5G vs. 4G
5G vs. 4G
5G will enhance our connected lives and paves the way for innovations. But what is the difference between 5G and 4G? How does the technology work? And how can it make completely new connected use cases possible? Let’s find out!
What is the difference?
How a mobile network works
How does your smartphone work on 5G vs 4G?
The true smartness behind smartphones is the mobile network that keeps you connected even if you travel at high speeds. All mobile networks, regardless of technology generation, use basic principles for how their
Mobile networks consist of three parts. First, we have the Radio Access Network, which your phone connects to. Its antennas can often be seen on city rooftops, masts, and towers in the countryside.
Then we have the Core Network – the central part of the mobile network – that connects your call to the right person or the internet service you want to use. Finally, the Transport Network unites the Radio Access Network and the Core.
Radio waves connect devices to the network, but what is the difference between the 5G vs. 4G radio frequencies?
Radio waves have been used for wireless communication for 120 years, and we use them for radio and TV broadcasting, transmission in mobile networks, and WiFi.
And Radio waves have much lower frequencies than light, so they travel around corners and even into buildings – perfect for mobile communication.
A 5G network antenna uses a relatively small amount of power, from less than 1 W up to a few hundred watts, depending on the type, about the same as the ranges of traditional lightbulbs.
Your phone uses far less power, about 0.2 W at most. With such low power output, it’s almost surprising that mobile communications even work. We can tell you that it took a lot of clever radio engineering to get there.
5G means speed and capacity
You have probably heard that 5G is fast, but what differentiates 5G vs. 4G speed?
There is a limit to how much information radio waves can carry depending on the frequency band. If we reach that limit, for someone to get better speed, someone else’s needs to decrease. 5G adds more capacity and more” space” to use, meaning there’s more room for everyone, and their devices get higher data speeds.
This is important because data traffic grows yearly as people stream more videos and use more connected services.
5G can connect more devices than 4G
How many devices can 5G vs. 4G click?
Previous mobile network generations, like 4G, can sometimes have difficulty handling many devices in the exact location. Some of us have experienced this when using our phones during crowded sports events or concerts. 5G solves this issue by intelligently transmitting to each device with high precision, enabling it to handle as many as 1 million devices per square kilometer.
This precision reduces the noise in 5G, making connecting many devices easier. The ability to connect more devices is essential since the number of devices connecting to the network increases yearly.
5G is designed for more than phones
What kind of devices can 5G vs 4G connect?
4G was a great leap forward, allowing people to stream music and video on the go. 5G is designed to connect many more types of devices than smartphones – anything; while 4G provides one-size-fits-all connectivity, where every device got the same service, 5G is different.
And 5G can provide a connection that consumes very little energy for a smartwatch that runs on a small battery. it can provide an extremely stable and fast connection for an industrial robot. This is valuable because, in the future, we will see more and more new types of connected devices, each requiring relationships with different performance levels and characteristics.
5G is more than a network
Will 5G vs. 4G make any difference for computing and cloud services?
While 4G made cloud services useable on mobile phones, 5G technology takes this to a new level. A 5G network has so much processing power built in that it becomes more than a network. It can act as a distributed data center that performs processing tasks, either using the full power of centralized resources or the responsiveness of edge computing done close to the user.
Processing intense tasks, like AR filters or games, could be handled by the network instead of your phone, improving performance and saving battery. This makes new types of battery-powered devices, like lightweight AR glasses, possible and enables coordinated fleets of connected delivery drones.
5G can act as many different networks
How different are the capabilities of 5G vs 4G networks?
While 4G networks were mainly designed for phones, 5G networks were designed for much more flexible use, replacing the need for many special-purpose networks. They can even function as many separate networks – all simultaneously.
This fantastic 5G technology is called network slicing. Slices of the network can be tailored for a specific purpose and act as its independent network. Each piece can optimize the characteristics needed for a particular service without wasting resources on things it doesn’t need. It’s the bright 5G Core that makes slicing possible, which also guarantees the connection and performance that each
slice was set up to deliver.
Who created 5G?
The 5G technology was developed in cooperation between many different companies and organizations across the globe through the standardization organization 3GPP.
