3GPP, the organization that oversees cellular standards has agreed on the specification for Non-Standalone 5G NR (New Radio) at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.
The standards include defining the waveforms, channel coding and modulation techniques.
They also address antenna techniques that hasn’t traditionally been usable for mobile networks. 5G uses millimeter wave frequencies that can deliver more bandwidth but degrade easily, so it must be managed by beam-forming antennas and other technologies.
By having it standardized, 5G features, functions, services, and others are set for carriers, phone makers, and radio equipment manufacturers. They are given the basis to begin, produce silicon-based parts and roll out 5G equipment and services to capable networks around the world.
As of 2017, development of 5G is being led by several companies, including Samsung, Intel, Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, and others.
5G standards should fulfill:
- Improved coverage.
- Enhanced signaling efficiency.
- Enhanced spectral efficiency if compared to 4G.
- Reduced latency compared to LTE.
- Data rates of tens of megabits per second for tens of thousands of users.
- Data rates of 100 megabits per second for metropolitan areas.
- 1GB per second simultaneously to many users on the same office floor.
- Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections for wireless sensors.
The completed specs have support for low-frequency (600MHz, 700MHz), mid-range (3.5GHz) and high-frequency (50GHz) spectrum.
The 3GPP, is also the organization that set standards for previous 2G, 3G and 4G wireless network technologies. And 5G NR is the next transition after 4G LTE.
