5G: A disruptive innovation

More than hundred commercial 5G Networks have been rolled out across the world in sixty countries.

5G has three technology buckets:

1. Enhanced Mobile Broad Band

(e MBB)

2. Massive Machine Type communication (mMTC)

3. Ultra Reliable Low Latency communication (uRLLC)

For eMBB, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented reality are the applications apart from high speed broadband. Fixed wireless access (FWA) will be the most important use case of 5G in our country.

Machine Type communication and Reliable Low Latency communication will have killer applications and will have many takers though they require more time to mature. Whereas, the utilisation of VR and AR technologies on 5G will be a 'reality' sooner! In manufacturing, training & education and health sectors VR/ AR technologies find good applications.

MTC connects machines, sensors, actuators, vehicles, robots and drones to support a large range of applications and services. In implementation of Smart cities, this technology finds application. It will enable lot of industrial use cases like smart manufacturing, automating the shop floor, tracking of assets, automating factories etc. 5G MTC brings lot of benefits to the IOT which are not available with 4G. 5G can support a massive number of static and mobile IoT (Internet of Things) devices which have a diverse range of speed, Bandwidth and QOS requirements.

The applications of uRLLC are car platooning, remote machinery control, drone navigation, gaming and tele surgery. These applications need zero latency and 5G has near zero latency.

In 5G data rates will be 20 Gbps. The frequency bands of 5G services are classified in to FR1 and FR2 frequency ranges. FR1 (4.1 GHz to 7.125 GHz) is used for carrying most of the traditional cellular mobile traffic. FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6GHz) is used for short range and high data rate applications.

The frequency bands are also classified as:

• Low band 600-2300 MHz

• Mid band 2300-5000 MHz

• High band 26 GHz -28 GHz

Airwaves in 600 MHz would be relevant to India as 70 per cent people live in rural areas. This band has good propagation characteristics and requires fewer infrastructures.

For 5G network, Optica fibre or Microwave (E band and V band) back haul will be used for offloading data traffic. Spectrum in the E bands (70 -100 GHz) and V band (40-60GHz) have various technological/ economic benefits. 5G will utilise 3 new technologies; massive MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output), beam forming and cognitive radio (a radio that can be programmed and configured dynamically to use the best wireless channels in its vicinity to avoid user interference and congestion) to offer higher data speeds as compared to the current 4G technology.

MIMO technology in 4G involves four antennas at transmitter and receiver sections whereas massive MIMO in 5G involves sixty four antennas.

There are two technologies for implementing 5G: 3GPP RIT (Third Generation Partnership Project Radio Interface Technology) which is an international standard and TSDSI (Telecom Sandard Development Society of India) RIT. 3GPP uses 700 MHZ band with 6Km (ISD inter site distance). TSDSI RIT supports large cell low mobility (LCLM) of 12Km radius. This technology is ideal for rural areas. It uses 3.4 GHz band. Hand set battery will have long life. This technology is compatible with 3GPP handsets and equipment.

For allotment of 26-28 GHz for 5 G service, Department of Space (DOS) is objecting. This is ideal band for ultra high speed broad band and TSPs prefer it. 3250 MHz band width is available in this band as compared to 175 MHz in 3.5 GHz band. DOS is demanding to cut down transmission power of 5G BTS from 60 dbm to 37 dbm so that satellite services can work without any interference from 5G mobile networks. This restriction on the transmitted power of 5G BTS will reduce the hop length increasing the investment costs by 16 times making the 5G services unavailable. ITU has upheld the view of Telecom industry. Frequency/ 'Space' (spacing between 5G BTS and Satellite Earth Stations) coordination is required between DOT and DOS so that both services can coexist. For 5G, telcos would need to focus on fibre back haul which is critical. Tower fiberisation has to be improved.

5G roll out may be reality as government has reduced notice period to six months(from one year) for offering any new technology using the spectrum being put up for auction. The seven frequency bands that will be auctioned are 700Mhz, 800Mhz,900 MHz,1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz. Government wants Telcos to adopt Indian core for 5G net work. All communications on a 5G Network are encrypted with keys stored in the core implying that they can't be read by base stations. This makes the core critical from data security point of view.

5G Test Bed is ready. 5G trials are likely to start in 2 to 3 months. Spectrum will be allotted by WPC for six months for trials. These trials are essential prerequisite for building 5G ecosystem. Telcos and gear vendors are currently working on 5G use cases in health care, agriculture, automotive and education verticals. DOT is working with different ministries for setting up of India specific 5G Use Case Labs (UCLs) in areas like education, health care, agriculture and public safety. Institute of Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an Institute under RBI, in collaboration with Department of Financial Services has come forward for setting up a 5G Use Case Lab in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI).

Airtel has demonstrated 5G services at Hyderabad on a commercial network using 1800 MHz spectrum through Non Stand Alone (NSA) network technology sharing spectrum with 4G service. In NSA architecture, the control signalling of 5G Radio Network is connected to 4G core while in SA architecture 5G Radio is connected directly to 5G core network.

JIO is expected to launch 5G services with SA architecture in the second half of 2021. Even after the entry of 5G into Indian networks, 2G/3G/4G will continue to remain in use and it may take 10 or more years to phase out.

(The author is retired Advisor, DOT, Government of India)