5g technology advantages and disadvantages essay

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5 th generation technology offers a wide range of features, which are beneficial for all group of people including, students, professionals (doctors, engineers, teachers, governing bodies, administrative bodies, etc.) and even for a common man.

Important Advantages

There are several advantages of 5G technology, some of the advantages have been shown in the above Ericsson image, and many others are described below −

High resolution and bi-directional large bandwidth shaping.

Technology to gather all networks on one platform.

More effective and efficient.

Technology to facilitate subscriber supervision tools for the quick action.

Most likely, will provide a huge broadcasting data (in Gigabit), which will support more than 60,000 connections.

Easily manageable with the previous generations.

Technological sound to support heterogeneous services (including private network).

Possible to provide uniform, uninterrupted, and consistent connectivity across the world.

Disadvantages of 5G Technology

Though, 5G technology is researched and conceptualized to solve all radio signal problems and hardship of mobile world, but because of some security reason and lack of technological advancement in most of the geographic regions, it has following shortcomings −

Technology is still under process and research on its viability is going on.

The speed, this technology is claiming seems difficult to achieve (in future, it might be) because of the incompetent technological support in most parts of the world.

Many of the old devices would not be competent to 5G, hence, all of them need to be replaced with new one — expensive deal.

Developing infrastructure needs high cost.

Security and privacy issue yet to be solved.

If you’re in the technology sector (or really, if you’re involved in any business that relies on digital technology at all), you’ve likely heard the buzz around 5G. The latest high-speed cellular network standard is poised to transform wireless connectivity as we know it and usher in a new age of digital transformation.

Like any new technology, however, it’s wise to take a step back and consider the pros and cons before diving in. In this article, we’re going to look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of 5G networks so you can make an informed decision for your business.

What is 5G?

5G (fifth-generation mobile technology) is the new standard for cellular networks. First released by mobile phone companies in 2019, it relies on radio frequencies for data transmission like its predecessors 3G, 4G and 4G LTE networks. However, improvements in latency and bandwidth give 5G certain advantages like lightning-fast download and upload speeds, improved connectivity, and greater reliability.  

Why is 5G important?

In the four years since it burst onto the market, 5G has been widely touted as a disruptive technology, capable of transformation on a similar scale to artificial intelligence (AI) , the  Internet of Things (IoT)  and  machine learning (ML) . As mobile broadband technology expands, the amount of data generated every day is increasing exponentially to the point where 3G and 4G network infrastructures simply can’t handle it. Enter 5G, with its speedy download and upload times and wider bandwidths capable of handling much larger volumes of data.

Advantages of 5G technology

In addition to faster speeds and upload/download times, there are several other important differences between 5G and 3G/4G networks worth noting:

Smaller physical footprint

5G uses smaller transmitters than its predecessors, allowing for them to be placed discretely on buildings, inside trees or in other out-of-the-way places. The cells (or “small cells”) that wireless networks rely on for connectivity are also smaller in 5G networks and require less power to run.

Reduced error rates

5G’s adaptive Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)—a schematic for sending data from WiFi devices—is better than the MCS used in 4G and 3G. The result is that the Block Error Rate (BER), which is used for measuring the frequencies of errors in a network, is extremely low. On a 5G network, when the BER increases to a certain level, the transmitter lowers the connection speed until the error rate drops. Essentially, 5G networks trade speed for accuracy in real-time so their BER is always near zero.  

Better bandwidth

5G networks can utilize a much broader range of bandwidths than previous networks. By expanding the spectrum of resources it can utilize from sub-3 GHz to 100 GHz and even higher, 5G’s range can include both lower and higher frequencies. This expands the network’s overall capacity and throughput by allowing it to function across a much wider spectrum of bandwidths, increasing the number of devices it can support at a time.

Lower latencies

5G’s low latency (the amount of time it takes data to travel from one point to another on a network) enables the speeds that make activities like downloading a file or interacting with the cloud 10x faster than on a 4G or 3G network. While 4G networks deliver latencies of around 200 milliseconds, 5G networks routinely deliver them as low as a single millisecond.

Disadvantages of 5G

Like any emerging technology, there are as many reasons for caution with 5G as for excitement. Let’s take a look at some of the concerns preventing both consumers and enterprises from wholeheartedly embracing it.  

Cybersecurity

While 5G’s algorithms are even more comprehensive than its predecessors, users are still vulnerable to cyberattacks . One area of concern is encryption . While apps on 5G networks are encrypted, the 5G NR standard doesn’t have end-to-end encryption, leaving it open to certain kinds of attacks.  

Network slicing

While network slicing is a popular feature of 5G networks, it’s also an area for vigilance. When creating a virtual network for a specific functionality, 5G software is exposed to hackers, malware and other potential breaches. Once a breach has occurred, malware or spyware has the potential to spread throughout a carrier’s infrastructure or networked devices, causing problems across whole enterprises.  

Infrastructure

To move services and functionality onto a 5G network, businesses must weigh the cost and time needed to upgrade their equipment so it’s 5G compatible. This can be both time-consuming and expensive. Typically, an enterprise that has relied on 3G or 4G networks for some time has already made a large investment in their equipment. Replacing it and upskilling workers so they can deploy and maintain the new infrastructure presents a significant obstacle.

Gaps in coverage

With the rollout of 5G technology worldwide, many large urban areas now have 5G coverage. However, it’s important to note that 5G still isn’t everywhere and won’t be for a long time. Many remote areas, for example, don’t have a 5G connection or only offer limited coverage. Before companies upgrade to 5G they should take a look at where they plan on using it—especially if they operate in rural areas—to ensure they will have 5G coverage.

Penetration

The high-frequency radio waves that 5G signals travel on are easily blocked by common objects such as buildings and/or trees so ensuring seamless routes for the waves to travel can be a problem. Factories and offices present unique challenges that have caused some businesses to redesign facilities in a way that is more 5G network-friendly.

How does 5G technology work?

5G networks are divided into geographical sections known as cells. Within these cells, wireless devices like smartphones, tablets and computers connect to the internet or phone network by sending radio waves between a base station and an antennae. The underlying technology of a 5G network is the same as that of a 3G or 4G network, but its download speeds are much faster. Some 5G networks’ download speeds can reach as high as 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) if only a few devices are on the network.

As 5G technology reaches more and more customers and the number of applications that support it continues to grow, its popularity with telecommunications companies and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is also expected to increase. In North America, for example, the most popular ISPs for home internet—Verizon, Google and AT&T—have already adopted it and more than 200 million homes subscribe to it (links resides outside ibm.com).

Three key functionalities set 5G technology apart:

• Cellular standards

Private networks

Here’s a closer look at each of those areas, why they are unique to 5G and how they help the technology function.

New cellular standard

The 5G NR (New Radio) standard for cellular networks is the new radio access technology (RAT) specification built specifically for 5G mobile networks. In 2018, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3FPP) set out to develop a new global standard for mobile networks to guide the development of devices and applications on 5G networks. Today, cellular networks and manufacturers wishing to power or design 5G devices simply have to follow the 5G NR standard to be in compliance—increasing the ease and likelihood of 5G expansion. According to  a recent report by Ericsson  (link resides outside ibm.com), 45% of networks worldwide were 5G compatible by the end of 2023, with that number forecasted to rise to 85% by the end of the decade.

On a 5G network, operators can deploy several independent virtual networks on the same infrastructure, powering numerous business applications and enabling users to do even more complex tasks remotely than they can today. For example, enterprises that want to divide up wireless functionality by use case or business model can form a “collection” on a 5G network. Collections give users on that network a more reliable, consistent experience on the mobile device of their choice than would have been possible in previous generations of wireless technology.

5G technology allows users to create a private network with enhanced personalization features, such as secure access, improved quality control and added mobility. Because of these features, private 5G is fast becoming popular with global enterprises who want all the power and features of 5G but with added security layers for their business. Private 5G networks let companies manage multiple devices, services and applications in a highly private, secure and efficient environment—more than any public network. 

5G use cases

Now that we have a fuller picture of the pros and cons to consider when it comes to 5G and how the new technology works, let’s take a look at how it’s being applied in the real world.

• Autonomous vehicles: Until 5G came along, fully autonomous cars couldn’t operate independently using the 3G and 4G networks available to them because the speed at which they needed to transmit and receive information wasn’t supported. 5G’s lightning-fast capabilities open up the possibility that in the near future, self-driving cars will be as ubiquitous as taxis and delivery trucks on roads everywhere.
• Smart factories: With AI and ML, factories everywhere are already becoming smarter and more efficient. 5G will make even more leaps possible in the future, enabling the automation of more tasks, deployment of cameras and drones to do jobs that previously required a person, and the connection of thousands of smart devices to the internet. It’s dizzying to think of all the potential applications of 5G in the factory setting. This is one area where it is most likely to have a highly disruptive and transformative impact, potentially changing everything from the way fuel usage is measured and optimized, to the design of equipment lifecycles, to how goods are delivered to customers.
• Smart cities: With 5G, urban areas will be able to accomplish everyday tasks like waste and air quality management far more efficiently than ever before. By deploying new Internet of T hings (IoT) devices connected to the Internet via 5G networks, cities can manage activities like traffic control, electricity management, waste disposal and even law enforcement with far more control than in the past.
• Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR): Virtual reality (digital environments that shut out the real world) and augmented reality (digital content that augments the real world) both rely heavily on 5G technology to function and have numerous business applications . For example, mobile phones and smart glasses using virtual and augmented reality technology that runs on 5G networks are already adding digital overlays, live views and other capabilities to stockroom employees, delivery drivers, maintenance workers and more.
• Edge computing: Edge computing refers to a distributed computing framework that brings enterprise applications closer to data sources. Naturally, any technology that relies on the movement of large volumes of data in a wireless environment is going to be enhanced by 5G. In edge computing, 5G specifically brings computation and data storage closer to where data is generated on the network, enabling greater control, lowering costs, and speeding the delivery of insights. According to a recent  Gartner whitepaper  (link resides outside ibm.com), by 2025, 75% of enterprise data will be processed through edge computing, compared to only 10% today.

5G presents big opportunities for app developers, but you need the right platform to take advantage of its lightning-fast upload and download speeds. IBM Cloud Satellite lets you deploy and run apps consistently across on-premises, edge computing and public cloud environments, enabled by secure and auditable communications with IBM Cloud.

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Study and Investigation on 5G Technology: A Systematic Review

Ramraj dangi.

1 School of Computing Science and Engineering, VIT University Bhopal, Bhopal 466114, India; [email protected] (R.D.); [email protected] (P.L.)

Praveen Lalwani

Gaurav choudhary.

2 Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark; moc.liamg@7777yrahduohcvaruag

3 Department of Information Security Engineering, Soonchunhyang University, Asan-si 31538, Korea

Giovanni Pau

4 Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, 94100 Enna, Italy; [email protected]

Associated Data

Not applicable.

In wireless communication, Fifth Generation (5G) Technology is a recent generation of mobile networks. In this paper, evaluations in the field of mobile communication technology are presented. In each evolution, multiple challenges were faced that were captured with the help of next-generation mobile networks. Among all the previously existing mobile networks, 5G provides a high-speed internet facility, anytime, anywhere, for everyone. 5G is slightly different due to its novel features such as interconnecting people, controlling devices, objects, and machines. 5G mobile system will bring diverse levels of performance and capability, which will serve as new user experiences and connect new enterprises. Therefore, it is essential to know where the enterprise can utilize the benefits of 5G. In this research article, it was observed that extensive research and analysis unfolds different aspects, namely, millimeter wave (mmWave), massive multiple-input and multiple-output (Massive-MIMO), small cell, mobile edge computing (MEC), beamforming, different antenna technology, etc. This article’s main aim is to highlight some of the most recent enhancements made towards the 5G mobile system and discuss its future research objectives.

1. Introduction

Most recently, in three decades, rapid growth was marked in the field of wireless communication concerning the transition of 1G to 4G [ 1 , 2 ]. The main motto behind this research was the requirements of high bandwidth and very low latency. 5G provides a high data rate, improved quality of service (QoS), low-latency, high coverage, high reliability, and economically affordable services. 5G delivers services categorized into three categories: (1) Extreme mobile broadband (eMBB). It is a nonstandalone architecture that offers high-speed internet connectivity, greater bandwidth, moderate latency, UltraHD streaming videos, virtual reality and augmented reality (AR/VR) media, and many more. (2) Massive machine type communication (eMTC), 3GPP releases it in its 13th specification. It provides long-range and broadband machine-type communication at a very cost-effective price with less power consumption. eMTC brings a high data rate service, low power, extended coverage via less device complexity through mobile carriers for IoT applications. (3) ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) offers low-latency and ultra-high reliability, rich quality of service (QoS), which is not possible with traditional mobile network architecture. URLLC is designed for on-demand real-time interaction such as remote surgery, vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, industry 4.0, smart grids, intelligent transport system, etc. [ 3 ].

1.1. Evolution from 1G to 5G

First generation (1G): 1G cell phone was launched between the 1970s and 80s, based on analog technology, which works just like a landline phone. It suffers in various ways, such as poor battery life, voice quality, and dropped calls. In 1G, the maximum achievable speed was 2.4 Kbps.

Second Generation (2G): In 2G, the first digital system was offered in 1991, providing improved mobile voice communication over 1G. In addition, Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for Mobile (GSM) concepts were also discussed. In 2G, the maximum achievable speed was 1 Mpbs.

Third Generation (3G): When technology ventured from 2G GSM frameworks into 3G universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) framework, users encountered higher system speed and quicker download speed making constant video calls. 3G was the first mobile broadband system that was formed to provide the voice with some multimedia. The technology behind 3G was high-speed packet access (HSPA/HSPA+). 3G used MIMO for multiplying the power of the wireless network, and it also used packet switching for fast data transmission.

Fourth Generation (4G): It is purely mobile broadband standard. In digital mobile communication, it was observed information rate that upgraded from 20 to 60 Mbps in 4G [ 4 ]. It works on LTE and WiMAX technologies, as well as provides wider bandwidth up to 100 Mhz. It was launched in 2010.

Fourth Generation LTE-A (4.5G): It is an advanced version of standard 4G LTE. LTE-A uses MIMO technology to combine multiple antennas for both transmitters as well as a receiver. Using MIMO, multiple signals and multiple antennas can work simultaneously, making LTE-A three times faster than standard 4G. LTE-A offered an improved system limit, decreased deferral in the application server, access triple traffic (Data, Voice, and Video) wirelessly at any time anywhere in the world.LTE-A delivers speeds of over 42 Mbps and up to 90 Mbps.

Fifth Generation (5G): 5G is a pillar of digital transformation; it is a real improvement on all the previous mobile generation networks. 5G brings three different services for end user like Extreme mobile broadband (eMBB). It offers high-speed internet connectivity, greater bandwidth, moderate latency, UltraHD streaming videos, virtual reality and augmented reality (AR/VR) media, and many more. Massive machine type communication (eMTC), it provides long-range and broadband machine-type communication at a very cost-effective price with less power consumption. eMTC brings a high data rate service, low power, extended coverage via less device complexity through mobile carriers for IoT applications. Ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) offers low-latency and ultra-high reliability, rich quality of service (QoS), which is not possible with traditional mobile network architecture. URLLC is designed for on-demand real-time interaction such as remote surgery, vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, industry 4.0, smart grids, intelligent transport system, etc. 5G faster than 4G and offers remote-controlled operation over a reliable network with zero delays. It provides down-link maximum throughput of up to 20 Gbps. In addition, 5G also supports 4G WWWW (4th Generation World Wide Wireless Web) [ 5 ] and is based on Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) protocol. 5G provides unlimited internet connection at your convenience, anytime, anywhere with extremely high speed, high throughput, low-latency, higher reliability and scalability, and energy-efficient mobile communication technology [ 6 ]. 5G mainly divided in two parts 6 GHz 5G and Millimeter wave(mmWave) 5G.

