In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectivity to most current cellphones. Like its predecessors, 5G networks are cellular networks, in which the service area is divided into small geographical areas called cells.
All 5G wireless devices in a cell are connected to the Internet and telephone network by radio waves through a local antenna in the cell. The main advantage of the new networks is that they will have greater bandwidth, giving faster download speeds, eventually up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps).
Due to the increased bandwidth, it is expected that the new networks will not just serve cellphones like existing cellular networks, but also be used as general internet service providers for laptops and desktop computers, competing with existing ISPs such as cable internet, and also will make possible new applications in IoT and M2M areas. Current 4G cellphones will not be able to use the new networks, which will require new 5G enabled wireless devices.
The increased speed is achieved partly by using higher frequency radio waves than current cellular networks. However, higher frequency microwaves have a shorter range than the frequencies used by previous cell phone towers, requiring smaller cells. So to ensure wide service, 5G networks operate on up to three frequency bands, low, medium, and high. A 5G network will be composed of networks of up to 3 different types of cell, each requiring different antennas, each type giving a different tradeoff of download speed vs distance and service area. 5G cellphones and wireless devices will connect to the network through the highest speed antenna within range at their location:
Low-band 5G uses a similar frequency range as current 4G cellphones, 600 - 700 MHz giving download speeds a little higher than 4G: 30-250 megabits per second (Mbps). Low-band cell towers will have a similar range and coverage area to current 4G towers. Mid-band 5G uses microwaves of 2.5-3.7 GHz, currently allowing speeds of 100-900 Mbps, with each cell tower providing service up to several miles radius. This level of service is the most widely deployed, and should be available in most metropolitan areas in 2020. Some countries are not implementing low-band, making this the minimum service level. High-band 5G uses frequencies of 25 - 39 GHz, near the bottom of the millimeter wave band, to achieve download speeds of 1 - 3 gigabits per second (Gbps), comparable to cable internet. However millimeter waves (mmWave or mmW) only have a range of about 1 mile (1.6 km), requiring many small cells, and have trouble passing through some types of building walls.
Due to their higher costs, current plans are to deploy these cells only in dense urban environments, and areas where crowds of people congregate such as sports stadiums and convention centers. The above speeds are those achieved in actual tests in 2020, speeds are expected to increase during rollout.
The industry consortium setting standards for 5G is the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It defines any system using 5G NR (5G New Radio) software as "5G", a definition that came into general use by late 2018. Minimum standards are set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Previously, some reserved the term 5G for systems that deliver download speeds of 20 Gbps as specified in the ITU's IMT-2020 document.
Overview
5G networks are digital cellular networks, in which the service area covered by providers is divided into small geographical areas called cells. Analog signals representing sounds and images are digitized in the telephone, converted by an analog to digital converter and transmitted as a stream of bits. All the 5G wireless devices in a cell communicate by radio waves with a local antenna array and low power automated transceiver (transmitter and receiver) in the cell, over frequency channels assigned by the transceiver from a pool of frequencies that are reused in other cells. The local antennas are connected with the telephone network and the Internet by a high-bandwidth optical fiber or wireless backhaul connection. As in other cell networks, a mobile device crossing from one cell to another is automatically "handed off" seamlessly to the new cell. 5G can support up to a million devices per square kilometer, while 4G supports only up to 100,000 devices per square kilometer. The new 5G wireless devices also have 4G LTE capability, as the new networks use 4G for initially establishing the connection with the cell, as well as in locations where 5G access is not available.
Verizon and a few others are using millimeter waves. Millimeter waves have shorter range than microwaves, therefore the cells are limited to smaller size. Millimeter waves also have more trouble passing through building walls. Millimeter wave antennas are smaller than the large antennas used in previous cellular networks. Some are only a few inches (several centimeters) long.
Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) was deployed in 4G as early as 2016 and typically uses 32 to 128 small antennas at each cell. In the right frequencies and configuration, it can increase performance from 4 to 10 times. Multiple bitstreams of data are transmitted simultaneously. In a technique called beamforming, the base station computer will continuously calculate the best route for radio waves to reach each wireless device, and will organize multiple antennas to work together as phased arrays to create beams of millimeter waves to reach the device
Political Opposition
Due to fears of potential espionage of users of Chinese equipment vendors, several countries (including the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom as of early 2019) have taken actions to restrict or eliminate the use of Chinese equipment in their respective 5G networks. Chinese vendors and the Chinese government have denied these claims.
