Mentioned for many years in the world of telecoms, the 5G network is now a reality. But what is it? It is time to decipher this technology, installed to last.
1. What is 5G?
Let’s start at the beginning: 5G is none other than the new mobile network standard, currently being rolled out across the world.
It succeeds the 4G network, which was the largely dominant standard in the 2010s.
Compared to a standard Internet connection, 4G is similar to a good ADSL connection, with a theoretical speed of up to 150 Mb/s.
In practice, the average speed in 4G is 37 Mb/s today. But for nearly a decade, connecting to 4G from your smartphone allowed faster Internet access than from a computer with an average ADSL connection.
Then fiber optics was gradually deployed in homes, making 4G much less efficient. But 5G then began to point the tip of its nose, with a major promise: to offer a speed of up to 1 Gb / s in reception and up to 300 Mb / s in transmission.
Again, these are theoretical figures. On average, 5G today makes it possible to take advantage of a maximum speed of 100 Mb/s , and performance will continue to increase as new antennas are deployed.
Such a proposal in terms of speed is worth to 5G to be qualified as “very high speed mobile” . Just as 4G competed with household ADSL connections, 5G should compete with fiber connections.
Enough to glimpse, already, one of the obvious advantages of this new mobile network.
2. How does 5G work?
Complementarity of 4G
In practice, 5G takes over the basics of 4G LTE, which itself is a remarkable upgrade from 4G. 5G can reuse the frequency bands of 4G LTE (4G+), but also add new ones, of two other types: 5G Sub-6 frequency bands on one side, and millimeter waves on the other.
The latter play a capital importance in the architecture of the network , since they make it possible to significantly increase the flow, to the detriment, however, of the range.
The combination of these different frequency bands makes it possible to benefit from a much wider frequency range than that of 4G, and therefore a bandwidth which is much higher. However, to benefit from 5G to its full potential, it is important to be able to make the most of millimeter waves.
This frequency band, long reserved for the army, was put up for auction to be resold to mobile telephone operators, with a view to extending the capacity of their respective networks.
As its optimal use is at short range, it is essential to deploy many mmWave cells in areas where you want 5G to be usable to its full potential, especially in cities.
A gradual evolution of the 5G network
“Traditional” antennas, installed higher, help create a mesh of localized, short-range networks, linked together to create a global wireless network, which will grow in strength over time.
Indeed, the deployment of 5G will last a long time, the objective being both to set up “traditional” antennas to ensure global coverage of the territory, but also small mmWave cells wherever saturation will be detected. .
The 5G network is therefore a web that will expand and improve, both in terms of bandwidth, it is estimated that in 2022, 75% of sites equipped with 5G will deliver a minimum speed of 240 Mb/s, but also low latency, since one of the objectives is to bring it below the millisecond mark.
3. What are the benefits of 5G?
The advantages that 5G can offer are very numerous, but they are, for the most part, associated with technological issues . We have already clearly mentioned one, which is the very high speed, which allows large quantities of data to be transmitted from mobile devices.
In this aspect alone, the potential is enormous, both for personal and professional use, but we will come back to it.
Reduced energy consumption
One of the other challenges of 5G is associated with what should become one of its other assets: its low energy consumption . The 5G network is designed overall to be energy efficient on all fronts.
First of all, its organization in localized meshes allows the information to circulate less before arriving at its destination, which prevents the smartphone or the connected device from making too much “effort” to recover the data.
Nevertheless, on this point, manufacturers will still have to refine their technologies: the first 5G modems present in mobile terminals are not yet at this stage.
It should also be noted that the MIMO antennas deployed for the installation of 5G are currently more energy-intensive than 4G models, but the next versions of these devices should be much less so in the years to come.
Increased security
Finally, 5G also promises to be particularly secure : this advantage is also a crucial issue for the future of the network, since it displays the prospect of a world more connected than ever.
Security protocols must therefore be there to limit the risk of hacking and data misappropriation. Security experts around the world are working on it.
4. 5G, yes, but for what uses?
These technical and theoretical findings mentioned, it is time to move on to practice.
If 5G is currently limited to a few smartphones available on the market, in the future, we can quite simply estimate that it will be present everywhere on a daily basis: connected and autonomous cars, virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, watches connected…
The global ecosystem that we now call ” Internet of Things ” is about to enter a new era with 5G. Concretely, we can consider that a large part of the devices which until then required to be connected to Wifi to operate will embed a 5G chip which will make them autonomous.
5g in everyday life
With a latency time that should become almost non-existent and the constant increase in the data rate available, cars will be able to communicate with each other on the roads, concerts will be able to take place live in augmented reality in a room while the group will play from the other side of the world, you can play in 4K Ultra HD from your smartphone thanks to cloud gaming, or you can still use the connected home automation of your home even if your local Internet connection is down.
Better: you may not even need it anymore. Thanks to the very high speed of 5G, it will also take you barely a second to load a film or a series episode on your tablet or TV.
5G in professional life
And these are just a handful of examples that have a link with our daily lives: 5G is also about to revolutionize many professional sectors.