6 GHz is a mid frequency band which works as a mid point between capacity and coverage to offer perfect environment for 5G connectivity. 6 GHz spectrum will provide high bandwidth with improved network performance. It offers continuous channels that will reduce the need for network densification when mid-band spectrum is not available and it makes 5G connectivity affordable at anytime, anywhere for everyone.

mmWave is an essential technology of 5G network which build high performance network. 5G mmWave offer diverse services that is why all network providers should add on this technology in their 5G deployment planning. There are lots of service providers who deployed 5G mmWave, and their simulation result shows that 5G mmwave is a far less used spectrum. It provides very high speed wireless communication and it also offers ultra-wide bandwidth for next generation mobile network.

The evolution of wireless mobile technologies are presented in Table 1 . The abbreviations used in this paper are mentioned in Table 2 .

Summary of Mobile Technology.

Table of Notations and Abbreviations.

1.2. Key Contributions

The objective of this survey is to provide a detailed guide of 5G key technologies, methods to researchers, and to help with understanding how the recent works addressed 5G problems and developed solutions to tackle the 5G challenges; i.e., what are new methods that must be applied and how can they solve problems? Highlights of the research article are as follows.

• This survey focused on the recent trends and development in the era of 5G and novel contributions by the researcher community and discussed technical details on essential aspects of the 5G advancement.
• In this paper, the evolution of the mobile network from 1G to 5G is presented. In addition, the growth of mobile communication under different attributes is also discussed.
• This paper covers the emerging applications and research groups working on 5G & different research areas in 5G wireless communication network with a descriptive taxonomy.
• This survey discusses the current vision of the 5G networks, advantages, applications, key technologies, and key features. Furthermore, machine learning prospects are also explored with the emerging requirements in the 5G era. The article also focused on technical aspects of 5G IoT Based approaches and optimization techniques for 5G.
• we provide an extensive overview and recent advancement of emerging technologies of 5G mobile network, namely, MIMO, Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), mmWave, Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML), and optimization. Also, a technical summary is discussed by highlighting the context of current approaches and corresponding challenges.
• Security challenges and considerations while developing 5G technology are discussed.
• Finally, the paper concludes with the future directives.

The existing survey focused on architecture, key concepts, and implementation challenges and issues. In contrast, this survey covers the state-of-the-art techniques as well as corresponding recent novel developments by researchers. Various recent significant papers are discussed with the key technologies accelerating the development and production of 5G products.

2. Existing Surveys and Their Applicability

In this paper, a detailed survey on various technologies of 5G networks is presented. Various researchers have worked on different technologies of 5G networks. In this section, Table 3 gives a tabular representation of existing surveys of 5G networks. Massive MIMO, NOMA, small cell, mmWave, beamforming, and MEC are the six main pillars that helped to implement 5G networks in real life.

A comparative overview of existing surveys on different technologies of 5G networks.

2.1. Limitations of Existing Surveys

The existing survey focused on architecture, key concepts, and implementation challenges and issues. The numerous current surveys focused on various 5G technologies with different parameters, and the authors did not cover all the technologies of the 5G network in detail with challenges and recent advancements. Few authors worked on MIMO (Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access) NOMA, MEC, small cell technologies. In contrast, some others worked on beamforming, Millimeter-wave (mmWave). But the existing survey did not cover all the technologies of the 5G network from a research and advancement perspective. No detailed survey is available in the market covering all the 5G network technologies and currently published research trade-offs. So, our main aim is to give a detailed study of all the technologies working on the 5G network. In contrast, this survey covers the state-of-the-art techniques as well as corresponding recent novel developments by researchers. Various recent significant papers are discussed with the key technologies accelerating the development and production of 5G products. This survey article collected key information about 5G technology and recent advancements, and it can be a kind of a guide for the reader. This survey provides an umbrella approach to bring multiple solutions and recent improvements in a single place to accelerate the 5G research with the latest key enabling solutions and reviews. A systematic layout representation of the survey in Figure 1 . We provide a state-of-the-art comparative overview of the existing surveys on different technologies of 5G networks in Table 3 .

Systematic layout representation of survey.

2.2. Article Organization

This article is organized under the following sections. Section 2 presents existing surveys and their applicability. In Section 3 , the preliminaries of 5G technology are presented. In Section 4 , recent advances of 5G technology based on Massive MIMO, NOMA, Millimeter Wave, 5G with IoT, machine learning for 5G, and Optimization in 5G are provided. In Section 5 , a description of novel 5G features over 4G is provided. Section 6 covered all the security concerns of the 5G network. Section 7 , 5G technology based on above-stated challenges summarize in tabular form. Finally, Section 8 and Section 9 conclude the study, which paves the path for future research.

3. Preliminary Section

3.1. emerging 5g paradigms and its features.

5G provides very high speed, low latency, and highly salable connectivity between multiple devices and IoT worldwide. 5G will provide a very flexible model to develop a modern generation of applications and industry goals [ 26 , 27 ]. There are many services offered by 5G network architecture are stated below:

Massive machine to machine communications: 5G offers novel, massive machine-to-machine communications [ 28 ], also known as the IoT [ 29 ], that provide connectivity between lots of machines without any involvement of humans. This service enhances the applications of 5G and provides connectivity between agriculture, construction, and industries [ 30 ].

Ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC): This service offers real-time management of machines, high-speed vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity, industrial connectivity and security principles, and highly secure transport system, and multiple autonomous actions. Low latency communications also clear up a different area where remote medical care, procedures, and operation are all achievable [ 31 ].

Enhanced mobile broadband: Enhance mobile broadband is an important use case of 5G system, which uses massive MIMO antenna, mmWave, beamforming techniques to offer very high-speed connectivity across a wide range of areas [ 32 ].

For communities: 5G provides a very flexible internet connection between lots of machines to make smart homes, smart schools, smart laboratories, safer and smart automobiles, and good health care centers [ 33 ].

For businesses and industry: As 5G works on higher spectrum ranges from 24 to 100 GHz. This higher frequency range provides secure low latency communication and high-speed wireless connectivity between IoT devices and industry 4.0, which opens a market for end-users to enhance their business models [ 34 ].

New and Emerging technologies: As 5G came up with many new technologies like beamforming, massive MIMO, mmWave, small cell, NOMA, MEC, and network slicing, it introduced many new features to the market. Like virtual reality (VR), users can experience the physical presence of people who are millions of kilometers away from them. Many new technologies like smart homes, smart workplaces, smart schools, smart sports academy also came into the market with this 5G Mobile network model [ 35 ].

3.2. Commercial Service Providers of 5G

5G provides high-speed internet browsing, streaming, and downloading with very high reliability and low latency. 5G network will change your working style, and it will increase new business opportunities and provide innovations that we cannot imagine. This section covers top service providers of 5G network [ 36 , 37 ].

Ericsson: Ericsson is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company, investing around 25.62 billion USD in 5G network, which makes it the biggest telecommunication company. It claims that it is the only company working on all the continents to make the 5G network a global standard for the next generation wireless communication. Ericsson developed the first 5G radio prototype that enables the operators to set up the live field trials in their network, which helps operators understand how 5G reacts. It plays a vital role in the development of 5G hardware. It currently provides 5G services in over 27 countries with content providers like China Mobile, GCI, LGU+, AT&T, Rogers, and many more. It has 100 commercial agreements with different operators as of 2020.

Verizon: It is American multinational telecommunication which was founded in 1983. Verizon started offering 5G services in April 2020, and by December 2020, it has actively provided 5G services in 30 cities of the USA. They planned that by the end of 2021, they would deploy 5G in 30 more new cities. Verizon deployed a 5G network on mmWave, a very high band spectrum between 30 to 300 GHz. As it is a significantly less used spectrum, it provides very high-speed wireless communication. MmWave offers ultra-wide bandwidth for next-generation mobile networks. MmWave is a faster and high-band spectrum that has a limited range. Verizon planned to increase its number of 5G cells by 500% by 2020. Verizon also has an ultra wide-band flagship 5G service which is the best 5G service that increases the market price of Verizon.

Nokia: Nokia is a Finnish multinational telecommunications company which was founded in 1865. Nokia is one of the companies which adopted 5G technology very early. It is developing, researching, and building partnerships with various 5G renders to offer 5G communication as soon as possible. Nokia collaborated with Deutsche Telekom and Hamburg Port Authority and provided them 8000-hectare site for their 5G MoNArch project. Nokia is the only company that supplies 5G technology to all the operators of different countries like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile US and Verizon in the USA, Korea Telecom, LG U+ and SK Telecom in South Korea and NTT DOCOMO, KDDI, and SoftBank in Japan. Presently, Nokia has around 150+ agreements and 29 live networks all over the world. Nokia is continuously working hard on 5G technology to expand 5G networks all over the globe.

AT&T: AT&T is an American multinational company that was the first to deploy a 5G network in reality in 2018. They built a gigabit 5G network connection in Waco, TX, Kalamazoo, MI, and South Bend to achieve this. It is the first company that archives 1–2 gigabit per second speed in 2019. AT&T claims that it provides a 5G network connection among 225 million people worldwide by using a 6 GHz spectrum band.

T-Mobile: T-Mobile US (TMUS) is an American wireless network operator which was the first service provider that offers a real 5G nationwide network. The company knew that high-band 5G was not feasible nationwide, so they used a 600 MHz spectrum to build a significant portion of its 5G network. TMUS is planning that by 2024 they will double the total capacity and triple the full 5G capacity of T-Mobile and Sprint combined. The sprint buyout is helping T-Mobile move forward the company’s current market price to 129.98 USD.

Samsung: Samsung started their research in 5G technology in 2011. In 2013, Samsung successfully developed the world’s first adaptive array transceiver technology operating in the millimeter-wave Ka bands for cellular communications. Samsung provides several hundred times faster data transmission than standard 4G for core 5G mobile communication systems. The company achieved a lot of success in the next generation of technology, and it is considered one of the leading companies in the 5G domain.

Qualcomm: Qualcomm is an American multinational corporation in San Diego, California. It is also one of the leading company which is working on 5G chip. Qualcomm’s first 5G modem chip was announced in October 2016, and a prototype was demonstrated in October 2017. Qualcomm mainly focuses on building products while other companies talk about 5G; Qualcomm is building the technologies. According to one magazine, Qualcomm was working on three main areas of 5G networks. Firstly, radios that would use bandwidth from any network it has access to; secondly, creating more extensive ranges of spectrum by combining smaller pieces; and thirdly, a set of services for internet applications.

ZTE Corporation: ZTE Corporation was founded in 1985. It is a partially Chinese state-owned technology company that works in telecommunication. It was a leading company that worked on 4G LTE, and it is still maintaining its value and doing research and tests on 5G. It is the first company that proposed Pre5G technology with some series of solutions.

NEC Corporation: NEC Corporation is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ZTE also started their research on 5G, and they introduced a new business concept. NEC’s main aim is to develop 5G NR for the global mobile system and create secure and intelligent technologies to realize 5G services.

Cisco: Cisco is a USA networking hardware company that also sleeves up for 5G network. Cisco’s primary focus is to support 5G in three ways: Service—enable 5G services faster so all service providers can increase their business. Infrastructure—build 5G-oriented infrastructure to implement 5G more quickly. Automation—make a more scalable, flexible, and reliable 5G network. The companies know the importance of 5G, and they want to connect more than 30 billion devices in the next couple of years. Cisco intends to work on network hardening as it is a vital part of 5G network. Cisco used AI with deep learning to develop a 5G Security Architecture, enabling Secure Network Transformation.

3.3. 5G Research Groups

Many research groups from all over the world are working on a 5G wireless mobile network [ 38 ]. These groups are continuously working on various aspects of 5G. The list of those research groups are presented as follows: 5GNOW (5th Generation Non-Orthogonal Waveform for Asynchronous Signaling), NEWCOM (Network of Excellence in Wireless Communication), 5GIC (5G Innovation Center), NYU (New York University) Wireless, 5GPPP (5G Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership), EMPHATIC (Enhanced Multi-carrier Technology for Professional Adhoc and Cell-Based Communication), ETRI(Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute), METIS (Mobile and wireless communication Enablers for the Twenty-twenty Information Society) [ 39 ]. The various research groups along with the research area are presented in Table 4 .

Research groups working on 5G mobile networks.

3.4. 5G Applications

5G is faster than 4G and offers remote-controlled operation over a reliable network with zero delays. It provides down-link maximum throughput of up to 20 Gbps. In addition, 5G also supports 4G WWWW (4th Generation World Wide Wireless Web) [ 5 ] and is based on Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) protocol. 5G provides unlimited internet connection at your convenience, anytime, anywhere with extremely high speed, high throughput, low-latency, higher reliability, greater scalablility, and energy-efficient mobile communication technology [ 6 ].

There are lots of applications of 5G mobile network are as follows:

• High-speed mobile network: 5G is an advancement on all the previous mobile network technologies, which offers very high speed downloading speeds 0 of up to 10 to 20 Gbps. The 5G wireless network works as a fiber optic internet connection. 5G is different from all the conventional mobile transmission technologies, and it offers both voice and high-speed data connectivity efficiently. 5G offers very low latency communication of less than a millisecond, useful for autonomous driving and mission-critical applications. 5G will use millimeter waves for data transmission, providing higher bandwidth and a massive data rate than lower LTE bands. As 5 Gis a fast mobile network technology, it will enable virtual access to high processing power and secure and safe access to cloud services and enterprise applications. Small cell is one of the best features of 5G, which brings lots of advantages like high coverage, high-speed data transfer, power saving, easy and fast cloud access, etc. [ 40 ].
• Entertainment and multimedia: In one analysis in 2015, it was found that more than 50 percent of mobile internet traffic was used for video downloading. This trend will surely increase in the future, which will make video streaming more common. 5G will offer High-speed streaming of 4K videos with crystal clear audio, and it will make a high definition virtual world on your mobile. 5G will benefit the entertainment industry as it offers 120 frames per second with high resolution and higher dynamic range video streaming, and HD TV channels can also be accessed on mobile devices without any interruptions. 5G provides low latency high definition communication so augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) will be very easily implemented in the future. Virtual reality games are trendy these days, and many companies are investing in HD virtual reality games. The 5G network will offer high-speed internet connectivity with a better gaming experience [ 41 ].
• Smart homes : smart home appliances and products are in demand these days. The 5G network makes smart homes more real as it offers high-speed connectivity and monitoring of smart appliances. Smart home appliances are easily accessed and configured from remote locations using the 5G network as it offers very high-speed low latency communication.
• Smart cities: 5G wireless network also helps develop smart cities applications such as automatic traffic management, weather update, local area broadcasting, energy-saving, efficient power supply, smart lighting system, water resource management, crowd management, emergency control, etc.
• Industrial IoT: 5G wireless technology will provide lots of features for future industries such as safety, process tracking, smart packing, shipping, energy efficiency, automation of equipment, predictive maintenance, and logistics. 5G smart sensor technology also offers smarter, safer, cost-effective, and energy-saving industrial IoT operations.
• Smart Farming: 5G technology will play a crucial role in agriculture and smart farming. 5G sensors and GPS technology will help farmers track live attacks on crops and manage them quickly. These smart sensors can also be used for irrigation, pest, insect, and electricity control.
• Autonomous Driving: The 5G wireless network offers very low latency high-speed communication, significant for autonomous driving. It means self-driving cars will come to real life soon with 5G wireless networks. Using 5G autonomous cars can easily communicate with smart traffic signs, objects, and other vehicles running on the road. 5G’s low latency feature makes self-driving more real as every millisecond is essential for autonomous vehicles, decision-making is done in microseconds to avoid accidents.
• Healthcare and mission-critical applications: 5G technology will bring modernization in medicine where doctors and practitioners can perform advanced medical procedures. The 5G network will provide connectivity between all classrooms, so attending seminars and lectures will be easier. Through 5G technology, patients can connect with doctors and take their advice. Scientists are building smart medical devices which can help people with chronic medical conditions. The 5G network will boost the healthcare industry with smart devices, the internet of medical things, smart sensors, HD medical imaging technologies, and smart analytics systems. 5G will help access cloud storage, so accessing healthcare data will be very easy from any location worldwide. Doctors and medical practitioners can easily store and share large files like MRI reports within seconds using the 5G network.
• Satellite Internet: In many remote areas, ground base stations are not available, so 5G will play a crucial role in providing connectivity in such areas. The 5G network will provide connectivity using satellite systems, and the satellite system uses a constellation of multiple small satellites to provide connectivity in urban and rural areas across the world.

