For several decades, information technology has been in a state of rapid development. What yesterday seemed unthinkable, today is already perceived as a habitual routine. New Internet networks are capable of transmitting incredible amounts of information over vast distances in a matter of moments.

And this is far from the limit of the technological potential of this sphere. Soon enough, a truly revolutionary novelty will become available to the citizens of our country - 5G Internet. Such an information network will make it possible to take a big step forward in the introduction of new technologies in everyday life ordinary people.

On the eve of the main sporting event of 2018, a high-speed network will be launched in test mode on the territory of four cities of the Russian Federation mobile internet according to 5G standards. This news was shared by representatives of the main domestic operators cellular communication at a press conference dedicated to the discussion of the future.

At the beginning of 2018, four test zones will be deployed in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Sochi and Moscow to support the maximum data transfer rate. With the start of football events, these networks should switch to their full capacity.

What is 5G technology

According to experts, 5G is currently considered the most promising standard not only in Russia, but throughout the world. With its help, the data transfer rate can be “overclocked” up to several gigabytes per second, which was considered almost impossible just a few years ago.

Representatives of Megafon (one of the project implementers) have already conducted the first preliminary tests of the new technology. An experiment conducted this year showed the possibility of increasing the data transfer rate to 5 Gbps.

In addition, the transition to such a standard allows you to significantly increase the number of subscribers in the network, improve the quality of communication and even reduce the loss of battery power in a mobile device.

The 5G network is a completely new, many times improved technology for transferring traffic between the clients of a telecom operator. With its help, you can download a file to your mobile device in a matter of seconds, which would have previously taken hours to download.

But, despite a number of advantages, the national property this technology can be done no earlier than 2020. Such a delay was provoked by the great complexity of launching the network, as well as the vastness of the territory of our country, which cannot be covered in a short time.

Why do we need such speeds

The question of the relevance of high Internet data transfer rates and the practical need for such technologies is raised quite often. A completely similar situation was with the emergence of 4G technology and the first attempts to make it available to the public.

Then the possibility of downloading an information product from the World Wide Web at a speed of up to 50 megabits per second seemed incredible. Today, for most people, this speed is quite ordinary and has not seemed excessively high for a long time.

Internet users have long discovered an interesting relationship: the better the ability to transfer information, the higher the quality of the content produced. Website visitors increasingly prefer high-resolution videos to reading and static images.

This is an unstoppable process of content evolution, where high data rates become necessary. 5G technology can fully meet the needs of users in traffic migration, in addition, such a network offers large capacities and a uniquely short response time.

What are the prospects for 5G technology in Russia

To date, the 5G communication standard is at the stage of development and initial experiments. But it is assumed that by the beginning it will already begin to appear in the largest cities of our state. These will not be just test isolated cases, but the first stage towards systematization and development with further distribution to all settlements.

Every day in the engineering departments of cellular companies there is a lot of testing of various technological solutions, which can be placed in the basis of the future global network. Tests of speed capabilities for the fifth generation are being carried out with brilliant results.

Such trends make it possible to judge the great achievements of domestic information technologies and the acquisition of unique experience to start building a network infrastructure.

The introduction of 5G networks is, first of all, a large increase in the total amount of transmitted information through an increase in transmission speeds and a reduction in response time. Unfortunately, this is practically impossible without a significant improvement in the infrastructure that mobile operators use at this point in time.

This process is quite costly and requires huge cash injections, but if the investment portfolio is divided into a significant period, then the situation ceases to seem critical.

Experts have no doubt that the new horizons that will open up for the economy after the introduction of 5G will quickly pay off all costs and bring good dividends. Thus, the mobile operator will receive additional cash receipts, users will receive a quality service, and the state will be able to reach a new level of its development.

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

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

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

5G What is it? All about New Generation Communications

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When should we expect 5G to arrive?

