During the past few decades, wireless communication technologies have rapidly evolved to provide an ever-expanding set of capabilities at ever-greater speeds. The term “5G” denotes the newest type, the “Fifth Generation” of wireless networks. It offers a range of capabilities that will profoundly transform many types of business and personal communications. This document provides a cursory review of 5G technologies and their importance to power professionals.

5G refers to a group of technologies that offer increased bandwidth over prior wireless communication protocols, up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps). As a result, it will carry much greater amounts of data than prior technologies, enabling internet-connected devices to share greater and more detailed information to support the latest applications. To understand the scale of 5G’s bandwidth, it is useful to review the characteristics of prior wireless communication technologies.

Commercial applications of wireless telecom technologies first occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. These “1G” applications consisted of analog cellular communication systems that offered bandwidth up to 14.4 kilobits per second, which enabled the completion of a wireless telephone call. In the 1990s, deployment of 2G networks with digital capabilities presented similar bandwidth, but provided both voice and elementary data transmission capabilities. These were deployed more widely than prior 1G systems, and many people experienced wireless communications for the first time when 2G systems were deployed. Nevertheless, 2G also offered slow performance and limited features.

The deployment of 3G technologies in the mid-2000s introduced the first truly useful and convenient wireless communications to a much broader group of users. 3G systems could transmit over 3 Megabits per second (Mbps). This increased the quality of wireless voice communications and made email and internet available to portable phones and electronic devices.

Carriers began deploying 4G technologies in the late 2000s, and their various iterations are the backbone of the wireless telecom networks used today in 2021. With bandwidths of 100 to 200 Mbps, 4G technologies are the key to most of today’s wireless Wi-Fi connectivity, high-quality Voice-over-Internet, and high-definition video applications that users now take for granted.

Many telecom carriers have been deploying 5G wireless technologies, which offer increased bandwidth by yet another order of magnitude. In an increasingly automated and interconnected society, 5G technologies offer the speed and capacity to carry data for the most advanced and demanding applications, such as connecting billions of internet-connected devices needed to automate factories and transportation, support artificial intelligence, and more. Figure 1 summarizes the progression of wireless communication technologies.

Three types of 5G transmission technology are presently being deployed, commonly referred to a slow-band, mid-band, and high-band. They each offer different speed and range characteristics. A low-band installation can transmit a 600- 700 MHz signal over an area of hundreds of square miles at speeds of 30 to 250 Mbps, while a mid-band 2.5 or 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) system can transmit for several miles at 100 to 900 Mbps. A high-band system may use a 24 to 39 GHz signal to send 1 to 3 Gbps up to one mile away. These high-frequency signals result in wavelengths in the millimeter range. As a result, the term “millimeter wave” is often used to describe wireless 5G signals.

Deployment of these systems will not be uniform. Hi-band 5G, which requires many cells near one another, will likely be deployed to the areas with the greatest density of users, such as urban business areas. Rural areas may see low-band 5G that can cover a larger and less dense user base at lower speeds. The mix of systems will likely result from a need to balance fast service with streamlined deployment and operating costs. As a result, planners must remain aware of the capabilities of the 5G wireless networks that are available where their facilities are located. For a simplistic example, a large factory or logistics facility in a less urban area may wish to deploy a mid-band network to serve the internet-connected devices in its facility. However, if the facility is located in an area served with low-band 5G or less, its external digital communications would occur at lower speeds or require transmission by other means.

Figure 2 summarizes additional characteristics of 5G technologies.

In addition to millimeter wave and small cell technologies, 5G is also differentiated by the use of Software-Defined Networking. It utilizes software-based controllers to interface with network hardware to direct data traffic. This differs from earlier technologies that rely on routers and switches to manage data flow. This type of virtualization enables the segmentation of different virtual networks within a single physical network. It also enables the connection of devices on different physical networks to create a single virtual network.

Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) antennas are used to create spatial multiplexing of radio signals that enables the simultaneous transmission of more than one signal on the same frequency. This increases the capacity of wireless transmission without using an additional radio spectrum. Massive MIMO uses large antenna arrays to transmit and receive very large amounts of data wirelessly.

Beamforming is a process of using electromagnetic interference to focus wireless radio signals very narrowly towards a device. Compared to a conventional signal, which covers an area more broadly, this provides a more precise and reliable signal.

