Next-generation (5G) telecommunications networks have started to appear in the market since the end of 2018 and will continue their expansion this year around the world. Beyond the speed improvements, 5G technology is expected to unleash a whole ecosystem of the Internet of Massive Things in which networks can meet the communication needs of billions of devices connected to the internet, with a balance just between speed, latency, and cost.
What is (and what is not) 5G technology and what is the difference between 4G / LTE and 5G networks?
The next generation (5th) generation wireless network will address evolution beyond the mobile internet and will reach the Internet of Things Massively in 2019 and 2020. The most notable developments compared to 4G and 4.5G (Advanced LTE) is that, apart from the increase in data speed, new cases of Internet use of Things and communication will require new types of improved performance; such as “low latency”, which provides real-time interaction with services using the cloud, which is key, for example, for stand-alone vehicles. In addition, low power consumption will allow connected objects to run for months or years without the need for human intervention.
Unlike the current Internet services of Things that sacrifice performance to take full advantage of existing wireless technologies (3G, 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc.), 5G networks will be designed to reach the level of performance you need the Internet of Things Massive. This will make it possible to perceive a completely ubiquitous and connected world.
The 5G technology is characterized by 8 specifications:
A data rate of up to 10Gbps -> 10 to 100 times better than the 4G and 4.5G networks
The latency of 1 millisecond
Broadband 1000 times faster per unit area
Up to 100 most connected devices per unit area (compared to 4G LTE networks)
Availability of 99.999%
Coverage of 100%
Reduction of 90% in the energy consumption of the network
Up to 10 years of battery life on low-power IoT (Internet of Things) devices
Introduction to 5G technology – Questions and Answers
What are the actual use cases of 5G technology?
Each new generation wireless network has come with new use cases. The 5G will make no
exception and will focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) and critical communications applications. In terms of agenda, we can mention the following use cases:
Fixed wireless access (from 2018-2019 onwards).
Improved mobile broadband with 4G recoil (since 209-2020-2021).
Massive M2M / IoT (since 2021-2022).
Critical ultra-low latency IoT communications (since 2024-2025).
What is the main difference between the 5G and previous mobile generations?
5G networks extend wireless broadband services beyond the mobile Internet to IoT and critical communications segments.
4.5G (Advanced LTE) networks doubled data speeds of 4G.
The 4G networks brought all IP services (voice and data), a fast broadband internet experience, with unified network architectures and protocols.
The 3.5G networks brought a true ubiquitous mobile Internet experience, unleashing the success of mobile application ecosystems.
3G networks brought a better mobile Internet experience but with limited success to unleash mass adoption of data services.
The 2.5G and 2.75G networks brought a slight improvement to data services, respectively, with GPRS and EDGE.
The 2G networks provided digital cellular telephone services and basic data services (SMS, WAP Internet browsing) as well as roaming services over networks.
1G networks brought mobility to analog voice services.
Some key applications, such as self-driving cars, require very aggressive latency (fast response time) while not requiring fast data speeds.
By contrast, enterprise cloud base services with mass data analysis will require speed improvements rather than latency improvements.
5G virtual networks adapted to each use case?
5G will be able to meet all communication needs, from low-power local area networks (LANs), such as home networks, for example, to wide area networks (WAN), with the correct latency/speed setting. The way this need is addressed today is by adding a wide variety of communication networks (WiFi, Z-Wave, LoRa, 3G, 4G, etc.). 5G is designed to allow simple virtual network configurations to better align network costs with the needs of applications. This new approach
When will the 5G arrive? Where is the 5G technology in terms of standardization and how long will this take?
Japan and Korea started working on the 5G requirements in 2013.
NTT Docomo conducted the first 5G experimental trials in 2014.
Samsung, Huawei, and Ericsson began to develop prototypes in 2013.
Korean SK Telecom plans 5G demo in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Ericsson and TeliaSonera plan to make the commercial service available in Stockholm and
Tallinn by the end of 2018.
The goal of Japan is to launch 5G for the Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020.
How fast will the adoption of 5G?
5G will achieve 40 percent population coverage and 1.5 billion subscriptions by 2024, making it the fastest generation to be implemented globally.
The experience and knowledge of MNO in the construction and operation of networks will be key to the success of 5G.
In addition to providing network services, mobile network operators will be able to develop and operate new IoT services.
capacity in the spectrum (especially if the bulk volume predicted in IoT occurs). MNOs should require that they then operate a new spectrum in the range of 6 to 300 GHz, which means massive investments in the network infrastructure.
To achieve the 1ms latency goal, 5G networks involve connectivity to the base station through optical fibers.
On the cost-saving side, 5G networks are planned to be able to support virtual networks such as low-performance, low-performance (LPLT) networks for low-cost IoTs.
Will 5G technology be secure?
Today’s 4G networks use the USIM application to perform robust mutual authentication between the user and their connected device and networks. The entity that hosts the USIM application can be a removable SIM card or an integrated UICC chip. This robust mutual authentication is crucial to enabling trusted services. Today’s security solutions are a blend of security in the periphery (device) and security in the kernel (network). In the future, several security frameworks may coexist and it is likely that 5G networks will reuse existing solutions that are now used for 4G and cloud networks (SE, HSM, certification, OTA provisioning, and KMS).
The standard for mutual robust authentication for 5G networks has not yet been finalized. The need for security, privacy, and trust will be as strong as the need for 4G, if not more, due to the increased impact of IoT services. Local secure elements in the devices can not only ensure access to the network but also support secure services such as emergency call management and virtual networks for IoT.
ytd2525 
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