“Transition to 5G Communications” Technologies, Applications and Markets Assessment

“Transition to 5G Communications” Technologies, Applications and Markets Assessment

The goal of this report is to address several current technologies (as well as their marketplaces) that, according to the ITU classifications, are transitioning to the 5G communications era.

Though, based on the industry insiders statistics, in 2017 market share of 4G networks was not more than 7%-10% on the global scale, the industry is seriously considering the 5G introduction already in 2020 (and some providers and vendors claim even earlier introduction in 2018-2019).

This new radio access generation will be built on the existing infrastructure, which will be modernized and expanded with new technologies.

The 5G wireless communication system will be a converged system with multiple radio access technologies integrated together. It will be able to support a wide range of applications and services to comprehensively satisfy the requirements of the information society by the year 2020 and beyond. From the technology perspective, 5G will be the continuous enhancement and evolution of the present radio access technologies, and also the development of novel radio access technologies to meet the increasing demand of future. 5G can be characterized as data, connectivity and user experience.

There are two main views on 5G that exist today, which are frequently mixed together to form the basis of the 5G definition:

View 1 – The hyper-connected vision: In this view, 5G is seen as a blend of existing technologies (2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi and others) that can deliver greater coverage and availability, higher network density in terms of cells and devices, and the ability to provide the connectivity that enables machine-to-machine (M2M) services and the Internet of Things (IoT).

View 2 – Next-generation radio access technology: This perspective outlines 5G in ‘generational’ terms, setting specific targets that new radio interfaces must meet in terms of data rates (faster than 1Gbps downlink) and latency (less than 1ms delay).

The first view is connected with a gradual transition of 3G/4G (and other) technologies to the 5G era with appropriate enhancements and extensions. Some of such technologies are the subject of this report analysis. Particular, the following technologies, their markets, industries and applications are addressed in connection with their transition to 5G (they are being bundled under the title of 5G despite of the fact that they are already being brought to market by vendors and deployed by operators):

• CR/SDR – Cognitive Radio/Software Defined Radio
• Small Cells
• mmWave Radio
• MIMO
• Visible Light Communications.

The report also addresses general requirements to 5G networking and surveys current 5G standardization activities.

The report intends to a wide audience of technical and managerial staff involved in the development of advanced wireless communications.