Prior wireless technologies have used Frequency Division Multiplexing (where transmission and reception of signals occur in different spectrum bands) and Time Division Multiplexing (where transmission and reception of signals occur in different timeslots). Full-Duplex Communication enables the transmission and reception of signals over the same spectrum channel at the same time, making spectrum use more efficient.

Latency is a measure of the time it takes for data to be communicated across networks, and understanding it requires consideration of the steps required to transmit data. To do so, client and server devices located at distant facilities need to communicate back and forth to establish and manage a connection, perhaps across multiple networks, then transmit the actual data and process it using hardware and software. The greater the number of devices and steps, the greater the time required to communicate the data. Increasing distances also add time, and the total of these elements equates to the total amount of latency.

5G offers far higher bandwidths than prior technologies. Advances in computing and signal processing have reduced the total amount of time required to communicate signals and data. In the broadest sense, bandwidth minus latency equals throughput. Whereas 3G and 4G networks respectively offer latencies of 100 to 500 milliseconds and 20 to 30 milliseconds, 5G networks offer latencies below 10 milliseconds.

Because 5G data transmission has great bandwidth and low latency, it will provide higher throughputs than older technologies. Nevertheless, the computing power of network equipment and mobile devices has increased in speed and sophistication, enabling increasing amounts of data to be managed between nodes at the edge of networks and mobile devices. Whereas traditional networks have relied on data centers and terminals to process digital interactions, 5G technologies shift more of the signaling and data processing to devices at a network’s edge. For example, an autonomously controlled automobile could recognize the proximity of another car. The processors on each vehicle could coordinate safe maneuvers through the nearest cellular communication node, without involving data center traffic. This type of machine-to-machine communication will drive more and more of the lower-level computing functions to devices at the edge of their networks.

Conversely, area-wide traffic data might be processed at a data center, which could be responsible for routing many vehicles according to real-time metropolitan traffic patterns. Data centers remain important in this model … they will perform the high-level processing required for applications and will store the large amounts of data that result from their operations.

In the prior example, we see that 5G wireless technologies can make vehicle-to-vehicle communications possible. Providing an adequate and reliable supporting infrastructure is a prerequisite to making applications such as advanced self-driving cars a reality. Not only will cars be able to drive by sensing and responding to the vehicles and environment around them, but other elements of the network could direct them to the quickest routes based on real-time traffic patterns, reduced environmental impact, and other conditions and objectives. Other applications include:

Healthcare: Telehealth activities are already on the rise following the advent of COVID-19. Edge computing could further automate responses to changes in patient status, detected by internet-connected devices and sensors. It could also enable greater sharing of mission-critical resources. For instance, 5G’s speed and bandwidth could enable intricate life-saving surgeries to be completed by a surgeon in one city treating a patient in another via a sophisticated digital channel.

Industrial Facilities: In a manufacturing setting, a product assembly robot could signal an adjoining robot that it is available to work on its next product unit. That robot could respond by sending the needed unit to the requesting robot without ever requiring interaction from a data center. Moving more of the interactions to the machine-to-machine level could drive efficiencies throughout a facility’s manufacturing processes.

Retail: Embedding Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips in retail products could enable advances that streamline aspects of the retail industry. Product-to-network communication can aid the tracking of product movements and automate inventory management operations. Likewise, continued changes in payment models could be driven by communications between products, point-of-sale systems, and consumers’ smartphones that streamline customer experiences, all supported by the throughput of 5G and the processing power of edge computing devices. Sound farfetched? Cashier-less retail stores are already being deployed … as of September 2021, Amazon had already rolled out 29 Amazon Go stores in the USA.

Smart Homes: Internet-connected devices will continue to proliferate in residences. For instance, present media coverage often shows scenes captured using smart doorbells equipped with cameras. These enable people to use their cell phones to be alerted to and observe events that occur at their homes. Other smart systems include internet connected appliances, indoor environment management equipment, lighting, and more. 5G will facilitate the data transfer required to automate additional functions in residences and enable home devices to interact with each other directly.