4. 5G Technologies

This section describes recent advances of 5G Massive MIMO, 5G NOMA, 5G millimeter wave, 5G IOT, 5G with machine learning, and 5G optimization-based approaches. In addition, the summary is also presented in each subsection that paves the researchers for the future research direction.

4.1. 5G Massive MIMO

Multiple-input-multiple-out (MIMO) is a very important technology for wireless systems. It is used for sending and receiving multiple signals simultaneously over the same radio channel. MIMO plays a very big role in WI-FI, 3G, 4G, and 4G LTE-A networks. MIMO is mainly used to achieve high spectral efficiency and energy efficiency but it was not up to the mark MIMO provides low throughput and very low reliable connectivity. To resolve this, lots of MIMO technology like single user MIMO (SU-MIMO), multiuser MIMO (MU-MIMO) and network MIMO were used. However, these new MIMO also did not still fulfill the demand of end users. Massive MIMO is an advancement of MIMO technology used in the 5G network in which hundreds and thousands of antennas are attached with base stations to increase throughput and spectral efficiency. Multiple transmit and receive antennas are used in massive MIMO to increase the transmission rate and spectral efficiency. When multiple UEs generate downlink traffic simultaneously, massive MIMO gains higher capacity. Massive MIMO uses extra antennas to move energy into smaller regions of space to increase spectral efficiency and throughput [ 43 ]. In traditional systems data collection from smart sensors is a complex task as it increases latency, reduced data rate and reduced reliability. While massive MIMO with beamforming and huge multiplexing techniques can sense data from different sensors with low latency, high data rate and higher reliability. Massive MIMO will help in transmitting the data in real-time collected from different sensors to central monitoring locations for smart sensor applications like self-driving cars, healthcare centers, smart grids, smart cities, smart highways, smart homes, and smart enterprises [ 44 ].

Highlights of 5G Massive MIMO technology are as follows:

• Data rate: Massive MIMO is advised as the one of the dominant technologies to provide wireless high speed and high data rate in the gigabits per seconds.
• The relationship between wave frequency and antenna size: Both are inversely proportional to each other. It means lower frequency signals need a bigger antenna and vise versa.

Pictorial representation of multi-input and multi-output (MIMO).

• MIMO role in 5G: Massive MIMO will play a crucial role in the deployment of future 5G mobile communication as greater spectral and energy efficiency could be enabled.

State-of-the-Art Approaches

Plenty of approaches were proposed to resolve the issues of conventional MIMO [ 7 ].

The MIMO multirate, feed-forward controller is suggested by Mae et al. [ 46 ]. In the simulation, the proposed model generates the smooth control input, unlike the conventional MIMO, which generates oscillated control inputs. It also outperformed concerning the error rate. However, a combination of multirate and single rate can be used for better results.

The performance of stand-alone MIMO, distributed MIMO with and without corporation MIMO, was investigated by Panzner et al. [ 47 ]. In addition, an idea about the integration of large scale in the 5G technology was also presented. In the experimental analysis, different MIMO configurations are considered. The variation in the ratio of overall transmit antennas to spatial is deemed step-wise from equality to ten.

The simulation of massive MIMO noncooperative and cooperative systems for down-link behavior was performed by He et al. [ 48 ]. It depends on present LTE systems, which deal with various antennas in the base station set-up. It was observed that collaboration in different BS improves the system behaviors, whereas throughput is reduced slightly in this approach. However, a new method can be developed which can enhance both system behavior and throughput.

In [ 8 ], different approaches that increased the energy efficiency benefits provided by massive MIMO were presented. They analyzed the massive MIMO technology and described the detailed design of the energy consumption model for massive MIMO systems. This article has explored several techniques to enhance massive MIMO systems’ energy efficiency (EE) gains. This paper reviews standard EE-maximization approaches for the conventional massive MIMO systems, namely, scaling number of antennas, real-time implementing low-complexity operations at the base station (BS), power amplifier losses minimization, and radio frequency (RF) chain minimization requirements. In addition, open research direction is also identified.

In [ 49 ], various existing approaches based on different antenna selection and scheduling, user selection and scheduling, and joint antenna and user scheduling methods adopted in massive MIMO systems are presented in this paper. The objective of this survey article was to make awareness about the current research and future research direction in MIMO for systems. They analyzed that complete utilization of resources and bandwidth was the most crucial factor which enhances the sum rate.

In [ 50 ], authors discussed the development of various techniques for pilot contamination. To calculate the impact of pilot contamination in time division duplex (TDD) massive MIMO system, TDD and frequency division duplexing FDD patterns in massive MIMO techniques are used. They discussed different issues in pilot contamination in TDD massive MIMO systems with all the possible future directions of research. They also classified various techniques to generate the channel information for both pilot-based and subspace-based approaches.

In [ 19 ], the authors defined the uplink and downlink services for a massive MIMO system. In addition, it maintains a performance matrix that measures the impact of pilot contamination on different performances. They also examined the various application of massive MIMO such as small cells, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) schemes, massive MIMO IEEE 802, 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) specifications, and higher frequency bands. They considered their research work crucial for cutting edge massive MIMO and covered many issues like system throughput performance and channel state acquisition at higher frequencies.

In [ 13 ], various approaches were suggested for MIMO future generation wireless communication. They made a comparative study based on performance indicators such as peak data rate, energy efficiency, latency, throughput, etc. The key findings of this survey are as follows: (1) spatial multiplexing improves the energy efficiency; (2) design of MIMO play a vital role in the enhancement of throughput; (3) enhancement of mMIMO focusing on energy & spectral performance; (4) discussed the future challenges to improve the system design.

In [ 51 ], the study of large-scale MIMO systems for an energy-efficient system sharing method was presented. For the resource allocation, circuit energy and transmit energy expenditures were taken into consideration. In addition, the optimization techniques were applied for an energy-efficient resource sharing system to enlarge the energy efficiency for individual QoS and energy constraints. The author also examined the BS configuration, which includes homogeneous and heterogeneous UEs. While simulating, they discussed that the total number of transmit antennas plays a vital role in boosting energy efficiency. They highlighted that the highest energy efficiency was obtained when the BS was set up with 100 antennas that serve 20 UEs.

This section includes various works done on 5G MIMO technology by different author’s. Table 5 shows how different author’s worked on improvement of various parameters such as throughput, latency, energy efficiency, and spectral efficiency with 5G MIMO technology.

Summary of massive MIMO-based approaches in 5G technology.

4.2. 5G Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA)

NOMA is a very important radio access technology used in next generation wireless communication. Compared to previous orthogonal multiple access techniques, NOMA offers lots of benefits like high spectrum efficiency, low latency with high reliability and high speed massive connectivity. NOMA mainly works on a baseline to serve multiple users with the same resources in terms of time, space and frequency. NOMA is mainly divided into two main categories one is code domain NOMA and another is power domain NOMA. Code-domain NOMA can improve the spectral efficiency of mMIMO, which improves the connectivity in 5G wireless communication. Code-domain NOMA was divided into some more multiple access techniques like sparse code multiple access, lattice-partition multiple access, multi-user shared access and pattern-division multiple access [ 52 ]. Power-domain NOMA is widely used in 5G wireless networks as it performs well with various wireless communication techniques such as MIMO, beamforming, space-time coding, network coding, full-duplex and cooperative communication etc. [ 53 ]. The conventional orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) used by 3GPP in 4G LTE network provides very low spectral efficiency when bandwidth resources are allocated to users with low channel state information (CSI). NOMA resolved this issue as it enables users to access all the subcarrier channels so bandwidth resources allocated to the users with low CSI can still be accessed by the users with strong CSI which increases the spectral efficiency. The 5G network will support heterogeneous architecture in which small cell and macro base stations work for spectrum sharing. NOMA is a key technology of the 5G wireless system which is very helpful for heterogeneous networks as multiple users can share their data in a small cell using the NOMA principle.The NOMA is helpful in various applications like ultra-dense networks (UDN), machine to machine (M2M) communication and massive machine type communication (mMTC). As NOMA provides lots of features it has some challenges too such as NOMA needs huge computational power for a large number of users at high data rates to run the SIC algorithms. Second, when users are moving from the networks, to manage power allocation optimization is a challenging task for NOMA [ 54 ]. Hybrid NOMA (HNOMA) is a combination of power-domain and code-domain NOMA. HNOMA uses both power differences and orthogonal resources for transmission among multiple users. As HNOMA is using both power-domain NOMA and code-domain NOMA it can achieve higher spectral efficiency than Power-domain NOMA and code-domain NOMA. In HNOMA multiple groups can simultaneously transmit signals at the same time. It uses a message passing algorithm (MPA) and successive interference cancellation (SIC)-based detection at the base station for these groups [ 55 ].

Highlights of 5G NOMA technology as follows:

Pictorial representation of orthogonal and Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA).

• NOMA provides higher data rates and resolves all the loop holes of OMA that makes 5G mobile network more scalable and reliable.
• As multiple users use same frequency band simultaneously it increases the performance of whole network.
• To setup intracell and intercell interference NOMA provides nonorthogonal transmission on the transmitter end.
• The primary fundamental of NOMA is to improve the spectrum efficiency by strengthening the ramification of receiver.

State-of-the-Art of Approaches

A plenty of approaches were developed to address the various issues in NOMA.

A novel approach to address the multiple receiving signals at the same frequency is proposed in [ 22 ]. In NOMA, multiple users use the same sub-carrier, which improves the fairness and throughput of the system. As a nonorthogonal method is used among multiple users, at the time of retrieving the user’s signal at the receiver’s end, joint processing is required. They proposed solutions to optimize the receiver and the radio resource allocation of uplink NOMA. Firstly, the authors proposed an iterative MUDD which utilizes the information produced by the channel decoder to improve the performance of the multiuser detector. After that, the author suggested a power allocation and novel subcarrier that enhances the users’ weighted sum rate for the NOMA scheme. Their proposed model showed that NOMA performed well as compared to OFDM in terms of fairness and efficiency.

In [ 53 ], the author’s reviewed a power-domain NOMA that uses superposition coding (SC) and successive interference cancellation (SIC) at the transmitter and the receiver end. Lots of analyses were held that described that NOMA effectively satisfies user data rate demands and network-level of 5G technologies. The paper presented a complete review of recent advances in the 5G NOMA system. It showed the comparative analysis regarding allocation procedures, user fairness, state-of-the-art efficiency evaluation, user pairing pattern, etc. The study also analyzes NOMA’s behavior when working with other wireless communication techniques, namely, beamforming, MIMO, cooperative connections, network, space-time coding, etc.

In [ 9 ], the authors proposed NOMA with MEC, which improves the QoS as well as reduces the latency of the 5G wireless network. This model increases the uplink NOMA by decreasing the user’s uplink energy consumption. They formulated an optimized NOMA framework that reduces the energy consumption of MEC by using computing and communication resource allocation, user clustering, and transmit powers.

In [ 10 ], the authors proposed a model which investigates outage probability under average channel state information CSI and data rate in full CSI to resolve the problem of optimal power allocation, which increase the NOMA downlink system among users. They developed simple low-complexity algorithms to provide the optimal solution. The obtained simulation results showed NOMA’s efficiency, achieving higher performance fairness compared to the TDMA configurations. It was observed from the results that NOMA, through the appropriate power amplifiers (PA), ensures the high-performance fairness requirement for the future 5G wireless communication networks.

In [ 56 ], researchers discussed that the NOMA technology and waveform modulation techniques had been used in the 5G mobile network. Therefore, this research gave a detailed survey of non-orthogonal waveform modulation techniques and NOMA schemes for next-generation mobile networks. By analyzing and comparing multiple access technologies, they considered the future evolution of these technologies for 5G mobile communication.

In [ 57 ], the authors surveyed non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) from the development phase to the recent developments. They have also compared NOMA techniques with traditional OMA techniques concerning information theory. The author discussed the NOMA schemes categorically as power and code domain, including the design principles, operating principles, and features. Comparison is based upon the system’s performance, spectral efficiency, and the receiver’s complexity. Also discussed are the future challenges, open issues, and their expectations of NOMA and how it will support the key requirements of 5G mobile communication systems with massive connectivity and low latency.

In [ 17 ], authors present the first review of an elementary NOMA model with two users, which clarify its central precepts. After that, a general design with multicarrier supports with a random number of users on each sub-carrier is analyzed. In performance evaluation with the existing approaches, resource sharing and multiple-input multiple-output NOMA are examined. Furthermore, they took the key elements of NOMA and its potential research demands. Finally, they reviewed the two-user SC-NOMA design and a multi-user MC-NOMA design to highlight NOMA’s basic approaches and conventions. They also present the research study about the performance examination, resource assignment, and MIMO in NOMA.

In this section, various works by different authors done on 5G NOMA technology is covered. Table 6 shows how other authors worked on the improvement of various parameters such as spectral efficiency, fairness, and computing capacity with 5G NOMA technology.

Summary of NOMA-based approaches in 5G technology.

4.3. 5G Millimeter Wave (mmWave)

Millimeter wave is an extremely high frequency band, which is very useful for 5G wireless networks. MmWave uses 30 GHz to 300 GHz spectrum band for transmission. The frequency band between 30 GHz to 300 GHz is known as mmWave because these waves have wavelengths between 1 to 10 mm. Till now radar systems and satellites are only using mmWave as these are very fast frequency bands which provide very high speed wireless communication. Many mobile network providers also started mmWave for transmitting data between base stations. Using two ways the speed of data transmission can be improved one is by increasing spectrum utilization and second is by increasing spectrum bandwidth. Out of these two approaches increasing bandwidth is quite easy and better. The frequency band below 5 GHz is very crowded as many technologies are using it so to boost up the data transmission rate 5G wireless network uses mmWave technology which instead of increasing spectrum utilization, increases the spectrum bandwidth [ 58 ]. To maximize the signal bandwidth in wireless communication the carrier frequency should also be increased by 5% because the signal bandwidth is directly proportional to carrier frequencies. The frequency band between 28 GHz to 60 GHz is very useful for 5G wireless communication as 28 GHz frequency band offers up to 1 GHz spectrum bandwidth and 60 GHz frequency band offers 2 GHz spectrum bandwidth. 4G LTE provides 2 GHz carrier frequency which offers only 100 MHz spectrum bandwidth. However, the use of mmWave increases the spectrum bandwidth 10 times, which leads to better transmission speeds [ 59 , 60 ].

Highlights of 5G mmWave are as follows:

Pictorial representation of millimeter wave.

• The 5G mmWave offer three advantages: (1) MmWave is very less used new Band, (2) MmWave signals carry more data than lower frequency wave, and (3) MmWave can be incorporated with MIMO antenna with the potential to offer a higher magnitude capacity compared to current communication systems.

