5G

South Korea is set to become the first country in the world to launch a commercial 5G (5th generation) service in March. It represents the first new mobile communication generation in 8 years since 2011, when the fourth generation mobile communications technology ‘LTE’ was commercialized. Today, we’ll find out more about this core technology of the Quaternary Industrial Revolution that will take us beyond individual communication into the age of the Internet of Things (IoT). The advent of 5G

It was in December of 2018 that South Korea’s three mobile carriers successfully transmitted the first 5G signal. This was the world’s first, making the breakthrough all the more meaningful. It signaled the arrival of the 5G era, which promises to facilitate the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), Cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), VR and AR technologies. These are core technologies of the Quaternary Industrial Revolution, and require 5G communication networks to function properly. This is why countries around the world are competing to preempt the 5G market as 5G networks and the Quaternary Industrial Revolution technologies are closely tied together. Characteristics of 5G technology

5G technology is characterized by ultra high speeds, ultra low latency, and ultra connectivity. Of these, ‘ultra high speeds’ are what sets 5G technology apart most from the current 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology. Theoretically, 5G is expected to provide speeds up to 20Gbps, up to twenty times faster than LTE. To make the most out of AR, VR and other upcoming technologies, it will be necessary to transmit larger volumes of data at even faster speeds. ‘Ultra low latency’ is a fancy way of saying ‘uninterrupted service.’ By drastically reducing the time taken for a signal to travel from phones to the base station, 5G aims to deliver real time services. Thus, ultra low latency is an essential requirement for safe self-driving automobiles. ‘Ultra connectivity’ means that a larger number of devices can connect to the same base station at one time. In the 5G era, one million IoT and smart devices within a range of 1㎢ will be able to connect simultaneously to the same base station. That’s 10 times more than the current number of 100,000 devices using the 4G technology. This all means that 5G will make truly wireless smart cities possible. Essential technologies of the 5G era

Samsung Electronics plays a key role in the 5G mobile communication market, having developed 5G modems meeting international standards. Samsung unveiled a new 3.5GHz 5G NR base station in July, followed by the ‘Exynos Modem 5100’ in August, the industry first’s multi-mode communication chip based on the 5th generation mobile communication standards (5G NR Release-15). Thereby it has established technology leadership in the 5G market, which is set to expand into all areas from the Internet of Things to the automotive. Another noteworthy and essential technology for the 5G era is ‘network slicing.’ As the name suggests, it involves slicing a given network to provide dedicated networks suitable for the nature of each service. Up to 4G, the emphasis was on increasing traffic capacity within a cell. But with 5G, as how many devices can be accommodated within a cell has become important, the concept of network slicing has emerged Even in the 5G era, there will be services that don’t necessary need ‘ultra high speeds, ultra low latency, and ultra connectivity’. Network slicing allows these services to be accommodated separately. A new age of mobile communications is at our doorstep. South Korea is working towards the goal of commercializing the 5G technology nationwide within the year. The DS Division at Samsung Electronics will be providing various semiconductor solutions to make this possible.