Cellular communication generation standards 4.5 g. There are also pitfalls

Until recently, there were four generations of mobile communications . Currently, operators, with the support of equipment suppliers (vendors), are actively testing the capabilities of fifth-generation networks, the commercial heyday of which is expected by 2020. To explain this is quite simple: there is a so-called rule of ten years. If you look a little into the past, you can see that each new generation of mobile communication appeared about 10 years after the appearance of the previous one: the first generation appeared in the early 80s, the second in the early 90s, the third in the early 00s, the fourth in 2009 year. The conclusion suggests itself that commercial 5G networks will begin to fill the world precisely in 2020.

The fifth generation (5G) mobile communications standard is new stage development of technologies, which is designed to expand the possibilities of Internet access through radio access networks.

Standardization of mobile communication networks 2, 3, 4 and 5 generations is carried out by a partner project for the standardization of 3rd generation systems (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP).

In 2017, the 3GPP organization officially announced that 5G will be the official name for the next generation of mobile communications and introduced a new official logo for the communication standard.

The tasks that 5G technology is designed to solve:

• mobile traffic growth
• increase in the number of devices connected to the network
• reducing delays for the implementation of new services
• lack of frequency spectrum

Services in 5G networks

1. Ultra wideband mobile connection(Extreme Mobile Broadband, eMBB) - the implementation of ultra-broadband communication for the purpose of transferring "heavy" content;
2. Mass machine-to-machine communication (Massive Machine-Type Communications, mMTC) - support for the Internet of things (ultra-narrowband communication);
3. Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLC) - providing a special class of services with very low latency.

More services in 5G networks are discussed at the link.

Obviously, in the future, many more devices will be connected to the network, most of which will work on the principle of "always online". In this case, their low power consumption will be a very important parameter.

Requirements for 5G networks

1. Network throughput up to 20 Gbit / s on the line "down" (ie to the subscriber); and up to 10 Gbps in the reverse direction.
   
2. Support for simultaneous connection up to 1 million devices / km 2.
3. Reducing the time delay on the air interface to 0.5 ms (for URLLC Ultra Reliable Machine-to-Machine Communication services) and up to 4 ms (for eMBB Ultra-Mobile Broadband services).

Other technical requirements for 5G networks are discussed in this article.

Potential technologies in the standard5G

1) Massive MIMO

MIMO technology means the use of multiple antennas on transceivers. The technology, successfully used in fourth-generation networks, will also find application in 5G networks. At the same time, if MIMO 2x2 and 4x4 are currently used in networks, then in the future the number of antennas will increase. This technology has two weighty arguments for application at once: 1) the data transfer rate increases almost in proportion to the number of antennas, 2) the signal quality improves when a signal is received by several antennas at once due to diversity reception (Receive Diversity).

2) Transition to centimeter and millimeter ranges

Currently, LTE networks operate in frequency bands below 3.5 GHz. For the full functioning of 5G mobile communication networks, it is necessary to deploy networks in freer high-frequency bands.With an increase in the frequency at which information is transmitted, the communication range decreases. This is a law of physics, it can only be bypassed by increasing the power of the transmitter, which is limited by sanitary standards. However, it is believed that the base stations of the fifth generation networks will be denser than they are now, which is caused by the need to create a much larger network capacity. The advantage of tens of GHz bands is the presence a large number free spectrum.

The issues of allocation of the frequency spectrum in 5G are discussed in more detail in the following articles:

• Frequencies for 5G. Advantages and disadvantages of using frequencies below 6GHz and above 6GHz

• 5G networks: current state and development prospects. Interview with the author of the book "Mobile communication on the way to 6G" Anton Steputin

3) Multi-tech

To provide high-quality service in 5G networks, it is necessary to support both existing standards, such as UMTS, GSM, LTE, and others, such as Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi base stations can be used to offload traffic in particularly busy areas.

Device-to-device technology allows devices located nearby to communicate directly, without the participation of a 5G network, through the core of which only signaling traffic will pass. The advantage of this technology is the possibility of transferring data transmission to the unlicensed part of the spectrum, which will additionally unload the network.

5) New radio interface in 5G networks and other innovations read in the article What will 5G mobile networks look like?

Read more about the technical requirements for 5G networks, options for radio interfaces, services and other innovations in next-generation mobile networks in the book "Mobile communication on the way to 6G ".

At the dawn of the rapid and rapid development of the telecommunications sector, it is already difficult to imagine life without mobile systems. Not so long ago, in 2012, at a conference in Geneva, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) and WiMAX 2 (WMAN-Advanced, IEEE 802.16m) technologies were presented, which were recognized as fourth-generation technologies or, as they are already accustomed to call them, fourth-generation 4G technologies . It was stated that these technologies allow data transmission at speeds exceeding 100 Mbit/s for mobile subscribers and 1 Gbit/s for fixed subscribers. And before the operators had time to take a breath, as already in 2015 there are reports of the development of next-generation 5G networks. So what is 5G and do we really need these technologies?

