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Comparing 4G and 5G
The figure above provides a comparison of the performance
characteristics and technical specifications of 4G and 5G
technology.
The following table summarizes the major differences between
4G and 5G technology.
Currently, use cases are being defined, new radio access
technologies are being developed, and carrier field trials are
being conducted. The Third Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP) standards body is harmonizing and globalizing these
new ideas into a unified specification.
By adopting LTE Advanced (LTE-A), carriers are making
considerable progress toward the speed goals for 5G (see
graph below), but more work is required.
4G
(Today, Before
Further
Developments)
5G
Latency 10ms Less than 1ms
Peak data rates 1Gbps 20Gbps
Number of mobile
connections
8 billion (2016) 11 billion (2021)
Channel
bandwidth
20MHz
200kHz
(for Cat-NB1 IoT)
100MHz below 6GHz
400MHz above 6GHz
Frequency band 600MHz to 5.925GHz
600MHz–mmWave (for
example, 28GHz, 39GHz,
and onward to 80GHz
Uplink waveform
Single-carrier
frequency division
multiple access
(SC-FDMA)
Option for cyclic
prefix orthogonal
frequency-division
multiplexing
(CP-OFDM)
User Equipment
(UE) transmitted
power
+23 decibel-
milliwatts (dBm)
except 2.5GHz
time-division duplexing
(TDD) Band 41
where +26dBm, HPUE
is allowed
IoT has a lower
power-class option
at +20dBm
+26dBm for less than 6GHz
5G bands
at and above 2.5GHz
Downlink Speeds by Technical Generation
The Path to 5G Deployment
Enhancing the mobile wireless experience is a step-by-
step pathway for carriers, requiring further expansion and
development of 4G and moving toward LTE-A technologies.
Carriers are currently in the midst of developing software-defined
networks (SDNs), heterogeneous networks (HetNets), and low
power networks. Finally, in 2019 and beyond, global 5G rollouts
and initial commercial releases will begin (see figure to the below).
Want more details about what's to come with 5G? Download a
copy of our latest e-book, 5G RF For Dummies
®
.
– Excerpted with permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc., from 5G RF
For Dummies.
