5G
even better and more reliably ,” say Brendan O ' Reilly , Group Chief Technology Officer , and Andrew Conway , Director of Solutions and Innovation , at BAI Communications . The increased connectivity speeds and lowered latency that 5G provides are already transforming some of the applications that began to appear around the end of the 4G era , especially with regard to large sensor networks in service to smart cities .
While bluesky use cases for 5G abound , some experts believe that - just as it took the advent of 5G to really see the benefits from technology that began appearing during the 4G era - it ’ s the arrival of 6G that will herald the final realisation of everything 5G promises .
“ 5G has certainly opened the door to new use cases such as immersive reality , but it will be 6G that pushes them into the mainstream and delivers sustainability where previous generations could not ,” explains Alain Mourad , Head of Future Wireless Europe Lab . “ Although 5G has been touted as the last generation , as with any other , it is only when deployments begin that limitations reveal themselves , and the need for a next generation is made clear .”
“ 5G HAS CERTAINLY OPENED THE DOOR TO NEW USE CASES SUCH AS IMMERSIVE REALITY , BUT IT WILL BE 6G THAT PUSHES THEM INTO THE MAINSTREAM ”
ALAIN MOURAD HEAD OF FUTURE WIRELESS EUROPE LAB
Overcoming the limits of network slicing 5G was designed to be the first truly software-defined wireless standard , Mourad tells me . Decoupled from hardware , 5G network functions would be instantaneously spun-up and new frequency bands could be quickly reallocated and programmed into future ‘ revisions ’ of 5G networks .
“ With 5G , the intention was to see realtime sensing networks support autonomous vehicles , smart cities , virtual reality , and augmented reality galore ,” he continues . “ However , early deployments of 5G are indicating that we could reach a previously unanticipated breaking point .” The
100 March 2022