Preliminary 5G from AT&T and Verizon will launch this year, however, the official launch of 5G is scheduled for 2018, with widespread adoption in 2019. The schedule was originally planned for 2019-2020, but providers and equipment manufacturers have developed an accelerated schedule.

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

Any carrier offering 5G is lying to you.

Some cell operators claim they already offer 5G. This is a blatant lie. This is actually just a faster and better version of existing 4G LTE technologies.

For each "G", the mobile world (manufacturers, carriers, operators, etc.) must agree on a set of specifications. The agency that defines these standards is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations body. And finally, at the end, a number of specifications came out proving that the claims of "5G" carriers are fictitious.

"5G Evolution" does not meet these specifications, and does not meet the 5G specifications. They use 4G technologies such as 4×4 MIMO to increase data rates, but this is not 5G. And while data speed is important, 5G is not just about data transfer speed. There's a lot more.

What is 5G?

Right now, 5G is undefined. So far, no one knows the final specifications. However, the ITU has so far agreed on a few key performance requirements for 5G.

• No Call Drops is the biggest change for the average mobile user. You won't lose calls or lose internet access when you switch towers on a 5G network. The ITU says that a 5G network is one where mobile interruption time does not exist, so unless this specification is met, it is not 5G.
• Low latency- 5G phones will have latency between 4ms and 1ms (the lower the better). Latency, measured in milliseconds, is the time it takes for a phone to send a signal to an Internet server. The fastest for 4G is 50ms latency. Low latency will greatly facilitate the use of technologies such as augmented reality or virtual reality with smart glasses.
• Battery efficiency- you've heard about how data connection drains your phone's battery. 5G networks will greatly reduce this with improved "sleep" features. "Sleep" is when the phone is not using the network.
• Works at a speed of 500 km / h. The faster your car moves, the faster your phone moves. This means your phone changes mobile towers quickly. Existing mobile networks cannot handle these fast switching between towers. 5G will work even when you are on a high-speed train at 500 km/h.

How fast is the 5G network?

5G networks will have real download speeds of 100 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of 50 Mbps. This is about 12 MB of data download per second. The hour-long HD show will load in about four minutes.

ITU makes a distinction between "peak data rates" (technically the highest possible under laboratory conditions) and "experimental data rates" (which users will experience in real-world conditions).

5G will have a peak data rate of 20Gbps downlink of 10Gbps). So far, in the lab, Nokia and Samsung have managed downlink speeds of 10 Gbps and 7.5 Gbps, respectively.

Outcome: it's really, really fast!

When will 5G phones and networks be available?

Intel and Ericsson executives estimate that the US will receive the first batch of 5G-compatible devices in 2019. But the ITU is setting 2018-2020 as a “technology definition” period, so there may be some changes.

This 2020 estimate is partly based on the 10-year mobility cycle in the world to launch next generation mobile networks. It started with analog 1G in 1982, moved to digital 2G in 1991, to 3G in the 2000s, and has landed on current 4G networks since 2010.

South Korean and Japanese operators have announced that they will start providing commercial 5G services in 2019. Major European carriers plan to launch 5G in at least one city in each of the EU member states by 2020.

What frequency bands will 5G use?

5G networks are expected to operate on the 28GHz, 37GHz and 39GHz bands. Generally speaking, 5G will start at 30GHz to use millimeter waves. In comparison, 4G operates between 700 MHz and 2100 MHz. A gigahertz is literally a thousand times stronger than a megahertz.

high spectrum band

5G is the first network to operate on millimeter waves, which will enable significantly faster data transfer rates than currently possible. Millimeter waves will also reduce the size of the required antennas. This means that wearable technologies such as smartwatches or smart glasses can more easily fit into a 5G connection.

What is the difference between 4G and 5G?

4G vs 5G difference table

What are the benefits of 5G?

For the end consumer, 5G will have tangible benefits such as:

Of course, 5G has many more benefits, including indirect benefits. For example, it brings long-term economic benefit for the mobile industry, which in turn will pass these benefits on to the consumer.