At the moment, there is no clear standard for fifth generation networks, however, telecommunications companies, including Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, are already proposing the concept of future 5G networks. 5G is expected to be the latest and generalized standard for wireless technologies.

Returning to the conversation about fourth generation networks (4G), it is worth saying that their key feature to attract subscribers high speed. But, as practice has shown, speed is not a key factor. Do not forget about such parameters as network capacity, packet transmission delays and other factors. And since a huge number of devices are planned to work in 5G networks, ranging from coffee machines, refrigerators and ending with cars, a serious improvement in the main parameters is necessary. wireless networks, namely, an increase in the data transfer rate to a plurality of subscribers, an increase in the capacity of networks and a decrease in delays.

This is planned to be achieved as follows:

1. Increasing network bandwidth over 10 Gbps;
2. The number of simultaneous connections up to 100 million devices per 1 square kilometer;
3. Ensuring network delay reduction to 1 ms;
4. Allocating a certain resource capacity to each service.

Virtualization in 5G networks

One of the main technologies in fifth-generation networks will be the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things is not just a set of different devices and sensors interconnected by wired and wireless communication channels and connected to the Internet, it is a closer integration of the real and virtual worlds in which communication is carried out between people and devices. To implement this, technologies such as wireless sensor networks and RFID (automatic object identification method) will be used. Thus, the introduction of the "Internet of Things" in the fifth generation 5G network will not only allow a range of household gadgets and devices (smart watches, VR devices, tablets and smartphones) to interact in a single network, but will also cover all areas of human activity (smart home technology). and smart city).

Figure 1 - Coverage of 5G technology in human life

It is also worth noting that 5G technology plans to become a truly converged technology. Convergence implies a grouping of individual network components into a single optimized computing complex. The organization of this complex is planned with the help of equipment virtualization. That is, operators, at the expense of a set of servers and DATA centers, will organize virtual equipment for processing and storing data, while physical equipment will be used only to transmit user traffic. Thus, there will be a decrease in the amount of equipment for one base station, and given that all this will be a kind of cloud, the operator will have access to anywhere in the network to dynamically configure a particular network segment.

All this will be based on SDN technology - a data transfer network in which the network control level is separated from data transfer devices and implemented in software, and NVF is a network architecture concept that suggests using virtualization technologies for entire classes of network node functions in the form constituent elements, which can be connected together or linked in a chain to create telecommunications services (services).

Figure 2 - Virtualization of 5G networks

Due to network virtualization, it becomes possible to organize such a function as "network on demand".

Figure 3 - Networks on demand in 5G

As you know, for organizing a specific network task (smartphone network, smart home, etc.), there are ready-made solutions with a set of parameters and specific equipment. 5G networks, through virtualization and on-demand network technology, offer to organize servers and DATA centers for operators in advance, taking into account all the requirements for the network. A sort of boxed solution for the operator.

5G Network Architecture

It was decided to change the problem with coverage and accessibility to the network by focusing on subscribers, that is, the radio coverage of the network will be adjusted to the needs of subscribers, unlike networks of the previous generation. It is planned to use automatic phased antenna arrays capable of dynamically changing the radiation patterns of antenna systems. It is also planned to use the entire available frequency range, in particular the use of the millimeter wave over short distances.

As for the question of the 5G network architecture, it is worth highlighting three subsystems (clouds), yes - cloud technologies, where without them in the modern world:

1. Cloud access (Access) - implies the inclusion of both distributed and centralized technologies and access systems. It is also planned to be backward compatible with 4G and 3G networks;
2. Cloud management (Control) - management of sessions, mobility and quality of services;
3. Transport cloud (Forward) - physical data transfer to the network with high reliability, speed and load balancing.

Figure 4 - 5G network architecture.

radio interface

As for the 5G radio interface, it is planned to increase the spectral efficiency by 3 times compared to fourth generation (4G) networks. This results in up to 3 times more data being transmitted for the same bandwidth, i.e. about 6 bps per 1 Hz. The new air interface is planned to be flexible, easily configurable and backward compatible with 4G and 3G networks.

