The mobile smartphone usage has increased year over year as the wireless technology has become an essential part of our lives. Recently, the United States Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) has approved a new faster fifth generation (5G) telecommunication system and new antennas have been already installed and tested in some parts of the United States. 5G is the next generation of wireless mobile communications technology. It is expected to deliver very high data speeds and lower latency on network response time. However, before we learn about 5G, it is important to talk about the history of wireless cellular networks.
The Evolution of Mobile Networks
With the introduction of 5G, we will have seen five generations of the mobile wireless communications technology. In the early 1980s, we saw the first generation (1G) of cellular networks, which was used for analog voice services only. The 1G network had peak download speeds of 0.0024 MB/s. In 1993, the second generation (2G) of cellular network was introduced, which was also referred to as GSM and CDMA. The 2G nework provided digital voice service, encrypted communications, limited roaming, and SMS/MMS messaging. The 2G network was commonly referred to as Edge/CDMA signal, which provided peak download rate of 0.064 Mb/s. In 2001, the third generation (3G) was introduced with capability of mobile broadband, GPS/location services, multimedia streaming, and seamless global roaming. The 3G network was also known as HSPA+ (3.5G), which provided speeds of around 2-5 MB/s. In 2009, the fourth generation (4G) network was deployed with Long Term Evolution (LTE) as the standard. The LTE network provided high speed internet access, HD Media streaming with peak download speeds of 100 MB/s. This was the first time a mobile network was able to match the internet speeds that you would get with home broadband internet. Now in 2019 and 2020, we are expecting to get the fifth generation (5G) of cellular network.
What is 5G
5G is the next (fifth) generation of wireless mobile communications technology. The 5G network will provide enterprise level connectivity, readiness for internet of things, millimeter wave support with very high data speeds and lower latency on network response time. The 5G network will provide cellular connectivity with speeds of up to 1 – 30 GB/s, which will become as reliable and robust as wireline broadband. The 5G technology will work using the Millimeter wave (MMW) technology, which will utilize the unused portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The 5G technology uses the radio waves at much higher frequency in the spectrum between 30 and 300 GHz, which corresponds to the wavelength of 1 to 10 mm. The 5G spectrum will lie between the microwaves and infrared portion.
The waves in electromagnetic spectrum range from low frequency to high frequency. With low frequency, you get longer wavelength and low energy. The longer wavelength allows the waves to travel farther and through walls and objects. On the other side, high frequency brings high energy but short wavelength, which means that waves travel a shorter distance.
As the 5G spectrum will operate with high frequency compared to the current 4G/LTE network, the new millimeter waves are expected to provide greater data speeds but at a shorter travel distance. The performance of the 5G network will greatly depend on the selected frequency. For instance, changing the frequency from 70/80 to 60 GHz decreases the operating range from 3 km to 400 m. The performance of the 5G network at a specific frequency depends on water vapor and molecular oxygen-induced atmospheric absorptions as well. Given this limitation of short operating range, the deployment of 5G network will require installation of small cell antennae on light posts, utility poles, homes and businesses.
5G and Health Effects
Even though the 5G network is expected to provide very high speed internet and automation for internet of things, there are still unanswered questions related to public health and safety. Many have opposed the roll out of 5G network due to the high energy waves being used for this type of technology. Let’s look at whether there will be any harmful impact caused by the adoption of the 5G technology. We will look at Biological effects at physiological levels and cellular/molecular levels.
Biological effects of 5G waves at physiological levels
There have been many scientific studies conducted to investigate the therapeutic effects of millimeter waves at 42-61 GHz. The research shows that millimeter waves could have two main pathways: (1) analgesic effect and (2) effect on the inflammatory and immune systems. Firstly, the studies showed that millimeter waves can have potential therapeutic effect by inducing direct activation of skin cells and peripheral neural systems that in turn induces secretion of opioids peptides. Secondly, the in-vivo studies on mice showed that 61.3 GHz frequency showed pro-inflammatory effect but low intensity 42. GHz frequency displayed anti-inflammatory actions in mice.
Biological effects of 5G waves at cellular and molecular levels
Scientific research studies have been conducted to determine how the millimeter-wave interact with molecular mechanisms. It has been observed that 52-78 GHz “can reduce tumor metastasis through activation of natural killer cells or protect cells from the toxicity of commonly used anticancer drugs”. In addition, studies have shown that 59–61.2 GHz radiations at 0.14 mW/cm2 do not trigger genetic transcriptional response. Finally, research on biomemberanes has demonstrated that structural changes in cellular membranes may occur during the exposure at 42.2 GHz, as well as 53-GHz radiations and 130-GHz pulse-modulated exposures can induce physical changes and modify permeability of phospholipid vesicles.
In summary, just like the waves used by FM Radio, microwaves, visible lights, the millimeter waves are form of non-ionizing radiation as they don’t have enough energy to cause any type of cancer by damaging your DNA.
The millimeter waves are different from ionizing waves, such as x-rays, gamma rays, and ultraviolet (UV) light, that are much stronger with high frequency and energy, which can break the chemical bonds in DNA. However, depending on the frequency level, intensity, and exposure duration, there might be some impact on permeability of biomemberanes and inflammatory effects.
Is it the future we want?
With many companies and wireless service providers touting 5G as the new promised land. The 5G wireless network holds the capability of very fast internet speeds for homes, work places, and city streets. With the promising future of internet of things (IoT), we are bound to get more and more automated devices (self-driving cars, appliances, wireless AR gaming, etc) that are connected to wireless network.
However, the one clear issue with the 5G technology is that it operates on very high frequency waves, which means small wavelength, which are very easily blocked not only by buildings but even easily blocked by tree leaves and even by your body. The millimeter waves are even absorbed by air, which means that they can’t travel very far (less than a kilometer) before they loose their signal. The only way to overcome this shortcoming is to install many cell antennas, which could become very challenging in rural areas or across the entire country. Therefore, you could expect to see 5G speeds in some neighborhoods but most will not reliably get 5G speeds. In addition to the technical challenges, the wireless service providers will also have to get over the stigma of health and safety effects of millimeter waves used by 5G technology.
In conclusion, before you decide to purchase your next wireless device with 5G technology, keep in mind the limitations and challenges that are associated with this new possibility. One thing is for sure, we will definitely start seeing roll-out of 5G enabled devices in the near future as we don’t have any other wireless wave frequencies that can be utilized for cellular networks.
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Source: ResearchGate, Accelerated
I am officially a tech addict and enjoy providing my views on matters related to this industry. I am always interested in trying out new tech gadgets and I have owned multiple smartphones including the legendary HTC One, SGS2, Nexus 4, iPhone 4, 5S, 6S, XR, Note 9. You can ask me any tech related questions in the comment section or on twitter @hookedNav