A Closer Look at 5G: Its Limitations & Endless Potentials

“5G promises more than just a faster download. The fifth generation of wireless represents a technological breakthrough that could change the way we live, work, learn and play. [...] The leap from 3G to 4G was huge, but the one from 4G to 5G will likely be transformational, upending entire industries and creating new ones overnight. ”?

A statement made by Verizon, one of the largest Telecommunications companies in the US, back in 2019.

This 5th generation of cellular networks offers faster connections and less latency by using higher frequencies allowing higher, faster data communication. This is achieved, in part, with the help of edge solutions such as MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) and multi-MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) technologies.?

It’s said to be 10x times faster than 4G, with the potential of reaching up to 20GB a second, but what does this mean for the years to come? And what’s stopping us from attaining these freakishly fast download speeds?

5G’s game-changing potential:

As any 90s child will know, we’ve been the first to witness the changes from fast internet connections. Growing up through the era of having to disconnect from the internet to make phone calls, compared to now, where we can hungrily track our pizza’s delivery in real-time, whilst streaming live events from around the world whilst we facetime friends from all corners of the globe. We speak on a relatable personal level, of course, the impacts at a societal level go without saying. And it’s fair to say that 5G has already upended certain industries:

Shottracker uses sensor-tracking technology combined with 5G to create live data streaming for basketball games that can be shared with broadcasting networks, coaches and fans all in real-time, changing how we watch, train, and enjoy the sport altogether. See it in action.

The gaming industry, one of the fastest-growing industries in recent years, will thrive and flourish with the development of VR gaming, and cloud gaming, both requiring high-speed connections and the potential to transform the way we game entirely.?

Businesses will benefit greatly from 5G; higher connections will mean more synchronicity with employees, machines, and data. Meaning more use of AI, Robotics, and creating greater efficiency, customer service, and revenue.?

From remote surgery to remote taxi services, the changes to come are unmatched, and every industry will be affected in one way or another. The benefits are clear, but the question remains:

What’s limiting 5G’s potential?

One of the biggest limitations to the expansion of 5G is the coverage. The higher frequency carrying more data comes at a price; less coverage. 4G wavelengths have a range of about 10 miles. 5G wavelengths have a range of about 1,000 feet, not even 2% of 4G's range. That said, more antennas are being built frequently, Portugal, for example, has set a milestone using 5G Huawei Hertz antennas for commercial use for the first time. But that’s not to say that this doesn’t come with its own limitations:?

In the US, Verizon and AT&T have had to postpone the building of 5G antennas near airports after a letter, signed by CEOs of major US airlines, was sent to US government officials urging them to stop the implementation and construction of towers within 2 miles of airports. The airlines’ main concern is that these mid-band waves may impact the radio altimeters that pilots use to know how far planes are from the ground.

Work hand in hand with Huawei to help solve the issue

Another big challenge is data allocation, and the ability to serve, in real-time, many mobile users to one baseband at once. That’s why Huawei, as part of their Huawei University Challenge initiative, has set the challenge at this year’s Huawei Sweden Hackathon 2022: Design and develop a smart data channel allocation algorithm for 5G & 6G. The event is aimed at students from across Sweden and starts off with an online qualification on the 24th of November, and is followed by a live event in Stockholm on the 9th of December.?

Interested in learning more about 5G and helping to tackle the main issues during this exciting event??

Join the Coding Challenge for 5G & 6G, starting this week!