Figure 5 - New radio interface concept

Huawei has proposed the following solution for the new interface:

Figure 6 - Basic technologies for the air interface in 5G according to Huawei

As can be seen from the figure, the following technologies are supposed to be used:

• SCMA (Sparse Code Multiple Access) - separation of subscribers based on a sparse code, while there is no need for delivery confirmation. In this technology, the bit streams of different users in the same frequency resource are directly converted into a code word using the so-called code book from a certain set. These codes are conditionally called quasi-orthogonal and the number of these codes is quite large and has a two-dimensional structure. That is, the original signal is superimposed on the code book and the already converted signal enters the air interface. Restoration of the signal on the receiving side is also carried out according to the code book.

Figure 7 - SCMA technology algorithm

• F-OFDM (Flexibel OFDM) is an advanced OFDM technology that allows organizing flexible subcarrier partitioning, flexible symbol length change and flexible cyclic prefix change. That is, each task will use its own set of parameters.

Figure 8 - Comparison of OFDM and F-OFDM technology

• Polar Code is a linear correction code based on the phenomenon of channel polarization.
• The illustration below also shows additional, but undoubtedly important technologies for 5G networks.

Additional technologies in 5G networks

• Massive MIMO - transmission to one subscriber up to 8 data streams. In Massive MIMO, the subscriber can work with a large number of antennas at the same time, which will form very sharp radiation patterns. The use of spatial multiplexing of several beams will increase the received signal level and suppress interference from other users, thereby increasing throughput and spectral efficiency;

Figure 9 - Massive MIMO

• Novel Multiple Access - new access technologies such as SCMA;
• New Full Duplex - allows you to use one frequency in different cells for different tasks (UpLink and DownLink);

Figure 10 - How the New Full Duplex Works

• Flexibel Duplex - allows you to organize flexible traffic transmission. That is, for example, to transfer information to UPLink for DownLink;

Figure 11 - Principle of operation of Flexibel Duplex

• FBMC / UFMC (Filter Bank Multicarrier, Universal Filter Multi-Carrier) - increases spectral efficiency, improves channel selectivity, allows use in "cognitive radio";
• Adv. Coding and Modulation - the use of a combination of modulation and coding technologies, including such as Non-binary coding, Bit-mapping techniques, Joint coding & modulation;
• Ultra-dense networking - allows, through virtualization, to organize ultra-dense networks, due to which it will be possible to serve a large number of subscribers on the n-th area, which in turn allows you to build complex network hierarchies. Also this technology allows simultaneous interaction of cells with each other;

Figure 12 - Ultra-dense technology

• Low latency & high reliability - lower latency and increase reliability;
• M2M/D2D - transfer of information directly between devices (machines, devices) without human intervention. Expanding coverage through subscriber devices Building a decentralized network;
• High frequency communication - frequencies below 6 GHz will be the primary bands for the 5G network. Frequencies above 6GHz for universal access and backbone communications. As you can see from the figure below, it is planned to use the frequency range up to 100 GHz;

Figure 13 - 5G frequency plan

• Spectrum sharing - spectrum sharing on different levels different access technologies.

Network management in 5G will be carried out at the expense of developing TelecommunicationOS. That is, different industries and categories of users will use the same operating platform to access the network infrastructure.

Figure 14 - 5G Network Management

Experimental data when testing 5G technology

Those who follow the news of the development of wireless technologies have probably already heard that not so long ago, in June 2016, MegaFon demonstrated data transmission at 1 Gbps at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Breaking the gigabit threshold has been a long-awaited event since the release of the standard for 4G networks. But what is going on in the world market?

Less than a month ago, at a test of 5G network equipment in Sweden, telecom operator Telia, together with Ericsson, demonstrated data transfer at a speed of 15 Gbps per user. The response time was less than 3 ms. These figures are more than forty times higher than those of a functioning 4G network. By the way, for fifth-generation networks, the developed roadmap provides for peak data transfer rates of 20 Gbps. According to Telia's management, the launch of commercial 5G networks is planned as early as 2018 in Stockholm and the capital of Estonia, Tallinn.

But Huawei remains the undisputed leader in the wireless equipment market. Almost all significant records in mobile Internet speed belong to it, and for several years in a row, Huawei experts have not given anyone the palm. In July of this (2016) year, information appeared on the official website of the company that, together with Vodafone, they managed to accelerate the network speed to 20 Gbps in the E-band. And what is most surprising, Huawei announced that by 2018 the construction of 5G networks in Russia will be completed. Naturally, the network will serve the cities that will host the World Cup. Most likely, the demonstration of gigabit speeds in June this year by MegaFon is the first step towards the implementation of this project.

Although 20Gbps is the baseline speed of 20Gbps by the International Telecommunication Union, Huawei is looking to build much faster networks as prototypes of base stations and receivers are presented on the forums to support 115Gbps data transfer.

Also, gigabit speeds are no exception for moving subscribers, because a couple of months ago, Huawei transferred 10 Gb / s to a subscriber moving at a speed of 120 km / h. Naturally, the main success of the experiment depends on the accuracy of tracking the subscriber by the radiation pattern of the base station that supports MIMO and Beamforming.

