5G is the fifth generation of the mobile network that promises higher connection speeds and low latency – everything you need to know about tomorrow’s technology. The world of mobile telephony is constantly updated from many different points of view. Think, in this sense, of the abysmal distance between the first mobile phone models and the current smartphones: in terms of materials used, screen size, and applications and functionality. The same goes for wireless connectivity services or those that allow a smartphone to connect to the Internet through a SIM card and a subscription to any telephone operator.
From this point of view, 5G coverage represents the most recent technological evolutions available: a set of software and hardware that guarantee a level of efficiency and versatility never seen before. 5G phones can transmit data up to a hundred times faster than the previous generation (4G), but that’s not all. A 5G antenna allows you to manage a much higher number of devices per single unit of surface and, at the same time, promises a reduction in energy consumption of 90% on every single bit of information transmitted. And again, the 5G network optimizes resources, thanks to dynamic management of the available bandwidth, which will guarantee an almost real-time response even for the most critical applications.
In short, 5G smartphones are, in effect, the future of telephony. Therefore, it is not surprising that many people carry out research every day in this sense: research aimed at understanding how 5G works, but research aimed at dispelling certain legends. Subways. Unfortunately, in recent years, fake news has also touched the world of technology: generating unjustified alarmism relating to 5G and health and disseminating completely erroneous information, often invented from scratch, on a hypothetical dangerous 5G.
What 5G Is, And How Does It Work
- Before going into the merits of the characteristics of antennas and 5G smartphones, it will certainly be useful first to explain what 5G is in more general terms. The acronym 5G stands for “5th Generation” and refers to the fifth generation of technologies dedicated to the mobile world: a series of standards entered into global distribution starting from 2019, which are slowly gaining ground.
- The 5G coverage allows you to take smartphone connectivity to a level never seen before, both speed and versatility. The 5G network takes full advantage of cloud technologies and is equipped with available roaming functionality between Wi-Fi access and mobile phone. 5G phones can therefore maintain the connection without performing new authentication processes, even if they move from an internal wireless network to an external wireless network.
- 5G technology promises to transmit data at a potential maximum speed of 10 gigabits per second.
- To get an idea of the qualitative leap promised by the 5G network, consider that the past generation (which reached its peak with 4G LTE connectivity) guarantees a peak speed of between 100 and 150 megabits per second. This means that, theoretically, a 5G smartphone could transmit data at a rate up to 100 times faster than that of a smartphone with last generation connectivity.
- “Density” also increases by about 100 times: a term used to indicate the number of devices capable of connecting to the network per unit of surface area (in the case of 5G, we are talking about one million devices per square kilometer). Finally, it improves the “latency”, the time interval that can be found between sending a certain signal and its reception. With 4G connections, latency is between 40 and 50 milliseconds, while under 5G coverage, it is estimated that this time will drop significantly, reaching 5-10 milliseconds.
The Best 5G Smartphones
The market has multiple mobile phone models that can pick up 5G coverage for at least a couple of years now. For example, Apple started selling 5G phones in October 2020 with the release of the iPhone 12. Since then, the following models have all been equipped with the ability to take advantage of 5G coverage, starting with the “mini”, “Pro”, and “Pro Max” variants of the iPhone above 12. Today the top-of-the-range 5G smartphone of the company Cupertino is the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which, according to its manufacturers, is equipped with the “fastest chip in the world”.
Samsung had instead embraced 5G technology already in 2021, with a variant of its Galaxy S10: the first mobile phone in the world, among those on the market, technically capable of picking up the signal of a 5G antenna. Since then, the South Korean multinational has launched over ten 5G smartphones on the market, starting with the Galaxy Note (Note 10 5G, Note 20 Ultra 5G), up to the most recent models of Flip and Fold: two different types of folding smartphones with touch screens.
Even LG and Oppo had focused strongly on 5G even before its actual widespread distribution: the LT V50 ThinQ 5G and Oppo Reno 5G models were put on the market a few months after the launch of the Galaxy above S10. Even the subsequent Mi 10 was able to connect to the 5G network and its variants Mi 10T, Mi 10 Live, and Mi 10t Lite. The most recent Xiaomi 5G is Mi 11 and 11T Pro, characterized by cameras, film effects and filters that promise to edit video files like real professionals.
The Frequencies Of 5G
- Another distinctive aspect of 5G is linked to frequencies, i.e. the type of wave used for data transmission. The previous generation networks tend to use large repeaters designed to send signals over a long distance with frequencies below 6 GHz.
- These devices will not allow the 5G network to achieve the promised service speed, and, as a result, new transmission solutions are expected to be employed. One of these involves the installation of nodes with a millimeter frequency that allows the passage of waves with a higher frequency. For example, high waves between 20 GHz and 100 GHz can transmit signals much faster than lower frequency bands.
- Thanks to the millimeter frequency nodes, high tides will be able to “jump” from one point to another, increasing 5G coverage and, at the same time, lowering latency.
- Another feature that helps to understand how 5G works are network slicing: a particular network architecture that allows various mobile connectivity service providers to dedicate individual network “slices” (called “slices ”) to personal uses.
- Therefore, with network slicing, it is possible to save a specific web section for the transmission of data relating to entertainment, just as it is possible to dedicate a particular portion to data transmission from system to system.
- This architecture will also make it possible to leave space free for so-called critical data: data such as those dedicated to emergency services and strategic infrastructures and those used by self-driving vehicles. Thanks to network slicing, this particular portion of 5G access can never be occupied by other types of service.
- Last but not least, there is beamforming: a signal processing technique that allows you to concentrate the various data intended for a single user in a single moment in a single stream.
5G, A Glossary Of Terms
It is certainly useful to handle even the most technical glossary to get more into the merits of the 5G matter. Words, acronyms, and acronyms allow you to go into the details of these new technologies and explain them more accurately and comprehensively. For example, 5G NR distinguishes new generation transmitters from previous ones. The acronym NR stands for New Radio, and the companies that use it claim to have placed transmitters completely in 5G. The concept of 5G NR goes more or less hand in hand with that of 5G SA or 5G Standalone: a whole 5G network that does not rely on a pre-existing network.
In contrast, the 5G NSA ( Non-Standalone ) network uses previous LTE infrastructures. This network produces an optimization that leads to significant results somewhere between 4G and 5G NR. Then there are the technical terms related to the world of electromagnetic waves and radio frequencies, such as “spectrum”. The electromagnetic spectrum is the set of all possible frequencies: it is divided into a central part, called the “visible spectrum”, the one detectable by the human eye, and then into two portions dedicated to frequencies with shorter and longer wavelengths than the visible spectrum.
Low-frequency waves are those with greater carrying capacity, but, at the same time, they allow to reach a limited speed. Conversely, high-frequency waves are much faster and carry more data but have a lower range. The same goes for millimeter waves: high-frequency waves, between 24 GHz and 100 GHz. We find the so-called “medium band “between low-frequency and millimeter waves: a section of the spectrum that is generally considered an excellent compromise between range and data transmission speed.
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