[Njtechdiv] What It Will Mean To Have 5G

Tue Feb 5 22:57:14 UTC 2019

Thank you for sharing this.  I feel that this is an important topic.  In 
fact, I'm going to talk about this on Kevin's Consulting Live.

On 2/5/2019 4:44 PM, Milena via Njtechdiv wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> An article about 5g that appeared in the New York Times in early
> January.  I thought you might be interested to know what this upgrade will do to technology.
>   
> What Is 5G? Here’s What You Need to Know About the New Network
> The transition to new fifth-generation cellular networks, known as 5G, will
> affect how you use smartphones and many other devices. Let’s talk about the
> essentials.
> In 2019, a big technology shift will finally begin. It’s a once-in-a-decade
> upgrade to our wireless systems that will start reaching mobile phone users in a
> matter of months.
> But this is not just about faster smartphones. The transition to new
> fifth-generation cellular networks — known as 5G for short — will also affect
> many other kinds of devices, including industrial robots, security cameras,
> drones and cars that send traffic data to one another. This new era will leap
> ahead of current wireless technology, known as 4G, by offering mobile internet
> speeds that will let people download entire movies within seconds and most
> likely bring big changes to video games, sports and shopping.
> Officials in the United States and China see 5G networks as a competitive edge.
> The faster networks could help spread the use of artificial intelligence and
> other cutting-edge technologies.
> Expect to hear more about 5G soon at events like the MWC Barcelona (formerly the
> Mobile World Congress) in February in Spain. Wireless service providers
> including AT&T and Verizon are already talking up 5G. And device makers are
> previewing gadgets that will work with the technology.
>   [5G was one of the main themes at this year’s CES, the world’s most important
> tech conference.]
> Samsung recently demonstrated prototypes of 5G smartphones that are expected to
> operate on both Verizon and AT&T networks. Many other manufacturers are racing
> to follow suit, though Apple is not expected in the initial 5G wave. Analysts
> predict that iPhones with the new technology won’t arrive until 2020. An Apple
> spokeswoman declined to comment.
> Here’s what you need to know.
> What exactly is 5G?
> Strictly speaking, 5G is a set of technical ground rules that define the
> workings of a cellular network, including the radio frequencies used and how
> various components like computer chips and antennas handle radio signals and
> exchange data.
> Since the first cellphones were demonstrated in the 1970s, engineers from
> multiple companies have convened to agree on new sets of specifications for
> cellular networks, which are designated a new technology generation every decade
> or so. To get the benefits of 5G, users will have to buy new phones, while
> carriers will need to install new transmission equipment to offer the faster
> service.
> [One of China’s biggest tech companies is at the center of the fight over the
> future of 5G.]
> How fast will 5G be?
> The answer depends on where you live, which wireless services you use and when
> you decide to take the 5G plunge.
> Qualcomm, the wireless chip maker, said it had demonstrated peak 5G download
> speeds of 4.5 gigabits a second, but predicts initial median speeds of about 1.4
> gigabits. That translates to roughly 20 times faster than the current 4G
> experience.
>   
> The 5G speeds will be particularly noticeable in higher-quality streaming video.
> And downloading a typical movie at the median speeds cited by Qualcomm would
> take 17 seconds with 5G, compared with six minutes for 4G.
> Rather than remembering to download a season of a favorite TV show before
> heading to the airport, for example, you could do it while in line to board a
> plane, said Justin Denison, a Samsung senior vice president.
> Is that the only speed that matters?
> No. There’s another kind of speed, a lag known as latency, that may become even
> more important with 5G.
> Issue a command now on a smartphone — like starting a web search — and the
> response isn’t exactly immediate. A lag of 50 to several hundred milliseconds is
> common, partly because signals often must pass between different carrier
> switching centers; 5G, which uses newer networking technology, was designed to
> reduce latency down to a few milliseconds. It was also designed to deliver
> signals more reliably than earlier cellular networks, which today frequently
> drop bits of data that aren’t essential for tasks like watching movies on a
> phone.
