5G vs 4G – What has changed?

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With the Internet of Things and other networked devices demanding faster and more reliable connectivity – combined with exponential data growth, 4G technology simply isn’t enough. That’s when we turn to 5G technology. The primary differences between 4G and 5G come down to latency, download speeds, base stations, cell density, OFDM encoding and virtualization.

The most significant difference between 5G and its predecessor, 4G, is latency or the delay between commands and responses. 5G promises latency under one millisecond, while 4G latency ranges from 60 to 98 milliseconds. And with lower latency also comes faster potential download speed. 4G maxes out at one gigabyte per second, while 5G aims for up to 10 gigabytes per second, that’s ten times faster.

Another critical difference is the signal transmission. 4G, like its predecessors, transmits signals primarily from large cell towers. However, 5G uses small cell technology that, at the cost of a smaller range, delivers higher frequencies, therefore 5G transmitters must be deployed more densely than cell towers. Experts estimate that there will be 5 to 10 times more small cells than cell towers. In addition, because 5G networks will be denser, they can support more users and more types of devices, meaning faster speeds with greater connection capacity.

Both 4G and 5G use OFDM, an encoding which splits different wireless signals into separate channels, but they use different channels 4G, the 20 MHz channels in 5G, 100 MHz to 800 MHz channels. Because of 5G’s larger channels, there’s less signal interference and more capacity to boost things like download speed. Virtualization is also an opportunity with 5G. Although LTE, a standard 4G technology, offers software systems and services to support more devices, virtualization will allow operators to deploy more software-driven networks for affordability and flexibility and lead the path to network slicing.

While the change from 4G to 5G technology might not be this noticeable for us, mobile device end users, we will undoubtedly benefit from it. 5G is set to enable large-scale machine-to-machine communications, allowing for a reduction in human error and an increase in automated processes. Its high reliability and low latency services could allow for innovations in the medical sector, such as robotic aids during surgery to increase accuracy or ambulance drones to provide real-time incident coverage. The transport sector is perhaps the most widely reported to benefit from 5G. Advancements in this industry could not only make roads safer and more environmentally friendly but also make businesses’ logistics, fleet management and stock control more efficient and cost-effective. It goes without saying that the end user will ultimately benefit from cheaper goods through seamless manufacturing and quicker journeys through connected vehicles.

5G promises bold advancements and improvements over 4G, which are already being implemented. Unfortunately, due to the fact that several representatives of the Homo sapiens sapiens species lack a little in the sapiens department, the process of 5G technology implementation has been held back.

Sources:

https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/feature/A-deep-dive-into-the-differences-between-4G-and-5G-networks

https://www.oracle.com/internet-of-things/what-is-iot/

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