The need for speed has existed since forever. It started off with the fastest hunter in primitive times and it has now come to the fastest internet. How did this happen? Well, the need to communicate remotely with transferring data in less time got the wheels spinning. This advancement was lucrative. The entertainment industry jumped in and made a way to watch movies online.
The move did not stop here and other industry decided to jump in. High speeds lead to gaming innovation. Gamers would make up networks and play as a group. This was accomplished using PCs and consoles and had yet to come at par. It did not take long for them to jump in take advantage of it.
The gaming industry decided to expand and come up with mobile games. Simple in the beginning, these games are more complex and better in entertainment as the industry grew. High speeds meant a lot more room for mobile developers and old operating systems were not enough. The speeds kept increasing and the mobile industry came up for smartphones to utilize this technology.
The race of bigger, better and faster is never-ending. Right now, we’ve got details of what internet has to offer. 5G was around the corner and it was past. Yep, that’s right the past is gone and 5G is here. Read on to get the latest on updates of board leaders of this technology!
Table of Contents
Four Gs
The easiest way to categorize mobile internet was to put a number before the word generation. The history of mobile communication is older than you may expect. It has taken four decades to get the speeds that we have today. Here’s a brief story of each generation:
1. 1G
First launched in 1970, the progress was slow. It was 20 years before this industry could secure 20 million subscribers around the globe. That’s slow, right? That is 1 million subscribers a decade. This era was more about coining new terms and names for technologies. Little progress was made but it was a jump ahead when putting against the wired telephones. Terms like “cell phone” to the emergence and “Cellular” would be the industry norm. 1G analog system used honeycomb cells using same frequencies to make sure that the network connectivity was stable.
GSM was the key innovation of this era. The service offering was only limited to voice calls. These calls would use towers exchanging data packets to deliver this service.
2. 2G
GSM technology with 2G took the industry to another level. The collaboration of the two came up with a text messaging service. This was back in 1993, two, and a half-decade back! This was just a stepping stone and this paved way for voicemail and basic web connectivity.
There was relative silence for the next few years. The Late 90s was the time when mobile data was launched. WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) introduced commercial use for mobile internet. Mobile phones were now the center of attraction. These internet using devices were more like mini PCs. These phones were available in the market around the year 2000.
This does sound promising but it was not so simple. Touchscreen phones were not really out yet. Screen navigation was difficult and there was not much content to view anyways. WAP did not stay around for long and was replaced by EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution).
3. 3G
Launching 3G was different from its predecessors. International Telecommunication Union approved it sometime around 2003. The third generation of mobile internet was a stride ahead. 3G came with a higher speed with greater bandwidth. This speed was a real encouragement for mobile phone companies. These speeds and this generation can be deemed responsible for the introduction of smartphones.
Speeds up to 21Mbps were achieved. This wireless connectivity was the reason app developers made games for mobiles. This brought the real mobile phone revolution. Permit-validation made 3G safer than 1G and 2G. Greater bandwidth opened the doors for crystal-clear voice calls. This ultimately led to HD video calls and teleconferencing.
4. 4G
Launching 4g was a bit of a problem. Not meeting standards caused delay. Things lite transmission rates and security needed improvements. Hard work paid off and Internet Protocol turned out to be the key. The gaps were filled and 4G was launched around 2008. to drive it. Voice quality improved and phone calls were smoother and clearer. This was also helping in reducing latency. LTE and WiMAX were later launched under the 4G umbrella.
5G in all its glory
4G speeds are impressive but so is every upgrade. 2G was better than1G and 4G in comparison to 3G. Developers always find a way to consume the speed and low latency. Better graphics, greater bandwidth consumption. This leads to the need for wanting more!
4G has been around for a while and it is time to make way. Oh yes, it is! 5G has arrived!!
Expectations
With details yet to be shared, the expectation is certainly high. Fats connectivity and high speeds are the obvious improvements to look for. It is also safe to assume lower latency will come with 5g. This sounds sweet for the gaming community out there. Gigabit speeds do not look far-fetched. Fast downloading with no lag. Terrific, right?
5G Technology
5G uses a system of cells for data transmission. These cell sites are divided into small territories for data distribution. Data is transmitted through radio waves. The cell site is connected to a backbone network. This does not necessarily have to be a wired connection. The cell can wirelessly be connected to the backbone as well.
1. Frequencies
We know that data transmission in 5G takes place using radio waves. Like radio, a frequency is set in order to transmit data but the communication here is two way. Frequencies above and below 6GHz are used in 5g. 5G uses already existing Wi-Fi bands and networks. The difference, however, comes in coding and channels. It uses flexible coding and bigger channels to attain better speeds than LTE.
While there is a wide spectrum of frequencies to choose from, 5G on higher frequencies is the real deal. These high frequencies are known as millimeter waves. The existing frequencies have a load of their own. High frequencies have not been commonly used and are available for commercial use.
2. Encoding
4G and 5G use somewhat similar coding. 4G used OFDMA multiplexing and 5G uses OFDM. The air interface is designed in an efficient manner. This helps in lower latency and greater efficiency than 4G.
5G network balances smaller cells and is capable of changing shapes and sizes. Smart right? This is like movies stuff. This does sound like AI. What sounds better is the fact that 5gG can simply attain higher speeds by upgrading antenna technology.
Countries to launch 5G
Competition is everything in evolution. Many countries racing to be the first one to launch 5G, the view is spectacular. Service providers have been mingling with vendors and mobile companies to test and try 5G capabilities. We’ve lined up a few countries leading this race to be the fastest on the web.
1. USA
Like almost everything else, USA is an advantage when it comes to 5G. Spectrum holding puts them in a margin ahead of others. This is not it, they also lead the path in spectrum efficiency and repurposing of broadcast spectrum for broadband. Local authorities holding power over zoning cells for creating networks may slow down this pace.
The pressure was released last year when FCC opened GHz of high frequency for wire and wireless broadband for 5G. Many vendors and service providers have already started a collaboration for test runs and optimization of 5G in the country.
2. China
China is not too behind. GSMA estimates China to be a forty percent shareholder when it comes to 5G connections worldwide. According to a research conducted by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology is the research arm of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), 5G may take 3.2% share in the GDP of the country. This leads to new companies entering their market presenting a large number of employment opportunities.
3. South Korea
Companies have already started competing for each other in South Korea. The race is to be the first 5G network of the country. According to reports 3.5 GHz and 28GHz frequencies may be deployed for the launch. There may be a trial run Bo Kwang, Gangneung, Jeongseon, Pyeongchang, and Seoul.
4. Japan
With all this happening in the global technology arena. Japan could not stay behind. A few companies have been rumored to have demonstrated an advanced security service based on 5G network technology. The aim was to determine the effectiveness of the service in handling security for the opening ceremonies of the 2020 Olympics. The trial involved the use of drones, HD 4K camera, and smartphones as well as artificial intelligence (AI).
