T3 India – April 2019

5G guide

48 T3 Tomorrow’s Technology Today APRIL 2019 WWW.T3INDIA.COM

But still, let’s look at the long term: the
unprecedented speed upgrade of 5G could
change the way we think about all of our
tech, and bring some massive consequences
for the development of basically everything
in the future. The same generation that once
spent five minutes loading a few kilobytes of
unreliable computer software from cassette
tapes could soon able to download an entire
4K movie to our phones in far less time.
We’ll be able to send messages between each
other, over the air, literally faster than your
eye can see.
It could be the enabler for tomorrow’s
transport network, made up of entirely
autonomous and seamlessly interconnected
cars and trucks. Sharing sensor and
mechanical status data between them, and
talking constantly to one another at super
high speed, future cars will be effectively
accident-proof, andthey’llbalancetheir

routing to avoid traffic for a more efficient

ride – something 4G doesn’t have the

muscle to keep up with efficiently. 5G’s

huge capacity could also take that

transport to the air, backing an intricately

piloted array of delivery drones

programmed to keep to the correct

airspace and not clonk into each other. A

Blade Runner-style flying car future

perhaps isn’t on the cards yet – 5G can’t do

anything about gravity, sadly – but it’s not

hard to see the impact it’ll have.

5G’s high capacity will also take the

notoriously bandwidth-heavy tech of VR

to the next level. Not only could it do away

with the wired tether that makes most VR

experiences awkward and restrictive, it

could also push the powerful PCs that have

traditionally been required for VR into

obsolescence, moving all that effort into

thecloud.Youwon’tevenneedtobeat

home to strap on a headset, provided you’re

in 5G range – and those autonomous vehicles

will know where you are should you wander

into the street. The low latency of 5G also

means VR should react to your movements

more precisely than ever before, eliminating

the potential for sea sickness caused by

today’s microscopic delay.

5G’s immense bandwidth could make a

huge difference when it comes to crowding.

If you’ve ever been to a concert or sports

game – or even visited a busy town centre

• you’ll know the pain of having a
  supposedly full 4G signal yet absolutely
  atrocious (and possibly non-existent)
  data rates. Your local 4G tower, and the
  frequencies it uses, can only throw out
  so much data at one time. If everyone
  wants a slice of the pie, it needs to cut it
  infinitesimally thin; 5G masts will be far
  more numerous, and able to support many
  more simultaneous devices. Kit will be able
  to stay constantly connected. Smart devices
  won’t need to rely on Wi-Fi, and the smart
  home will move outwards – indeed, constant
  low-power networking could mean
  tomorrow’s smart devices do more than we
  can even imagine today.

THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN

We’ve barely scraped the surface as to the

sort of technology 5G could power, and there

are some who theorise that 5G could lead to

major change: the demise of local storage, the

death of home broadband, even the end of

the smart phone as we know it. There’s a lot

of sci-fi brainstorming out there, mainly

because a 5G future, one with unprecedented

connectivity and network speed, is so

exciting to imagine.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that

even though there’s a lot of potential, 5G is

still fluid. It’s yet to be proven, even in the 5G

previewsrunthusfar.Thetest installation

HOW DOES 5G COMPARE TO 4G?

Source:Qualcomm network simulation

MEDIAN BROWSING SPEED MEDIAN LATENCY DOWNLOAD SPEED

(TOP 90%)

5G 1,400Mbps

4G 71Mbps

4G 115ms 5G 4.9ms

4G

10Mbps

5G

186Mbps