In [ 11 ], the authors presented the survey of mmWave communications for 5G. The advantage of mmWave communications is adaptability, i.e., it supports the architectures and protocols up-gradation, which consists of integrated circuits, systems, etc. The authors over-viewed the present solutions and examined them concerning effectiveness, performance, and complexity. They also discussed the open research issues of mmWave communications in 5G concerning the software-defined network (SDN) architecture, network state information, efficient regulation techniques, and the heterogeneous system.

In [ 61 ], the authors present the recent work done by investigators in 5G; they discussed the design issues and demands of mmWave 5G antennas for cellular handsets. After that, they designed a small size and low-profile 60 GHz array of antenna units that contain 3D planer mesh-grid antenna elements. For the future prospect, a framework is designed in which antenna components are used to operate cellular handsets on mmWave 5G smartphones. In addition, they cross-checked the mesh-grid array of antennas with the polarized beam for upcoming hardware challenges.

In [ 12 ], the authors considered the suitability of the mmWave band for 5G cellular systems. They suggested a resource allocation system for concurrent D2D communications in mmWave 5G cellular systems, and it improves network efficiency and maintains network connectivity. This research article can serve as guidance for simulating D2D communications in mmWave 5G cellular systems. Massive mmWave BS may be set up to obtain a high delivery rate and aggregate efficiency. Therefore, many wireless users can hand off frequently between the mmWave base terminals, and it emerges the demand to search the neighbor having better network connectivity.

In [ 62 ], the authors provided a brief description of the cellular spectrum which ranges from 1 GHz to 3 GHz and is very crowed. In addition, they presented various noteworthy factors to set up mmWave communications in 5G, namely, channel characteristics regarding mmWave signal attenuation due to free space propagation, atmospheric gaseous, and rain. In addition, hybrid beamforming architecture in the mmWave technique is analyzed. They also suggested methods for the blockage effect in mmWave communications due to penetration damage. Finally, the authors have studied designing the mmWave transmission with small beams in nonorthogonal device-to-device communication.

This section covered various works done on 5G mmWave technology. The Table 7 shows how different author’s worked on the improvement of various parameters i.e., transmission rate, coverage, and cost, with 5G mmWave technology.

Summary of existing mmWave-based approaches in 5G technology.

4.4. 5G IoT Based Approaches

The 5G mobile network plays a big role in developing the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT will connect lots of things with the internet like appliances, sensors, devices, objects, and applications. These applications will collect lots of data from different devices and sensors. 5G will provide very high speed internet connectivity for data collection, transmission, control, and processing. 5G is a flexible network with unused spectrum availability and it offers very low cost deployment that is why it is the most efficient technology for IoT [ 63 ]. In many areas, 5G provides benefits to IoT, and below are some examples:

Smart homes: smart home appliances and products are in demand these days. The 5G network makes smart homes more real as it offers high speed connectivity and monitoring of smart appliances. Smart home appliances are easily accessed and configured from remote locations using the 5G network, as it offers very high speed low latency communication.

Smart cities: 5G wireless network also helps in developing smart cities applications such as automatic traffic management, weather update, local area broadcasting, energy saving, efficient power supply, smart lighting system, water resource management, crowd management, emergency control, etc.

Industrial IoT: 5G wireless technology will provide lots of features for future industries such as safety, process tracking, smart packing, shipping, energy efficiency, automation of equipment, predictive maintenance and logistics. 5G smart sensor technology also offers smarter, safer, cost effective, and energy-saving industrial operation for industrial IoT.

Smart Farming: 5G technology will play a crucial role for agriculture and smart farming. 5G sensors and GPS technology will help farmers to track live attacks on crops and manage them quickly. These smart sensors can also be used for irrigation control, pest control, insect control, and electricity control.

Autonomous Driving: 5G wireless network offers very low latency high speed communication which is very significant for autonomous driving. It means self-driving cars will come to real life soon with 5G wireless networks. Using 5G autonomous cars can easily communicate with smart traffic signs, objects and other vehicles running on the road. 5G’s low latency feature makes self-driving more real as every millisecond is important for autonomous vehicles, decision taking is performed in microseconds to avoid accidents [ 64 ].

Highlights of 5G IoT are as follows:

Pictorial representation of IoT with 5G.

• 5G with IoT is a new feature of next-generation mobile communication, which provides a high-speed internet connection between moderated devices. 5G IoT also offers smart homes, smart devices, sensors, smart transportation systems, smart industries, etc., for end-users to make them smarter.
• IoT deals with moderate devices which connect through the internet. The approach of the IoT has made the consideration of the research associated with the outcome of providing wearable, smart-phones, sensors, smart transportation systems, smart devices, washing machines, tablets, etc., and these diverse systems are associated to a common interface with the intelligence to connect.
• Significant IoT applications include private healthcare systems, traffic management, industrial management, and tactile internet, etc.

Plenty of approaches is devised to address the issues of IoT [ 14 , 65 , 66 ].

In [ 65 ], the paper focuses on 5G mobile systems due to the emerging trends and developing technologies, which results in the exponential traffic growth in IoT. The author surveyed the challenges and demands during deployment of the massive IoT applications with the main focus on mobile networking. The author reviewed the features of standard IoT infrastructure, along with the cellular-based, low-power wide-area technologies (LPWA) such as eMTC, extended coverage (EC)-GSM-IoT, as well as noncellular, low-power wide-area (LPWA) technologies such as SigFox, LoRa etc.

In [ 14 ], the authors presented how 5G technology copes with the various issues of IoT today. It provides a brief review of existing and forming 5G architectures. The survey indicates the role of 5G in the foundation of the IoT ecosystem. IoT and 5G can easily combine with improved wireless technologies to set up the same ecosystem that can fulfill the current requirement for IoT devices. 5G can alter nature and will help to expand the development of IoT devices. As the process of 5G unfolds, global associations will find essentials for setting up a cross-industry engagement in determining and enlarging the 5G system.

In [ 66 ], the author introduced an IoT authentication scheme in a 5G network, with more excellent reliability and dynamic. The scheme proposed a privacy-protected procedure for selecting slices; it provided an additional fog node for proper data transmission and service types of the subscribers, along with service-oriented authentication and key understanding to maintain the secrecy, precision of users, and confidentiality of service factors. Users anonymously identify the IoT servers and develop a vital channel for service accessibility and data cached on local fog nodes and remote IoT servers. The author performed a simulation to manifest the security and privacy preservation of the user over the network.

This section covered various works done on 5G IoT by multiple authors. Table 8 shows how different author’s worked on the improvement of numerous parameters, i.e., data rate, security requirement, and performance with 5G IoT.

Summary of IoT-based approaches in 5G technology.

4.5. Machine Learning Techniques for 5G

Various machine learning (ML) techniques were applied in 5G networks and mobile communication. It provides a solution to multiple complex problems, which requires a lot of hand-tuning. ML techniques can be broadly classified as supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning. Let’s discuss each learning technique separately and where it impacts the 5G network.

Supervised Learning, where user works with labeled data; some 5G network problems can be further categorized as classification and regression problems. Some regression problems such as scheduling nodes in 5G and energy availability can be predicted using Linear Regression (LR) algorithm. To accurately predict the bandwidth and frequency allocation Statistical Logistic Regression (SLR) is applied. Some supervised classifiers are applied to predict the network demand and allocate network resources based on the connectivity performance; it signifies the topology setup and bit rates. Support Vector Machine (SVM) and NN-based approximation algorithms are used for channel learning based on observable channel state information. Deep Neural Network (DNN) is also employed to extract solutions for predicting beamforming vectors at the BS’s by taking mapping functions and uplink pilot signals into considerations.

In unsupervised Learning, where the user works with unlabeled data, various clustering techniques are applied to enhance network performance and connectivity without interruptions. K-means clustering reduces the data travel by storing data centers content into clusters. It optimizes the handover estimation based on mobility pattern and selection of relay nodes in the V2V network. Hierarchical clustering reduces network failure by detecting the intrusion in the mobile wireless network; unsupervised soft clustering helps in reducing latency by clustering fog nodes. The nonparametric Bayesian unsupervised learning technique reduces traffic in the network by actively serving the user’s requests and demands. Other unsupervised learning techniques such as Adversarial Auto Encoders (AAE) and Affinity Propagation Clustering techniques detect irregular behavior in the wireless spectrum and manage resources for ultradense small cells, respectively.

In case of an uncertain environment in the 5G wireless network, reinforcement learning (RL) techniques are employed to solve some problems. Actor-critic reinforcement learning is used for user scheduling and resource allocation in the network. Markov decision process (MDP) and Partially Observable MDP (POMDP) is used for Quality of Experience (QoE)-based handover decision-making for Hetnets. Controls packet call admission in HetNets and channel access process for secondary users in a Cognitive Radio Network (CRN). Deep RL is applied to decide the communication channel and mobility and speeds up the secondary user’s learning rate using an antijamming strategy. Deep RL is employed in various 5G network application parameters such as resource allocation and security [ 67 ]. Table 9 shows the state-of-the-art ML-based solution for 5G network.

The state-of-the-art ML-based solution for 5G network.

Highlights of machine learning techniques for 5G are as follows:

Pictorial representation of machine learning (ML) in 5G.

• In ML, a model will be defined which fulfills the desired requirements through which desired results are obtained. In the later stage, it examines accuracy from obtained results.
• ML plays a vital role in 5G network analysis for threat detection, network load prediction, final arrangement, and network formation. Searching for a better balance between power, length of antennas, area, and network thickness crossed with the spontaneous use of services in the universe of individual users and types of devices.

In [ 79 ], author’s firstly describes the demands for the traditional authentication procedures and benefits of intelligent authentication. The intelligent authentication method was established to improve security practice in 5G-and-beyond wireless communication systems. Thereafter, the machine learning paradigms for intelligent authentication were organized into parametric and non-parametric research methods, as well as supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning approaches. As a outcome, machine learning techniques provide a new paradigm into authentication under diverse network conditions and unstable dynamics. In addition, prompt intelligence to the security management to obtain cost-effective, better reliable, model-free, continuous, and situation-aware authentication.

In [ 68 ], the authors proposed a machine learning-based model to predict the traffic load at a particular location. They used a mobile network traffic dataset to train a model that can calculate the total number of user requests at a time. To launch access and mobility management function (AMF) instances according to the requirement as there were no predictions of user request the performance automatically degrade as AMF does not handle these requests at a time. Earlier threshold-based techniques were used to predict the traffic load, but that approach took too much time; therefore, the authors proposed RNN algorithm-based ML to predict the traffic load, which gives efficient results.

In [ 15 ], authors discussed the issue of network slice admission, resource allocation among subscribers, and how to maximize the profit of infrastructure providers. The author proposed a network slice admission control algorithm based on SMDP (decision-making process) that guarantees the subscribers’ best acceptance policies and satisfiability (tenants). They also suggested novel N3AC, a neural network-based algorithm that optimizes performance under various configurations, significantly outperforms practical and straightforward approaches.

This section includes various works done on 5G ML by different authors. Table 10 shows the state-of-the-art work on the improvement of various parameters such as energy efficiency, Quality of Services (QoS), and latency with 5G ML.

The state-of-the-art ML-based approaches in 5G technology.

4.6. Optimization Techniques for 5G

Optimization techniques may be applied to capture NP-Complete or NP-Hard problems in 5G technology. This section briefly describes various research works suggested for 5G technology based on optimization techniques.

In [ 80 ], Massive MIMO technology is used in 5G mobile network to make it more flexible and scalable. The MIMO implementation in 5G needs a significant number of radio frequencies is required in the RF circuit that increases the cost and energy consumption of the 5G network. This paper provides a solution that increases the cost efficiency and energy efficiency with many radio frequency chains for a 5G wireless communication network. They give an optimized energy efficient technique for MIMO antenna and mmWave technologies based 5G mobile communication network. The proposed Energy Efficient Hybrid Precoding (EEHP) algorithm to increase the energy efficiency for the 5G wireless network. This algorithm minimizes the cost of an RF circuit with a large number of RF chains.

In [ 16 ], authors have discussed the growing demand for energy efficiency in the next-generation networks. In the last decade, they have figured out the things in wireless transmissions, which proved a change towards pursuing green communication for the next generation system. The importance of adopting the correct EE metric was also reviewed. Further, they worked through the different approaches that can be applied in the future for increasing the network’s energy and posed a summary of the work that was completed previously to enhance the energy productivity of the network using these capabilities. A system design for EE development using relay selection was also characterized, along with an observation of distinct algorithms applied for EE in relay-based ecosystems.

In [ 81 ], authors presented how AI-based approach is used to the setup of Self Organizing Network (SON) functionalities for radio access network (RAN) design and optimization. They used a machine learning approach to predict the results for 5G SON functionalities. Firstly, the input was taken from various sources; then, prediction and clustering-based machine learning models were applied to produce the results. Multiple AI-based devices were used to extract the knowledge analysis to execute SON functionalities smoothly. Based on results, they tested how self-optimization, self-testing, and self-designing are done for SON. The author also describes how the proposed mechanism classifies in different orders.

In [ 82 ], investigators examined the working of OFDM in various channel environments. They also figured out the changes in frame duration of the 5G TDD frame design. Subcarrier spacing is beneficial to obtain a small frame length with control overhead. They provided various techniques to reduce the growing guard period (GP) and cyclic prefix (CP) like complete utilization of multiple subcarrier spacing, management and data parts of frame at receiver end, various uses of timing advance (TA) or total control of flexible CP size.

This section includes various works that were done on 5G optimization by different authors. Table 11 shows how other authors worked on the improvement of multiple parameters such as energy efficiency, power optimization, and latency with 5G optimization.

Summary of Optimization Based Approaches in 5G Technology.

5. Description of Novel 5G Features over 4G

This section presents descriptions of various novel features of 5G, namely, the concept of small cell, beamforming, and MEC.

5.1. Small Cell

Small cells are low-powered cellular radio access nodes which work in the range of 10 meters to a few kilometers. Small cells play a very important role in implementation of the 5G wireless network. Small cells are low power base stations which cover small areas. Small cells are quite similar with all the previous cells used in various wireless networks. However, these cells have some advantages like they can work with low power and they are also capable of working with high data rates. Small cells help in rollout of 5G network with ultra high speed and low latency communication. Small cells in the 5G network use some new technologies like MIMO, beamforming, and mmWave for high speed data transmission. The design of small cells hardware is very simple so its implementation is quite easier and faster. There are three types of small cell tower available in the market. Femtocells, picocells, and microcells [ 83 ]. As shown in the Table 12 .

Types of Small cells.

MmWave is a very high band spectrum between 30 to 300 GHz. As it is a significantly less used spectrum, it provides very high-speed wireless communication. MmWave offers ultra-wide bandwidth for next-generation mobile networks. MmWave has lots of advantages, but it has some disadvantages, too, such as mmWave signals are very high-frequency signals, so they have more collision with obstacles in the air which cause the signals loses energy quickly. Buildings and trees also block MmWave signals, so these signals cover a shorter distance. To resolve these issues, multiple small cell stations are installed to cover the gap between end-user and base station [ 18 ]. Small cell covers a very shorter range, so the installation of a small cell depends on the population of a particular area. Generally, in a populated place, the distance between each small cell varies from 10 to 90 meters. In the survey [ 20 ], various authors implemented small cells with massive MIMO simultaneously. They also reviewed multiple technologies used in 5G like beamforming, small cell, massive MIMO, NOMA, device to device (D2D) communication. Various problems like interference management, spectral efficiency, resource management, energy efficiency, and backhauling are discussed. The author also gave a detailed presentation of all the issues occurring while implementing small cells with various 5G technologies. As shown in the Figure 7 , mmWave has a higher range, so it can be easily blocked by the obstacles as shown in Figure 7 a. This is one of the key concerns of millimeter-wave signal transmission. To solve this issue, the small cell can be placed at a short distance to transmit the signals easily, as shown in Figure 7 b.

