60 INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | 2020 YEAR-END ISSUE
techtech
zonezone CES
Welcome to a 5G World
By Robert Yehling
It’s fast, super-efficient, likely to transform
society and the business world in a way not seen
since the automobile — and it’s already here.
5G is the fifth generation of broadband —
instant mobile connectivity. The massive
bandwidth increase brings far more data-
processing and loading speed, and the delivery
of services and technology we haven’t seen
before. For those who think of it as an upgrade
on 4G, think of it more like a stratospheric leap
forward. 5G includes an entirely different set of
protocols some estimate will eventually produce
data speeds 100 times greater than 4G (right
now, most companies report a 15- to 30-fold
increase). With the rollout well underway, it will
become the data and communications pipeline
of the country within two or three years.
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the
Consumer Technology Association, said this year’s
digital CES event will be a showcase for 5G.
“Everything will be faster with more things to
do simultaneously,” he said. “Every 10 years the
content requires a leap whether it’s gaming
platforms or new medical.”
The event took place January 11-14 online.
Shapiro said going online “allowed us to serve
the tens of thousands who wanted to attend
CES physically but can’t.”
“We can reach new audiences easily,” he
followed.
With 5G, more content will be coming
through the pipeline. This means everything for
the next-gen technology and applications in
business, manufacturing, entertainment, sports,
virtual office, and consumer experiences, such
as immersive content, Artificial Intelligence,Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality. All of
these can easily clog a 4G network, due to the
bandwidth and processing speeds they require.
With 5G, we’re going to see their potential. For
one thing, the latency we experience when a
network is used to capacity will, for the most
part, no longer exist in our daily home and work
functions. A few examples of how industries and
manufacturing processes are being transformed
by 5G:- Vehicles can talk to each other in real-time to
change lanes, brake, and make other
adjustments, thus filling in the missing link to a
future with autonomous vehicles on the road.
The BMW iNEXT, an electric-powered SUV,
will roll out in 2021 with sensors that collect
and process data from surrounding cars and
their proximate locations. The vehicle
permanently surveys the road around it and
sends relative bits of information to the cloud to
create real-time maps, which are pushed down
to other cars. - How about smart agriculture? NimbeLink is
partnering with The Bee Corporation to use 5G
and the Internet of Things (IOT) to help
protect honeybees, critical for the world’s food
supply, now in population distress. Adopters
will use asset trackers to monitor the health of
hives. Temperature, humidity, movement and
location will be collected by sensors. In
addition, several tractor and combine
manufacturers deploy smart technologies on
their vehicles to assist farmers in the field with
soil moisture content, estimated crop yield,
seeding efficiency, and many other functions. - 5G has already proven a lifesaver to many
during the pandemic. With 5G, you can switch
back and forth between audio and video chats,
sending and receiving instant messages, and
watching YouTube videos, with no latency
issues. Your phone will become even more of an
interactive and immersive content goldmine,
and content producers know it: Verizon and
Disney’s StudioLab are partnering on packages
of streaming content specifically for Verizon
customers.- Smart cities will grow now that the 5G spinal
cord is settling into place; in addition,
municipalities can partner with carriers on
smart lighting solutions, traffic control, and
energy efficiency. In Las Vegas, for example, the
City and AT&T are partnering on a smart
lighting solution for security and energy
efficiency. They are using Ubicquia’s Ubicell
street lighting routers and smart lighting
platform. - Between earthquakes and the dramatic
upsurge in wildfires, California is in the
crosshairs of mortal danger every day. With 5G,
warning apps like ShakeAlert, and reverse 9-1-1
calls, can get information to residents far faster
for these and other emergencies — literally
saving lives in many cases. - The medical world is already benefiting
greatly — again, a development 5G is turning
into a life-saver. In 2019, AT&T signed an
agreement with the Rush University Medical
Center and Rush System for Health in Chicago
to create the “hospital of the future,” which
connects multiple hospitals and healthcare
providers citywide. It also enhances the speed
and efficiency of conducting remote surgeries
(even more critical during the pandemic),
sharing records with specialists anywhere in the
world, and other life-saving benefits. Rush is
using AT&T’s 5G network and multi-access