5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It will take on a much larger role than all previous wireless generations added together. 5G will elevate the mobile network to not only interconnect people, but also interconnect and control machines, objects, and devices. It will deliver new levels of performance and efficiency that will create new user experiences and connect new industries. 5G can deliver consistently high multi-Gbps data rates that will peak up to 20 Gbps (at initial roll out 5Gbps), ultra-low latency, massive capacity, a more uniform user experience and it will expand into new RF spectrums, such as millimeter wave (mmWave).

5G is not like any of the previous wireless networks. It is a totally new platform that will enable a range of services and system interconnects that will drive and interconnect industries in revolutionary ways and provide a range of developments in future years that are yet to be imagined. It is said that this new platform will revolutionize almost all aspects of your personnel and public life, most household products, society, the automobile and industry from education to transportation to entertainment and on and on. (Worried yet?). Its potential impacts on the economics of industry, and work in particular, are said to be massive; potentially creating an additional $12 trillion in goods and services by 2035 and supporting up to 22 million jobs (are you now beginning to understand the potential impacts of this new technology?).

So what are the major connected services that this new technology will impact:

• Enhanced Mobile Broadband: 5G will not only make our smartphones better, but it will also open up new immersive experiences, such as VR and AR, with faster, more uniform data rates, lower latency, and lower cost-per-bit.
• Mission-Critical communications: 5G will enable new services that can support industries with ultra-reliable/available, low latency links—such as remote control of critical infrastructure, vehicles, and medical procedures.
• Massive Internet of Things (IoT): 5G will seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually everything through its ability to handle data rates, power and mobility to provide extremely low-cost solutions. Even your everyday devices such as washing machines, dryers, fridges and TV’s etc. are now becoming part of this massive Internet of Things (IoT).
• The 5G technology and infrastructure has been designed with forward looking open compatibility in mind I.E. the ability to flexibly support future services that are, as of today, unknown.

So what RF and data technologies are to wave their magic wands in order to make all this happen? Just like 4G LTE, 5G also uses the data carrying method (modulation) of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex(OFDM). However, the new 5G NR (New Radio) air interface will further enhance OFDM to deliver a much higher degree of flexibility and scalability, delivering faster and more reliable mobile broadband services compared to 4G LTE, but also expanding into new service areas, such as mission-critical applications and connecting to the the massive Internet of Things (IoT).

5G arrived in 2019 and is being rapidly rolled out by cell phone companies and others. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the standards body that is helping define 5G, decided to accelerate the initial phase of 5G NR (New Radio) – the new global 5G standard – to begin in 2019. This initial roll out will focus on the deployment of 5G NR enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) to boost capacity and provide a significantly enhanced mobile broadband experience (faster speeds, lower latencies, etc.). Its deployment will take many years and will run in parallel with the existing 4G networks.

One of the touted benefits of 5G is that it can support vastly higher data rates for mobile use than the current systems. This should both help reduce the cost per bit and maintain unlimited data plans as usage rapidly rises. Clearly such potentially vast data rates and near instantaneous connectivity (as low as 1mS latency) will bring other functionality such as real time automobile control and virtual reality (VR) to users. The system is also far more unified than anything that came before. Supporting new services such as mission-critical communications and the massive IoT. 5G will also natively support all spectrum types (licensed, shared, unlicensed) and frequency bands (low, mid &  high), a wide range of deployment models from traditional macro-cells to hotspots, as well as new ways to interconnect, including device-to-device and multi-hop mesh.

Right now there is a ‘race on’ by all technology developed countries like China, America, Britain and Europe to develop this technology. There are potentially billions and billions of dollars to be made as this technology takes over control of all things around you, and interconnects us all via a massive Internet of Things (IoT). Right now nine companies sell 5G radio hardware and 5G systems for carriers: Altiostar, Cisco Systems, Datang Telecom, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and ZTE.

So to sum up. A 5G user will be able to seamlessly use 5G, 4G, and Wi-Fi since 5G will interwork both with 4G and Wi-Fi, allowing a user to simultaneously be connected to 5G New Radio (NR), LTE or Wi-Fi. Similar to Wi-Fi, 5G NR will also be designed for unlicensed spectrum without requiring access to licensed spectrum, which allows more entities to deploy 5G and use all the benefits of 5G technology.