It appears that carriers are promoting their advanced LTE speeds as "5G", which is based on faster download speeds. Download speed is the most important thing for you? Do you think it's okay for them to call it 5G? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

What does she represent? When will the 5G network appear, and where will it be available? What advantages does it have over other data transfer methods? The answers to these other questions will be presented in the article.

general information

We live in a century high technology and the latest developments. Computers, phones, tablets and even TVs - all of them are united by the ability to access the Internet. And it is constantly being improved.

5G Internet is a new generation standard aimed at reducing the amount of time users spend searching for the right information on the global network. Its feature is the transmission of data over a narrowly directed channel, which avoids noise interference and distortion.

It should be noted that small base stations, with the help of which 5G technology will work, can only function over short distances. And this means that initially only densely populated areas will be covered. How good will they be? It is reported that the network will be able to serve over one million devices located on the territory of a square kilometer, providing them with an average data transfer rate of 100 Mbps.

What awaits us in the future?

It is believed that 5G Internet will accelerate the emergence of the Internet of things. Even self-driving cars will seem like a simple toy, because devices will work quietly, which will be able to capture even the smallest changes in a person’s biorhythm. During testing of this development, a data transfer record of about 35 Gb / s was set. It is likely that fifth-generation 5G networks will lead to evolutionary changes in existing services, as well as the emergence of new ones. Can connect to the Internet a large number of devices from household appliances and ending ... And here it is already difficult to say where the end will be. It is believed that it will be possible to ensure the simultaneous connection of about 100 billion different devices. This is what 5G provides.

The characteristics of this development will make it possible to implement a tactile Internet, when it will be possible to interact with web resources in augmented reality. It is also likely that service intelligence will appear, allowing you to process a large amount of data and take into account the individual data of each user.

About characteristics

Actually, the initial implementation of 5G is planned in 2018 in the territory of the state of San Marino, it will also be presented in South Korea and Japan. A wide commercial use is planned for 2020. Until then, the developers do not give up hope to improve the technology. So what do they expect 5G to be? Features (at least some of which have already been covered) should grow to allow ultra-high expansion for applications and video. And for this it is necessary to provide a data transfer rate of 1 Gb / s. The switching time between radio access technologies for uninterrupted operation of servers will need to be less than ten milliseconds.

To support mobile cloud services, where programs are gradually migrating, it will be necessary to provide a speed of 10 Gb / s. For a person, this interaction will be almost imperceptible, because we are promised to provide a response and a delay of less than one millisecond.

What are the requirements?

For all this to work, it is necessary to take care of a significant network capacity, the presence of a state of constant readiness and a decrease in power consumption. At the moment, more than five billion subscribers are already connected to the Internet in the world. The first target should be considered densely populated metropolitan areas. After all, the speed in the 5G network is compensated by such a negative point as a small working radius. Probably, data transfer protocols will also be improved. Although now it is impossible to say exactly about all the requirements, since the fifth generation standard is still being developed.

Current position

In general, the situation in the post-Soviet space is not deplorable. So, the Russian Federation makes a rather tangible contribution to the creation of the fifth generation network. But what about the implementation of already existing technologies? Before introducing a 5G network in Russia, it is necessary to ensure that everyone has high-quality Internet access. So, 4G frequencies are still being mastered, and with the already familiar 3G, not everything is so smooth - it cannot be said that it can be carried out in any home. Of course, there are no 5G networks in the world, and 4G is also not widespread in the entire territory, say, the USA, Great Britain, France or Germany. But speaking in general and in general, we are a little behind the leaders of the computer race. And this needs to be corrected.

What are the main highlights waiting for us?

The most significant moment is ultra-broadband cellular communication. It will be very important to implement the possibility of high-quality and fast transfer of the so-called "heavy" content. We should not forget about ultra-reliable machine-to-machine communication, a feature of which will be specialization in a specific class of services where it is necessary to ensure low delays. And don't forget about the Internet of Things. The process of combining different devices in one device will continue. Until two decades ago, cellular communications were used exclusively for calling other people. Now the phone is a voice recorder, a camera, and a video camera. Over time, it will become as necessary in society as clothing.

