is that the appetite for mobile data
traffi c is large and continues to grow.
Communications technology company
Ericsson predicts mobile data traffi c
growth to reach 131 exabytes per
month in 2024, close to fi ve times the
amount in 2018. But there are not
enough new bands available at low
frequencies to meet the need. High-
throughput applications need wider
bandwidths only available at higher
frequencies, in the millimeter-wave
(mmWave) spectrum.
While higher frequencies deliver
much faster data rates, the move
to mmWave brings new technical
challenges for developers across the
mobile ecosystem. Higher frequencies
can carry more data, just at shorter
ranges and with higher sensitivity
to interference. Device makers and
network equipment manufacturers
need to combat these potential losses
with advanced multi-antenna reception
techniques. Multi-antenna approaches,
though, require over-the-air testing
methods, which can make device
characterization less predictable.
Mobile network operators also have to
prepare for a massive increase in 5G
subscribers.
The 5G promise is exciting. The
technology is highly complex. And
the disruption potential to the mobile
communications industry is enormous.
Device makers are eagerly delivering
on 5G smartphone shipments, which
analysis fi rm IDC forecasts to grow to
hundreds of millions in just fi ve years.
The prospect of new revenue models
equally motivates mobile operators
around the world. And it is real. Fixed
5G emerged in 2018, delivering 5G
home internet service to customers
in select cities. These services are only
the tip of the 5G iceberg for mobile
network operators. The 5G mobile
network buildout that started in 2019
is expected to be a catalyst, spurring
even more new application services to
enterprises and consumers alike.set, and developers are responding
across the mobile network ecosystem.
New development workfl ows,
testing paradigms, and methods
of testing fi eld deployments have
emerged to make the promise of
5G real. Streamlining the workfl ow
across stages—design, validation,
manufacturing, deployment—and
industry collaborations are critical to
continue feeding the appetite of 5G.
While many of the technical
complexities of 5G have been solved,
there are many more to come.
Increased production demands will
lead to faster manufacturing test
innovations. Higher densities of
latency-sensitive applications will
lead to demands for faster mobile
operator and data center networking
tests. Disaggregated network
applications will lead to changes in
how we monitor and secure users.
But developers develop, even in the
face of complexity, and they line up to
face these challenges when their lab
environments have the design and test
tools equal to the task.
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