Conclusion

Now it is rather difficult to talk about the possibilities and timing of the implementation of commercial 5G networks, provided that the standard has not even been introduced yet, but manufacturers have taken up new generation networks very sharply, and their developments are even ahead of the standard. If the companies participating in the project succeed in achieving their goals, then the whole world will be able to get a single, stable, converged and highly available network of the new generation, after the introduction of which for a long time it will not be necessary to create and develop next generation networks. In any case, representatives of the International Telecommunication Union declare their hopes that 5G will become a point in the development of wireless networks, there will be no significant alteration of the architecture, and only a minor revision of the radio part awaits us.

5G, the next generation communication standard, will support the Internet of Things, smart cars and other technology.

The new mobile communication standard will not appear until 2020, but the relevant specifications are being developed at full speed, and it becomes clear that the 5G standard will be significantly different from 4G. It is about increasing the speed of information exchange for mobile phones and tablets and a host of other solutions, each with their own requirements.

Ericsson Predictions

How will 5G technology work and why is it needed if ultra-fast technology already exists?

According to Ericsson, the future looks like this.

Unmanned and networked vehicles will exchange information with each other. In the event of an accident, the car closest to the scene of the accident will report it to all cars following it. This will allow them to slow down in advance or, in the event of a traffic jam, calculate a new route.

Vehicle sensors will measure more accurately weather and send data through the 5G network so that the car calculates the best route.

In the field of public transport, the 5G network will allow real-time tracking of the number of passengers waiting at stops. The bus driver will skip the stop without passengers, and the dispatcher will send additional vehicles to the places where they accumulate.

In the 5G era, all home electronics will be interconnected. If earlier, when moving from one room to another, you had to carry a portable device with you in order to continue, for example, listen to your favorite radio station, now the speakers in different rooms will communicate with each other and listening will continue from the interrupted place. In addition, it will be possible to monitor the energy consumption of each device or find out how much electricity is produced by solar panels.

The 5G network will reshape emergency services by enabling reliable emergency communications and prioritizing police and emergency services. And firefighters in helmets with cameras will broadcast the image to the command and receive assistance in complex rescue operations.

5G technologies

Last year, we managed to streamline most of them, but the selection of technologies that provide them practical use, continues.

Among them:

• ultra-high frequencies, which previously seemed impossible to achieve, will provide much greater speed;
• evolving systems, sending data in tiny pieces, will extend the operation of Internet of Things devices for many years;
• reducing delays for tasks that require an immediate response.

5G network: speed

Estimates of the increase in speed of the 5G standard compared to the previous one are mixed. The Ericsson company managed to reach growth in 50 times - up to 5 Gbps. Samsung hit 7.5Gbps with a sustained 1.2Gbps signal in a fast moving car. The EU-China partnership intends to increase the speed of 5G by 100 times. NTT DoCoMo, Japanese operator cellular communication, is working with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Samsung and Nokia to reach 10 Gbps. And scientists from the University of Surrey suggest a speed of 1 Tbps. It is expected that over the next 10 years, the speed of mobile networks will grow another thousand times.

Growth in speed will require more advanced antennas and equipment, as well as an expanded spectrum of frequencies. In the US, the distribution process this resource already started.

Internet of Things

As the cost of connectivity drops, more and more devices have access to Wi-Fi. The concept of combining telephones, coffee and washing machines, headphones, lamps and everything else in single network and is called the Internet of Things. By 2020, it is expected that there will be more than 26 billion such devices in the world. And the number of connections will be even greater.

The ability of things to “feel” with the help of sensors and remotely execute commands will find application in urban planning, smart home technologies, heat and power supply control systems, security, health monitoring, public transport, retailing.

The Internet of Things requires a small connection speed, but for a huge number of devices. Dedicated networks are already in operation using narrowband, and 5G developers want to be part of the process.

Thus, telecommunications networks will have to support not only mobile users, but also "smart" things. The management of such heterogeneous traffic is called upon to come to the aid of a new standard.

Delays

Obviously, the next generation 5G network will support unmanned vehicles and augmented reality applications. In this case, the information must come in real time. The time of reception and transmission in 4G networks exceeds 10 ms, which is extremely long. The future standard may completely change the network architecture with the movement of data storage from data centers to end nodes, including "smart" devices.

A moving car, for example, needs information about the location of the nearest vehicle. Existing networks with the flow of such data for three cars are not able to cope. Large data transfer delays require data to be locally hosted.