What technologies can be included in the 5G standard?

While it has not yet been issued, let's think about what the fifth generation network can offer us. It will most likely be:

1. MIMO technology. Its feature is the use of several antennas on transceivers. This technology has proven itself well in 4G, which means it is likely that it will also find application in 5G. Why is that? The fact is that the speed of information transmission grows almost in proportion to the number of antennas available. It also has a positive effect on signal quality.
2. Operation in centimeter and millimeter range. For full operation, it is necessary to ensure the availability of frequency bands above 3.5 GHz (now they are less). But with an increase in the frequency of information transmission, the distance over which it is transmitted will fall. Alas, but this is the law of physics. You can bypass it, but only by increasing the power of the transmitter. And its boundary value, alas, is subject to sanitary standards. But on the other hand, here a large amount of spectrum is free.
3. Multitechnological. To provide quality work need support from already developed and implemented standards. Examples include UMTS, LTE, GSM and Wi-Fi. For example, base stations that use Wi-Fi technology can be used to offload traffic in places of extremely high use.
4. Direct device interaction. In this case, it is possible to organize data exchange directly, bypassing 5G, through which only signal traffic will be sent. Such a solution will additionally unload the network and provide more high quality work.

Specificity

With the introduction of 5G for the first time, the determining factor will not be speed, but reliability, zero latency, the ability to adapt to specific needs and application tasks. And indeed - even the highest quality movies thanks to the fifth generation network will be downloaded in a matter of seconds. But what will bring about this state of affairs? This will be possible due to a combination of a number of factors. Thus, an improved radio interface with increased throughput. You should also not discount the use of broadband frequencies. By the way, what should be understood as the ability to adjust the network for a specific user?

Features of practical implementation

The 5G network will be divided into certain virtual segments. Each of them will be sharpened for specific needs. Thanks to this, the essence will turn into a kind of Swiss knife that can satisfy millions of needs. It is expected that the frequency range up to 39 GHz will be used. At the same time, one should not forget that the higher this indicator, the greater the density of stations will need to be provided.

About Interaction with the Internet of Things

It is expected that in 2022 there will be 29 billion devices on earth connected to the global network. Moreover, 18 of them will relate to the Internet of things. The basis for the widespread introduction of smart things will be 5G. Most likely, household appliances such as a refrigerator and TV will be connected first. By the way, some prototype of the future can already be seen now. For example, the latest TV sets can often connect to the Internet, offering viewers a choice of a certain number of films and a cinema selected by the manufacturer.

How will the world change?

The fifth generation of networks will act as the basis on which business, society and the state are being transformed. Although it is only being developed, it is already clear that the influence and effect will go far beyond the boundaries of telecommunications. Mobile networks will be an important part of the economy, because they will be able to support the development of key industries. A never-before-seen market is emerging that Ericsson has predicted will exceed half a trillion US dollars a year in 2026. It would all be empty words without quality examples.

So, the presence of almost zero delay will allow remote control of heavy industry, which will reduce the cost of production and raise the safety of employees to a level never seen before. Fifth generation networks can also be used in surgery. Indeed, thanks to them, it will be possible to ensure the uninterrupted transmission of all important information in the desired extension, which will allow doctors to operate on people from anywhere in the world. A new transport system is emerging before our eyes. Thus, it is not unreasonably believed that during the start of the introduction of 5G in 2020, more than ten million smart cars will travel on the roads.

Who will win the most?