Pictorial representation of communication with and without small cells.

5.2. Beamforming

Beamforming is a key technology of wireless networks which transmits the signals in a directional manner. 5G beamforming making a strong wireless connection toward a receiving end. In conventional systems when small cells are not using beamforming, moving signals to particular areas is quite difficult. Beamforming counter this issue using beamforming small cells are able to transmit the signals in particular direction towards a device like mobile phone, laptops, autonomous vehicle and IoT devices. Beamforming is improving the efficiency and saves the energy of the 5G network. Beamforming is broadly divided into three categories: Digital beamforming, analog beamforming and hybrid beamforming. Digital beamforming: multiuser MIMO is equal to digital beamforming which is mainly used in LTE Advanced Pro and in 5G NR. In digital beamforming the same frequency or time resources can be used to transmit the data to multiple users at the same time which improves the cell capacity of wireless networks. Analog Beamforming: In mmWave frequency range 5G NR analog beamforming is a very important approach which improves the coverage. In digital beamforming there are chances of high pathloss in mmWave as only one beam per set of antenna is formed. While the analog beamforming saves high pathloss in mmWave. Hybrid beamforming: hybrid beamforming is a combination of both analog beamforming and digital beamforming. In the implementation of MmWave in 5G network hybrid beamforming will be used [ 84 ].

Wireless signals in the 4G network are spreading in large areas, and nature is not Omnidirectional. Thus, energy depletes rapidly, and users who are accessing these signals also face interference problems. The beamforming technique is used in the 5G network to resolve this issue. In beamforming signals are directional. They move like a laser beam from the base station to the user, so signals seem to be traveling in an invisible cable. Beamforming helps achieve a faster data rate; as the signals are directional, it leads to less energy consumption and less interference. In [ 21 ], investigators evolve some techniques which reduce interference and increase system efficiency of the 5G mobile network. In this survey article, the authors covered various challenges faced while designing an optimized beamforming algorithm. Mainly focused on different design parameters such as performance evaluation and power consumption. In addition, they also described various issues related to beamforming like CSI, computation complexity, and antenna correlation. They also covered various research to cover how beamforming helps implement MIMO in next-generation mobile networks [ 85 ]. Figure 8 shows the pictorial representation of communication with and without using beamforming.

Pictorial Representation of communication with and without using beamforming.

5.3. Mobile Edge Computing

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) [ 24 ]: MEC is an extended version of cloud computing that brings cloud resources closer to the end-user. When we talk about computing, the very first thing that comes to our mind is cloud computing. Cloud computing is a very famous technology that offers many services to end-user. Still, cloud computing has many drawbacks. The services available in the cloud are too far from end-users that create latency, and cloud user needs to download the complete application before use, which also increases the burden to the device [ 86 ]. MEC creates an edge between the end-user and cloud server, bringing cloud computing closer to the end-user. Now, all the services, namely, video conferencing, virtual software, etc., are offered by this edge that improves cloud computing performance. Another essential feature of MEC is that the application is split into two parts, which, first one is available at cloud server, and the second is at the user’s device. Therefore, the user need not download the complete application on his device that increases the performance of the end user’s device. Furthermore, MEC provides cloud services at very low latency and less bandwidth. In [ 23 , 87 ], the author’s investigation proved that successful deployment of MEC in 5G network increases the overall performance of 5G architecture. Graphical differentiation between cloud computing and mobile edge computing is presented in Figure 9 .

Pictorial representation of cloud computing vs. mobile edge computing.

6. 5G Security

Security is the key feature in the telecommunication network industry, which is necessary at various layers, to handle 5G network security in applications such as IoT, Digital forensics, IDS and many more [ 88 , 89 ]. The authors [ 90 ], discussed the background of 5G and its security concerns, challenges and future directions. The author also introduced the blockchain technology that can be incorporated with the IoT to overcome the challenges in IoT. The paper aims to create a security framework which can be incorporated with the LTE advanced network, and effective in terms of cost, deployment and QoS. In [ 91 ], author surveyed various form of attacks, the security challenges, security solutions with respect to the affected technology such as SDN, Network function virtualization (NFV), Mobile Clouds and MEC, and security standardizations of 5G, i.e., 3GPP, 5GPPP, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In [ 92 ], author elaborated various technological aspects, security issues and their existing solutions and also mentioned the new emerging technological paradigms for 5G security such as blockchain, quantum cryptography, AI, SDN, CPS, MEC, D2D. The author aims to create new security frameworks for 5G for further use of this technology in development of smart cities, transportation and healthcare. In [ 93 ], author analyzed the threats and dark threat, security aspects concerned with SDN and NFV, also their Commercial & Industrial Security Corporation (CISCO) 5G vision and new security innovations with respect to the new evolving architectures of 5G [ 94 ].

AuthenticationThe identification of the user in any network is made with the help of authentication. The different mobile network generations from 1G to 5G have used multiple techniques for user authentication. 5G utilizes the 5G Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) authentication method, which shares a cryptographic key between user equipment (UE) and its home network and establishes a mutual authentication process between the both [ 95 ].

Access Control To restrict the accessibility in the network, 5G supports access control mechanisms to provide a secure and safe environment to the users and is controlled by network providers. 5G uses simple public key infrastructure (PKI) certificates for authenticating access in the 5G network. PKI put forward a secure and dynamic environment for the 5G network. The simple PKI technique provides flexibility to the 5G network; it can scale up and scale down as per the user traffic in the network [ 96 , 97 ].

Communication Security 5G deals to provide high data bandwidth, low latency, and better signal coverage. Therefore secure communication is the key concern in the 5G network. UE, mobile operators, core network, and access networks are the main focal point for the attackers in 5G communication. Some of the common attacks in communication at various segments are Botnet, message insertion, micro-cell, distributed denial of service (DDoS), and transport layer security (TLS)/secure sockets layer (SSL) attacks [ 98 , 99 ].

Encryption The confidentiality of the user and the network is done using encryption techniques. As 5G offers multiple services, end-to-end (E2E) encryption is the most suitable technique applied over various segments in the 5G network. Encryption forbids unauthorized access to the network and maintains the data privacy of the user. To encrypt the radio traffic at Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, three 128-bits keys are applied at the user plane, nonaccess stratum (NAS), and access stratum (AS) [ 100 ].

7. Summary of 5G Technology Based on Above-Stated Challenges

In this section, various issues addressed by investigators in 5G technologies are presented in Table 13 . In addition, different parameters are considered, such as throughput, latency, energy efficiency, data rate, spectral efficiency, fairness & computing capacity, transmission rate, coverage, cost, security requirement, performance, QoS, power optimization, etc., indexed from R1 to R14.

Summary of 5G Technology above stated challenges (R1:Throughput, R2:Latency, R3:Energy Efficiency, R4:Data Rate, R5:Spectral efficiency, R6:Fairness & Computing Capacity, R7:Transmission Rate, R8:Coverage, R9:Cost, R10:Security requirement, R11:Performance, R12:Quality of Services (QoS), R13:Power Optimization).

8. Conclusions

This survey article illustrates the emergence of 5G, its evolution from 1G to 5G mobile network, applications, different research groups, their work, and the key features of 5G. It is not just a mobile broadband network, different from all the previous mobile network generations; it offers services like IoT, V2X, and Industry 4.0. This paper covers a detailed survey from multiple authors on different technologies in 5G, such as massive MIMO, Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), millimeter wave, small cell, MEC (Mobile Edge Computing), beamforming, optimization, and machine learning in 5G. After each section, a tabular comparison covers all the state-of-the-research held in these technologies. This survey also shows the importance of these newly added technologies and building a flexible, scalable, and reliable 5G network.

9. Future Findings

This article covers a detailed survey on the 5G mobile network and its features. These features make 5G more reliable, scalable, efficient at affordable rates. As discussed in the above sections, numerous technical challenges originate while implementing those features or providing services over a 5G mobile network. So, for future research directions, the research community can overcome these challenges while implementing these technologies (MIMO, NOMA, small cell, mmWave, beam-forming, MEC) over a 5G network. 5G communication will bring new improvements over the existing systems. Still, the current solutions cannot fulfill the autonomous system and future intelligence engineering requirements after a decade. There is no matter of discussion that 5G will provide better QoS and new features than 4G. But there is always room for improvement as the considerable growth of centralized data and autonomous industry 5G wireless networks will not be capable of fulfilling their demands in the future. So, we need to move on new wireless network technology that is named 6G. 6G wireless network will bring new heights in mobile generations, as it includes (i) massive human-to-machine communication, (ii) ubiquitous connectivity between the local device and cloud server, (iii) creation of data fusion technology for various mixed reality experiences and multiverps maps. (iv) Focus on sensing and actuation to control the network of the entire world. The 6G mobile network will offer new services with some other technologies; these services are 3D mapping, reality devices, smart homes, smart wearable, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, and sense. It is expected that 6G will provide ultra-long-range communication with a very low latency of 1 ms. The per-user bit rate in a 6G wireless network will be approximately 1 Tbps, and it will also provide wireless communication, which is 1000 times faster than 5G networks.

Acknowledgments

Author contributions.

Conceptualization: R.D., I.Y., G.C., P.L. data gathering: R.D., G.C., P.L, I.Y. funding acquisition: I.Y. investigation: I.Y., G.C., G.P. methodology: R.D., I.Y., G.C., P.L., G.P., survey: I.Y., G.C., P.L, G.P., R.D. supervision: G.C., I.Y., G.P. validation: I.Y., G.P. visualization: R.D., I.Y., G.C., P.L. writing, original draft: R.D., I.Y., G.C., P.L., G.P. writing, review, and editing: I.Y., G.C., G.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This paper was supported by Soonchunhyang University.

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The future of 5g: benefits and challenges.

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Nick Cherukuri is Founder & CEO of ThirdEye . He was Forbes U30 and E&Y Enterpreneur of the Year finalist. Published patents & spoken at CES.

5G is expected to bring many benefits to individuals and society as a whole over the upcoming decades, along with some challenges. Some of the ways it may change humanity include the following:

• Increased Connectivity: 5G technology is expected to provide faster and more reliable internet connectivity, allowing more devices to connect to the internet and enabling new technologies and applications at lower latency (less than 10 ms).

• Improved Communication: 5G is expected to enable faster and more efficient communication, both between people and between machines. This could lead to better collaboration and coordination, both within organizations and among individuals.

• Enhanced Experiences: 5G is expected to enable new and enhanced experiences in areas such as virtual and augmented reality, gaming and video streaming.

• Increased Productivity: 5G is expected to enable new ways of working and doing business, such as remote collaboration and automation, which could increase productivity and efficiency.

5G, Augmented Reality And The Metaverse

The augmented reality (AR) metaverse is one area in the news lately that 5G is expected to have a tremendous impact on. Although most of the world still relies on 4G LTE or lower, once every country makes the necessary investments into 5G by laying out the infrastructure, people will be able to download files such as movies and 3D holograms much faster.

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5G technology is also expected to play a major role in the development and growth of the metaverse by providing the high-speed, low-latency connectivity that will be required to support immersive and interactive experiences. Here are some other applications 5G is expected to play an important role in:

• Enabling Real-Time Collaboration: 5G technology is expected to allow people to interact and collaborate in real time in virtual environments without the delays and lag that can currently be experienced on slower networks. For example, companies like Microsoft and ThirdEye are enabling remote AR telepresence using a 3D hologram, meaning the senior expert doesn't need to be on-site.

• Supporting High-Quality Content: 5G technology is expected to enable the creation and delivery of high-quality content, such as 3D graphics, video and audio, which is essential for immersive and engaging experiences in the metaverse.

• Enabling New Applications And Services: 5G technology is expected to enable new applications and services in the metaverse, such as virtual education, virtual healthcare and virtual tourism, which isn't currently possible due to the limitations of existing networks.

• Expanding The Metaverse Beyond The Gaming Industry: 5G technology is expected to enable the metaverse to expand beyond the gaming industry and into other areas, such as business, entertainment and social networking.

5G And Enterprise Use Cases

There are many potential ways that 5G technology can be used in enterprise settings, including the following:

• Enhanced Collaboration: 5G technology can enable remote teams to collaborate in real time with high-quality audio and video and low latency, using virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) tools.

• Improved Customer Experiences: 5G technology can enable businesses to provide enhanced customer experiences, such as through the use of VR/AR for product demonstrations and personalized shopping experiences.

• Increased Productivity: 5G technology can enable businesses to automate processes and tasks and to use data and analytics to make more informed decisions, potentially leading to increased productivity and efficiency.

• Enhanced Security: 5G technology can enable businesses to implement more secure and reliable networks, as well as to use security solutions such as blockchain and biometric authentication.

• Improved Supply Chain Management: 5G technology can enable businesses to use IoT devices and sensors to track and manage their supply chain, potentially leading to improved visibility and efficiency.

Challenges Of 5G

Overall, 5G technology has the potential to enhance many aspects of enterprise operations and can help businesses stay competitive in the digital economy. It's expected to also improve many aspects of our lives and society, but its full impact is still yet to be seen. However, there are also some negative aspects to consider, including the following:

• Health Concerns: Some people have raised concerns about the potential health effects of 5G, such as the possibility for increased exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation. However, the World Health Organization and other scientific bodies have concluded that the levels of RF radiation emitted by 5G technology are within safe limits .

• Economic Impact: The deployment of 5G technology may result in some job losses, particularly in industries that are disrupted by the technology.

• Security Risks: As with any new technology, 5G networks may be vulnerable to security threats, such as hacking and cyberattacks.

• Privacy Concerns: The increased use of data and connected devices enabled by 5G technology may raise concerns about personal privacy.

• Inequality: The deployment and adoption of 5G technology may exacerbate existing economic and social inequalities, as access to the technology may not be evenly distributed.

• Cost: 5G service is likely to be more expensive than the current 4G service, at least initially. One reason for this is that the deployment of 5G networks requires significant investment in infrastructure, such as the installation of new antennas and other equipment. This cost will likely be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for 5G service. In addition, 5G technology offers many advanced features and capabilities that aren't available with current 4G networks, such as higher speeds and lower latencies. These enhanced features may also be reflected in the prices charged for 5G service. However, as the technology becomes more widespread and competition among service providers increases, the prices for 5G service may eventually decrease.

Overall, there are both positives and negatives with the deployment of 5G. Yet, the combination of this technology with advanced hardware in the AR/AI spaces in the enterprise sectors could create billions in value.

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Essay On 5g Technology: Free Samples Available for Students

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• Dec 29, 2023

Congratulations to the world on the evolution of technology; from the first general-public computer named INIAC in 1945 to 5g technology in 2022, technology has greatly improved and has eased our lives. 5g technology is the advanced version of the 4g LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile broadband service. We have all grown up from traditional mobile top-ups to digital recharges. According to sources, 5g is 10 times faster than 4g; a 4g connection has a download speed of 1 GBPS (Gigabyte Per Sec) and 5g has 10 GBPS. Below we have highlighted some sample essay on 5g technology.

Table of Contents

• 1 Essay on 5G Technology in 250 words
• 2.0.1 Conclusion
• 3 Benefits of 5G
• 4 10 Lines to Add to Your Essay on Technology

Also Read: Short Speech on Technology for School Students Short Essay on 5g Technology

The fifth generation or 5g technology for mobile networks was deployed all over the world in 2019, with South Korea becoming the first country to adopt it on a large scale. In mobile or cellular networks, the service or operating areas are divided into geographical units termed cells. The radio waves connect all the 5g mobile devices in a cell with the telephone network and the Internet. 

5g is 10 times faster than its predecessor, 4g, and can connect more devices in a particular area. Not only this, it also introduces new technologies such as Massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output), beamforming, and network slicing. Before switching to 5g, make sure to remember that 5g is not compatible with 4g devices.

