As people become ever more wedded to their mobile phones, they’re running into the capacity constraints that 4G wireless networks exhibit. 5G is designed to support nearly 10 times more faster capabilities.
Several companies within the mobile ecosystem that are contributing to bringing 5G to life. Qualcomm has played a major role in inventing the many foundational technologies that drive the industry forward and make up 5G, the next wireless standard
Mobile VoIP
VoIP calls rely heavily on sufficient download and upload speeds. For example, when mobile VoIP users on 4G networks are limited to 12 Mbps upload and 2 Mbps download speeds, they experience unstable and poor call connectivity and clarity. These limitations could also lead to something called packet loss, which happens when one or more “packets” of data traveling across a computer network fail to reach their destination, typically caused by network congestion. Packet loss reduces audio/video quality and could even cause calls to be dropped.
5G’s greater speed prevents packet loss, but the tech has another feature that makes it better than 4G. 4G network providers set a fixed amount of bandwidth for every direction it transmits a signal to, but with 5G, the bandwidth can be adjusted on the fly.
This means that 5G network providers can allocate bandwidth to mitigate congestion as soon as it manifests itself. In practical terms, businesses could reach their customers even if the latter are in packed places that normally max out 4G mobile network capacity constraints, like in football stadiums or airports.
Improved video conferencing
The major factor holding web and video conferencing back is how fast current networks can transmit data. Fortunately, innovations like Web Real-Time-Communications (WebRTC) and 5G networks will enhance VoIP for businesses. Providing open and stable streaming as well as sufficient transfer speeds will soon allow businesses to accommodate higher-quality, even 4K and 8K resolution, videos.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
With 5G network speeds, virtual and augmented reality will become more common for small- and medium-sized businesses. 5G will blow past 4G’s Gbps (gigabits per second) limit, which is currently holding back the adoption of VR and AR applications.
VR and AR need to process significantly more visual data because of the freedom of movement they allow, and this puts an enormous strain on mobile networks. 5G is also set to ensure a better user experience by lowering latency levels that simplify and smoothen daily business operations, preventing network delays from affecting your bottom line.
Faster, laser-focused tech
So the next generation of wireless networks really represents a major step up for voice over internet calls because of their better coverage and higher-quality input and output.
Mobile VoIP technology requires extremely low latency data transmission, and while that may happen on faster WiFi networks, early stage 5G won’t be capable of delivering — yet.
Engineers reckon that 5G, which currently has a latency of around 12 milliseconds, will eventually decline to as low as 2 milliseconds. Some early trials have been much slower than 12 milliseconds.
The new tech is also using what’s called beamforming, a process already in play within WiFi technology that focuses a signal in a specific direction to increase its strength. It’s designed to provide a faster service by aiming the signal at a specific location. It can also increase a signal’s range.
From a 5G perspective, beamforming could see towers used to focus the signal on a high volume location within range, say an office block or a busy railway station.