Ericsson sees transportation, engineering, heavy industry, energy, entertainment, healthcare, finance and public safety as the biggest beneficiaries of 5G. With all this in one way or another, we will definitely meet. But if we talk about wide application, then the entertainment sector will be the most noticeable for the broad masses. It is believed that the presence of 5G will be able to give a significant impetus to the development of virtual and augmented reality. What will it give in practice? So there will probably be virtual fitting rooms, sightseeing tours, educational and documentaries where you can interact with the objects. At the same time, demand will grow in parallel with improved availability and quality. It is believed that at the time of the launch of 5G, the virtual and augmented reality market will reach $ 150 billion!

Finally

As you can see, 5G has huge potential. Its development, standardization and widespread implementation will significantly change our world. Widespread computerization and improvement of everyday life will change our world radically. Those who were born at the end of the last century are not sure that they will be able to understand the technical devices that will exist in the last years of the twenty-first century. Well, it is quite likely that someday progress will reach such a speed that it will not even be possible to keep track of it.

The cost of passing ever-increasing traffic through the networks of telecom operators as of 2019 is not covered by income from traditional services. Search for new services, the so-called. The "killer application" of traditional telecom platforms usually does not give the expected results.

Meanwhile, the main traffic and revenue growth is not in the human device sector, but in the IoT device sector, which is one of the main goals of 5G functionality.

Standardization

The standardization of 5G technologies and solutions should be completed by 2021, so the term 5G so far refers to only fragmented solutions that will be part of the full-scale IMT2020 solution in the future. Such solutions are already being rolled out in different countries, however, they are still of a local and test nature, and do not provide all the planned functionality of IMT2020 networks.

Major 5G Standards Organizations

As of 2019:

3GPP(3rd Generation Partnership Project) - an alliance of seven organizations that develop various telecommunications standards, which, in turn, include other partners. 3GPP Target - Statement technical requirements, evaluation of proposals, and final adoption of standards. In mid-2017, a version was adopted common standard Release 15, with Release 16 currently in development, to be adopted in 2019. In addition to developing a common architecture, 3GPP is also developing 5G New Radio (NR) radio technology standards for new frequency bands dedicated to 5G.

ETSI (European Telecommunication Standard Institute), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, which is a member of 3GPP and is most active in the development of 5G standards.

In addition to these, there are industry and regional organizations such as 5G Americas, Small Cell Forum, which also contribute greatly to the development and standardization of 5G solutions.

Large telecom operators such as AT&T, Verizon, etc. also make a great contribution to the development of standards. They coordinate their work with ETSI and ITU, but sometimes they are ahead of these organizations. Therefore, the decisions of these operators often form the basis of ETSI and ITU standards.

The purpose of creation and purpose of 5G networks

Mobile communication networks of previous generations had the following purposes and functionality:

• 1G: Voice over analogue network services
• 2G: Voice over digital network services, low rate data services (GPRS, EDGE)
• 3G: High Speed ​​Data Services (HSPA), with Voice over IP capability, MBB (Mobile Broadband) mobile Internet access.
• : Mobile broadband access MBB based on LTE, LTE-A, Voice (VoLTE)

5G networks significantly expand the limited functionality of previous generations of mobile networks. The main functional features of 5G networks are as follows:

• Enhanced mobile broadband eMBB (enhanced MBB)
• Ultra Low Latency Reliable Communication (ULLRC)
• Massive machine-to-machine communications Massive IoT /IIoT, mMTC (massive Machine Type Communication)

Based on these three generalized types of functionality, the whole variety of services and capabilities of IMT2020 (5G) networks is built, the most typical of which are shown in the figure below:

Gigabytes per second. 5G networks are able to significantly increase the data transfer rate through various radio access technologies (RAT), and by using new 5G NR (New Radio) radio spectrums. The user receives practically unlimited bandwidth, both for home use of various services, and for the purposes of enterprises (Immersive Telepresence, Industrial IoT, etc.)

Smart House. A whole range of different Internet of Things (IoT) services will be available for the Smart Home and Smart Building solutions: video surveillance, control and automation of household appliances, security systems management, content storage, climate control, etc.