Also Read: Essay on Health and Fitness for Students

Essay on 5G Technology in 250 words

The fifth generation of networks is the 5G network and this network promises to bring faster internet speed, lower latency, and improved reliability to mobile devices. In India, it is expected to have a significant impact on several industries such as healthcare, education, agriculture, entertainment, etc.

5G carries a lot of features such as:-

• Higher speeds: – The 5G network will have wider bandwidth which will allow for more data to flow. Hence, it will result in higher download and upload speeds.
• More capacity :- 5G network, in comparison to 4G, will have greater capacity to hold more network devices. This is very essential as the number of network devices increases each day.
• Lower latency: – 5G network will have much lower latency. This is essential for many tasks such as video conferencing or even online gaming which is a known profession these days. 

Due to all these, a lot of things will have a positive impact. Connectivity will improve and enable even the most rural areas to become connected to the rest of the world. 5G technology will help revolutionise the healthcare industry in India in ways such as telemedicine, remote surgeries, real-time patient monitoring, etc. 

However, like any other innovation, 5G does come with some concerns. There are certain concerns regarding the security of the 5G network, hence Indian Government needs to ensure that this network is safe from all the cyber threats. Also, although not proven, there are some concerns regarding the effects of 5G radiation on health. 

There is no doubt that 5G technology holds immense potential for India. And although there are many challenges to its deployment, the Indian Government and other industry experts should work together to over come these challenges and make the most of this technology.

350 Word Essay on 5g Technology

How significantly technology has improved. 50 years back nobody would have imagined that a mobile connection would allow us to connect anywhere in the world. With 5g technology, we can connect virtually anywhere with anyone in real-time. This advanced broadband connection offers us a higher internet speed, which can reach up to two-digit gigabits per second (Gbps). This increase in internet speed is achieved through the use of higher-frequency radio waves and advanced technologies.

The world of telecommunication is evolving at a very fast pace. 3g connectivity was adopted in 2003, 4g in 2009, and 5g in 2019. the advent of 5G technology represents an enormous leap forward, promising to reshape the way we connect, communicate, and interact with the digital world. 

The 5th Generation of mobile networks stands out from its predecessors in speed, latency, and the capacity to support a larger array of devices and applications. 5g speed is one of the most remarkable features, which allows us to download large amounts of files from the internet in mere seconds. Not only this, it also allows us smoother streaming of HD content and opens the door to transformative technologies.  Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, which demand substantial data transfer rates, will become more immersive and accessible with 5G.

What is the difference between 5g and 4g?

The difference between 5g and 4g technologies clearly highlighted in their speed, latency, frequency bands, capacity and multiple other uses.

• The average downloading speed of 4g connectivity was 5 to 1000 Mbps (megabytes per sec). But with 5g, this speed increases 10 times.
• 4G networks had a latency of around 30-50 milliseconds and 5g reduces latency to as low as 1 millisecond or even less.
• 4G networks mainly use lower frequency bands below 6 GHz, but,  5g utilizes a broader range of frequencies, including lower bands (sub-6 GHz) and higher bands (millimeter waves or mmWave).
• 4g was well-suited for broadband applications like web browsing, video streaming, and voice calls. 5g is capable of supporting a large number of applications from smart cities, critical communication services, and applications that demand ultra-reliable low-latency communication.

Benefits of 5G

• Lower Latency: 5G Network will have extremely lower latency compared to that of 4G LTE. This will result in a much more smoother experience in terms of real time communication such as video conferencing or online gaming.
• Faster Speeds : 5G Network is expected to peak at high speeds of around 10 Gbps which is extremely high as compared to that of 4G LTE. This will result in high download as well as upload speeds and much smoother video streaming, etc.
• New Applications: Some applications that were not possible with 4G LTE will now be possible because of 5G such as remote surgery, augmented reality, etc.
• More Capacity: 5G bands can support Much more devices as compared to 4G LTE networks. This is extremely important as the number of connected grows everyday.

Also Read: Essay on Farmer for School Students

10 Lines to Add to Your Essay on Technology

Here are 10 simple and easy quotes on 5g technology. You can add them to your essay on 5g technology or any related writing topic to impress your readers.

• 5g technology is the fifth generation of mobile or cellular networks.
• 5g offers significantly higher download speeds, reaching several gigabits per second.
• 5g technology’s ultra-low latency is one of the most striking features, which can reduce delays to as little as 1 millisecond.
• 5G utilizes a diverse spectrum, including both lower bands (sub-6 GHz) and higher bands (mmWave).
• The increased speed and low latency of 5G support emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
• It enables a massive Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, connecting a vast number of devices simultaneously.
• 5G is essential for applications requiring real-time responsiveness, such as autonomous vehicles and remote surgery.
• The deployment of 5G networks is underway globally, transforming how we connect and communicate.
• Smart cities leverage 5G to enhance efficiency through interconnected systems and sensors.
• As the backbone of the digital era, 5G technology is driving innovation and shaping the future of connectivity.

Related Articles

Ans: 5g technology is the advanced generation of the 4g technology. It’s a mobile broadband service, which allows users to have faster access to the internet. Our everyday tasks on the internet will be greatly improved using 5g technology. 5g is 10 times faster than its predecessor, 4g and can connect more devices in a particular area. Not only this, it also introduces new technologies such as Massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output), beamforming, and network slicing. Before switching to 5g, make sure to remember that 5g is not compatible with 4g devices.

Ans: 4g technology has a download speed of 5 to 10 Gbps. This broadband service is 10 times faster than its predecessor, 4g.

Ans: 5g is an advanced version of the 4g connectivity in terms of speed, latency, frequency bands, capability, and uses. 4G networks had a latency of around 30-50 milliseconds and 5g reduces latency to as low as 1 millisecond or even less.

For more information on such interesting topics to help you with your school, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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What is 5G?

Fifth time’s the charm: 5G—or fifth-generation wireless technology— is powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution . Sure, 5G is faster than 4G. But 5G is more than just (a lot) faster: the connectivity made possible with 5G is significantly more secure and more stable than its predecessors. Plus, 5G enables data to travel from one place to another with a significantly shorter delay between data submission and arrival—this delay is known as latency.

Here are a few big numbers from the International Telecommunications Union . 5G networks aim to deliver:

• 1,000 times higher mobile data volume per area
• 100 times the number of connected devices
• 100 times higher user data rate
• ten times longer battery life for low-power massive-machine communications
• five times reduced end-to-end latency

Here’s how it works: like all cellular networks, the service area of 5G networks is divided into geographic sub-areas called cells. Each cell has local antennae, through which all wireless devices in the cell are connected to the internet and telephone network via radio waves. To achieve its very high speeds, 5G utilizes low- and midbands on the radio spectrum  (below six gigahertz), as well as whole new bands of the radio spectrum . These are so-called “millimeter waves,” broadcast at frequencies between 30 and 300 gigahertz, which have previously been used only for communication between satellites and radar systems.

Cell phone companies began deploying 5G in 2019. In the United States, 5G coverage is already available in many areas . And, while previous generation 2G and 3G technology is still in use, 5G adoption is accelerating: according to various predictions, 5G networks will have billions of subscribers by 2025.

But 5G can do more than enable faster loading of cat videos. This new speed and responsiveness—and the connectivity solutions it makes possible—is poised to transform a wide variety of industries.

Learn more about our Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice .

How will 5G be used?

To date, 5G will enable four key use-case archetypes , which will require 5G to deliver on its promise of evolutionary change in network performance. They are:

• Enhanced mobile broadband . The faster speed, lower latency, and greater capacity 5G makes possible could enable on-the-go, ultra-high-definition video, virtual reality, and other advanced applications.
• Internet of Things (IoT) . Existing cellular networks are not able to keep up with the explosive growth in the number of connected devices, from smart refrigerators to devices monitoring battery levels on manufacturing shop floors. 5G will unlock the potential of IoT by enabling exponentially more connections at very low power.
• Mission-critical control . Connected devices are increasingly used in applications that require absolute reliability, such as vehicle safety systems or medical devices. 5G’s lower latency and higher resiliency mean that these time-critical applications will be increasingly reliable.
• Fixed wireless access . The speeds made possible by 5G make it a viable alternative to wired broadband in many markets, particularly those without fiber optics.

How might 5G and other advanced technologies impact the world?

If 5G is deployed across just four commercial domains—mobility, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail—it could boost global GDP by up to $2 trillion by 2030. Most of this value will be captured with creative applications of advanced connectivity.

Here are the four commercial domains with some of the largest potential to capture higher revenues or cost efficiencies:

• Connectivity will be the foundation for increasingly intelligent mobility systems, including carsharing services, public transit, infrastructure, hardware and software, and more. Connectivity could create new revenue streams through preventive maintenance, improved navigation and carpooling services, and personalized “infotainment” offerings.
• Devices and advanced networks with improved connectivity could transform the healthcare industry. Seamless data flow and low-latency networks could mean better robotic surgery. AI-powered decision support tools can make faster and more accurate diagnoses, as well as automate tasks so that caregivers can spend more time with patients. McKinsey analysis estimates that these use cases together could generate up to $420 billion in global GDP impact by 2030 .
• Low-latency and private 5G networks can power highly precise operations in manufacturing and other advanced industries . Smart factories powered by AI , analytics, and advanced robotics can run at maximum efficiency, optimizing and adjusting processes in real time. New features like automated guided vehicles and computer-vision-enhanced bin picking and quality control require the kind of speed and latency provided by high-band 5G. By 2030, the GDP impact in manufacturing could reach up to $650 billion .
• Retailers can use technology like sensors, trackers, and computer vision to manage inventories, improve warehouse operations, and coordinate along the supply chain. Use cases like connectivity-enhanced in-store experiences and real-time personalized recommendations could boost global GDP up to $700 billion by 2030 .

The use cases identified in these commercial domains alone could boost global GDP by up to $2 trillion by 2030 . The value at stake could ultimately run trillions of dollars higher across the entire global economy.

Beyond industry, 5G connectivity has important implications for society. Enabling more people to plug into global flows of information, communication, and services could add another $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion to GDP . This stands to unlock greater human potential and prosperity, particularly in developing nations .

Learn more about our Technology, Media & Telecommunications  Practice.

What are advanced connectivity and frontier connectivity?

Advanced connectivity is propelled by the continued evolution  of existing connectivity technologies, as networks are built out and adoption grows. For instance, providers are upgrading existing 4G infrastructure with 5G network overlays, which generally offer improvements in speed and latency while supporting a greater density of connected devices. At the same time, land-based fiber optic networks continue to expand, enabling faster data connections all over the world.

Introducing McKinsey Explainers : Direct answers to complex questions

On the other hand, frontier technologies like millimeter-wave 5G and low-earth-orbit satellite constellations offer a more radical leap forward . Millimeter-wave 5G is the ultra-fast mobile option, but comes with significant deployment challenges. Low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites could deliver a breakthrough in breadth of coverage. LEO satellites work by beaming broadband down from space, bringing coverage to remote parts of the world where physical internet infrastructure doesn’t make sense for a variety of reasons. Despite the promise of LEO technology, challenges do remain, and no commercial services are yet available.

How are telecommunications players grappling with the transition to 5G?

5G promises better connectivity for consumers and organizations. Network providers, on the other hand, are resigned  to higher costs to deploy 5G infrastructure before they can reap the benefits. This cycle has happened before: with the advent of 4G, telcos in Europe and Latin America reported decreased revenues.

Given these realities, telecommunications players are working to develop their 5G investment strategies . In order to achieve the speed, latency, and reliability required by most advanced applications, network providers will need to invest in all network domains, including spectrum, radio access network infrastructure, transmission, and core networks. More specifically, operators will increasingly share more parts of the network, including towers, backhaul, and even spectrum and radio access, through so-called MOCN (Multi-Operator Core Network) or MORAN (Multi-Operator Radio Access Network) deals. This is a 5G-specific way for operators to cope with higher investment burdens at flat revenues.

Some good news: 5G technology is largely built on 4G networks, which means that mobile operators can simply evolve their infrastructure investment  rather than start from scratch. For instance, operators could begin by upgrading the capacity of their existing 4G network by refarming a portion of their 2G and 3G spectrum, thereby delaying investments in 5G. This would allow operators to minimize investments while the revenue potential of 5G remains uncertain.

How will telecommunications players monetize 5G in the B2C market?

The rise of 5G also presents an opportunity for telecommunications players to shift their customer engagement. As they reckon with the costs of 5G, they also must reimagine how to charge customers for 5G . The B2B 5G revolution is already under way; in the B2C market, the value proposition of 5G is less clear. That’s because there is no 5G use case compelling enough, at the present time, to transform the lives of people not heavily invested in gaming, for instance.

But despite the uncertainty, McKinsey has charted a clear path  for telecommunications organizations to monetize 5G in the B2C sector. There are three models telcos might pursue, which could increase average revenue per user by up to 20 percent:

• Impulse purchases and “business class” plans . 5G technology will allow telcos to move away from standard monthly subscriptions toward flexible plans that allow for customers to upgrade network performance when and where they feel the urge. Business class plans could feature premium network conditions at all times. According to McKinsey analysis, 7 percent of customers  are already ready to use 5G boosters, and would use them an average of seven times per month if each boost cost $1.
• Selling 5G-enabled experiences . The speeds and latency of 5G make possible streamlined and seamless experiences such as multiplayer cloud gaming, real-time translation, and augmented reality (AR) sports streaming. McKinsey research shows that customers are willing to pay  for these 5G-enabled experiential use cases, and more.
• Using partnerships to deliver 5G-enabled experiences . When assessing customer willingness to pay for 5G cloud gaming, McKinsey analysis showed that 74 percent of customers  would prefer buying a 5G service straight from the game app rather than from their mobile provider. To create a seamless experience for customers, telcos could embed 5G connectivity directly into their partners’ apps or devices. This could greatly expand telecommunications organizations’ customer base.

How has COVID-19 impacted connectivity IoT?

For one thing, the pandemic has created the need for applications with the advanced connectivity that only 5G can provide. Among other things, 5G enables the types of applications that help leaders understand whether their workforces are safe and which devices have been connected to the network and by whom.

Advanced connectivity technologies like 5G also stand to enable remote healthcare , although, ironically, the pandemic has also eaten up the resources necessary to create the infrastructure to implement it.

During the pandemic, Industry 4.0 frontrunners have done very well. This illustrates the fact that digital first businesses are nimbler and better prepared to react to unforeseen challenges.

Learn more about our Healthcare Systems & Services  Practice.

How can advanced electronics companies and industrials benefit from 5G?

The 5G Internet of Things (IoT)  B2B market, and its development over the coming years, offer significant opportunities for advanced electronics organizations. 5G IoT refers to industrial use-case archetypes enabled by the faster, more stable, and more secure connectivity available with 5G. McKinsey analyzed the events surrounding the introduction of 4G and other technologies, looking for clues about how 5G might evolve in the industry.

We found that many companies will derive great value from 5G IoT, but it will come in waves . The first 5G IoT use-case archetypes to gain traction will be those related to enhanced mobile broadband, followed shortly thereafter by use cases for ultra-reliable, low-latency communication. Finally, use cases for massive machine-type communication will take several more years. The businesses best placed to benefit from the growth of 5G include mobile operators, network providers, manufacturing companies, and machinery and industrial automation companies.

The B2B sector is especially well placed to benefit from 5G IoT. The most relevant short-term opportunities for 5G IoT involve Industry 4.0 , or the digitization of manufacturing and other production processes. The Industry 4.0 segment will account for sales of about 22 million 5G IoT units by 2030, with most applications related to manufacturing.

