Next Gen of Mobile Broadband: What's the big fuss over 5G?

The acronym is simple, but what is going into 5G is anything but simple. We discuss the salient goals set for the fifth generation (5G) of mobile broadband, and summarize the potential impacts and applications. We also critically compare it to existing local and personal area network setups to see if it will be as revolutionary as we all hope for it to be.

Who's leading all of this?

It's worth noting the impressive level of cooperation for mobile broadband networks. Standards are important for industry and society to develop a cohesive wireless infrastructure. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) serves that role. It is comprised of stakeholders in industry, government, and academia, and it sets the vision and goals for the successive standards, including the upcoming 5G wireless broadband. 

In setting the objectives, it takes into consideration the limitations of current standards and attempts to foresee the future needs of an increasingly-connected world. Technical groups then work on the actual specification that will power the new standard. Various players in the industry, such as hardware manufacturers, network operators, telecommunications software developers, and regulatory bodies then get to work implementing the technology needed to actually attain the objectives. This, of course, is a great oversimplification of what goes into the development of wireless broadband standards, but is a good conceptual start to understanding how standards are set, including the new 5G standard.

What are the goals for 5G?

The ITU has articulated various capabilities for the coming decade of mobile broadband. Salient targets include vastly improved data speeds, significantly reduced signal delays ("latency"), larger number of connections in a given geographic area, flexibility for a seamless transition, and continued energy efficiency. 

Gigabit Means Richer Mobile Broadband Experiences. Data speeds will be within a range, but are expected to reach multi-gigabit speeds. In a usage scenario that mirrors the status quo -- where mobile broadband is used primarily on smartphone devices -- this would mean streaming more data-rich content such as high-quality live television, entertainment (including virtual reality), and movies. 

Gigabit with More Connection Density May Mean New Wireless Broadband-to-Home Options. Increased data speeds (in conjunction with connection density increases) also makes possible wireless broadband-to-the-home and business. The combination of data rates that are high enough to support high volume use and access by multiple users coupled with the network's ability to support a higher density of connections, creates opportunities for a wholly-new broadband infrastructure to develop. Thus, imagine broadband hubs (likely powered by fiber optic lines) that then transmit to whole city blocks or neighborhoods. Your home or building then connects, wirelessly, to the new beacon to provide internet to your whole home. This could prove to be a keen alternative in developed countries (for current fiber and cable to home options) as well as an easier way to deploy broadband in developing or rural areas. 

Lower Latency Can Mean More Cloud Processing and SaaS. Reduced signal delays would mean there's a shorter wait period (measured in milliseconds) while the signal transits the network. Time-critical applications, such as self-driving cars, are most-frequently cited by commentators. But, reduced latency can also encourage increased data-processing on the cloud, which can reduce the processing burden on client devices. Thus, we can imagine devices that are leaner (and possibly lower cost) and that rely on cloud software to do much of their complex processing. This could mean faster answers when speaking to speech recognition and AI engines. This would also reduce the "on-the-ground" processing burden and would support the further leveraging of the SaaS model for deploying applications as users would experience a seamless client-side application. 

Additional Connection Density Enabling True IoT. Increased "connection density" means just that: more connected clients in a given geographic area. This is tremendously important for urban areas that continue to see an increase in both the total population as well as the number of individuals within the current population who are using mobile broadband devices. Additionally, 5G also embraces the Internet of Things (IoT) conception and anticipates a world with a dizzying number of standalone devices and sensors that are able to independently communicate and stream data up and down.

Not surprisingly, the future network would, at least, match the energy efficiency of current networks, which becomes even more important for the anticipated standalone devices and sensors that will be network-connected. Moreover, the 5G objectives build in flexibility to ensure a seamless transition from the current generation standards, which are not expected to entirely disappear.

Will it really be revolutionary?

At the outset of great endeavors, optimism is essential. With 5G, the plethora of discussion and activity by major industry players and commentators is definitely indicative of a high level of optimism. No doubt, 5G Mobile Broadband will certainly be an improvement to the existing standard. Moreover, the various ways in which different carriers in the United States are planning to implement and deploy it is also important for overall wireless spectrum use and optimization. 

How Would 5G Mini-Cells Be Different from Massively Deployed WiFi? However, focusing on connection density alone, we can fairly ask what it will add to existing local or personal area network setups. Without going into much detail, one aspect of 5G that can fairly be called "revolutionary," is the use of very high frequency waves. These are the "millimeter" waves that promise incredible multi-gigabit speeds. However, these waves also don't travel as far -- requiring a substantial number of "mini-cell" towers that will have to literally blanket cities. Moreover, these frequencies are more subject to absorption (that may not be the correct technical term). Thus, broadband carriers need to install equipment and a lot of it. The benefit of the increased number of "mini-cells" will be higher connection density. But, in effect, how would this be different to high speed WiFi or Bluetooth?

5G technology incorporates numerous signal transmission and processing improvements that the current WiFi standard does not possess. However, as WiFi itself evolves, it wouldn't be unusual to see some of these improvements make their way through. The principal difference then appears to be the seamless authentication and cell-hoping that 5G towers would enable devices to do, where WiFi is stuck with the clunkier connection and authentication experience. 

What About Our Traveling Personal Area Networks Enabled by High Speed Bluetooth? If we look around at our fitness trackers, smart watches, wireless headphones, smart car consoles, and other (often Bluetooth-based) ancillary trinkets, we realize that we're already living in the Internet of Things and have our own "mini-cell" personal networks traveling with us. In the current setup, our smartphone is sort of a network hub that web-enables all of our other smaller wireless devices. So then, the small umbrella Bluetooth personal network that we walk around with already does what the dozens of 5G mini-towers will do. Then why do we need them? 

Putting aside all of the other advantages of the 5G network, it's a fair question to ask. The current personal area network created by high speed Bluetooth in conjunction with mobile broadband helps increase the number of connected devices and thus extends the connection density under the current standard. What then is the difference justifying the investment in installing so many new towers? The key difference, or advantage, in the 5G network is that sensors and other components become completely unchained from the smartphone beacon. Think again of the fitness tracker, smart watch, and wireless headphone scenario above. Now remove the smartphone from the picture and these previously-connected "smart" devices are not smart at all. Theoretically, 5G could let you use a pair of wireless headphones to stream music even if your phone is dead or nowhere in sight. 

5G Promises a World of Connected Sensors and Devices. More pragmatically, 5G envisions a world where the most mundane of devices, such as a sensor on a gutter in a city, on a street light, or a gas meter, does not need to be shackled to a smartphone (or equivalently expensive broadband device) to be directly-connected to the web. The device would independently connect to the 5G mini-cell tower and quickly stream up or down high (or low) quality data. This certainly could be revolutionary. Of course cities would have to strive to be "smart cities" for this all to pan out. But, at least, 5G acknowledges that use scenario and builds it into the next standard. On balance, the optimism seems justified and should carry us through the arduous preliminary steps in getting the new standard going. Perhaps the bigger question is whether that optimism inspires communities, cities, and civic leaders to embrace this new infrastructure of a smarter and much more connected world.