5 G

Why in news?

• The auction for the 5G spectrum is likely to take place around April-May 2022, Union Communications Minister said on 12^th November 2021.

What is 5G?

• 5G or fifth generation is the latest cellular communication standard for transmitting data over wireless networks. The "G" stands for "Generation".
• Each Generation is defined as a set of telephone network standards for the technological implementation of a particular mobile phone system.
• With each generation the speed and the data capacity increases and the technology used to achieve that speed changes.
• For eg, 1G offers 2.4 kbps, 2G offers 64 Kbps , 3G offers 144 kbps-2 mbps whereas 4G offers 100 Mbps - 1 Gbps

Features of 5G Technology:

• Millimeter wave spectrum:
  • The 5G networks will operate in the millimeter wave spectrum (30-300 GHz) which have the advantage of sending large amounts of data at very high speeds because the frequency is so high, it experiences little interference from surrounding signals.
• Upgraded LTE:
  • 5G is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
• Internet speed:
  • In the high-band spectrum of 5G, internet speeds have been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (gigabits per second) as compared to the maximum internet data speed in 4G recorded at 1 Gbps.
  • 5G network speeds should have a peak data rate of 20 Gb/s for the downlink and 10 Gb/s for the uplink.
• Latency:
  • It is the delay between when a signal is sent and when it is received. This has decreased with every generation.
  • With existing 4G networks, you’re looking at an average latency of around 50ms. That could drop to 1ms with 5G technology.
• Bands in 5G:
  • 5G mainly work in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
    • Low band spectrum: It has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange however the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
    • Mid-band spectrum: It offers higher speeds compared to the low band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
    • High-band spectrum: It has the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding ‘5G technology’?

1. It operates in the millimeter wave spectrum

2. It offers high latency rate as compared to 4G

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer