5G is starting to become a reality around the world. But like every new generation of mobile communications, the jump to 5G is just the beginning from a long list of improvements that will be implemented over the next few years.

As in previous generations, the turning on 5G only sets the stage on which all these improvements will be based, and which will come in different launch phases, each with different stages and objectives that will last for the next ten years, until the arrival of 6G.

The launch of 5G in different phases is nothing new. We also saw born to 4G with maximum speeds of up to 150 Mbps that were increasing over the years thanks to improvements applied over 4G, and that for example allow adding different carriers to increase the maximum speed to 1 Gbps. But even so, not all the improvements have been fully implemented yet and many users are still diverted to 3G to be able to make traditional voice calls since there are few operators that have implemented the voLTE or voice over 4G.

The different ones were also striking 3G phases. Initially, it came with UMTS to provide faster download speeds to the networks, which began to offer initial speeds of up to 384 Kbps, and subsequently HSDPA was implemented to increase the download speed to 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA that increased the upload speed, and HSPA + that allowed theoretical maximum navigation of up to 42 Mbps.

The 3GPP, entity in charge of establishing the mobile telephony standards for the whole world, defined Release 15 as the first phase of 5G, focused on carrying out an improvement of mobile broadband (eMBB) and which encompasses two 5G states: an initial 5G NSA that maintains dependence on the 4G / LTE network core, and the 5G SA independent, whose NGCN (Next Generation Core Network) network core is based on network and cloud software.

While the 5G NSA infrastructure is implemented maintaining the 4G Evolved Packet (EPC) network core and the radio part evolves from LTE to New Radio (NR), with the 5G SA evolves both the radio part (NR) and the core part (NGCN).

Regardless of infrastructure, both NSA and SA will operate using the radio spectrum intended for 5G. At the moment, in Spain Vodafone has started its deployment making use of the only band available, that of 3.7 GHz, with worse penetration, but necessary in cities with a higher population density.

The 700 MHz band, which will help extend 5G coverage more quickly and improve indoor coverage, will not be available until the first quarter of 2021, after the second Digital Dividend was delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis. The mmWawe millimeter band that will help to obtain speeds around 20 Gbps thanks to the greater spectrum available at 26 GHz, still has no date to be auctioned.

He 5G NSA It has been the first to be deployed in the 19 countries that already have 5G since spring 2019 and with it, compatible smartphone users can benefit from a higher download speed that will increase to 2 Gbps, a latency that drops to 15 ms, and greater stability and reliability in the connection, even in mobility or in crowds, thanks to technologies such as Massive MIMO. In addition, operators will have much greater network capacity that will facilitate the emergence of rates with unlimited data.

He 5G SA, which has already begun to be implemented in some industrial areas of Spain and in other countries, is the most revolutionary stage by enabling the implementation of future services such as autonomous driving, thanks to the combination of technologies such as Network Slicing with other promising ones such as Mobile Edge Computing that will help to have low latencies around 1 ms. As far as smartphones are concerned, the most noticeable improvements will be related to the increase in upload speed, higher download speed and the absence of delays.

With 5G SA, you can segment the network in subnets with different transmission capacities, speed and latency. Networks can be created with specific conditions for future applications in industrial IoT, interactive games, business networks, or Critical communications of highest priority such as emergency scenarios, autonomous driving, remote operations using a surgical robot, etc.

The second and successive phases of 5G, starting with Release 16, will be more focused on the industry, with the promotion of new services and greater efficiency of networks.

The transition lived in previous generations is repeated with 5G, and to enjoy its benefits it is necessary to have a fee and an operator with 5G services, to be under 5G coverage and have a compatible device with the new networks.

But this time it will also be necessary to take into account the existence of the two phases of 5G when choosing a smartphone. Operators will make the migration between NSA and SA networks is transparent to the user, but if we do not want to be left with an incomplete 5G, we must take into account the modem used by the mobile model.

Of the 5G phones for sale, the first models such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G at the moment, with an Exynos 5100 modem, or other Android devices with Snapdragon 855 that integrate the Qualcomm X50 modem, such as Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G, LG V50 ThinQ 5G, OPPO Reno 5G and ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G, were only compatible with NSA networks while the rest of the most current models are already compatible with 5G SA.

Taking into account all of the above, the innovations that the different phases and states provide in practice are summarized in the following comparison:

4G +

5G NSA

5G SA

Theoretical maximum discharge speed

Up to 1 Gbps

Up to 2 Gbps

At least 20 Gbps

Theoretical maximum upload speed

Up to 150 Mbps

Up to 150 Mbps

Undefined

Latency

About 30 ms

About 15 ms

About 1 ms

In mobility, speed at which QoS can be applied

Up to 200 km / h

Up to 500 km / h

Up to 500 km / h

Density connected devices

Up to 100,000 per km2

Up to 1 million per km2

Up to 1 million per km2

Spectrum

800 MHz band: 60 MHz FDDBand 2.6 Ghz: 120 MHz FDD + 50 MHz TDD

700 MHz band: Available in 2021Band 3.7 Ghz: 360 MHz TDD26 Ghz band: pending auction

700 MHz band: Available in 2021Band 3.7 Ghz: 360 MHz TDD26 Ghz band: pending auction

Infrastructure

EPC architecture, LTE radio

EPC architecture, LTE / NR radio

5GNR architecture with core based network software

Technological advances

Network virtualizationMEC

Greater efficiency in bands above 3 GHz.Massive MIMO

Network SlicingMachine learning

Continued here:

What is 5G SA or Stand Alone and why is it so important? - Explica