It is assumed that the responsiveness of next generation networks will be maximum. The delay in data transmission will not exceed 1 ms, even if the terminal moves at a speed of 500 km/h. This latency will be the main driving force behind the creation of new technologies such as driving in city traffic and remote surgical operations.

reach consensus

If the situation with the definition of a range of potential technologies has improved in 2015, then the technologies themselves are still being developed. It is required to decide which 5G technologies are needed in the first place, and which ones will be implemented after. It is unlikely that this will happen in 2016.

Despite the lack of a standard and confidence in the priority of technology, manufacturing companies are trying to lead the development and implementation of 5G technologies in order to gain an advantageous position in the future.

Nokia announced in April 2015 that it was acquiring Alcatel-Lucent for $16.6 billion, while US telecommunications company Verizon Wireless announced that the first 5G network in the US will appear as early as 2016.

The first swallows

Prototypes of 5G networks have already appeared. The first 5G network was launched in South Korea. SK Telecom presented new technology at the opening of a research center that will develop it. And for the XXIII Winter Olympic Games in 2018 in South Korea, the company plans to build a 5G network throughout the country.

NTT DoCoMo also intends to launch a 5G network in Japan in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

5G networks vs. the US

The 5G standard, like previous standards, is developed by the 3GPP consortium, and it is approved by the ITU, the International Telecommunication Union. Producers do not want to stand aside either. In October 2015, some regional groups agreed to meet every six months to develop a common position on the 5G standard.

A similar agreement was reached in September 2015 between the European Union and China. Ericsson and TeliaSonera have entered into a strategic partnership agreement to provide the mobile operator's customers in Tallinn and Stockholm with 5G network access in 2018.

And very little is left to wait for the 5G network to be launched in the Russian Federation. MTS and Ericsson signed an agreement on joint work over fifth-generation technologies, which will result in the first test 5G network in Russia at the World Cup in 2018, two years earlier than the 5G network in Japan. To do this, in 2016, the LTE-U project will be implemented to use LTE at a frequency of 5 GHz, used to connect points WiFi access. Ericsson Lean Carrier technology will also be tested, which organizes traffic distribution and reduces intercellular interference, increases transmission speed and coverage, and helps in network planning.

As you can see, the countries of the world agree on cooperation in this area. Everyone except the United States, which is used to being in the lead in everything.

4.5G prepares for the future

Qualcomm has proposed 4.5G LTE Advanced Pro technology, which is expected to be rolled out over the next four years. As a result, the company will be able to support both the wider spectrum of frequencies required for the 5G standard and previously deployed LTE networks, which will reduce delays and increase throughput.

Network features:

• high due to the combination of frequency spectra;
• support for 32 operators at the same time and increase in throughput due to combining frequencies and distribution of network traffic between operators;
• 10x latency reduction compared to LTE Advanced using existing towers and frequencies from 1ms to 70µs;
• use of the resource of the incoming communication line for the needs of the outgoing;
• increasing the number of antennas to increase the coverage area and signal strength;
• increasing the energy saving of IoT devices by narrowing the range to 1.4 MHz and 180 kHz (up to 10 years on one battery);
• 1 Gbps for information exchange between cars, pedestrians and IoT devices;
• scanning the environment without turning on Wi-Fi or GPS on your mobile device.

Technological barriers

At the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications in Berlin, experiments are being carried out with frequencies of 40-100 GHz, Samsung uses a frequency of 28 GHz in its experiments, and Nokia - over 70 GHz.

The operation of devices in the millimeter wave range has such a feature as extremely unsatisfactory signal propagation, the power of which drops significantly with distance from the base station. In addition, signal interference can even be caused by the human body.

Solution - MIMO

The solution is to use when sending and receiving multiple signals at the same time. Now it is used in LTE and WLAN. For high frequencies, Massive MIMO is used - a technology for optimizing reception, when dozens of small antennas are placed in mobile devices and hundreds in the transmitter.

Antenna manufacturer SkyCross has created a 4x4 MIMO system that can be used in a 16x10 cm terminal. This is significantly larger than LTE antennas. For example, LG G4 is 15x7.6 cm, Samsung Galaxy S6 is 14x7 cm, and Apple iPhone 6 Plus is 16x7.8 cm. its size and power consumption were not presented. Thus, the creation of a small mobile device with 4 antennas will be a challenge for designers.

The development of portable terminals will also require a lot of effort. According to a spokesman for Texas Instrument, new technologies will be required to create chips capable of transmitting data at high frequencies.

In 2015, the 5G standard project was officially named IMT-2020. It is a pity that the rest of the process is still not in sight.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and other telcos will begin rolling out 5G networks this year. But what is 5G? In this article, we will share with you everything we know so far.