New 4K/8K video services: Surround video, ultra high definition (UHD) screen, immersive experience.

Work in the cloud. The service makes it possible not only to store data in the cloud storage and retrieve it from there, but also to use application programs that work directly from the cloud. Moreover, with the ability to use them on any device and from any location. In addition, there is the possibility of using APIs through which cloud service providers can provide their services to subscribers of a 5G network operator.

An example of services for which 5G will have an advantage is urban video surveillance systems. 5G will help simplify their deployment and use. Now traffic from thousands of cameras in cities is mainly transmitted over fixed networks. Deploying such an infrastructure is not an easy task, since it requires laying a lot of wires. With 5G, it will be possible to receive terabytes of high-definition video wirelessly.

Another example is a transport monitoring service in companies. Qualcomm's Sanjeev Atali believes that with the advent of next-generation networks, operators who provide such a service will be able to reduce its cost. This will be possible due to the fact that the cost of one 5G base station will be lower than the cost of stations for existing networks, as well as due to the fact that one base station can simultaneously serve more devices, respectively, fewer base stations will be required for the service.

Practical Benefits of 5G

The 5G network platform provides operators with significant benefits, primarily in terms of expanding functionality and network characteristics (performance) and increasing user satisfaction (User Experience). The figure below shows the main parameters of the IMT2020 (5G) network, compared with the IMT-Advanced (4G) indicators that allow this to be achieved.

Peak speed: The 5G network provides 20 times the speed compared to 4G, that is, about 20 Gbps.

Speed ​​per user(medium) at the same time can reach 100 Mbps or more.

Spectrum efficiency, the amount of information that can be transmitted per unit of frequency band in a 5G network will be at least 3 times higher than in 4G.

User mobility, the speed at which a user with a 5G terminal can move over the network coverage area without losing handover between base stations in the 5G network reaches 500 km/h, which makes it possible to use 5G services on high-speed trains.

5G network latency is reduced to 1ms or less, while 4G network can achieve a minimum of 10ms latency. This allows the use of 5G technology for critical communications and video surveillance, tactile Internet services, AR / VR, etc.

The density of terminals in the 5G network increases by an order of magnitude and can reach several million devices per square meter. km, that is, several tens or even hundreds of miniature devices (for example, IoT sensors) can be located on 1 square meter of surface.

The energy efficiency of the 5G network is an order of magnitude better than the previous generation network.

Traffic capacity per unit area, i.e. data transfer rate square meter network coverage area, in 5G is two orders of magnitude higher than in the 4G network.

The figure below shows the rankings of importance for the core 5G functionality (eMBB advanced mobile broadband, ultra-reliable low latency communications, massive machine-to-machine communications) of the 5G network parameters shown in the previous figure.

Frequencies

As of 2019, 5G is expected to be used in various radio frequency spectrums. However, in the range up to 6 GHz, including the 5 GHz band allocated for Wi-Fi, there are still serious problems with the availability of free frequencies. The allocation of frequencies for 5G in the spectrum up to 6 GHz has already been agreed upon at the World Radiocommunication Conference WRC (WRC-15, World radiocommunication conference) in 2015. The higher frequency bands will be allocated at WRC-19 in 2019.

The use of low-frequency sections of the spectrum for 5G networks allows you to achieve optimal network coverage without massive investments in the development of network infrastructure.

Low frequencies provide good penetration of radio waves into rooms, which is very important for IoT. In particular, the 700 MHz band is important for M2M, smart city and smart home communication systems. For particularly reliable connection of objects such as self-driving cars, robots, industrial automation, the 3.4-3.8 GHz bands can be used. It is assumed that in the 5G era, operators will be allocated continuous frequency bands of 300-400 MHz.

High-frequency spectrum is needed by 5G networks to achieve data transfer rates up to 20 Gbps, in particular, to provide 3D video services in UHD format, AR / VR, cloud services for work and games, holographic communication, tactile Internet, etc. In particular, , for this, the possibility of using the 24.25-27.5 GHz and 37-43.5 GHz bands is being considered.

