THE EVOLUTION OF 5G TECHNOLOGY: EXPLAINED

Introduction

5G is the fifth generation of cellular technology. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks.
5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.

Background

"G" stands for "GENERATION". While connected to the internet, the speed of the connection depends upon the signal strength that is shown in abbreviations like 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. on any mobile device.
Each generation of wireless broadband is defined as a set of telephone network standards that describe the technological implementation of the system.
For the comparison of 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G we need to understand the key features of all these technologies i.e Network Standards.

Network Standards in previous Generations of Mobile Networks:

First generation - 1G

1980s: 1G delivered analog voice.

Second generation - 2G

Early 1990s: 2G introduced digital voice (e.g. CDMA- Code Division Multiple Access).

Third generation - 3G

Early 2000s: 3G brought mobile data (e.g. CDMA2000).

Fourth generation - 4G LTE

2010s: 4G LTE ushered in the era of mobile broadband.

1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G all led to 5G, which is designed to provide more connectivity than was ever available before.

Note: Network Standards LTE (4G), GSM (3G & 2G), CDMA (3G & 2G), 5G and ISM: The fundamental differences between these four modern technologies are the way they transmit and receive information.

Decoding the Mobile Phone Generations and the Network Standards

ISM

Industrial, scientific and medical radio bands reserved for medical, scientific and industrial use and not intended for telecommunication.
Originally this band of radio frequencies was intended for use in industrial, scientific and medical ISM machines that operate at this range in order not to interfere with the wider.

1G

1G or (1-G) refers to the first generation of wireless telephone technology (mobile telecommunications).
These are the analog telecommunication standards that were introduced in 1979 and the early to mid-1980s and continued until being replaced by 2G digital telecommunications.
The main difference between these two mobile telephone generations is that in 1G systems the audio was encoded as analog radio signals, while 2G networks were entirely digital.

Digital vs Analog

1G used Analog signals. The next Generations started using Digital signals. So, let us firstly understand the differences between the two.

Both Digital and Analog recordings transform sound signals into electrical signal. While performing that, analog use different method to replicate the original sound waves than digital.

The major difference between both signals is that the analog signals have continuous electrical signals, while digital signals have non-continuous electrical signals.

An analog signal is a continuous wave form that changes smoothly over time.

A digital signal is discrete. It can have only a limited number of defined values, often as simple as 1 and 0.

2G

2-G provides three primary benefits over their predecessors:

phone conversations are digitally encrypted;
2G systems are significantly more efficient on the spectrum allowing for far greater mobile phone penetration levels; and
2G introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS (Short Message Service) plain text-based messages.

2G technologies enable the various mobile phone networks to provide the services such as text messages, picture messages and MMS (Multimedia Message Service).
Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland in 1991.

GSM (2G)

GSM is an abbreviation for Global System for Mobile Communication.
It describes the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets.
GSM is a digital cellular technology used to transmit data and voice communication at a frequency range of 850MHz to 1900MHz.
GSM technology uses a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique to transmit data.
The GSM system converts the data into a digital signal and sends it through two different time stamped channels at a rate between 64 kbps and 120 kbps.

3G

It is the upgrade for 2.5G GPRS and 2.75G EDGE networks, for faster data transfer.
3G technology provides an information transfer rate of at least 144 kbit/s.
Later 3G releases, often denoted 3.5G and 3.75G, also provide mobile broadband access of several Mbit/s to smartphones and mobile modems in laptop computers.
This ensures it can be applied to wireless voice telephony, mobile Internet access, fixed wireless Internet access, video calls and mobile TV technologies.
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards for sending voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites.

CDMA (3G)

CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access. It is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies,
CDMA uses a multiple access mode of communication.
Here, several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communication channel.
This allows several users to share a band of frequencies.
CDMA allows up to 61 concurrent users in a 1.2288 MHz channel by processing each voice packet with two PN (pseudo-noise) codes.
To permit this without undue interference between the users, CDMA employs spread spectrum technology and a special coding scheme (where each transmitter is assigned a code).
This is where several transmissions are made over the same channel simultaneously. Using a speed spectrum, each transmission is assigned a unique code that corresponds to the source and destination of the signal.
The technology is commonly used in ultra-high-frequency (UHF) cellular telephone systems, bands ranging between the 800-MHz and 1.9-GHz.

4G

4G provides, in addition to the usual voice and other services of 3G, mobile broadband Internet access, for example to laptops with wireless modems, to smartphones, and to other mobile devices.
Potential and current applications include amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing, 3D television, and cloud computing.
Network Standard: LTE (Long Term Evolution)

LTE (4G)

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a 4G communication standard designed to be 10 times faster than standard 3G.
The technology provides IP-Based communication of voice and multimedia and streaming at between 100 Mbit per sec and 1 Gbit per second.
IP stands for "Internet Protocol," which is the set of rules governing the format of data sent via the internet or local network.
In essence, IP addresses are the identifier that allows information to be sent between devices on a network.
LTE has an algorithm that is able to send large chunks of data via IP. This approach streamlines the traffic and reduces latency.
LTE offers higher peak data transfer rates than 3G, initially up to 100 Mbps downstream and 30 Mbps upstream. It provides reduced latency and scalable bandwidth capacity.

Latency is a measure of delay. In a network, latency measures the time it takes for some data to get to its destination across the network. It is usually measured as a round trip delay - the time taken for information to get to its destination and back again.

5G

5G was the next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G/IMT-Advanced standards.
5G networks clubbed with Network Slicing Architecture enables telecom operators to offer on-demand tailored connectivity to their users that is adhered to Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Such customized network capabilities comprise latency, data speed, latency, reliability, quality, services, and security.
5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.
Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.
Network Standard: MIMO

Network Slicing

5G network slicing is the use of network virtualization to divide single network connections into multiple distinct virtual connections that provide different amounts of resources to different types of traffic.

MIMO (5G)

MIMO or ‘multiple-input, multiple-output’ is a wireless technology/ radio antenna technology that, when deployed, uses multiple antennas at both the source (transmitter) and the destination (receiver).
This allows for more data to be sent and received at the same time, unlike in conventional wireless communications where only a single antenna is used.
MIMO utilises a natural radio-wave phenomenon known as ‘multipath’ or ‘multipath wave propagation’.
In the past, multipath caused interference and significantly slowed down wireless networks. However now, by using multiple smart transmitters and receivers, MIMO technology adds another dimension and increases performance and range.
By enabling antennas to combine their data streams that are arriving from different paths at different times, receiver signal-capturing is greatly increased using MIMO.

Technology underlying 5G

5G is based on OFDM (Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing), a method of modulating a digital signal across several different channels to reduce interference.
This could provide more 5G access to more people and things for a variety of different use cases.
5G will bring wider bandwidths by expanding the usage of spectrum resources, from sub-3 GHz used in 4G to 100 GHz and beyond.
5G can operate in both lower bands (e.g., sub-6 GHz) as well as mmWave (e.g., 24 GHz and up), which will bring extreme capacity, multi-Gbps throughput, and low latency.
5G is designed to not only deliver faster, better mobile broadband services compared to 4G LTE, but can also expand into new service areas such as mission-critical communications and connecting the massive IoT-factory, the connected car, or the smart energy grid..

Closing Thoughts

5G technology will spur leaps in the coverage, capacity and density of wireless networks.
It will power a surge in IoT technology and usher in a new era of technological capabilities.