5G: What Is It And What Can We Do With 5G Technology

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

There are still many people who do not fully understand what the change from 4G to 5G technology will mean. It might seem like just another breakthrough, like buying an iPhone 4 and then an iPhone 5 and then an iPhone 6. But 5G technology is expected to exponentially change today’s internet. For example, improving the driving of autonomous vehicles or making it possible for a doctor to operate remotely on a patient located hundreds of kilometers away.

What Is 5G And How Does It Work?

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

The operation of 5G can be somewhat complicated. But it could be summed up by pointing out that 5G uses higher frequencies than 4G. While 4G uses frequencies between 2 and 8 GHz, 5G works with frequencies between 24 and 100 GHz.

These frequencies is what is known as a millimeter wave or extremely high frequency. Basically: increasing the frequency reduces the length of the wave and therefore shorter waves will correspond to faster speeds.

Telecommunications companies estimate that 5G will have a speed up to 100 times faster than the current 4G LTE. For example, the Consumer Technology Association noted that at this speed, a 5G user could download a two-hour movie in just 3.6 seconds. Currently they consider it takes 6 minutes to download the same movie with 4G and 26 hours with 3G.

But, the main benefit of this incredible upload and download speed will be the improvements in latency With 5G technology, latency will be drastically reduced, it will oscillate in the orbit of 1 ms, which is an extremely low value.

What Can We Do With 5G Technology?

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

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

Autonomous vehicles and smart cities

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

Immersive Technology

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

Industrial production

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

For example, Siemens is collaborating with the AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology) on the UNWIRE project , which is exploring the possibility of replacing wired connections with wireless connections in production systems.

Health

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

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

When Will 5G Start To Be Used?

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

South Korea , a country known for its technological prowess, has entered the race with the US, China and Japan to be the first country to take off 5G technology. On April 4 , the three large Korean national operators (KT, SK Telecom and LG UPlus) launched the first fifth-generation (5G) national mobile phone network, earning the title of the first country in the world to offer this technology .

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