A report published by the European Commission and European Agency for Cybersecurity details the security issues surrounding 5G while trying to avoid mentioning Huawei. The report warns against using a single supplier for a carrier's 5G infrastructure, specially those based outside the European Union. (Nokia and Ericsson are the only European manufacturers of 5G equipment.)
It has been alleged that the United States via the FBI, the UK via GCHQ and other intelligence agencies have sought to adjust 5G standards through 3GPP in order to allow as much metadata as possible to be collected for mass surveillance purposes.
Environmental impact
Concerns have been raised about the visual impact of 5G transmitters on historically and environmentally sensitive areas.
In August 2019, a court in the United States decided that 5G technology will not be deployed without environmental impact and historic preservation reviews.
Security concerns
Further information: Criticism of Huawei § Espionage and security concerns
On October 18, 2018, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Lorraine and the University of Dundee released a paper entitled, "A Formal Analysis of 5G Authentication". It alerted hat 5G technology could open ground for a new era of security threats. The paper described the technology as "immature and insufficiently tested," the one that "enables the movement and access of vastly higher quantities of data, and thus broadens attack surfaces". Simultaneously, network security companies such as Fortinet, Arbor Networks, A10 Networks, and Voxility advised on personalized and mixed security deployments against massive DDoS attacks foreseen after 5G deployment.
IoT Analytics estimated an increase in the number of IoT devices, enabled by 5G technology, from 7 billion in 2018 to 21.5 billion by 2025. This can raise the attack surface for these devices to a substantial scale, and the capacity for DDoS attacks, cryptojacking, and other cyberattacks could boost proportionally.
Health
The scientific consensus is that 5G technology is safe. Misunderstanding of 5G technology has given rise to conspiracy theories claiming it has an adverse effect on human health.
An international appeal to the European Union made on September 13, 2017, garnered over 180 signatures from scientists representing 35 countries. They cite unproven concerns over the 10 to 20 billion connections to the 5G network and the subsequent increase in RF-EMF exposure affecting the global populace constantly. A further letter by many of the same scientists was written in January 2019, demanding a moratorium on 5G coverage in Europe until potential hazards for human health have been fully investigated.
In April 2019, the city of Brussels in Belgium blocked a 5G trial because of radiation laws. In Geneva, Switzerland, a planned upgrade to 5G was stopped for the same reason. The Swiss Telecommunications Association (ASUT) has said that studies have been unable to show that 5G frequencies have any health impact. Several Swiss cantons adopted moratoriums on 5G technology, though the federal offices in charge of environment and telecommunications say that the cantons have no jurisdiction to do so.
According to CNET, "Members of Parliament in the Netherlands are also calling on the government to take a closer look at 5G. Several leaders in Congress have written to the Federal Communications Commission expressing concern about potential health risks. In Mill Valley, California, the city council blocked the deployment of new 5G wireless cells." Similar concerns were raised in Vermont and New Hampshire. After campaigning by activist groups, a series of small localities in the UK, including Totnes, Brighton and Hove, Glastonbury, and Frome passed resolutions against the implementation of further 5G infrastructure.
There have been a number of concerns over the spread of disinformation in the media and online regarding the potential health effects of 5G technology. Writing in The New York Times in 2019, William Broad reported that RT America began airing programming linking 5G to harmful health effects which "lack scientific support", such as "brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors, and Alzheimer's disease". Broad asserted that the claims had increased. RT America had run seven programs on this theme by mid-April 2019 but only one in the whole of 2018. The network's coverage had spread to hundreds of blogs and websites.
Arson attacks
During the COVID-19 pandemic, several conspiracy theories circulating online posited a link between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and 5G. This has led to dozens of arson attacks being made on telecom masts in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, etc.), Ireland (Belfast, Cork, etc.), Cyprus, Scotland, Wales, England (Dagenham, Huddersfield, Birmingham and Liverpool), Belgium (Pelt), Italy (Maddaloni), Croatia (Bibinje) and Sweden. It led to at least 61 suspected arson attacks against telephone masts in the United Kingdom alone and over twenty in The Netherlands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G
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