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It's here. 5G. The next generation of mobile wireless voice and data communication. It's already enabling newly-evolved 5G smartphones and laptops, with more advancements to come. But what, exactly, is 5G technology?
At its most basic level, 5G is simply the successor to 4G/4G LTE, the previous giant leap in mobile wireless that arrived about 2010 and enabled a lot of the smartphone functionality we rely on today (highly complex apps, live video streaming, and so on). Every major wireless carrier is investing heavily in 5G, and new 5G-capable networks are under construction around the world.
Not all 5G services are identical. Yes, they’re all much faster than 4G and support far more connected devices. But owing to the physical transmission equipment that’s involved, the 1 Gbps+ downloads often attributed to 5G are only available in the most advanced 5G networks (with more hardware at more locations). Other 5G networks are built to transmit over low- and mid-band frequencies similar to those used today – yet still with significantly greater speed and capacity than 4G.
Put simply, 5G is better because it can transmit data over higher frequency radio waves than previous generations of mobile technology. If you imagine a radio wave as a long line with a series of up and down curves, higher frequency waves have more ups and downs per second -- and thus more data carrying capacity. Some 5G networks meet or exceed the upper range of home Wi-Fi systems (which generally fall between 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz) whereas 3G and 4G use much lower frequencies. Think MHz rather than GHz. [Remember, this is a simplified explanation.]
Of course, home Wi-Fi users know the downside to high-frequency radio waves: they don't carry very far and are easily disrupted by walls, objects, or electronic interference. So while 3G and 4G networks (and 5G networks utilizing lower band frequencies) can support large regions with just a few well positioned signal towers, the fastest 5G networks will involve both tall central signal towers and small, widely distributed cells or nodes placed closer to each service location (neighborhood, street, office building, etc.). This makes deploying extreme 5G more extensive and expensive than earlier networks. And it explains why the global 5G network build-out will take a while to reach everyone and offer different top-level speeds when it does.
Still, there's more to 5G than just the characteristics of radio waves and the small, localized hardware nodes required for data transmission at the highest, fastest frequencies (called the “millimeter wave” or “mmWave” spectrum). To take full advantage of 5G's extra bandwidth – and overcome its inherent limitations – telecom engineers also needed solutions to keep more devices connected at once and to preserve those connections as users move around. Here's what they came up with:
5G involves many more technological advancements than we’ve listed in this simplified narrative. For example, as part of the MIMO solution described above, the engineers also figured out how to limit one antenna’s interference with another. And in many 5G networks, good old 4G will still be used to manage the initial device-to-device connection before it gets passed up to the 5G network when possible.
So 5G follows 4G. That’s simple enough. Yet on a broader level, 5G’s vastly greater device capacity and maximum download speeds could revolutionize how we – and our growing list of connected devices – will use mobile data to manage and enhance our lives. Consider:
Pay particular attention to the final two listed items. Whereas faster throughput and more simultaneous connections have obvious benefits to consumers, it's extending the IoT and adding so-called “edge” computing power that could provide the biggest push (and a lot of the funding) for a full 5G build-out. Whereas the 4G infrastructure was paid-for largely by smartphone users, 5G networks could be financed heavily by the industries that are most anxious to exploit the IoT and edge computing.
So, are you ready for 5G? Depending on where you live, your next smartphone could be a 5G model. If you’re a highly mobile professional, you might want a 5G laptop.
Is it time for you to make the leap to 5G? When you want a 5G smartphone or are ready to take PC mobility to new levels, Lenovo has what you need to take full advantage of next-generation mobile connectivity.