The
hottest topic at Mobile World Congress 2015 will connect billions of
people and things to the Internet and one another without wires.
While much of the world is
connecting their personal devices to fast data sharing 4G mobile
networks, industry pioneers are shaping next generation networks to feed
the world’s increasing appetite for the Internet.
5G networks aren’t expected to
roll out broadly until 2020, but according to analyst firm CCS Insight,
5G will be one of the hottest topics at this year’s Mobile World
Congress in Barcelona. That’s because talk is significantly shifting
beyond smart pipe dreams into a do-anything-anywhere-from-any-device
reality.
In a nutshell, 5G networks will
provide more data bandwidth and less latency due to built-in computing
intelligence aimed at handling more data more efficiently than today’s
4G networks. By combining communications and computing technologies, 5G
networks will leverage more benefits of Moore’s Law, according to Asha
Keddy, vice president in Intel’s Communication and Devices Group and
general manager of the company’s Standards and Advanced Technology team.
“3G networks were designed for
voice while 4G was designed for more complex human interaction with
voice and data,” she told iQ just ahead of attending Mobile World
Congress for the fifth consecutive year.
Smartphones were a new thing that
drove big demand for 3G and then 4G. Just how it was tough to foresee
that smartphones would create such a demand on networks, it’s unclear
exactly what will be the big, new impact on future 5G networks. What is
known is that 5G networks will need to handle lots of complexity to
satisfy all of those smartphones, home appliances, personal drones,
robots and driverless cars that will need to connect to the Internet
wirelessly five years from now.
By 2020, 5G networks will need to
handle a mobile computing and communications needs of people but also
more than 200 billion devices and machines around the world. Smart city
sensors, transportation, industrial automation systems and other
Internet of Things alone could account for 30.1 billion installed
connected things, according toInternational Data Corporation.
Keddy describes 5G as the first network designed to be scalable, versatile and energy efficient for the hyper-connected world.
“Existing wireless networks were never designed with smart door knobs or home refrigerators [that to connect to the Internet] in mind,” said Keddy.
And they weren’t designed for
many of the new experiences people will want from wireless networks when
using smartphones, tablets and laptops.
Keddy points out how many
sporting events are using more high-definition cameras than ever, giving
spectators a multitude of perspectives on a game.
“Imagine getting video streams of
a volleyball match or another sporting event then switching between the
two from wherever you are using your mobile device. Today, 4G networks
only let you view one at a time. 5G networks might allow you to watch
both. Or if the game was covered using multiple cameras, you could get
360-degree perspective then zoom into what you really want to see.”
Once these kinds of things are
possible, Keddy said people will find them irresistible because they can
personalize their experiences.
“You and I could watch the same
game but get totally different perspectives,” she said. “It will be all
about personalization and getting to choose the angles you want to take
on the game.”
Competition for defining 5G is
reaching a fever pitch, as strong interest from all geographies
intensifies. Keddy remembered when Japanese government said they’d be
ready to demonstrate 5G in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics. South
Korea responded that they would show trials in 2018 if not by late 2017.
Keddy believes most geographies want to be at the head of the pack when 5G is rolls out.
“You can imagine that some of the
early trials will happen around big events like a soccer, something
that brings together a lot of people.”
By the time 5G rolls around in
2020, more data will be transmitted wirelessly than ever before. Up to
now wireless networks were licensed, so Keddy said that 5G is being
designed to provide shared (for a period of time), free (Wi-Fi) and
licensed spectrum in order to handle ever increasing demand.
Ultimately, 5G networks will be
faster with less latency for most devices. However, for devices that
don’t have much computer processing capabilities — a wearable device
with a screen, for example — could connect wirelessly to another device
or cloud service that can processes data or media, which then can be
sent back to the wearable for viewing.
Keddy said that there will be
more bandwidth but also smarter ways of using it that will decrease
latency and increase energy efficiency of the network and our personal
devices. This makes measurements like energy efficiency, spectrum
performance, reliability and cost crucial for 5G.
“Bits per second was a standard
way of measuring network performance, but 5G will encompass much more,”
Keddy wrote in an article that appeared in Wired Insights last fall. Instead, she’d like 5G to measure more completely by looking at bits per joule, bits per Hertz, bits per square meter of coverage and bits per dollar.
5G could be the hottest topic at
Mobile World Congress, but Keddy is close attention to the evolution of
4G LTE, which she said is really just kicking into full gear as it
becomes more broadly available around the world and embedded in more
devices.
“We expect to see new 4G tech
addressing new frequencies and interface designs,” she said, referring
to LTE’s improving ability to interact with personal devices as well as
autonomous machines.
Keddy see a new era for wireless
emerging, one where computer processing and communications technologies
are combing at the core, edge and access points of wireless networks as
well as devices.
In the next five years, riding on
a 5G network could feel more like compute power and information are
following you around. Wearables, smartphones, tablets and other devices
with sensors that are location and context aware will be working
together with apps and services to bring digitally augmented experiences
to real life.
Editor’s note:
At MWC, Asha Keddy will join industry experts at the Conference
Session: 5G Services panel to examine the new services that will be
enabled by this next-generation network, and what the industry and
ecosystem will need to do to make it a reality. Wednesday, March 4,
15:15-16:15 CET/ 3:15-4:15 p.m. CET at Fira Gran Via, Hall 4, Auditorium
4. For a rundown of themes the industry and Intel will likely hit
during MWC 2015, see this post by Julie Coppernoll. Follow Intel news from MWC here.
Technology has put nearly everything at our fingertips and enabled us to engage with the world on a deeper, faster level than ever before. In this series, we examine our increasingly on-demand culture and what it means when access is everything.