5G will be launched this year. Well, or not. In the race for 5G (in other words, the fifth generation of mobile communications), TV companies are promising the impossible, which will cause a lot of confusion over the next few years.

Since there is no official definition of 5G yet, all players in the wireless technology market, from chipset manufacturers to mobile operators, are refining their definition of 5G and proclaiming themselves to be the leaders of 5G.

5G What is it? All about New Generation Communications

Let's clear up this confusion. In this article, we will try to explain what kind of thing this 5G is.

Communication generations 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G

The letter G in the term 5G stands for a generation of wireless technology. All generations are technically different in data transfer rates, as well as data encryption methods, or "air interface", which makes the technology incompatible with the previous generation.

1G is analog cellular. 2G technologies such as CDMA, GSM and TDMA are the first generation of digital cellular technologies. 3G technologies such as EVDO, HSPA and UMTS provide data transfer rates from 200 kilobytes to several megabits per second. 4G WiMAX and LTE technologies have become the next leap forward. The data transfer rate of fourth-generation communications reaches hundreds of megabits, or even gigabits per second.

AT&T's so-called "5G Evolution" is not really 5G

AT&T recently announced the launch of its 5G Evolution network, which is not really a true 5G network. In fact, this is the commercial name for gigabit LTE, the newest upgrade of LTE 4G technology. Most operators in the United States are going to actively implement LTE this year.

Gigabit LTE technology is compatible with existing phones. The technology uses an improved version of the existing LTE encryption, as well as large quantity antennas and an increased degree of carrier frequency aggregation, which allows faster data transmission.

However, AT&T, along with the untruthful rumors about 5G, insists that LTE won't die out anytime soon. By and large, 5G will operate at very high frequencies, requiring towers and antennas to be located relatively close to each other. For larger coverage area, especially in countryside, 5G will build on 4G.

4G technologies will also improve over time. Qualcomm has announced the release of the X20 4G modem, which is capable of transmitting data at a speed of 1.2 gigabits. A significant advantage of 5G technology will be high power and low latency. 5G will become much more powerful and faster than 4G technologies.

Launch of preliminary 5G network from AT&T and Verizon

AT&T and Verizon have announced the launch of a home Internet access system based on 5G technologies. Samsung and Verizon jointly unveiled antennas and routers at Mobile World Congress in February that will use Verizon's 5G service.

The technologies used in the development of the 5G home network are related to millimeter range waves of wireless fixed access, which is used by Internet service providers Starry in Boston and Monkeybrains in San Francisco. However, thanks to AT&T and Verizon, these technologies will become much more widespread. For example, AT&T has announced the potential use of 5G as a replacement for legacy DSL technologies, allowing the company to single-handedly provide 5G home internet, wireless and landline telephony, and television services.

But all this has nothing to do with 5G, since the fifth generation connection will be launched only in 2018. But Verizon intends to bring its 5G services closer to the current standards, and also uses as many elements of the upcoming 5G systems as possible.

Home 5G Internet demonstrates one of the most important advantages over 4G - huge power. Operators cannot offer 4G home Internet at a competitive price for 190GB of monthly traffic consumption for one home, because 4G communication nodes do not have enough capacity. This could significantly increase ISP competition for home internet in the US, where, according to the report, Federal Service on supervision in the field of communications, information technologies and mass communications for 2016, speed home internet 51 percent of Americans is 25MB per second or higher.

For the providers themselves, connecting home 5G Internet will become much easier than fiber optic lines connections that stretch from house to house. Instead of digging up every street, the provider will just have to connect fiber optic cable to the communication node, and distribute wireless modems to users.

Okay, so what is “true 5G connectivity” then?

5G is an innovative network that has much higher transmission speeds and power, as well as lower time delays, than other existing cellular systems. The exact technologies used in the development of 5G have yet to be known, but there are many commonly accepted details already known.

The type of encryption in 5G networks, called OFDM, is similar to the type of encryption used in LTE technologies. The air interface will be characterized by lower time delays and greater flexibility than LTE.

Innovative networks will predominantly use very high frequencies, which are capable of transmitting a huge amount of data, but only a few blocks at a time. The technology will operate in the spectrum from low to high frequencies, but the significant advantage over 4G will be most evident at high frequencies. 5G can also transmit data on the unlicensed frequencies that Wi-Fi currently uses without conflicting with existing Wi-Fi networks. This data transmission is similar to LTE-U technology, running company T-Mobile this year.

5G is likely to be a network of small cells, up to the size of home routers, rather than the size of huge towers that spread the signal over long distances. In some way, the reason for this is the nature of the frequencies involved, but the main goal remains to increase the power of the network itself.

5G networks need to be more advanced than previous systems as they are connected to a huge number of smaller cells. Even with the existence of macro cells, Qualcomm says 5G networks will be four times more powerful than other networks thanks to wider bandwidth and better antennas.

