The Coexistence of 5g and 4g Technologies

There is no doubt that one of the most important features within the fifth generation platform of the mobile communications standard resides in the fact that 5G will use multiple input and multiple output technology, also known as MIMO, which basically makes use of a set of small antennas that allow each data flow to be managed individually.

A data transmission rate 1,000 times faster than that of the LTE network? This is what awaits us with the future standard of 5G mobile phone technology. This fifth generation will be the technological base of the developments of the Internet of Things, with automated vehicles, houses connected to smart cities... 5G technology is full of potential.

To start with 5G technology, it promises to be up to 100 times faster than today's wireless systems. Although the current devices do not have enough capacity to support it, it should be noted that this technology will not start arriving until 2018, with Japan, South Korea and North America being probably the first to adopt this 5G technology.

But what will allow us to do 5G networks? In addition to increasing speed, 5G networks will offer lower latency, greater reliability, better connectivity from more places ; also greater capacity, allowing more users and more devices to be connected at the same time. The resulting infrastructure will make the IoT (internet of things - intern of things-) scalable, with more than 20.8 billion 'things' - including buildings, cars, machines and appliances - that are expected to be connected to the network for the moment 5G opens globally in 2020, compared to 4.9 billion in 2015.

With the 5G network we can download a movie on our smartphone in less than three seconds; Our car will be able to detect and navigate automatically, saving obstacles from the road; doctors can perform complex surgical procedures using robots remotely; Cities will be able to collect omnipresent real-time information about traffic, weather and crime...

5G networks will allow devices to connect to each other directly, with more efficient communication and therefore with lower battery power consumption. Regarding devices for the Internet of Things, for example, the superior speed and performance of 5G networks will unlock highly requested features such as voice commands, facial recognition, real-time image and video processing and interfaces based on gestures. Thus, in 10 years the robotic taxis will be part of the usual scenario of many streets of the big cities.

Сonclusion

While 5G technology may take a little longer to be fully available throughout the world, the truth is that in the places where it has already been implemented, it works in a really fantastic way.

Although it is still not too clear, 4G and 5G could live together, 5G in urban areas with a high concentration of users and 4G technology in the most remote places. This could happen until 5G mobile networks are fully deployed, which could take considerable time.