As the time passes, developments in technology also advance towards new inventions and improvements. Each passing day we see new devices and softwares in front of us. These updates in technology are making our lives easier and we get use to them very quickly. Internet is one of the most (if not the most) frequently used technology. Internet also witnesses improvements in its style and speed.
In 2019, we are expecting the Fifth-Generation of the internet (also known as “The 5G”). This year is going to be the base for a new era. If 5G provides what people think of, then we will witness true ease in life.
5G has numerous benefits. For example, very high-speed internet, remote surgery, virtual reality etc. The most talked advantage of 5G, however, is the evolution of IoT (Internet of Things) devices in our lives. Through greater speeds and good performance of 5G, it will be possible to transfer data to billions of IoT devices at the same time.
Everybody wants to have an easy life and will therefore try to switch to IoT devices as much as possible. Therefore the impact of 5G on IoT, probably, can be considered the biggest gift of 5G.
Impact of 5G on Internet of Things (IoT)
Since 5G is just in the development stage, we cannot expect sudden changes in the IoT devices. IoT devices are (both existing as well as those being in the development stage) use wireless protocols. These protocols include: Cellular (4G LTE NB-IoT), LoRaWAN, SigFox and Cellular (4G LTE CAT-M).
It is, however, unavoidable for IoT device makers to update their devices once 5G is properly developed. Changes in the IoT are deemed to be the most important impact of 5G. IoT requires very fast internet speeds to work properly. A smart car, while on the way to a destination, might not be able to avoid an accident if it gets a slower response from the internet when it needs.
Volume of data transferred in IoT is expected to be huge because of large number of connected IoT devices. It might not be possible for 4G LTE to properly control the data transfer in future. It will get even harder when IoT devices will be used by everyone frequently.
Some major challenges with IoT and their possible solutions that can be provided by 5G are as follows:
- Disconnected systems are a big challenge IoT technologies are facing these days. 5G, due to its ability to transfer data faster as well as supporting more connections simultaneously, is expected to solve this problem.
- Lag time has also made things very difficult when we talk about IoT devices. Since data transfer speed provided by 4G is low, it produces lags when the network gets crowded. 5G features 10x faster speeds compared to 4G LTE. It will allow a lot more data transfer at the same time without any difficulty in processing that data. This will help in removing the data transfer lags faced while using 4G.
- Due to slower speed, the dream of smart city is still a dream. With 5G, it can become reality because the transfer speed will be very fast enabling the network to process data quickly. Every street light will be able to sense daylight and send signal to the network. In return data will be sent to the sensors in the street lights to turn them off. Imagine how good we will feel that day, thanks to 5G.
- Smart houses are also going to be an important result of 5G. Currently, due to the limited data transfer rates and number of connections allowed by 4G, it is not clearly possible to keep our houses the way we want while we are out somewhere else. 5G will make it possible and we will able to control, for example, the temperature of our house while staying away from the house.
Impact of 5G on other Areas
As pointed out above, 5G has numerous benefits due to its low latency and faster speed. Some notable areas that would not be good enough without 5G are discussed below:
- Self-driving cars: Companies providing transport services are surely going to like this because they won’t need “a must-have driver” sitting behind the wheel. They will be able to control their vehicles from a remote location just with the help of haptic feedbacks.
- Remote surgery: This is going to be an important achievement if 5G makes it possible. A surgeon will be able to perform surgery while sitting miles away from the operation room. This will help medical sciences to makes sure patients get timely treatment in case of emergencies.
- Home broadband: 5G is going to replace the traditional broadband internet services in our homes. It will be faster than the broadband we have today. It is claimed that 5G will be 10x faster than our broadband connection.
- Virtual reality: Virtual reality (VR) had a lot of voice in the near past. Companies are working on VR to make them more and more useful. True VR, however, will be experienced when 5G is out there. Due to the speed of 5G, gamers will be able to have live chats while playing games in the virtual world.
- Drones: Drones technology will also be influenced by 5G. It will be easy to control them with the powerful network provided by 5G. The drones will also send High-Definition videos without any lags or data transfer problems faced.
Conclusion
5G will provide unlimited benefits and will change our lives. From basic needs to entertainment, we will be surrounded by the magic of 5G. The biggest boost will be provided to IoT as it is waiting for a strong network to be developed.
The transmission of data that IoT devices will have requires faster network speed without any lags and servers running down. This is what 5G is going to give us in the coming few years. IoT will get full advantage of the features 5G has to bring to us.