The aforementioned applications are just a few of the many that 5G wireless technologies will enable. Some of the applications that result from the availability of 5G may not yet have been planned, but instead will result as people and organizations look for new ways to optimize systems and solve problems. Figure 3 further identifies types of applications that 5G could support.

The quantity and spatial distribution of Internet-connected devices will require networks to process data closer to the point of use. This will drive computing to nodes such as cell sites or edge computing servers or further to the device level. To do so, data centers and distributed communication facilities will still be needed to support end-user devices. The following sections review how these might look in 5G systems.

In 2021, there were nearly 600 hyper-scale data centers in existence or planned across the world. With the advent of 5G, data centers will still be needed … we’ll just need more to process and archive the greater amounts of data generated by the applications 5G will support. Nevertheless, their operating and redundancy scenarios could change. Future iterations could emphasize the development of redundant data centers instead of redundant systems within a data center. For example, instead of creating a Tier IV data center to support edge computing operations, an operator might rely on two Tier II data centers to provide redundancy that reduces the risk of outages.

Over time, computing activity will shift farther towards the edges of networks. The amount of machine-to-machine or peer-to-peer transactions will exceed the transactions completed by edge computing nodes, which in turn will exceed the transaction occurring in cloud and hyperscale data centers. In this scenario, more local cell sites and edge facilities equal better processing, less latency, and quicker reaction time. Each of these characteristics supports the successful performance of end-user devices.

At this level, the spatial distribution and density of the edge computing facilities will impact contingency planning for 5G applications. For autonomous driving, cars will communicate with nearby cells or edge computing nodes as they travel, requiring handoffs between nodes as the vehicle proceeds. In high traffic areas, multiple cells may be available to any car at any time. If one goes down, the car can communicate through other nodes. In less-traveled areas, nodes will be fewer … there, additional system redundancies may be used to keep edge computing nodes connected to vehicles.

Examples of end-user devices include the RFID readers and sorting robots used in modern logistics facilities; the bedside sensors, appliances, and dispensing equipment in a healthcare facility; and Internet-connected refrigerators in residences. Because there are many of these devices, redundancy often exists in the form of another unit. If a discharged handheld RFID reader fails in a warehouse, the operator will likely locate another freshly charged unit to use.

For power professionals, backup solutions at data centers and edge computing facilities will look something like they do today. Both Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) and backup power sources will be needed to maintain operations in the event of utility outages – UPS to avoid momentary disruptions until a secondary power source is connected – backup power sources to provide extended power until utility power returns. For end-use devices, backup power will either be built into the device (consider the integral batteries that power bedside medical equipment when outages occur) or won’t be needed because there are spare devices to use. Consider the prior warehouse RFID example.

Because of the increasing usefulness of, and dependence upon, 5G-enabled systems, data network outages must be avoided. Reliable 5G-enabled applications will always be required, but the power solutions that support them will vary. Here are some important take-aways for power professionals.

This was illustrated in our prior data center example. For applications such as autonomous cars, network performance is improved by providing redundant edge computing facilities. Where systems can route data traffic through other nodes, there may be less need to provide multiple levels of power redundancy at any given node.

The highest levels of power and network redundancy will likely be seen where failures would result in life and safety risks. Networked vehicles could conceivably crash in the event of failures. Likewise, 5G-enabled remote robotic surgery could result in injury or death if the application failed during a critical procedure. For these applications, both network and power redundancies would be needed wherever necessary to ensure reliable operation, and contingencies will be needed for every operational failure scenario. Conversely, a communication failure among internet-connected kitchen appliances might result in less convenience or a missed meal, risks that are unlikely to warrant extensive mitigation of device and network outages.

The electronic equipment used in 5G systems will employ more processing power than ever before. Preventing power quality-related impacts to sensitive load equipment could take on greater importance, requiring additional measures to mitigate power aberrations that occur in both normal and backup power systems.

Yes.

Industry experts are already discussing the development of the next generation of wireless communication technology, one having much greater bandwidth. Specifics regarding 6G are hard to come by, but speculation suggests data throughput approaching one Terabit per second. Research and development are still in the earliest stages and there are no standards for 6G technologies yet. Deployment is likely at least a decade away.

Nevertheless, the eventual development of 6G technologies highlights another trend that will drive power management professionals … the need to continually learn about the ever-changing technologies and challenges that will face mission-critical facilities.