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INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

5G, Fiber and the Future

Bill Cune
SV, Commercial Technology
Corning

ately, there is a lot of hype surrounding 5G wireless and Everything Connected, Seriously Fast
the incredible performance it will deliver, enabling untold Expectations are that 5G will triple the current spectral efficien-
L numbers of new applications and use cases. According to cy, delivering speeds of up to 1 Gbps per user, with a 20 Gbps
one industry study, the digital universe (i.e., bandwidth demand) peak rate. With the capacity to deliver 10 Mbps per square meter
will expand by 40% annually into the of traffic density and at least one
next decade, doubling in size every connection per square meter, 5G
two years. Technology forecasters will also be able to handle large
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also predict that upward of 75 billion concentrations of localized users
devices will be connected to the without impacting speed. It will ac-
Internet of Things (IoT) by 2020. commodate huge numbers of con-
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While that may seem futuristic, it is re- nected devices and enable 10-year
ally just around the corner and within battery life on these IoT devices.
the current IT infrastructure upgrade 5G is expected to triple the cur-
window. In your enterprise, the num- rent spectral efficiency, delivering
ber of connected users and devices speeds of up to 1 Gbps per user,
will likely increase exponentially in with a 20 Gbps peak rate.
the very near future. Some of these “5G is expected to triple the current
‘things’ will need a continuous stream Lower Latency, Higher Reliability
of 3D, ultra-high-definition video, spectral efficiency, delivering speeds of Beyond faster speeds and high
while many more will need just a few up to 1 Gbps per user, with a connection density, 5G also
improvements here and there. Which 20 Gbps peak rate.” promises much lower-latency
begs the question: Will your current connections. With a target of
network architecture—wired and wireless—be able to handle it? 1 ms latency on the radio interface and the need to support
The short answer is probably not. Fortunately, industry 500 kph mobility, 5G not only delivers faster download and
leaders have started working on the next generation of wireless upload times, but it also means much faster response times. Say
technology and the wired networks needed to support it. This goodbye to that delay you currently experience when you hit
network will be capable of keeping up with the expanding digital ‘send’ in your email program. Or more critically, say hello to—
universe and the IoT, where everyone and everything—from our and feel more comfortable with—autonomous vehicles safely
devices and our vehicles to our appliances and our clothes—is zipping around you.
connected.
5G Is a Family of Technology Solutions
The “G” in “Giant Leap Forward” Beyond a significantly enhanced user experience, 5G promises a
Obviously, 4G wireless is a great improvement over 3G, but it’s simplified, elegant wireless solution with multiple technologies
simply not enough: not enough bandwidth, not enough connec- working seamlessly together (what we have been calling hetero-
tions and not enough ‘real time’ features. Today’s networks, tasked geneous networks). 5G acts as the wireless umbrella over many
with keeping us connected, are overworked and overcrowded, technologies, providing a unified, consistent network that all your
with demand always several steps ahead of capacity. As the num- smart devices and applications can tap into.
ber of connected people and devices skyrockets, and as critical 5G brings together multiple waveforms, including LTE and
real-time applications emerge, these issues will only be com- WiFi and their respective evolutionary road maps operating on
pounded. To address the bottlenecks, industry leaders are laying current and future licensed and unlicensed spectrum up to 100
the groundwork for the next evolution in wireless: 5G. GHz. This means LTE and WiFi share the unlicensed 5 GHz band,

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