What's behind the 5G technology

The revolution in our way of communicating has a name and a date for its launch. 5G technology will reach our devices in the year 2020 and will be a revolution that will change our world into a society with millions of connected objects and almost immediate response times.

The implementation of 5G is on the horizon and is the subject of debate all over the world, and not in vain. This new generation of telecommunications will not only make the Internet faster, but will also progressively change the way we live and interact with the world around us. In the end, it will bring about the fourth Industrial Revolution.

What is 5G technology and what are the differences between 4G and 5G?

5G is the next generation of telecommunications that promises to change the way we live. In addition to providing a speed that allows 100 high-definition videos to be viewed simultaneously, it also provides less latency, in other words, less time between the emission and reception of information, for the establishment of an action, such as sending a message. In fact, the latency will be so minimal that it will exceed the reaction time of a human being.

It will allow the use of multiple parallel services, so that it will be possible to know the weather and location while talking to another person, without having to interrupt actions to make way for others.

Figure 1-. The evolution of 5G

In recent years the evolution of connection and data transmission of our mobile terminals has not ceased to evolve and improve our way of communicating. Do you know what the letters that appear on your mobile phone when you connect to a data tariff mean? Let's review the latest changes in mobile transmission.

• GSM was responsible for the first mobile data connections and transmission. Thanks to this standard we could send up to 10 SMS per minute.
• GRSM's evolution came with the GRSM which expanded the bandwidth of GSM and allowed us to have a connection speed of up to 114 Kb per second.
• Edge or EGPRS: in many occasions you can see it in the screen of your mobile summarized in the letter E, we talk about an improved GPRS that extends up to 384 Kb the connection speed of your mobile phone.
• 3G: this is the first great revolution in the world of mobile connections and opens the door to smartphones as we have understood them in recent years. The connection speed is up to 2 megabits per second, a clear improvement that allows us to start surfing the Internet through our mobile terminals.
• H+: You can also see this on your mobile screen many times (especially if you are on the road) and it is an improvement on the technical conditions of 3G as it increases the connection speed to 14 megabits.
• 4G: The evolution of the 3G comes from the hand of the 4G whose figures are summarized in 100 megabits in movement and up to one gigabit in rest. In recent years a new evolution has been reached, the 4G LTE that prepares the ground for the arrival of the 5G.

What steps are being taken to implement it? The importance of the implementation of 5G goes beyond the response or connection speed of mobile phones and is a real revolution that will affect our urban environment, through the Smart City, and the way we have to relate, do business or exchange data.

How will 5G change our lives?

The Andalusian blog of Spain, summarizes it perfectly. With the arrival of 5G we are talking about much more than a change for the better in our connection and data transmission speed.  The experts agree that more than an evolution we are talking about a revolution that will turn our world into hyperconnected and our cities into an intelligent environment that will transmit and receive millions of data instantly. What are the axes of this 5G revolution and why is it indispensable in the digital transformation?

• Robotics: Instant communications facilitate the centralization of operations and simplify access to specialized professionals without the need to travel. Applied to robotics, 5G's latency allows for real-time remote machinery work and information exchange between automated vehicles for autonomous work. In terms of production, mobile robots could be used to optimize logistics, transport materials between work cells, and to or from warehouses.
• Smart City: millions of sensors and connected devices that receive and send information from their users and administrations to achieve total interaction and an improvement in the quality of life of its inhabitants. Without the 5G, the Smart City cannot respond to all this flow of information. Remember the keys to a Smart City?
• Industry 4.0: Without the data transmission speed that the 5G will bring, it is unthinkable the complete development of the concept of Connected Industry or Industry 4.0 that is currently setting its bases and that will bring these important changes in the current manufacturing processes that can be summarized in these keys.
• Internet of Things: Linked to these two concepts is the development of the Internet of Things. Without a speed of data transmission and an instantaneous response time, the concept of the Internet of Things will not be able to develop in all its amplitude or generate the transformation foreseen in our way of relating to objects.
• Big Data: millions of instantaneous data that report to other millions of data that will be indispensable for the operation of our cities, as well as for the industrial sector or the private enterprise and that cannot be understood without the technology and the possibilities that 5G offers.

There is no doubt that with the arrival of this technology, there will not be a corner of society where we do not find a robot or an autonomous system operating.

Summary

Apart from the reduction in energy consumption that the move to 5G would entail, one of the most important aspects of this technology will be the possibility of incorporating new services and new user experiences into the user's daily life. Products and experiences that we can now only imagine, such as autonomous vehicles, robotics or telemedicine, will be able to become a reality thanks to the advances that are predicted for 5G. A great step towards a connected world.

Sources:
1. https://www.ericsson.com/es/news/2015/9/de-que-manera-la-robotica-movil-en-la-nube-5g-revolucionara-la-industria
2. https://www.networkworld.es/convergencia/los-beneficios-del-5g-llegan-a-la-robotica
3. https://www.lavanguardia.com/economia/20190225/46664294477/mwc-2019-5g-robotica-industria.html
4. https://mundo.sputniknews.com/tecnologia/201711171074032204-5G-tecnologia-latencia-velocidad/
5. http://blog.orange.es/innovacion/zte-y-orange-muestran-las-ventajas-del-5g/
6. https://www.orange-business.com/en/blogs/how-5g-will-revolutionize-industrial-robotic-control-future