What's the Deal with 5G, and Why Should We Care? with Alok Shah and Derek Johnston
Networks TechTalk with SamsungShow Notes
On the first episode of Recalibrate with Samsung, we seek to answer one of the biggest looming questions in the telecoms space: What will be the impact of 5G? Host Jason Claybrook, Derek Johnston, and Alok Shah of Samsung Networks talk about what makes 5G networks so different, so important, and ways that consumers can utilize them that will make the existing way they’re interacting with their mobile devices so much different.
“Previous generations of 2G gave us voice and texting, 3G was the introduction of data, 4G gave us a lot faster, richer internet experience and ignited the mobile economy, and now 5G is like putting fiber in your pocket, it puts all of that other stuff on steroids. It’s the evolution of mobile technology,” Johnston said.
Shah agrees, and expands: “5G is more than just another generation of mobile, but you get substantially better speeds and big benefits when it comes to latency, also how long it takes from when you do something on your device to the time that the network responds. The responsiveness can be 30-40 milliseconds or more down into single digit milliseconds with the right network architecture. It enables things that could never be done before.”
‘Enable’ is the correct word, as people are now shopping differently, playing video games differently, including using cloud gaming. Virtual reality has been around for a while but now developers are continuing to play with augmented reality games such as Pokemon Go. The rollout of 5G will change things for more than just gamers though. The sports world will also feel the difference.
Samsung and other companies have done a lot of work in stadiums to enhance the way that the consumer views sporting events, including using overhead cameras, drone cameras, and stitching angles for 360 degree views. This will give each usr a lot more opportunities to access different videos but is creating a new network need with much more bandwidth required.
Networks TechTalk podcast was previously named Recalibrate with Samsung Networks.
More from Networks TechTalk with Samsung
Wireless networks are going through a paradigm shift with the emergence of Open RAN. This new approach to architecting a multi-vendor network fosters innovation, agility, and cost efficiency in deploying and operating 5G networks. More importantly, it serves users better and faster than ever. However, there are mixed opinions in the industry and varied approaches to materializing the vision of Open RAN.
Fixed Wireless Access, or FWA, has emerged as a powerful enabler in the mobile landscape and is one method being used to fulfill the growing user demand for data. FWA is another offering to provide high-speed internet access to homes, businesses, and remote areas without relying on traditional wired connections like fiber or cable lines for the ‘last mile’ of connectivity. The demand for FWA itself among broadband users is growing with analyst firms expecting FWA users to reach 14-18 million in 2027 in the United States.
With much of the world standing on the brink of mainstream 5G usage, operators are looking for ways to extract maximum value from their network investments – essentially trying to figure out how to monetize 5G. Operators have spent the past few years on things like spectrum, working to increase base stations needed for sufficient coverage and capacity, and implementing new software tools that allow for autonomous networks and faster delivery of services and upgrades. Providers are now starting to take advantage of the high-speed, low-latency, and connectivity capacities that 5G brings to the market.
5G is the first wireless technology designed to be energy efficient and sustainable with an industry target of 90% improvement in spectral efficiency compared to 4G. This improvement, in large part, also requires energy efficiency in the equipment. Operators and vendors have devised several features to accomplish this goal including increasing spectrum bands supported in a single radio and Massive MIMO antenna capacity, beamforming, and an increasing the use of high-band frequencies. Samsung works to ensure our product experience at every step contributes to a sustainable world with eco-conscious technology and innovation. Samsung is a pioneer in vRAN, being the first to bring vRAN to market with software driven network functions to make networks more flexible and reduce processing and transmit power. Samsung is also helping to address energy efficiency with Power Amplifiers equipped with a Bias Control, dynamic download MIMO transmit paths, and with its low power, energy saving system-on-a-chip (SoC). With global mobile data traffic rates continuing to rise and applications requiring low-latency proliferating, networks will continue to densify, and the number of cell sites grow exponentially. Despite this, telecommunications industry is committed to finding ways to bring down the amount of power used and lowering our carbon footprint to run our networks. We are all excited to see the power saving techniques and features we’ve discussed today continue to advance around the globe. Watch and listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to learn more about how Samsung and the telecommunications industry are investing in energy saving innovations and technologies.
Virtual Radio Access Networks, or vRAN, are the future of the radio access side of mobile operators’ networks. vRAN is software that runs on off-the-shelf servers rather than the proprietary, dedicated hardware that mobile network providers have been running for decades.