Allocation of new frequencies for 5G in Russia (source: NIIR, Union of LTE Operators)

Technologies 5G New Radio (5G NR)

In order to meet the ever-increasing requirements for mobile communication, technologies have been developed for 5G, combined under common name"new 5G radio", 5G New Radio (5G NR). Compared to the radio interface in 4G networks, 5G NR has several important advantages.

The development of 5G NR was carried out almost from scratch, taking into account the requirements for 5G networks and using the best technologies that will be available by the time 5G networks are fully deployed. Thus, 5G NR uses the latest technology modulation, the formation of waveforms (waveforms) and radio access technologies RAT (Radio Access Technology), which, incl., will provide high speed data transmission and extending the battery life of 5G user devices.

Basic requirements of the 3GPP standard. Source: ITU, Nokia, Qualcomm

Prerequisites for 5G NR technology appeared in 3GPP Release 15, approved in December 2017, and the final version is expected to be approved in December 2019.

Main distinctive features 5G NR radio technologies are as follows:

Adding new radio spectrum bands, according to the requirements for signaling speed, number of devices, traffic growth of numerous 5G applications. The new 5G NR bands range from 2.5 to 40 GHz. Discussions are ongoing on the use of spectrum up to 100 GHz.

Optimized OFDM Technology(Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing - orthogonal frequency division multiplexing). This technology has already been successfully applied in 4G/LTE-A as well as in latest versions WiFi.

Beamforming. It is a technology that has only moved from concept to implementation in recent years and is capable of realizing many of the benefits of 5G. Beamforming makes it possible to direct a beam of radio waves from a base station to certain devices, both moving and stationary, without affecting other beams aimed at the same devices.

MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). MIMO – A method of spatial signal coding that allows to increase the channel bandwidth, which has already been used in Wi-Fi and 4G, has been significantly improved in 5G, in particular, in the multi-user mode MU-MIMO (Multi-User-MIMO) in 5G base stations gNnodeB (gNB), whose antennas consist of a matrix of radiating elements. This makes it possible to amplify the signal level for a particular user, while minimizing the impact of this signal on other users.

Spectrum sharing technologies. Many radio spectrums, appropriately allocated, are often not used effectively. Spectrum sharing technologies have been developed to solve this problem.

Unified design across frequencies. Since many new frequency bands have been added to 5G NR, it is important to provide an interworking interface when a channel changes from one frequency to another during handover between base stations.

Small cells. Densification of network coverage leads to the fact that the number of base stations must increase. Therefore, the Small Cells solution was proposed - a solution for low-cost, easy-to-install and maintain low-capacity base stations. They can be hung on street lighting masts, on the walls of houses and other objects. The 5G network is able to effectively coordinate their work by redistributing the load between the antennas.

Distributed antenna systems DAS and a single base station serving the entire building

A single infrastructure of base stations and DAS can be used by several telecom operators simultaneously.

5G Core Network Architecture

A feature of the 5G network architecture is that the traditional concept of "network architecture" based on hardware solutions is no longer relevant in the 5G network.

Therefore, 5G is often referred to not as a network, but as a system, or “platform”, which means a software platform, not a hardware one. If 1/2/3/4G networks were built on the basis of hardware solutions (equipment), then the 5G platform is built on the basis of software solutions, in particular, software-defined networks SDN (Software Defined Network), as well as virtualization of network functions NFV (Network Function Virtualization).

5G functions are implemented in Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) that run on the NFV infrastructure. The difference between these similar-sounding concepts is that VNF ​​is a feature, while NFV is a technology. In turn, NFV is implemented in the physical infrastructure of data centers (data center, DC, data processing center, data center), based on standard commercial equipment COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf). COTS equipment includes only three types of standard, relatively inexpensive devices - a server (computing device), a switch (network device), and a data storage system (storage device).