Given the dizzying pace of technological change in the world of smart devices, it’s easy to focus on when the next big increase in connectivity will occur and forget about the present.
Some experts predict that the next generation of mobile internet, called 6G, is at least seven years away. Between now and then, researchers immersed in the Internet of Things are working hard to improve the usability of 5G, but its potential remains untapped.
In addition to being at the forefront of the 5G revolution, Northeastern University Wireless Internet of Things faculty expands course offerings to include industry training to prepare students to tackle current and future generations of cellular network technologies doing.
Since the Federal Communications Commission approved 5G deployment in 2018, carriers like AT&T and Verizon have gradually made their networks faster. Proponents of 5G tout, among other things, faster network speeds for the internet and mobile phone users, although the technology’s broader societal implications are still unknown.
From 3G, 4G to 5G
Michele Polese, principal scientist at the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, spoke to Northeastern Global News about the differences between 5G and its predecessors.
“In the mobile phone world, we’ve seen the transition from 3G to 4G to 5G with the goal of constantly improving the connectivity available to data users,” Polese said.
Commercially available in 2001, third-generation mobile networks enabled Internet connectivity on early smartphones. A major 4G milestone was marked by the widespread deployment of mobile broadband. With each new generation, connection speeds have increased dramatically. Experts say his 4G technology is largely responsible for ushering in ubiquitous connectivity for services like Netflix and Uber.
“This ability to always have a fast, reliable connection on your phone, in addition to having access to a better smartphone, is what created this type of service.” [Netflix, Uber] “It’s possible,” said Tommaso Melodia, William Lincoln Smith Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Wireless Internet of Things Institute at Northeastern University.
According to Polese, there are three main upgrades associated with 5G deployment: first, mobile broadband enhancements; The second is highly reliable, low-latency communications designed for “mission-critical” communications, such as those needed to operate self-driving cars. The third is large-scale machine-type communications, which focuses on sensors and machine-specific networks.
“The idea behind 5G is what You can connect, where You can connect and how You can connect,” Polise said.
How close are we to 6G?
5G is now widely deployed and has extensive coverage in most cities around the world. However, many of the features promised by 5G have not yet been fully implemented, Melodia said.
“We are still in the first half of 5G deployment and moving toward the second half,” Melodia said. “Every cycle of transitioning from one generation to the next takes eight to ten years.”
Promised features include features that are still being realized, such as remote surgery and autonomous driving.
“One of the promises of 5G was that it would provide a very tight interconnection between the physical and digital worlds,” he says.
Melodia says there may be 5G applications in development that the broader community is unaware of.
Paradigm shift in software and design
As researchers and engineers refine existing standards, networks will become less dependent on hardware, based on a “network-in-a-box” paradigm.
This innovation revolves around so-called open radio access networks, Open RAN or O-RAN, a move to fragment and virtualize network components and create a uniform set of industry standards for communications suppliers to follow.
“Through O-RAN, networks are moving toward more software-based designs,” Polise says. “The idea is that with software you can reprogram or rewrite it.” [it] This is so that it can do what you need it to do, rather than having a box that cannot be reconfigured or updated. This is one of the pillars that will change the way mobile networks are deployed. ”
Network providers, vendors, and researchers have long urged enterprises to move away from proprietary hardware models to open software approaches that involve decoupling network functionality from the underlying hardware of the system. A key part of 5G deployments as we transition to 6G, this new approach ensures systems adhere to uniform industry specifications and promotes “interoperability and programmability” that increases flexibility between mobile sites.
Spearheading the paradigm shift is the O-RAN Alliance, which calls for “uniform interconnection standards for white-box hardware and open-source software elements from different vendors.”
5G Research and Education at Northeastern University
Northeastern students are receiving 5G training through the university’s partnership with Qualcomm Wireless Academy, the education arm of renowned 5G company Qualcomm Technologies. The free certification program and its associated courses will be integrated into Northeastern’s 5G curriculum in the future.
“5G is not a thing of the past,” says Stefano Bazzani, a professor of computer engineering at Northeastern University. “In this sense, our partnership with Qualcomm Wireless Academy makes sense because it provides us with an industry perspective.”
As part of a three-year, $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Wireless Internet of Things researchers will also build a fully open and programmable platform to test higher frequency radio bands. We are. Internet speeds will increase and 5G will solve existing connectivity barriers.
The platform will consist of eight separate nodes, built around the campus to serve as cell towers or Wi-Fi access points, and will be available to the broader research community when complete.
What does the future hold for consumers and businesses?
“There are two ways to look at this,” Melodia says. “From the perspective of the end user, you and your smartphone, you can expect more ubiquitous connectivity, meaning faster data speeds, faster download speeds, and hopefully fewer dropped calls.”
Melodia said that in parallel with developments in AI and machine learning, the coming years will see a “digital transformation” of physical reality, further accelerating smart cities, smart highways and industrial automation, all enabled by the 5G revolution. states that it will be.
“From a business and industry perspective, we are moving into a world where there is more data available for real-time decision-making and real-time automation of decision-making processes,” Melodia said.
Tanner Stenning is a reporter for Northeastern Global News. Please email t.stening@northeastern.edu. Follow him on Twitter @tstening90.
