5G: Main Driving Forces
This article was created from a transcription of the Pawel Wypychowski interview by Nick Pineault: "Why 5G Radiation Might Be Worse Even At A Lower Power".
Main driving forces of the 5G technology:
Growing consumer demand for high speed transmission: 4k & 8k video is estimated to account for ~80% of traffic
- Wireless connection everywhere: IoT (each and every thing): Connected bikes, cars, buses, trains, airplanes.
- Vehicle to vehicle
- Vehicle to infrastructure
- More efficient dynamic bandwidth management for telecom service providers
- Telecom service providers pay for bandwidth to the government: want to use the frequencies they buy most efficiently: best service possible for as many customers as possible
5G frequency range:
Frequency #1: Under 7Ghz -> existing spectrum. This allows telecoms to use existing infrastructure and focuses on coverage. Cannot transmit fast rates to many consumers at this range.
Frequency #2: 24 - 71 Ghz: Millimeter waves: focus on capacity and data speed. Range is much shorter.
- Speed requires bandwidth & channel quality.
- Shannon law: C = B * log2 * (1 + S/N) - C = channel capacity (information rate) - B = channel bandwidth (paid in licensed bands) (more bandwidth = more lanes -> information highway) - S/N = Signal to Noise (SNR) ratio - function of signal quality, power and the characteristics of the channel (Noise is other devices and other frequencies as well as space. Air is not a good conductor-> technically speaking fiber optic is a billion times more efficient) - SNR drops down because of interferences -> 5G uses massive MIMO to reduce interference - To increase the information rate, the SNR ratio and the allocated bandwidth have to be traded against each other (channel quality) - Example: in an outdoor environment with just free space loss (lower frequency), a 6 Mbps signal can actually be decoded 7 times further away than 54 Mbps - Millimeter waves have this problem attenuated: if you want to reach people with faster speeds in free space
Millimeter waves: is it something really new?
You have here a document from 1974: “Atmospheric effects on terrestrial Millimeter-wave communications” Millimeter waves not a technological breakthrough in any way: talked about for military use back in 1974.
What’s new is: Using it for consumer technology on a mass scale
Millimeter waves: technology used in airport scanners (~24Ghz): higher frequency compared to cell phones (900Mhz - 3Ghz), wifi router (2.4-5.8Ghz)
Millimeter waves are harder to detect on a consumer level with a meter because it is in the higher frequencies.
Attenuation is higher in the air because of the water content and the oxygen.
Big limitation for millimetre wave range: very big attenuation in free space; cannot reach very far. What does this mean: if the millimetre wave 5g communication is installed in one area: you need lots of base stations— unlike current towers, will be something the size of a book but it will have to be installed every two or three buildings. Network provider has to pay for this infrastructure: doesn’t make economic sense in low populated areas: economics are on our side if you are willing to leave the city center.
Example of 5g in real life: 60Ghz millimetre wave wifi for 5g “smart tourism” for uk. Already exists. 5G antenna is very small, will be installed everywhere in the region where coverage is required: in the streets, under your feet
Example #2: 4k and 8k high definition videos were transmitted from a 5g base station installes along the railroad, with 4.5Ghz and 28Ghz band, to a 5g mobile station located inside a train running at 90km/h, projecting the videos on a large display in real time. In addition the videos were transmitted to 40 smartphones on the train via wireless LAN.
Example #3: Millimetre range technology is still under development : standards are still being established and industry is in “testing mode”
MIMO (multiple input - multiple output): usual antenna in a massive MIMO 5G installation is actually made from 256 elements: each element is a small antenna.
New smartphones will use beams reflected by objects to really be able to provide service.