5G Verticals

Preface

Looking back at the technical history of wireless communication systems, it becomes apparent that the fifth generation (5G) is following a fundamentally different developmental tract than what came before it. The first generation was based upon analog transmission technology. The second generation was the transition from analog to digital transmission technology in the form of mainly time division multiple access. The third generation was the transition of the wireless industry to the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) wave form. The fourth generation was the adoption of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). Each generation was associated with a change in the waveform and an associated improvement in the spectral efficiency due to the waveform. However, 5G is decidedly not a change in the waveform because OFDM is still the waveform in the first release of 5G; Release 15. The main reason for this, in our opinion, is that in the frequency range from 1 to 60 GHz, OFDM is extremely flexible and a proven waveform does not exist in the literature that significantly outperforms it.

This raises the question: What is so special about 5G leading to all the hype? In the literature and in the press, there are numerous articles about how 5G will be “more”; more capacity, more coverage, higher data rates, and lower latency. Yes, 5G is about all of that but in our opinion, these aspects are insignificant to the revolution that is 5G. To understand its significance, ...