Getting to 5G: Comparing 4G and 5G
System Requirements
By Qorvo
| 14 |
5G isn't just an incremental improvement over 4G—it's the
next major evolution of mobile communication technology with
performance improvements of several orders of magnitude over
today's networks. 5G does not replace 4G, it simply enables a
huge diversity of tasks that 4G cannot perform. 4G will continue
to advance in parallel with 5G, as the network to support more
routine tasks. 5G will enable services yet to be imagined, in a
world where national economies are driven by sophisticated
communications networks.
Let's explore what 5G technology is, compare some of the
characteristics of 4G and 5G, and look at the path to 5G
deployment.
This blog is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of our e-book, 5G RF
For Dummies
®
.
What 5G Technology Is
• Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) requiring hundreds of
megahertz (MHz) of channel bandwidth using new frequencies
for mobile wireless—from 2.5 gigahertz (GHz) for 4G LTE Pro
and 3.5GHz for 5G, to tens of gigahertz and beyond into the
millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum
• Ultra efficient for streaming data, taking full advantage of
carrier aggregation (CA) and massive multiple input/multiple
output (MIMO)
• Fixed wireless, giving more choices to get 20 gigabit per
second (Gbps) connections to your home and business
• Wireless infrastructure, using beam steering and high-
power gallium nitride (GaN), ideally suited to adaptive-array
steerable antennas
• Low latency for real-time connections enabling autonomous
vehicles and augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR)
• Internet of Things (IoT) connecting more than a trillion
devices to the Internet in the next ten years with extremely low
data rates, battery life greater than ten years, and the longest
possible communication range