In factories , machines will be able to communicate in a fraction of a second with the computers or smartphones of the employees in charge of operating them, surgeons will be able to operate on their patients thousands of kilometers away without any latency, and trucks, autonomous or semi-autonomous, will react quickly to interactions on the road with connected signalling.
Certainly, 5G represents a significant revolution in all areas: it is the mobile connection of the future, the one that many companies and sectors of the high-tech industry have been waiting for to unlock certain innovations.
The many uses of 5G mentioned here are, ultimately, only a few examples that are still theoretical on the whole: the reality of the next few years will make it possible to perceive the concrete fields of application, which will certainly be much more numerous.
5. What objects have 5G?
5G Smartphones
Today, everyday objects equipped with 5G are very limited on the market, due to a deployment of the network which is still in its infancy. The most obvious are, of course, 5G smartphones.
During the second half of 2020, many mobile device manufacturers began releasing 5G versions of their most popular models. Samsung, for example, has declined its Galaxy S20 range in both 4G and 5G versions. This year, its Galaxy S21s are all 5G compatible.
Apple’s iPhone 12 range also includes 5G, as do the latest terminals from OnePlus , OPPO and Xiaomi . Among the general public, 5G will first spread through smartphones.
5G home automation
In terms of private and domestic use, we will be able to count, in the near future, on many connected security devices, such as cameras permanently connected to the 5G network, high-performance wireless alarm systems , controllable home automation remotely , such as automated shutters or smart lights .
Connected speakers equipped with voice assistants will be able to do without WiFi and operate via 5G, which will expand the installation possibilities. Generally speaking, these devices will no longer depend on a local network to operate.
And since 5G is expected to become very energy efficient over time, they will also be able to be used with batteries that will last for several weeks. Owners of a connected watch no doubt dream of a model that will not need to be recharged every day: 5G could well allow it.
Computers and video games
In the years to come, video game enthusiasts will most likely be able to enjoy mobile game consoles that are compatible with a 5G chip, which will allow them to play online from anywhere . One can easily imagine a Nintendo Switch equipped with this type of technology.
Laptops will also be available in 5G models, and as the very high-speed mobile network will greatly promote the development of cloud gaming and streaming, it will be possible to play PC games from anywhere, thanks to a PC. modestly configured.
Connected means of transport
Finally, in the more distant future, 5G will equip smart cars and autonomous or semi-autonomous means of transport . Road traffic can be regulated by traffic lights, signs and other signals also connected to the 5G network.
For example, an autonomous car can be informed in a fraction of a second that the car in front of it is braking or that a bicycle, also connected, is about to refuse priority. Chain reactions that could save lives and make everyday life even easier.
The second half of 2021 should see the emergence of the first 5G devices, other than smartphones. However, it is to be expected that the pioneers in this field will be offered at high prices.
Nevertheless, this bodes well for the future: as the quality of the 5G connection increases, the market for 5G objects will mature, and become more and more accessible to the general public. Enough to give consumers time to imagine how they would like to take advantage of this powerful mobile network.
6. Is 5G a health hazard?
A complementary technological evolution of 4G
The question of the dangerousness of the waves emitted by mobile networks did not arise with 5G: it already existed when 4G and 3G were deployed, but it also arises for Wifi and for other types devices that communicate wirelessly, and therefore emit an electromagnetic field.
The first fact established and mentioned earlier in this article is that 5G uses a much wider frequency range than previous mobile networks.
There are three different types of radio frequencies:
- Those already used by 4G, 2.1 GHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.6 GHz, 800 MHz and 700 MHz
- Those of the 3.5 GHz which are used in the current deployment of 5G antennas
- those of 26 GHz , which will be used in several years.
The opinion of the experts on 5G
Regarding the frequency ranges used by 4G, hundreds of studies carried out over the past 10 years by numerous laboratories and independent firms have failed to highlight any harm to health.
The mixed study of 3.5 GHz
As for the 3.5 GHz band, however, the question is far from settled. The main current concern is the lack of hindsight concerning the use of radio frequencies of this type.
In July 2020, ANSES, which acts as an authority on the subject in France, highlighted “ a significant lack, or even an absence of data relating to the potential biological and health effects in the frequency bands considered. »
A report from ANSES is expected at the start of 2021: it should say a little more about the risks possibly associated with the 3.5 GHz band, and therefore with 5G in France , as it is. deployed today.
It is nevertheless necessary to underline a point already known: it is about the exposure to electromagnetic waves within the framework of 5G, and in particular with regard to the 3.5 GHz band. It is measured in volts per meter (V/m).
The maximum exposure threshold is set at 61 V/m: this is the same as for Wifi. It is important to specify that this threshold is 50 times lower than that from which the WHO estimates that the waves can have harmful effects on health.
Wait for the progress of studies on 5G
Therefore, should we be worried about the results that studies could show once 5G is well installed in the landscape? Some scientists are already relativizing, others are calling for caution and the precautionary principle.
In fact, only time will tell. We must therefore be wary of alarmist speeches and the massive rejection of this technology, but it is far from forbidden to ask questions about the impact that 5G will have on daily life, on the environment and on health.