What Is 5G & What We Can Do With 5G Technology?

Many believe that 5G is just another step in technological advancement, just as the transition from 3G to 4G was. But in reality, it is much more and its capabilities promise to change the world in which we live. Today we are going to explain what 5G is and evaluate its impact on our society.

There are still many people who do not fully understand what the change from 4G to 5G technology will mean. It might seem like yet another advance, like buying an iPhone 4 and then an iPhone 5 and then a 6. But, 5G technology is confident that it will exponentially change today’s internet. 

For example, by improving the driving of autonomous vehicles or by making it possible for a doctor to remotely operate on a patient hundreds of kilometers away.

5G Technology: How Does It Work?

The next step in the generation of wireless broadband will be 5G and will make the upload and download speed much faster. The 5G will not be able to completely replace the use of cables, but it will be able to eliminate its need for use since it will operate from the cloud.

How 5G works can be tricky. But it could be summarized by pointing out that 5G uses higher frequencies than 4G. While 4G uses frequencies between 2 and 8 GHz, 5G works with frequencies between 24 and 100 GHz.

These frequencies are what is known as millimetre wave or extremely high frequency. Basically: increasing the frequency reduces the wavelength, and therefore shorter waves will correspond to faster speeds.

Telecommunications companies estimate that 5G will be up to 100 times faster than the current 4G LTE. For example, the Consumer Technology Association noted that at this speed, a 5G user could download a two-hour movie in as little as 3.6 seconds. Currently, they consider downloading the same movie in 4 minutes with 4G and 26 hours with 3G.

But, the main benefit of this incredible upload and download speed will be the improvements in latency. Latency is the time it takes for devices to communicate with each other. With 5G technology the latency will be drastically reduced, it will oscillate in the 1 ms orbit, which is a hugely low value.

Also Read: When Will The iPhone 5G Arrive?

What Can We Do With 5G Technology?

Technological advances are advancing uninterruptedly and in recent years it seems that at a frantic speed. We are consuming more data every year, especially as the popularity of streaming video and music increases.

Existing spectrum bands become congested, leading to service failures, especially when many people in the same geographic area attempt to access mobile internet services at the same time. 5G will be much better at handling thousands of devices simultaneously, from mobile phones to equipment sensors, video cameras to smart street lights.

Autonomous Vehicles And Smart Cities

According to Ericsson’s study, ‘ 5G use cases’, with 5G our cars will talk to each other and at the same time communicate with signals and traffic lights. We will move around the city with autonomous buses. We will manage public services such as energy or water intelligently and in real-time.

Immersive Technology

Virtual, augmented and mixed reality are technologies that have been with us for a long time. But, with the arrival of 5G, its functions in our society will be revolutionized. From touring with advanced 3D modelling techniques, to virtual reality soccer to enjoy new angles of the game like never before.

Industrial Production

As we mentioned before, thanks to 5G we will see the improved interconnection of machines, objects and devices offering high levels of performance and efficiency. This means a breakthrough also for Industrial production.

For example, Siemens is collaborating with the AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology) on the UNWIRE project, which is studying the possibility of substituting cable connections for wireless connections in production systems.

Health

Surgery already knew about video conferencing, but this technology was not enough since the data transmission speed and 4G latency problems make it impossible to perform a remote operation in real-time. With 5G, the remote operation will be a reality.

The pilot test was carried out during the last MWC19. Thanks to Vodafone’s 5G network, a medical team, located in the same fairgrounds, was able to guide an operation that took place in the Óptimus operating room, located in the Hospital Clínic.

When Will 5G Be Used?

The battle to start using 5G technology within its borders is a race against time for its main actors.

South Korea, a country known for its technological prowess, embarked on the race with the US, China and Japan for being the first country to take off 5G technology. 

On April 4, the three major Korean national operators (KT, SK Telecom and LG UPlus) launched the first national fifth-generation (5G) mobile phone network, earning the title of the first country in the world to offer this technology.