 5G affect how I use the internet at home?
By offering a wireless modem option to the current wires, 5G can transform household internet service.
Internet service providers (ISPs) may already provide services to clients utilizing 5G infrastructure, making 5G an appealing backhaul alternative to fiber, DSL, or cabled solutions due to its coverage, performance, and deployment flexibility.
Is 5G already available?
Absolutely, 5G is already in use today, and in early 2019, international carriers began rolling out new 5G networks.
Moreover, 5G phones are being sold by all major phone makers. And soon, even more, individuals might have access to 5G.
There are currently 60+ nations with active 5G deployments. Compared to 4G, we are witnessing a considerably faster rollout and adoption. The fast speeds and short latencies have consumers incredibly excited.
Nevertheless, 5G goes above and beyond these advantages by additionally enabling huge IoT, improved mobile broadband, and mission-critical services.
Although it is difficult to forecast when everyone will have access to 5G, we are already seeing a lot of 5G network launches in the first year, and we anticipate that additional nations will do the same in 2020 and beyond.
When will more people be able to use 5G?
Affordable 5G phones are already on the market. In reality, 5G is currently accessible on all levels of the current Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile platform lineup, ranging from the 8- to 4-series.
More than 3.5 billion smartphone users already have access to 5G internationally.
Do I need to buy a new phone to get 5G?
Absolutely, if you want to use the network, you will need to purchase a new smartphone that supports 5G. Smartphones with Snapdragon 5G Mobile Platforms, for instance, are 5G compatible.
The 5G wireless network is supported by a number of carriers worldwide and a number of new mobile devices are built to support it.
More handsets and carrier plans will be made available as the 5G deployment timeline moves further, as 5G technology and 5G compatible devices become more widely used.
Where can I find more information on 5G and how it functions?
For advanced wireless engineers, non-engineers who are new to 5G, and everyone in between, the Qualcomm® Wireless Academy (QWA) offers a variety of 5G training courses.
You can take courses in a flexible eLearning format from any location in the world and learn at your own speed.
We advise the two-hour 5G Primer for Non-Engineers if you are new to the technology.
