As the launch of 5G services is approaching, a lot may be wondering about how fast 5G is compared to 4G.
5G is designed to take mobile communications to an amazing speed, but what speed are we talking about?
The 5G standards have not yet been completed and the majority of services provided that support 5G are still in the pre-commercial phase. To be realistic, it is possible not to see 5G services commercially until at least 2020, so it is difficult to determine the speeds that 5G can reach.
Certainly, the speeds that we get will be higher than what is found in 4G and the lowest speed in the commercial services of 5G is 10 times faster than the 4G.As mentioned above, it is difficult to give real speeds, but the experiments conducted so far have achieved amazing results and can build a good idea of what we can expect when the launch of 5G globally.
5G download Speed
Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) stated that in order to be considered a 5G service, data transfer rates of a few tens of megabits per second must be provided to tens of thousands of users simultaneously and a 1Gbps transfer rate should be secured. At least a second to dozens of workers in the same office.
These numbers may be slightly vague and do not give an accurate idea of the speeds and some estimate that the download speed is up to 1000 times that of 4G networks to exceed the threshold of 10 Gbps. At this speed, you'll be able to download an HD movie in less than a second.
Network type
|
download speed
|
3G network
|
384Kbps
|
4G network
|
100Mbps
|
5G network
|
1-10Gbps (theoretically)
|
Some sources, such as The Korea Times, say that 5G networks will be able to transmit data at speeds of up to 20Gbps. Theoretically LTE-A can achieve speeds of up to 300Mbps but in reality you will not get more than 42Mbps and 4G standard achieves real-time speeds of up to 14Mbps.
Nokia is ambitious in this regard and expects the user will be able to broadcast 8K 3D video on 5G networks.
Some are more conservative in their forecasts but nevertheless estimate their speeds to be 12 times faster than in 4G networks.
The experimental stages of 5G began to appear on the ground, for example from Verizon in the United States, which showed that its technology can achieve download speeds 30-50 times faster than speeds in 4G and this will enable you to download a full movie by 15 Seconds compared to 4G where it takes 6 minutes.
5G Innovation Center has achieved higher speeds in test environments up to 1 terabit per second, which is approximately 65,000 times faster than 4G and will be able to download 100 times larger than a full movie in just 3 seconds.
It is clear that no matter how fast the 5G will be on the ground, it will make us forget what 4G networks have given us at a glance.
5G upload Speed
As for upload speeds, the outlook is more ambiguous, but it is certain that you will be able to raise data at speeds of several gigabits per second and can reach up to 10Gbps.
The upload speed will be linked to the download speed but whatever the download speed provided, the upload speed will be less than half the loading speed.
Delay Time:
Network type
|
Time unit (ms)
|
3G network
|
120ms (real)
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4G network
|
45ms ( real )
|
5G network
|
1ms (theoretically)
|
Delay time is the time it takes for a network to respond to a request that the user may be trying to play a song, video, or upload a website for example. The network must respond before it starts to load and this causes an undesirable delay especially in online games.
The delay times in the 3G network are around 120ms and are lower in 4G networks, ranging from 15 to 60 milliseconds. As for the 5G, theoretically the delay time in response to 1ms is reduced and is not noticeable.
The reduction in delay time will improve all existing applications and more than that it is necessary for new applications such as self-driving cars that need to respond to inputs and changes in events very quickly.
Where are we now from all this?
Corporate experiences
|
Speed achieved
|
NTT DoCoMo
|
2.5 Gbps
|
Ericsson
|
3.6 Gbps
|
Huawei
|
70 Gbps
|
In early 2015, researchers at 5G Innovation Center (5GIC) achieved 1Tbps wireless transmission speeds, well ahead of Samsung's 7.5Gbps figure in 2014, 65,000 times faster than the average download speed in 4G networks.
However, this speed was recorded under laboratory conditions using custom-made equipment at a distance of 100 meters, which could be possible on the ground but in the very long term.
Many operators and manufacturers around the world have achieved spectacular speeds with the 5G experience and are now transferring this technology from experimentation to real-world application. .
The following are some of the most important achievements in the field of 5G speed which can give us a good idea of what you should expect from the 5G trial services.
Japanese company NTT DOCOMO is advancing everyone in the development of 5G as it prepares to launch experimental services at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
This company works with all major manufacturers around the world and claims to have achieved amazing results in 5G and has regularly improved data transfer speeds:
- In November 2016, in partnership with Samsung, it achieved a data transfer speed of about 5Gbps within a 150km / h mobile vehicle to show the stability of connectivity for 5G devices within fast mobile vehicles.
- In October 2016, in partnership with Huawei, it reached a speed of 29Gbps (delay time of 0.5 seconds) outdoors using 23 simultaneously connected devices.
- In May 2016, in partnership with Nokia, a live 8K video was successfully piloted.
- In February 2016, in partnership with Ericsson, it achieved 20Gbps outdoors using two simultaneously connected devices. Each download link reached 10Gbps at a distance of 70 meters from the base station.
There are many cell phone companies worldwide working on 5G technologies, but it is clear from the above that many of these companies are cooperating with several other companies at the same time.
Ericsson has demonstrated the speeds of 5G technology in mid-2014 before the standards were released, and is working with NTT DOCOMO and others:
- In February 2017, in partnership with SK Telecom and BMW Korea, it achieved a maximum download speed of 6Gbps for a 170km / h mobile vehicle and maintained a steady yield of 1.5Gbps.
- In December 2016, AT&T launched what it called the first commercial 5G commercial experience in the United States to bring the technologies it worked with with Ericsson and Tantel to the ground. Higher speeds of 10Gbps were recorded.
- In December 2016, it called the first 5G end-to-end experimental system in collaboration with Telefonica.
- In October 2016, in cooperation with Telia, it demonstrated the potential of 5G on the ground within a working outdoor network at a maximum user speed of 15Gbps.
- In September 2016, it demonstrated the potential of 5G on the ground within a network operating in Australia with Telstra and achieved a speed of more than 20Gbps.
- In March 2017, it achieved 70Gbps speed in a 5G experiment with a Norwegian company called Telenor in the E band.
- In February 2017, in partnership with China Mobile, it published the results of its work on 5G Dual Connectivity with a user productivity of 22Gbps.
- In February 2017, it unveiled 5G New Radio, which was tested in three production scenarios that exceeded 10Gbps for over a million simultaneous connections with a delay of less than 1ms.
What's Next?
Very high speeds have been recorded in the tests and the experimental phase but the time for their widespread application globally remains elusive.
The first 5G services are expected to be launched this year through Verizon, which aims to test 5G services in 11 states in the United States to cover a few thousand sites without hinting at what speeds it hopes to offer or what smartphones users should use.