The goal is to achieve much faster speeds and more power with lower time delays than 4G networks. The standardization efforts involved are targeting 20 gigabits per second and 1 millisecond latency. And this, you see, is very interesting.

What is the 5G network for: phones, cars or homes?

Self-driving cars will be able to use 5G for quick actuation. The first generation of self-driving cars will be autonomous, but future generations will interact with other cars and smart roads to improve safety and manage traffic flow. Simply put, on the road, all participants will interact with each other.

What is the 5G network for: phones, cars or homes?

In order to make this possible, communication must be provided with minimal time delays. Since machines exchange a relatively small amount of information, it is necessary that the transfer occur almost instantly. This is where 5G comes into the arena with a delay of 1 millisecond. With this network, two cars can quickly exchange information, as well as transfer information from one car to another through small cells on a light pole.

(Note: one light millisecond equals 186 miles, so most of that 1 millisecond is processing time)

One more distinctive feature 5G is that many more devices can connect to this network. At the moment, 4G modules are expensive, consume a lot of power and require complex maintenance schemes. For this reason, most devices that require an Internet connection continue to interact with either Wi-Fi and other home technologies for ordinary users, or 2G networks for businesses. Small, low-cost, low-energy devices will be able to connect to 5G networks. Thus, 5G networks will provide Internet access to small devices and many other types of sensors.

What about phones? The most significant changes 5G can bring to the field of virtual and augmented reality. As phones become VR headset-enabled devices, 5G's very low overhead and constant speed can give you access to the world of VR whenever and wherever you want. With its small cells, 5G could help spread indoor coverage, as the technology suggests that the home router will become separate node connections.

When should we expect 5G to arrive?

Preliminary 5G from AT&T and Verizon will launch this year, but 5G is expected to launch in 2018 and roll out in 2019. The schedule was originally planned for 2019-2020, but providers and equipment manufacturers have developed an accelerated schedule.

This is due to the presentation of a new line of 5G modems from Qualcomm. One of largest manufacturers Chipset says Snapdragon's new mobile platform will support 5G as early as 2019. Snapdragon chips are the most popular smartphone platforms in the US, so it is likely that as early as 2019 the world will see smartphones with virtual reality and 5G support.

Cellular is improving jerkily. The transition from one technology to another indicates the introduction of a new generation. That is why, to simplify, the standards are called 1G, 2G, 3G and so on - the letter "g" in this case comes from the word "generation". Let's try to understand how mobile communications have developed. At the same time, we will find out why operators do not refuse to support old standards.

Now the very first generation of cellular communication is called 1G. But during the years of these networks, no one suspected such a concept, then many people did not think that in the near future cellular communications would become completely different. So what was the first generation?

In fact, it was an analog connection. It was launched by the company AT&T, and the first call took place on April 3, 1973 - it was made by Martin Cooper, who was the head of the mobile division of Motorola. As in the case of fixed analog communications, in theory a cell phone could be used as a modem. But only a millionaire could decide on this, because a minute of conversation in those days cost a lot of money.

As in the case with subsequent generations, 1G is just a name that combines several different standards. Canada, USA, Australia, and South and Central America used the standard AMPS. In Scandinavian countries and some states, the standard has become widespread. NMT and its varieties. Well, in Italy, Spain, England, Austria, Ireland and Japan, cellular equipment of the standard TACS. And these are only three of the most popular options for implementing networks! All these standards were completely incompatible with each other. Therefore, a Briton who came to America could not talk on his own phone. Different standards differed from each other not only in the frequency range, but also in the cell radius, transmitter power, switching time at the cell boundary, and signal-to-noise ratio. You can find more information about all the specifications in the attached plate.

For ordinary people, first-generation cellular communications became available far from immediately. For the first decade, some companies were only experimenting. Commercial implementation occurred only in 1984. It quickly became clear that analog cellular communication has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, each cell had a small capacity - when a large number of subscribers were connected to it, serious problems began. Secondly, the signal quality was far from ideal, especially if the subscriber was not on the street, but in a building. Europeans were the first to think about these problems. They began to develop digital communications.

Second generation cellular

In 1982, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Authorities began to develop a standard GSM. Soon it began to be called a 2G connection. Initially, GSM was intended for member countries of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. But later, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. The commercial release of GSM networks took place in 1991. The digital data transmission method allowed subscribers to exchange SMS messages. And a little later, they became available access to the Internet through the protocol WAP.

This standard has not conquered everyone. Some states have gone their own way. For example, in the US, many 2G networks used the standard D-AMPS. Only after some time did the Americans switch to GSM1900. And in some countries, the standard gained popularity for a long time CDMA. It was not compatible with GSM, so separate mobile phones were developed for it.

