November saw the 6th annual Next Generation Mobile Networks conference, or NGMN for short, in Vancouver. The conference is a chance for vendors and ISPs to get together to talk about what they believe the future of 5G will hold. 5G is being paraded as the next big leap in communications. And it truly is. 5G promises to create a world where connections are so ubiquitous and ever-present, that connectivity will be akin to the air we breathe. But how will it do this? How does 5G propose to change how we communicate? Let’s take a look at what is being promised. Faster is always better, right? That’s why we pay so much money to get into a Lambo or a Model X. When it comes to internet, we are no different. Everyone wants the fastest possible speeds. But what is speed? It’s not as straightforward as saying “I want the fastest internet you have”. Really when we talk about speed, we mean three things: Bandwidth, Latency, and Handoff Speed.
To put this into perspective, think of a guy watering his lawn. He has a hose, a couple faucets around his house, and a nozzle. Bandwidth is how wide his hose is. The wider the hose, the more water can flow through it at the same time. We want high bandwidth, so we can get more data at the same time. Latency is how fast the water gets to the end of the hose. When he opens the nozzle the first time, how long until water starts coming out. We want low latency, so our data gets to us with less delay. Handoff speed is how fast he can change faucets. When he is done in the front yard how fast can he connect to the back yard. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you are moving, it is extremely important. We want fast handoff times, otherwise things like self-driving cars or connected trains won’t be possible.
Let’s dive a little deeper into each of these.
4G or LTE was an important step in the mobile world. We went from barely being able to open a web page to being able stream video. The next leap will be just as drastic. With bandwidths ranging from 1 gbps to 20 gbps, your phone is going to feel just as connected as your wired internet connection at home. Download times for large files will go from minutes, to seconds. This will enable cloud technology to reduce the amount of storage we need on our phones. Why buy that larger iPhone when you can just keep all of your big files in the cloud? This will allow phone designers to spend less space on memory, and more on battery. Combined with the efficiency gains, 5G is going to mean longer lasting phones.
This is one aspect that is often under appreciated. People always think of bandwidth when purchasing internet. They look for the cheapest, biggest pipe. However, much of what we do relies on latency more than bandwidth. Think of online gaming. When you start playing games like Fortnite, your computer does two important things. First, it renders what you see. Second, it uploads your commands and downloads the commands from other players. These commands include location/motion data, firing data, and other bits and bytes about the players. These are not video streams, they are not huge amounts of data. They do not require a big pipe to transfer the data. What they absolutely require is low latency. Anything above 150 ms will result in lag. Anything below 20ms latency is considered an amazing connection.
The implications of this are amazing. Sure, the gamer in me geeks out over this number. But the engineer in me is blown by the possibilities this offers. One of the biggest is around self-driving cars. Self-driving cars are not truly possible with today’s networks. We don’t have the bandwidth, but, more importantly, we don’t have the latency. To enable human like response, we need that sub 10ms latency. This will allow cars to react to situations faster than a person would be able to. Self-driving cars, enabled by 5G, will make this world safer and save billions on healthcare expenses every year.
But it doesn’t end there. The response time that 5G enables will allow for some truly amazing technology. Think of doctors being able to perform real-time, complex surgeries from around the globe. Think of augmented reality allowing anybody to perform complex task with the guidance of trained professionals’ miles away. Low Latency is going to mean a more connected world.
Let’s go back to our gardener example. Being able to connect a hose to a new faucet quickly might not seem so important. But when you think of where those fast handoffs will be important, you start to get a sense of its gravity. Let’s go back to our self-driving car example. When you are driving down the highway, you car will be disconnecting and connecting to new cell sites every couple of minutes. With 5G, that is going to need to be every couple of seconds. Your car cannot handle any downtime in connection. Gaps in connectivity can mean mistakes. Mistakes cannot be allowed when human life is at risk. 5G will allow for high data rates, low latency, all while handing off seamlessly between antennas. Already, this system allows the high speed bullet trains of Japan to remain connected at speeds of up to 500 km/h
Imagine the White Caps are playing to a capacity crowd at BC Place. People are enjoying themselves, texting, streaming game clips, posting Instagram stories. Really pushing that bandwidth to the max. Suddenly, a minor earthquake strikes, shaking the place up. No one is seriously injured, but the stadium is evacuated. Everyone is on their phones trying to get ahold of loved ones. Meanwhile, first responders are on scene trying to assess conditions. They need to communicate as well in this packed arena where everyone is making a call. How can we make sure the stadium goers have their bandwidth while the game is going on while giving first responders everything they need when they need it? Slicing to the rescue! Slicing gives the ability to dynamically assign slices of the Bandwidth to different groups. When that slice is not in use by its priority user, it gets used by everyone. In the old model, we assigned permanent pieces of the spectrum to first responders. When that piece of spectrum wasn’t being used, it was wasted. It is through slicing that we will be able meet the needs of the population while still having bandwidth for emergency use if the need arises.
The internet of things, or the internet of everything. Big buzzwords that have been making headlines for the past few years. It is so important to the industry that AWS made it the core theme behind re:Invent 2017. As Amazon likes to ask, “if you could know the state of everything, and reason on top of that data… what problems would you solve”. IoT is going to have a huge impact on our lives. Connected sensors that function without you knowing they are there all working to make your life better. This is the future that companies like AWS, Azure, BlueMix, and even TELUS with our IoT dev kits are putting big money into. How does 5G enable this? Most think it is latency, or data throughput. Both of these are nice to have, but they are not what is really the game changer here. The big improvement comes from two new radio technologies: LTE Cat M1 and NB IoT. Cat M1 and NB IoT are true achievements in radio technology. They are not fast, M1 offers up to 1Mbit/s while NB-IoT offers up to 250kbit/s. They don’t offer incredible latency, 15ms to 10 s are not uncommon. What they are, is efficient. They are so efficient that battery life is not longer a part of the equation. In fact, for some deployments, it is the sensor that will wear out first! Take a smoke detector for example. With current, unconnected smoke alarms, you need to replace the battery every year and replace the unit every 8-10 years (that’s right, sensors wear out. Always tests your detectors). With connected detectors in production now, battery life is 8 years on average. These detectors are now made so that you would need to throw away the whole thing before ever needing to replace a battery.
The smoke detector is just one example from a variety. Think buried sensors in roadways that will monitor traffic for years without intervention. Connected devices in your clothing that help you monitor your physical activity that last longer than the fabric itself. We don’t yet know where this technology will take us, but we will be ready for it.
There is so much more to 5G than we realize. In the same way that 4G made smartphones truly connected devices, 5G will create a future we don’t fully understand yet. When where your data or where your computation takes place no longer matter, you open yourself up to a world of possibilities. When device life is measured not by how long your battery holds its charge, but by the life of its other components, you gain new freedoms in what you can create. When we go from a few sensors hear and there to smart homes and smart cities that can generate a world of new insights, you begin to understand this digital revolution. 5G is going to change the world, however, only time will tell in what ways.