In order to take advantage of the opportunity, advanced electronics companies should look now to revamping their strategies . In the short-term, they should focus on B2B cases that are similar to those now being deployed in the B2C sector. Looking ahead, they should shift their focus toward developing hardware and software tailored to specific applications. But expanding the business field is always something that should be done with great care and consideration.

How will 5G impact the manufacturing industry?

There are five potential applications that are particularly relevant  for manufacturing organizations:

• Cloud control of machines . In the past, automation of machines in factories has relied on controllers that were physically installed on or near machines, which would then send information to computer networks. With 5G, this monitoring can in theory be done in the cloud, although these remain edge cases for now.
• Augmented reality . Seamless AR made possible by 5G connectivity will ultimately replace standard operating procedures currently on paper or video. These will help shop-floor workers undertake advanced tasks without waiting for specialists.
• Perceptive AI eyes on the factory floor . 5G will allow for live video analytics based on real-time video data streaming to the cloud.
• High-speed decisioning. The best-run factories rely on massive data lakes to make decisions. 5G accelerates the decision-cycle time, allowing massive amounts of data to be collected, cleaned, and analyzed in close to real time.
• Shop-floor IoTs . The addition of sensors to machines on factory floors means more data than ever before. The speeds made possible by 5G will allow for the operationalization of these new data.

Learn more about our Operations  Practice.

For a more in-depth exploration of these topics, see McKinsey’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice. Also check out 5G-related job opportunities if you’re interested in working at McKinsey.

Articles referenced:

• “ Unlocking the value of 5G in the B2C marketplace ,” November 5, 2021, Ferry Grijpink , Jesper Larsson, Alexandre Ménard , and Konstantin Pell
• “ Connected world: An evolution in connectivity beyond the 5G revolution ,” February 20, 2020, Ferry Grijpink , Eric Kutcher , Alexandre Ménard , Sree Ramaswamy, Davide Schiavotto , James Manyika , Michael Chui , Rob Hamill, and Emir Okan
• The 5G era: New Horizons for advanced electronics in industrial companies , February 21, 2020, Ondrej Burkacky , Stephanie Lingemann, Alexander Hoffmann, and Markus Simon
• “ Five ways that 5G will revolutionize manufacturing ,” October 18, 2019, Enno de Boer , Sid Khanna , Andy Luse , Rahul Shahani , and Stephen Creasy
• “ Cutting through the 5G hype: Survey shows telcos’ nuanced views ,” February 13, 2019, Ferry Grijpink , Tobias Härlin, Harrison Lung, and Alexandre Ménard
• “ The road to 5G: The inevitable growth of infrastructure cost ,” February 23, 2018, Ferry Grijpink , Alexandre Ménard , Halldor Sigurdsson , and Nemanja Vucevic
• “ Are you ready for 5G? ,” February 22, 2018, Mark Collins, Arnab Das, Alexandre Ménard , and Dev Patel

Want to know more about 5G?

Related articles.

Connected world: An evolution in connectivity beyond the 5G revolution

Unlocking the value of 5G in the B2C marketplace

What is the Internet of Things?

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The 5G era has arrived! The technology that has become a hot topic in recent years is finally being deployed in various countries such as China, the United States, Japan, and even South Korea. This topic is very important from an exam perspective because nowadays, exams such as UPSC, SSC, Railways, Banking, and others are current affairs oriented.

5-G Technology: An Introduction

• 5G is the fifth generation of cellular technology, which not only improves download and upload speeds over cellular networks (1 Gbps speed) but also reduces latency. The time it takes for the network to respond. It also improves energy efficiency and provides a more stable network connection.  
• 5G is also designed to deliver signals more reliably than previous cellular networks.  
• 5G will provide a wider range of frequency spectrum (frequency range) to prevent network congestion. In addition, the connection to the perfect circle is also guaranteed. Everything is connected to everything.  
• 5G will facilitate the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into our daily lives. To reap the benefits of 5G, users will have to buy new phones and carriers will have to install new transmission equipment to provide faster service.  
• 5G mainly works in three bands: low, medium, and high-frequency spectrum. All of these have uses and limitations.  
• The low-band spectrum is promising in terms of coverage but is limited to 100Mbps maximum speeds. This means that while carriers can use and install very fast internet for commercial mobile phone users with no special needs, the low-band spectrum may not be optimal for the specific needs of the industry.    
• The mid-band spectrum , on the other hand, offers higher speeds than the low-band but is limited in terms of coverage area and signal penetration. The 5G leading carriers and enterprises are customizing this band to meet the needs of specific industries. It shows that it can be used by industry and professional factory units to build their networks that can be used.  
• The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all three bands, but has very limited coverage and signal penetration strength. Internet speeds on 5G’s high-band spectrum have been tested at up to 20 Gbit/s (Gigabits per second), while 4G’s maximum Internet data speed is mostly recorded at 1 Gbit/s.

Important Pillers of 5-G 

1. millimeter-wave:.

• mmWave 5G will ingest massive amounts of data, enabling data transfer speeds exceeding 1 Gbps.  
• This form of technology is currently used in the United States by carriers such as Verizon and AT&T.  

2. Small cell:

• Since mmWave cannot overcome obstacles, many mini-cell towers are placed in the area to relay the signal from the main cell towers.  
• These small cells have to be placed closer compared to traditional masts to allow the user to receive his 5G signal without interruption.  

3. Massive MIMO (multiple input multiple outputs):

• This technology is used in large cell towers to handle large amounts of traffic. A typical cell tower delivering 4G has 12 antennas handling all cell traffic in the area.  
• MIMO can support 100 antennas simultaneously, increasing the tower’s total capacity to handle more traffic.  
• This technology will help make the transmission of 5G signals smoother.  

4. Beamforming:

• Beamforming is a technology that can periodically monitor multiple frequency sources and switch to a stronger, faster tower when the signal is blocked.  
• This ensures that certain data is only sent in certain directions. Something like a data traffic light.  

5. Full duplex

• Full-duplex is a technology that allows nodes to transmit and receive data simultaneously on the same frequency band.  
• Landlines and shortwave radios use this type of technology.  
• It’s like a one-way street, allowing the same amount of traffic in either direction.

Major Advantages

1. Fast: Imagine being able to download a full HD movie in less than 3 seconds. This is the download speed on 5G. 5G will deliver speeds of up to 20 Gbps, increasing traffic capacity and network efficiency by a factor of 100.

2. Low latency: In addition, mmWave can also achieve latency as low as 1 ms. This establishes a connection instantly and reduces network traffic afterwards.

3. State-of-the-art technology foundation: 5G’s full potential is envisioned to provide speeds that enable real-time reproduction of augmented reality. This will further lead to the development of more hardware to work with augmented reality. This technology is also the basis for virtual reality, autonomous driving, and the Internet of Things.

4. Ripple Effect: The benefits of 5g will not only improve the smartphone experience but also open up opportunities for progress in other areas such as healthcare, infrastructure, and even manufacturing. 

Major Concerns

1. Capital intensive: Deploying 5G technology is costly. This will require frequencies beyond 3.5GHz, a wider bandwidth than 3G and 4G, forcing carriers to dismantle the current ecosystem.

2. Bandwidth limitation: The sub-6 GHz spectrum is bandwidth limited, so its speed may be slower than mmWave provides. Requires hardware implementation: In addition, mmWave is only effective at short distances and cannot pass through obstacles. It also tends to be absorbed by trees and rain, so a lot of hardware needs to be deployed for 5G to work effectively.

3. Unknown security issues: 5G technology may also have security and privacy issues, but these issues will become more apparent as the technology becomes more accessible.

4. Growing skepticism: 5G is growing, but not as fast as expected. Even at current speeds, multiple reports suggest 5G won’t overtake 4G and 3G by 2025. However, Qualcomm predicts that 5G smartphone shipments will exceed 750 million units by 2022 and 5G connections will exceed 1 billion units by 2023, 2 more than 4G will reach that number. I’m getting older. 

5. Domestic Industry Stress: India’s telecommunications sector has been under stress recently due to the intense competition unleashed by Jio’s entry. Without government support (bank loans and low-band fees), businesses will struggle to adopt 5G shortly.  

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5G is the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications with revolutionary services, which succeeds the 4G, 3G, and 2G (GMS) systems. 5G technology is the next generation of mobile networking standards and promises to deliver an improved end-user experience by offering new applications and services through seamless coverage, a high data rate, low latency, significantly improved performance, and reliable communications.

5G technology will increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency, and network efficiency, as well as the efficiency of other systems.

Evolution from 1G to 5G Technology

1G, 2G, 3G & 4G ("G" stands for "Generation") are the generations of wireless telecom connectivity.

Different Bands of 5G

A band refers to a specific range of frequencies in the electromagnetic frequency spectrum assigned to certain applications. There are essentially three types of 5G bands supported in India .

• Low-band 5G transmits around the 600 to 700 MHz range , providing blanket coverage but offering slow speeds around 50 Mbps.
• Mid-band 5G transmits around 1.7 GHz to 2.5 GHz , offering a solid balance between coverage and speed ( 100-900 Mbps).
• High-band 5G operates at 24 GHz or higher , providing the fastest speeds ( 1 Gbps speeds) over short distances.

Advantages of 5G Technology

5G technology is positioned as the next-generation wireless technology; it builds on predecessors, introducing a paradigm shift and unlocking new possibilities for industries and consumers alike. The following are the advantageous features of the 5G technology:

• Increased Connectivity: 5G technology is expected to deliver faster and more reliable internet connectivity, facilitating more devices to connect to the internet and enabling new technologies and applications to operate with lower latency .
• Enhanced Experiences: 5G is expected to offer new and improved experiences in virtual and augmented reality, gaming, and video streaming.
• Enabling Real-Time Collaboration: People will be able to interact and collaborate in real-time in virtual environments via 5G technology, which will eliminate the delays and lag that are currently experienced on slower networks.
• Supporting High-Quality Content: 5G technology is enabling the creation and delivery of high-quality content such as 3D graphics .
• Enabling new applications and services: 5G technology is expected to enable new metaverse applications and services such as virtual education, virtual healthcare, and virtual tourism.

Limitations of 5G Technology

5G technology has the potential to improve enterprise operations and the competitiveness of the digital economy. However, there are also some negative aspects to consider, including the following:

• High infrastructure cost: 5G service is likely to be more expensive, at least initially, because the deployment of 5G networks requires significant investment in infrastructure and its improved features may also be reflected in the price of 5G service.
• Security Risks: 5G networks, like any new technology, may be vulnerable to security threats such as hacking and cyberattacks.
• Privacy Concerns: Concerns about personal privacy may arise as a result of the increased use of data and connected devices enabled by 5G technology.
• This rollout may worsen economic and social inequalities by unevenly distributing access to technology.
• However, the World Health Organization has determined that the levels of RF radiation emitted by 5G technology are safe.

Applications of 5G Technology

5G Technology will enable wireless service providers to develop innovative business models, benefiting various sectors like industrial, commercial, educational, healthcare, agriculture, etc.

• Health Sector: 5G technology can facilitate high-quality telemedicine services, allowing for remote consultations, real-time monitoring of patients, and tele-treatment where doctors can treat patients while maintaining social distancing norms like those required during COVID-19.
• Internet of Things (IoT) : 5G’s promise of low latency and high network capacity helps to eliminate the biggest limitations to IoT expansion.
• Augmented and Virtual Reality: 5G backhaul enables data speeds that are several times faster than 4G, ensuring real-time and uninterrupted AR/VR experiences.
• Agriculture: Using data from sensors installed directly in fields, farmers can pinpoint which areas require water, have a disease, or require pest management.
• 5G offers unimaginable possibilities to power Industry 4.0, from video monitoring to fixed wireless access, immersive experiences and smart stadiums toe-health, machine remote control, cloud robotics , process automation, and assisted/autonomous vehicles.
• Fleet monitoring and navigation will become significantly easier at scale with 5G.

India and 5G Technology

5G services were launched in India in October 2022. The 5G network has been rolled out in all 28 states and 8 UTs now. This is one of the fastest 5G rollouts in the world. As of October 2023, the number of 5G users now stands at over 100 million.

• According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, by the end of 2028, there will be 700 million 5G users in India .
• 5G services are also expected to play a major role in achieving the economic goal of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.
• Promoting Digital India: Fast and reliable mobile communication technologies provided by 5G are helping the government realize the objectives of the Digital India programme by empowering citizens through services like Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
• 5G and BharatNet will together have 1.2 billion internet users, making India the single largest connected nation.

Initiatives for 5G in India

The government of India has taken several steps for the 5G rollout in India:

• 5G High-Level Forum: It was set up in 2017 to articulate the vision for 5G in India and to recommend policy initiatives & action plans to realize this vision.
• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has offered the usage of 5G test beds free of cost to the Start-ups and MSMEs recognised by the Government of India up to January 2024.
• Enabling high-speed internet, the Internet of Things, through the rollout of 5G technologies
• Implementing an action plan for the rollout
• Ensuring availability of spectrum for 5G in 6 GHz bands
• Reviewing industry practices with respect to traffic prioritization to provide 5G-enabled applications and services

Challenges for 5G Rollout in India

• Lack of infrastructure: To have ubiquitous 5G network connectivity in India, it is important to enable the use of street infrastructure for hoisting small cells, deployment of in-building solutions, and fabrication of towers.
• TDSI-RIT improves rural coverage while lowering costs to cover a specific, defined area. As TDSI-RIT standards are not globally harmonised this could lead to increased costs for network and customer devices and interoperability issues.
• Low tower fiberization: India’s low tower fiberization is hampering the ambitious 5G deployment, which has not yet reached the halfway level against a goal of 70% by 2024.
• Setting up of 5G use case labs: Telcos are struggling to develop relevant use cases, besides faster speeds, for wider adoption and monetisation.

PYQs on 5G Technology

Question 1: With reference to communication technologies, what is/are the difference/differences between LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and VoLTE (Voice over Long-Term Evolution)?

• LTE is commonly marketed as 3G and VoLTE is commonly marketed as advanced 3G.
• LTE is data-only technology and VoLTE is voice-only technology.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

• Both 1 and 2
• Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (d)

FAQs on 5G Technology

What is 5g technology.

5G is the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications that promises to deliver an improved end-user experience by offering seamless coverage, a high data rate, low latency, and significantly improved performance.

What is the difference between 4G and 5G technology?

The biggest difference between 4G and 5G is latency. 5G promises low latency under 5 milliseconds, while 4G latency ranges from 60 ms to 98 ms.

What are the different bands of 5G?

5G is divided into three frequency bands (low, mid, and high). Each band has different capabilities: the low band (less than 1 GHz) has greater coverage but lower speeds; the mid-band (1 GHz–6 GHz) offers a balance of both; and the high band (24 GHz–40 GHz) offers higher speeds but a smaller coverage radius.

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Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — 5G Technology — The Advantages And Disadvantages Of 5g Mobile Communication

The Advantages and Disadvantages of 5g Mobile Communication

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Published: May 31, 2021

Words: 891 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

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Introduction:, advantages:, disadvantages.

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5G in India: Roll Out, Advantages and Challenges

Last updated on January 23, 2022 by ClearIAS Team

The fifth-generation mobile network is popularly known as 5G.

5G is the next level of mobile network that will shape the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industrial 4.0.

Besides 5G also improve the quality of service delivery and aid in innovation by facilitating smarter and developing societies.

Table of Contents

What is 5G?

The 5G network will operate in the millimetre-wave spectrum   (30-300 GHz) which can send large amounts of data at very high speeds as the frequency is very high, and it experiences little interference from surrounding signals.

5G is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution  (LTE) mobile broadband networks.

In the high-band spectrum of 5G, internet speeds have been tested to be as high as  20 Gbps (gigabits per second).