Gradually, more and more portable devices able to access the global web. Concerning mobile operators something had to be done, since 2G was sorely lacking in data transfer speed. Therefore, an intermediate generation of cellular communications soon appeared, which is commonly called 2,. Support for technology was introduced into this standard GPRS and then EDGE. From now on, the mobile phone carried out packet data transfer - the subscriber paid for a specific amount of traffic, and not for the time of connection with the server. This not only saved people money, but also increased the speed of data transmission and reception. In 2G networks, this parameter was 9.6 Kbps, while the phone's support for the 2.5G generation allowed accessing the Internet at speeds up to 170 Kbps (GPRS) or even 384 Kbps (EDGE). In some countries, these two technologies were called completely differently, but the essence of this did not change.

Above you see a table that indicates the specific differences between all standards belonging to the 2G and 2.5G generations.

Third generation cellular

AT IMT-2000(as it is customary to call 3G in a professional environment) includes five standards: CDMA2000, W-CDMA, TD-CDMA/TD-SCDMA and DECT. The latter is not a cellular standard, as it is used in home and office wireless telephony. The remaining standards are used to provide communication to mobile phone owners. They all have similar specifications. Interestingly, the method of operation of such networks was invented in the USSR back in 1935. However, for a long time only the military used this technology. It entered the civilian segment only in the mid-1980s, due to the need to develop mobile communications.

From 2G, the third generation was primarily distinguished by an increased data transfer rate. If the subscriber stands still, then he can download data at a speed of about 2 Mbps. With a leisurely step, traffic is downloaded at a speed of approximately 384 Kbps. AT vehicle the speed dropped even more - up to 144 Kbps.

With the advent of smartphones, the above speeds have become scarce. Therefore, the standard quickly became popular HSPA. It marked the arrival of the 3.5G generation. Cell phones endowed with its support have learned to transmit data at a speed of 14.4 Mbps. And that was just the beginning! In the future, the standard was improved, as a result of which a speed of 84 Mbps was theoretically achievable. HSPA is based on multi-code data transmission with comparable cell sizes.

Fourth generation cellular

In the late 2000s, iPhones and Androids began to appear. These smartphones differed from their predecessors in a large LCD display. Now no one wanted to browse modest WAP-pages. From now on, the built-in components were enough for the browser to display a full-fledged page without any problems, no matter how heavy it was. But for its fast loading requires high speed. Only a completely new standard could provide it. Active promotion of 4G, or IMT-Advanced started in March 2008.

The result of the work of scientists became two standards: WiMAX and LTE. Now you yourself know which one is the most popular. The introduction of LTE has made it possible to significantly increase the capacity of each cell, although the area of ​​its operation has decreased. Now the minimum data transfer rate was 100 Mbps, which is enough for most average smartphone owners. In the future, this parameter increased even more. This happened due to the implementation of technology LTE-Advanced. Depending on the category of technology supported by the device, speeds of 400 Mbps or even 1 Gbps can be achieved!

Unlike previous generations, the LTE standard was originally intended only for packet data transmission. But over time, digital voice transmission became available - technology is responsible for this. VoLTE. The sound quality is much higher than when talking via 2G or 3G networks. However, not all smartphones still support this technology.

Fifth generation of cellular communication

5G is currently under active development. LTE capabilities in terms of data transmission are quite enough. Therefore, when developing a new standard, the greatest emphasis is placed on the capacity of cells. After all, the number of subscribers is growing more and more. Most of all, 5G will make life easier for the creators of wearable devices and devices that are combined into the Smart Home system. It is expected that only on an area of ​​1 km 2 it will be possible to connect one million gadgets to the network! As of early 2017, the new generation is only being tested. When we are waiting for its full operation is not clear.

Support for old standards

As you know, cellular operators have to place a mountain of equipment on their towers. In theory, it would be possible to replace 2G transmitters with 3G transmitters. But to do this means to deprive the owners of mobile phones operating only in the GSM standard from communication. This would lead to huge losses, since even now a huge number of people use such devices - all of them would immediately go to another operator. So it turns out that the equipment has to be supplemented, not changed.

In the foreseeable future, the abandonment of outdated standards will not happen. This is explained by two reasons:

• Feature phones are still being produced, and they often do not even support 3G, not to mention fourth-generation networks;
• 2G equipment covers a wider area with a network than 3G or 4G transmitters of similar power - this allows you to save certain territory from white spots.

Now you know about the main differences between different standards. In short, first of all, the capacity of the cells, the coverage width (each time in a smaller direction, since these are the laws of higher-frequency signals) and the data transfer rate were subjected to changes.