> That improvement could bring many benefits, notably in fields such as virtual
> reality. The highest-quality VR applications now typically require bulky
> headsets that are connected by wire to nearby personal computers that generate
> 3-D images. With 5G, that would be off-loaded wirelessly to other machines,
> freeing users to move and making it easier to develop goggles the size of
> eyeglasses, said Cristiano Amon, president of Qualcomm’s semiconductor business.
> In the related field of augmented reality, people could point a smartphone
> camera at a football game and see both live video on the display and
> superimposed player statistics or other data, said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst
> at Moor Insights & Strategy.
> And 5G’s impact extends to medicine and other fields that increasingly rely on
> high-speed connections.
> “If you talk about remote surgery or connected cars, you don’t want latency
> times to be too long,” said Fredrik Jejdling, an executive vice president at
> Ericsson, a maker of cellular equipment.
> When will 5G be here?
> The answer for smartphone users in the United States appears to be by the second
> quarter of 2019; precise timing is uncertain.
> AT&T has actually switched on its mobile 5G service in 12 cities, with seven
> more targeted in its initial rollout plan. But smartphones aren’t ready yet for
> a direct connection to 5G networks. So AT&T will initially market a 5G hot-spot
> device, made by Netgear, that can funnel wireless broadband connections to
> nearby phones and computers using Wi-Fi.
> Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs and the carrier’s chief technology
> officer, said the first Samsung smartphones for AT&T’s 5G network will be
> available in the first half of 2019.
> Verizon is already selling a 5G-branded service — based on its own variant of
> the technology — to provide wireless internet connections to homes in limited
> parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. The carrier predicts
> that it will begin serving smartphone users in the first half of 2019, without
> identifying cities or specific timing.
> [Who decides where 5G cell service will go?]
> Sprint said it might also switch on a 5G service first for smartphones in 2019,
> initially targeting nine American cities. Its prospective merger partner,
> T-Mobile, has stressed a nationwide 5G launch in 2020, but said it was
> installing gear in 30 cities that would be ready when 5G smartphones appeared in
> 2019.
> Countries expected to follow the United States with 2019 rollouts of 5G include
> Britain, Germany, Switzerland, China, South Korea and Australia, according to a
> timetable compiled by Qualcomm.
> ADVERTISEMENT
> [In the 5G race, the United States is pushing its allies to fight back against
> China’s Huawei.]
> Will consumers see the full benefits of 5G?
> Verizon and AT&T will introduce their 5G offerings with the first use of high
> frequencies that are known by the phrase “millimeter wave.” Using this, the
> wireless providers can pump data at high speeds, but the signals don’t travel as
> far. So the two carriers are expected to first target densely populated areas —
> “parts or pockets” of cities, as AT&T’s Mr. Fuetsch put it.
> Sprint and T-Mobile plan to start with lower frequencies. The result may be
> somewhat slower initial speeds but broader range, said Michael Thelander,
> president of Signals Research, a wireless consultancy.
> Still, 5G’s full benefits aren’t expected until American carriers upgrade key
> central switching equipment, which may not happen until late 2019 or sometime in
> 2020.
> So should I buy a smartphone that works with 5G right away?
> A consumer study sponsored by Intel in August found that 58 percent of Americans
> were not knowledgeable about 5G or had not heard of it, though another survey in
> December by the chip maker indicated solid demand once the benefits were
> explained.
> Confusion actually could increase over the short term because of some technical
> details.
> You have a lot to consider. For example, while Verizon and AT&T plan to later
> add 5G services based on lower frequencies that offer wider coverage, the first
> 5G handsets may not work with those portions of their networks. So the reach of
> 5G signals for those phones may remain limited.
> “I wouldn’t buy a 5G phone until it supports 5G in one of the lower-frequency
> bands,” Mr. Thelander said. “For all operators but Sprint, this means at least
> late 2019, and more likely 2020.”
> A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 1, 2019, on Page B1 of the
> New York edition with the headline: What 5G Will Mean When It Arrives This Year.
>
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