Hi-Speed mobile networks have revolutionized the telecommunication sector. Mobile networks have evolved over the years. It began as early as the mid-40s to the late-70s with 0G, which is referred to as the mobile radio telephone. This technology was essentially communication via analogue radio having switchboard operators, which was required to connect calls. And, its commercial use was mainly limited to being installed in vehicles as it was very large. Later, during the early 70’s, the device size was reduced and switchboard operators were no longer required. In 1981, first generation of mobile networks was established with 1G. Like 0G, 1G as well used analogue signals and was limited to transmitting just voice – with speeds up to 2 kilobits per second. However, the only difference was that the radio technology was miniaturized enough to fit in a single device when no wires protruding, allowing communication devices to take on a more mobile phone-eques shape.

During the early 90’s, i.e. in 1992, 2G network was introduced and the phones became mobile in the true sense as it became smaller and affordable enough to garner massive attention from the general public. It introduced digital standards which allowed for short text messages to be sent and had speeds ranging from 14 to 64 kilobits per second. Over the years, the speed increased and in the year 2001, 3G network was introduced. It was the first mobile broadband solution with integrated high-quality video, data and voice – essentially bringing the mobile phone online, with speeds initially ranging from 144 kilobits per second up to 2 megabits per second. There was constant upgrade of speed from 2 megabits per second to 10 megabits per second with the roll out of 3.5 and 3.75G standards. And, in 2011, after exactly 10 years, the present generation mobile networks, 4G network debuted. The primary purpose of 4G network has been to bring faster speeds, while other generations of mobile networks have added new functionality to the mobile devices. The first phase of 4G is Long Term Evolution, which is popularly known as LTE having minimum speeds of 10 megabits per second ranging up to a theoretical 100 megabits per second.

However, as of now, the theoretical speeds in the majority of covered areas is yet to be achieved. The questions that arise here is how will it improve to reach faster speeds? The evolution of 4G is correlated to 5G technologies. 5G is on pace to improve many aspects of current generation mobile networks. Some of these major factors include speed, latency, bandwidth, energy consumption and more. But, in order to achieve this, it will require various technologies and communication techniques working together in unison.

The first of these technologies and possibly the most important of all is millimetre waves. From the inception of mobile networks, all devices have been in the frequency spectrum between 3 kilohertz to 6 gigahertz. This wasn’t an issue in the past as devices were limited to mainly mobile phones; however, with the emergence of the internet of things, self-driving cars, smartwatches, VR, AR and countless other technologies that requires constant fast connections, these frequency bands are becoming increasingly jammed. If all these devices are to remain within the currently established frequency spectrum, no device would be able to get an appropriate amount of bandwidth to operate as designed, which equates to slower operation and dropped connections. Millimetre waves open up the frequency spectrum from 6 gigahertz all the way up to 300 gigahertz allowing for much more bandwidth. This will ensure constant high speed and low latency connections; therefore, a shared spectrum is key and ensuring these devices are always connected. For example, you wouldn’t want a self-driving car to drop connection because someone next to you got on a phone call. The shared spectrum is also designed with consumer use in mind, if in your location, the shared spectrum space isn’t being accessed and there is a high density of consumer devices, some spectrum space can be allocated for temporary use. Now you may be wondering why millimetre waves haven’t been used as of yet, this is because –

• We didn’t require them, as there weren’t as many mobile and connected devices requiring bandwidth
• Higher frequencies are more easily absorbed by the atmosphere and can also be scattered and absorbed by weather events and buildings; thus, they require nearly line of sight communication. As such, the technologies required the millimetre waves to become widely adopted weren’t previously available.

The second primary technology for 5G networks is the massive MIMO. It is required to provide connection for the high-density of devices in particular areas. MIMO stands for multiple input multiple outputs, and will be applied to the cellular base stations. Currently, MIMO technology is used in a much smaller form with base stations having between 8 to 12 antennas to handle all the traffic they transmit and receive. Massive MIMO takes this idea and expands on it with the ability to add hundreds of antennas per base station. Just this year, Ericsson started shipping 64 antenna array systems, with multiple companies such as Huawei, ZTE and even Facebook successfully demonstrating 96 to 128 array systems. The number of antennas per base station is only set to increase as testing and refinement continues. It is expected by 2020, the average consumer will have at least 6 to 8 connected devices, bringing 3 with them wherever they go. If you multiply this single person with the population density of cities, you can begin to see why massive MIMO is so essential in providing all those devices connectivity. Massive MIMO in deployment will be able to provide connectivity to over 1 million devices per square kilometre, which is enough to provide quality connection in the city hubs, stadiums and other tightly packed areas where current 4G systems often fail or struggle. The main problem with Massive MIMO is the interference that all these intersecting waves will create due to how tightly packed together the antennas are. This would result in distorted or destroyed data which wouldn’t be good at all. The next technology we’ll be discussing is essential in solving the issues millimetre waves and massive MIMO have.

Beamforming is an essential data transmission technique required for massive MIMO to work as expected and reduce the signal propagation loss due to the higher frequencies of millimetre waves. Base stations are constantly broadcasting signals not necessarily aiming for a particular target. When your device receives a transmission from a cell tower, there was a lot of interference produced elsewhere to ensure your signal was received. Beamforming acts like a crossing guard, only sending out signals exactly where and when they are needed by spatially tracking them until they reach their target device. Like massive MIMO adding more antennas to base stations, there will also be more antennas added to devices as well, ranging from 4 to 16 plus. This addition of antennas is key for beamforming allowing for more precise advanced spatial tracking. This addition of antennas will allow our devices to connect to the best station in their vicinity to establish a line-of-sight communication. Taking it one step further, beamforming will be spatially aware enough to bounce signals off obstacles in the environment to ensure they reach their target location.

Before delving deeper, it is important to know about the benefits of 5G and its economic impact.