Shortening the latency of a network is key to increasing the number of possible users on a network and achieving efficiency in the future of remote working. The implications span many sectors from healthcare and energy, to online gaming, commercial drones, and VR-enabled production lines.
For a conversation to happen, we need to wait for a reply when asked a question, which can take around three seconds. The time it takes between an action and the response is the latency. Low latency 5G networks are vital for improving user experience and diversifying the range of services on offer.
So what’s the difference between 4G and 5G? Not a lot. In short, 5G is like a software update. It’s not so much a ‘revolution’, rather an evolution of 4G. This has been seen before with IP addresses and the switch from IPV4 to IPV6. The introduction of IPV6 was the natural expansion of this network, creating billions of possibilities for connections from its eight-slot, four-digit combinations. This switch enabled an infinite number of new users, similar to the upgrade from 4G to 5G on radio networks.
Reducing the latency of the network, therefore, is the most significant benefit of 5G. While 4G and 5G in principle are the same (the frequency, energy, and way to encode information into a radio signal), 5G introduces the ability to increase network speed, expanding parameters previously fixed by 4Gs limitations.
Applications and implications
In 4G, radio communications transmission time is cut into time slices of 0.01 seconds, that’s 10 milliseconds. Comparatively, in 5G that transmission time could be reduced to 0.001 seconds. This reduction in response time creates a low latency network that increases working speeds and network capacity and creates new possibilities for both remote working and robotics and remote-controlled workers.
As far away as space, engineers and doctors have been working together to develop possibilities for remote telesurgery, first on spaceships and eventually over extremely long distances, such as a colony on Mars. Lowering the latency means that if a surgeon is remotely controlling a robot with a joystick, for example, the delay between when they move the joystick and when the robot moves will become nearly indistinguishable.
Elsewhere, 5G is creating possibilities for more users to engage with a network and a higher quality of experience. For instance, in Southeast Asia and Oceania, where more users are reporting choosing 5G where possible over wifi, there are expected to be over 400 million 5G subscriptions by 2026. Users in countries such as Thailand, which is predicted to exceed 5 million 5G subscriptions alone by the end of 2021, cited an increase in remote-working and preference for HD quality streaming and downloading as a significant benefit of having 5G access.
Independent networks
Independent high-speed networks enabled by 5G will be crucial for developing private and state enterprises, where quick response times are integral to success. From military uses to drone pilots who are required to take control of fully automated commercial aircraft on landing or in an emergency. The more services become remote, the more there is a need for low latency 5G networks to be in place.
Running your own Telco network is a straightforward way to avoid external factors affecting your network running. In many countries such as Japan, Germany, and the USA, acquiring a 5G license and establishing a network base station in your own factory or office is possible. Whilst each country may be using the same hardware to create the personal network, the rules and regulations vary from country to country. Some countries require only a simple fee to be paid, for instance, while in the USA the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is in charge of accessing the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS).
Individual licensing allows for the private commercialization of 5G networks. Such privatization has the potential to improve efficiency in a broad spectrum of industries. Businesses are no longer reliable or restricted by a parent company by creating local, private networks: a cut cable or system blackout won’t affect a network’s running. As network latency is reduced, efficiency is subsequently increased as lag times are shortened.
Cloud-based solutions
In comparison to traditional Radio Access Network (RAN) run on expensive hardware, Virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN) uses cloud technology to open interfaces and support an ecosystem of multiple users. For companies already using vRAN based technologies, switching to 5G is often an easy software upgrade.
Telecom companies are installing more antennas to facilitate the low latency networks to cope with the increase in users. This is where 5G also can help the environmental cost of high-speed networks. Whereas a 4G network requires four antennas for one gigabit, a 5G network only requires one antenna for the same gigabit, subsequently using less power and materials to produce the same effect.
Improving latency in the 5G era means that the capacity of the network and its ability to respond to more actions in the same amount of time is greatly increased. It will become imperative for removing lag when it comes to controlling robots and machines and a litany of other services that used to be done exclusively in person.
What 5G offers is the necessary means to power technological innovation that will shape the future of industrial robotics. Shorter latency from 5G means quicker response times that will enable the remote-working world, an important development for the remote workers using AI and VR technology that are a growing part of the employment landscape.