5G is a global and open standard, meaning anyone can read about how it works and the requirements. The international 5G standardization ensures that devices and networks will work together regardless of where in the world you are and which specific device you are using.
Ericsson has been an active member of 3GPP since it was founded and has significantly contributed to the development of 5G, particularly in ultra-lean radio design, security and subscriber privacy, network slicing, and energy efficiency.
How 5G enables industry innovation
There is tremendous pressure to transform the traffic system to cope with trends like increased transport needs, density, and urbanization while tackling the challenge of radically reducing emissions and environmental impact.
5G plays a vital role in the transformation by connecting vehicles and roadside infrastructure and digitalizing the entire traffic system. With real-time information sharing over 5G networks, cars will know the traffic state to optimize flows and minimize congestion. This reduces travel times and emissions, and instant data sharing allows vehicles to see around corners, improving everyone’s safety.
5G makes this possible by supporting extreme device density, millisecond response time, and the ability to create dedicated network slices for the traffic infrastructure.
The gaming industry is the most significant entertainment sector, with total revenues of about $180 billion in 2020. Mobile gaming is the fastest-growing category, accounting for almost 50% of revenue. Consumers appreciate on-the-go gaming, and 5G is set to bring this even further.
Capacity, speed, and millisecond ping make playing advanced games possible wherever you are. 5G brings the capacity needed for streaming massive multi-player games, including immersive experiences in augmented reality.
Future devices can be more lightweight and have long battery life since the network handles the processing. This also means there is less need to update the devices as new games are released, making advanced mobile gaming more accessible.
A growing population to feed, water shortage in many parts of the world, and a need to increase crop yields sustainably using fewer fertilizers and reducing environmental impact – challenges for the agriculture sector are plenty.
5G helps meet these challenges by accelerating agriculture digitalization, connecting every aspect of the business. Tiny soil sensors, measuring watering and fertilization needs to minimize usage, could get up to 10 years of battery life associated with 5G.
The same network can connect self-driving farming robots with mission-critical connectivity to make them autonomous and coordinated, improving productivity and safety.
Advantages of 5G over 4G
What is 5G?
As the planned successor to the 4G networks, 5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which has been deployed worldwide since 2019 to achieve rapid speed, low latency, massive connection, wide coverage, and flexible deployment. By now, there are many successful 5G commercial cases worldwide.
The difference between 4G architecture and 5G architecture
Compared to the architecture of 4G, 5G has these features in general (as below figure).
1. The introduction of edge computing to deploy service anchors and computing capabilities to mobile edge nodes.
2. The split architecture of CU/DU is introduced in 5G RAN. The CU is placed in the center or aggregation point of the county, saving the number of data centers and reducing costs.
3. The introduction of network slicing in 5GC (5G core network) to achieve on-demand customization of services and networks to meet the diverse vertical industry needs in the 5G era.
4G architecture vs. 5G architecture
Advantages of 5G over 4G
Based on the evolution of architecture, 5G has these advantages:
- Flexible frame structure
- Wide bandwidths
- Massive MIMO & Beamforming
How does 5G work in the application?
Based on the Cloud Native Platform, IPLOOK provides a fully integrated end-to-end 5G wireless solution that includes integrated Radio Access, high capacity 5GC (5G Core Network), high reliability 5G MEC cloud platform, 5G CPE, Artificial Intelligence and other digital technologies, supporting multiple network access models for diverse application scenarios.
IPLOOK can offer one-stop services such as pre-sales consultation, solution design, platform development, system delivery, and data operation.
Keeping on exploring pragmatic 5G products and solutions, IPLOOK has already accumulated many commercial cases:
*IPLOOK End-to-end 4G/5G Wireless solution
- IPLOOK 5G network slicing
- Private 5G network solution
- IPLOOK 5G/6G satellite converged solution
- IPLOOK 5GC solution, including 5G SA and 5G NSA networks, as well as its network elements
What will 5G bring to our lives?
As the three major application scenarios of 5G (eMBB, mMTC, URLLC) concluded, 5G supports a range of new services for Operators, Enterprises, and Governments.
It can be applied in diverse scenarios with flexible architecture and expanded applications:
- AR/ VR Gaming
- Smart city
- Smart factories
- Smart office
- Health care
- Autonomous driving