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5G mainly works in 3 bands:

• Low band spectrum: It has good coverage and speed of internet and data exchange however the maximum speed is  limited to 100 Mbps  (Megabits per second).
• Mid-band spectrum: It offers higher speeds compared to the low band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
• High-band spectrum: It has the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.

What is the difference between 5G and 4G?

What is the global scenario.

Commercial 5G networks began to be deployed in 2020 worldwide and are expected to reach 12% of world mobile connections (1.1 billion) and generate revenues up to the U.S.$1.3 trillion by 2025 for operators.

5G had been deployed in 50 cities in the United States.

South Korea rolled out 5G to 85 cities.

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Japan and China have started 5G mobile services on a trial basis.

Is India ready for the 5G leap?

DoT confirmed that 13 cities in India would get 5G services in 2022. These include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Jamnagar, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow and Gandhinagar.

Advantages of 5G for India

The new generation mobile network has the transformative potential to provide a wide range of benefits to the Indian economy, which when combined with artificial intelligence provides a new face to a connected and autonomous system.

5G networks could improve the accessibility of services such as  mobile banking and healthcare , and enable exponential growth in opportunities for unemployed or underemployed people to engage in fulfilling and productive work.

The Indian policy-makers can  educate and empower citizens and businesses, and transform existing cities  into smart and innovative cities.

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Socio-economic Benefits: This may allow citizens and communities to get socio-economic benefits and comforts delivered by a well-advanced, more data-intensive, digital economy.

• Broadly speaking, the uses of 5G in India may encompass enhanced outdoor and indoor broadband, the Internet of things (IoT) , smart cities and smart agriculture, energy monitoring, remote monitoring, smart grids, telehealth, industrial automation, remote patient monitoring, and industrial automation to name some of the areas.
• 5G technology can be used for agriculture and smart farming in the future. Using smart RFID sensors and GPS technology, farmers can track the location of livestock and manage them easily. Smart sensors can be used for irrigation contro l, access control, and energy management.
• It will support medical practitioners to perform advanced medical procedures with a reliable wireless network connected to another side of the globe. Doctors can connect with patients from anywhere anytime and advise them when necessary. Scientists are working on smart medical devices which can perform remote surgery. Smart medical devices like wearables will continuously monitor a patient’s condition and activate alerts during an emergency.

Challenges for rolling out 5G

• Critical infrastructures:  5G will require a  fundamental change to the core architecture of the communication system. Since the major flaw of data transfer using 5G is that it can’t carry data over longer distances, the 5G technology needs to be augmented to existing infrastructure.
• Financial liability:  For the transition from 4G to 5G technology, one has to upgrade to the latest cellular technology, thereby creating financial liability on consumers.
• Capital inadequacy:  Lack of adequate capital with suitable telecom companies (like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea) is delaying the 5G spectrum allocation.
• Late adoption:  Countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia are late in adopting 5G technology, hence, may get decreased revenue from the service.
• Government subsidies : The likelihood of government subsidies is low, because of the history of high reserve prices set by the governments for spectrum auctions amid ongoing fiscal deficits.
• Digital divide:  5G will not bridge the digital divide between rural and urban in the short term, rather this may increase it.
• Niche service:  5G will be a niche service unlike 3G and 4G which were distributive services. It will get intensified over a comparatively longer period and concentrated to particular sectors.
• Previous technology : Consumers are still struggling with basic network issues like call drops and interrupted data services. 4G networks still cause frequent disruptions in internet services.
• Interference: There are concerns that the rollout of 5G mobile service could potentially interfere with aircraft navigation systems. Air India cancelled eight flights on US routes in January 2022.

Hence it is important to elevate the quality of service of existing 4G networks before embarking on a new 5G platform.

Way forward

The immediate priority for India will be in identifying end-users and the population to be covered, the existing network and operators, identification of cities for the 5G rollout, working out an investment model, and minimization of the digital risk and pricing based on the usage of various sectors.

Existing infrastructure and capacity building

• The deployment of 5G in India needs to be carefully planned after a cost-benefit analysis by independent experts.
• This will create a level-playing field through market mechanisms such as facilitating, simulating, auctioning, ensuring competition, functioning markets, etc.

Sector-friendliness and financial aid:

• As the deployment of the 5G network is expensive, both the Central and State governments may need to consider measures that aid fibre investment, attract investment through public-private partnerships (PPPs), and facilitate investment funds on a nominal interest basis.
• The government should allow 100% foreign direct investment in the telecom sector along with other policy reforms which will attract investment into the sector.
• The Government needs to address information asymmetry and negative aspects through laws and regulations/taxes and subsidies.
• The deployment of 5G technology will also need the right of access to government infrastructure such as traffic lights, lamp posts, etc. where wireless operators can deploy electronic small cell apparatus.
• Reasonable fees may be charged by State and local governments to operators for affordable deployment of 5G equipment.
• Further, removing the tax burden for deploying fibre networks reduces associated costs and will promote investments, which will help in the smooth deployment of fibre in India.

Bridging the Rural-urban divide

• 5G can be deployed at different band spectrums and the low band spectrum, the range is much longer which is helpful for the rural areas.

Government’s Assistance: 

• One of the key inputs of 5G is the band spectrum which the government has complete control over. By managing the design of the spectrums, the government can control the price to be paid by the people.
• The government can also support the telecom companies to roll out networks that are sustainable and affordable for the public.

Spectrum pricing

• The government had recently failed to attract any bids in the 5G spectrum.
• The current proposals for the reserve price suggest the need to change the prices to conduct a successful auction.
• The pricing will have to be worked out keeping in mind the financial stress in the sector and affordability of services.

Manufacturing Sector in India

• As 5G starts taking shape in India, it is important to strengthen its domestic telecommunication manufacturing market so that the manufacturers and providers of these technologies will be able to make a mark in the global arena.

Viable Technology

• For widespread 5G deployment, it needs to become financially viable otherwise rural integration will remain a pipe dream.
• 5G technology has to be viable to the telecom operators too.

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5G is a next-generation wireless network that promises faster speeds, lower latency, and the ability to connect more devices simultaneously compared to its predecessor, 4G. These improvements are not just incremental; they represent a significant leap forward in wireless technology. 

As such, 5G is poised to be a critical component in the ongoing evolution of digital technologies, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) continue to reshape the global tech landscape.

As we stand on the cusp of this new era, it’s essential to not only celebrate the potential benefits of 5G but also to critically examine the challenges and drawbacks associated with its deployment. 

Below, we shed light on these topics to help you make an informed decision about making the switch.

Table of Contents

8 issues with 5G networks

There are several issues and disadvantages that necessitate a detailed discussion by telecoms regulators, industry stakeholders, and consumers. These include concerns about network security, the cost of infrastructure development, ecosystem availability, potential health effects, and the risk of exacerbating the digital divide. 

Network security

5G networks, like their predecessors, are not immune to security threats. However, the risks are amplified due to the sheer volume of devices that will be connected and the sensitive nature of the data they will handle. Cybersecurity concerns range from data privacy and protection to potential threats to critical infrastructure. 

The decentralized nature of 5G networks, with more data being processed at the edge, also opens up new points of vulnerability. Telecom operators and device manufacturers will need to invest significantly in robust security measures to protect against these threats.

The cost of infrastructure development

The transition from 4G to 5G is not a simple upgrade; it requires a complete overhaul of existing infrastructure. This includes the deployment of new antennas and base stations, as well as the installation of high-speed fiber connections to these sites. 

The cost of this infrastructure development is substantial and could be a significant barrier to 5G rollout, particularly in rural and remote areas where the return on investment may be lower.

Ecosystem availability

The full potential of 5G can only be realized when a complete ecosystem of 5G-enabled devices and applications is available. This includes not only smartphones but also IoT devices, industrial equipment, autonomous vehicles, and more. The development of this ecosystem is still in its early stages, and it will take time for a wide range of 5G-compatible devices and applications to become available.

Skills and education gap

The deployment and management of 5G networks require a new set of skills. There is a need for professionals who understand not only telecommunications but also cloud computing, cybersecurity, AI, and IoT. This skills gap is a significant challenge and will require investment in education and training to overcome.

Potential health effects

The potential health effects of 5G are a topic of ongoing debate. Some experts have raised concerns about the impact of the higher frequency radio waves used by 5G on human health. However, the FDA , World Health Organization (WHO) , and other health organizations have stated that the levels of radiofrequency radiation to which people are exposed from 5G are below the limits set by international guidelines and are not expected to have health effects.

Potential interference with flight operations

There have been concerns raised about the potential for 5G signals to interfere with radio altimeters in aircraft, which measure the height of the aircraft above the ground. The issue arises because the frequency band , the 3.5 GHz range, used by 5G is close to that used by radio altimeters, which use the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz band. 

In January 2022, several international airlines had to suspend flights to the United States as 5G was deployed across several airports in the country. While telecom operators and 5G equipment manufacturers assert that the risk of interference is low, the FAA continues to monitor and issue guidelines as more information becomes available.

Battery drain on cellular devices

5G networks offer faster speeds and lower latency, but these benefits come at the cost of higher power consumption. This could lead to faster battery drainage in 5G-enabled devices, particularly when downloading or streaming large amounts of data. 

Device manufacturers will need to find ways to improve battery life to ensure that users can enjoy the benefits of 5G without constantly worrying about their battery level. For the time being, companies like Samsung are advising customers to use the “ Optimize battery usage ” settings.

Risk of exacerbating the digital divide

While 5G has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives, there is a risk that it could exacerbate the digital divide. The high cost of 5G infrastructure development could lead to a situation where 5G is only available in urban and affluent areas, leaving rural and low-income communities behind. Policymakers and telecom operators will need to work together to ensure that the benefits of 5G are accessible to all.

What are the advantages of 5G?

Despite the issues associated with 5G, the transformative potential of the technology is manifold. From lightning-fast download speeds to enabling a new generation of IoT devices, 5G has a lot to offer.

Increased speed

One of the most touted benefits of 5G is its speed. 5G networks are expected to deliver data rates of up to 10 Gbps, which is up to 100 times faster than 4G LTE. That means you could download a full-length HD movie in a matter of seconds on a 5G network, compared to several minutes on a 4G network. 

This increased speed will not only improve the user experience for data-intensive applications such as video streaming and gaming but also open up new possibilities for applications such as virtual reality and augmented reality (VR and AR).

Lower latency

Latency, or the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer, is expected to be in the range of 1 millisecond or less in 5G networks, compared to around 20-70 milliseconds in 4G networks. This near real-time communication will be critical for applications where immediate response is necessary, such as autonomous vehicles, remote surgery, and esports.

Greater capacity

5G networks will have a much greater capacity than 4G networks. This means they will be able to handle more devices, from smartphones and tablets to IoT devices and sensors, without slowing down. This will be particularly important in urban areas and at large events where many people are trying to connect to the network at the same time.

Improved efficiency

5G networks are designed to be more efficient than 4G networks. They use advanced technologies such as network slicing , which allows operators to create multiple virtual networks within a single physical 5G network. This means that network resources can be allocated more efficiently, ensuring that each user gets the level of service they need.

Enabling new technologies

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of 5G is its potential to enable new technologies and applications . The combination of high speed, low latency, and high capacity makes 5G a key enabler for technologies such as IoT, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and Industry 4.0. With 5G, we could see everything from remote surgery and autonomous vehicles to a new generation of smart homes and factories. 5G network trends

The landscape of 5G networks is evolving rapidly, with new devices, applications, and use cases emerging on a regular basis. Here are some of the key trends shaping the 5G ecosystem.

Growth in 5G devices

According to the GSA 5G-Ecosystem May 2023 Summary Report , the number of announced 5G devices increased by 2.4% between March and April 2023, reaching a total of 1,942 devices. 

Of these, 1,557 are commercially available, representing 80.1% of all announced 5G devices. This is a significant increase of 51.4% in the number of commercial 5G devices since the end of April 2022. 

This steady growth in the number of commercially available devices is expected to continue, providing consumers with a wider range of options for accessing 5G networks.

Rapid network expansion

The OOKLA 5G Map™ tracks the rollout of 5G in cities around the world. By observing the progress of 5G over a couple of weeks, it’s easy to see the frenetic pace with which telecom providers are moving to make 5G available. At the time of publishing, there were approximately 142,000 sites with commercial 5G availability on five continents. 

Enterprise adoption and private 5G networks

The 5G Thematic Intelligence Report 2023 published by Research and Markets suggests that enterprises will increasingly look at wireless connectivity for branch offices in the more fluid hybrid work environment. 

Private 5G , in particular, is positioned as a complement to in-building Wi-Fi networks that, along with edge computing , will enable applications such as AR, VR, video analytics, and autonomous robots.

Consumer demand and concerns

A survey titled “ 5G and the Fu t ure ” by semiconductor firm Arm established that the number of 5G subscriptions is growing by 1 million per day, while the number of providers offering 5G service deployments surpasses 130,000 worldwide. Industrial and commercial customers have also launched trials and early commercial deployments with private 5G networks.

The survey highlighted strong demand for 5G, with half the respondents predicting 5G products and services would constitute 51% to 75% of their telecommunications sales by 2027. However, it also revealed concerns about energy consumption and high upfront costs.

Open RAN and cloud-based infrastructure

The Arm survey also indicated that Open RAN and cloud-based infrastructure are expected to gain traction quickly. Just over 40% of respondents believe Open RAN will constitute half of all equipment shipments by 2025. Meanwhile, 53% predicted clouds would host 51%-75% of 5G infrastructure by 2027. However, 44% said quality-of-service remains the largest potential stumbling block for cloudified 5G.

These trends highlight the dynamic nature of the 5G ecosystem and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as this technology continues to evolve.

Future issues in 5G networks

As 5G continues to evolve and become more widespread, new challenges are likely to emerge. Here are some potential future issues that stakeholders should be aware of:

Network congestion

While 5G networks are designed to handle a much larger volume of data and devices than their predecessors, the rapid growth in the number of connected devices could still lead to network congestion. This could result in slower speeds and reduced performance, particularly in densely populated urban areas.

Cybersecurity threats

As more devices become connected to 5G networks, the potential for cybersecurity threats will increase. These could include data breaches, identity theft, and attacks on critical infrastructure. The industry will need to stay ahead of these threats by investing in robust security measures and continually updating and improving them.

Regulatory challenges

The deployment of 5G networks also presents regulatory challenges. These include issues related to spectrum allocation, data privacy, and health and safety. Regulators will need to balance the need for innovation and growth with the need to protect consumers and maintain the integrity of the network.

Technological obsolescence

As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, there is a risk that 5G networks could become obsolete before they are fully deployed. This could result in wasted investment and a need for further upgrades.

Can 5G make you sick?

One of the more controversial topics surrounding 5G is its potential impact on health. While earlier claims that 5G might weaken the immune system or even cause viruses have been roundly debunked, some concerns persist about cancer risks posed by long-term radiation exposure.

However, the FDA , WHO , and other health research and advisory organizations have stated that the levels of radiofrequency radiation to which people are exposed from 5G are below the limits set by international guidelines and are not expected to have health effects.

Bottom line: Transitioning to 5G in the enterprise and worldwide

As we stand on the precipice of a new era in telecommunications, the transition to 5G networks presents a complex tapestry of opportunities and challenges. 

The promise of 5G is undeniable — with its increased speed, lower latency, and greater capacity, it has the potential to revolutionize not only how we communicate but also how we live and work. It is a key enabler for a host of emerging technologies, from IoT and autonomous vehicles to smart cities and Industry 4.0.

However, the journey to 5G is not without its hurdles. Concerns about network security, the cost of infrastructure development, and the risk of exacerbating the digital divide are all valid and require careful consideration. Moreover, the rapid pace of technological change means that new challenges are likely to emerge as 5G networks become more widespread.

Considering implementing a private 5G network in your organization? Here’s a guide to the best 5G network providers for business .

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