Since the arrival of the first cordless phones in the 80s, mobile telephony has undergone exponential evolution. Networks continue to evolve and we are now at 5G, the 5th generation. They no longer only carry voice, but an ever-increasing quantity of data produced at every moment by our digital and mobile uses.
This mass of data must be accessible everywhere, all the time and instantly!
Connection capacity, speed, responsiveness... since the first generation of mobile technology, networks have evolved to meet needs! Let's take a quick look back at 1 generations of mobile networks to understand the interest and challenges of 5G!
The rise of voice and text!
1980s: 1G and the first mobiles
Appearing at the beginning of the 80's, 1G or 1st generation of mobile technology saw the appearance of the first "mobiles". Mobiles in quotation marks, since at that time, the phones were more portable than handheldHeavy and bulky, their use was essentially professional.
This first generation was analog and only allowed voice exchanges. In addition, roaming from one country to another was impossible, the networks were not standardized and each country had its own standards.
1990s: with 2G, analogue gives way to digital
A small revolution in the world of mobile, the Global Ssystem for Mmobile communications (GSM) is adopted. This international digital standard allows you to add communications in the form of text or images! SMS (Short Message Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) was born! Theoretical maximum speeds can reach 384 kilobits per second.
Standardization therefore allows you to use your phone abroad!
The time of mobile internet
2000s: 3G brings mobile broadband
While 2G was primarily used for making calls, 3G marks the advent of mobile internet access. Cell phones become smartphones and allow watch videos, surfing the web, checking emails, etc. Speeds increase to a maximum of 42 megabits per second, but connections are sometimes unpredictable.
2010's: 4G REALLY brings mobile broadband
With the multiplication of uses and the increase in the size of the contents, the volumes of data exchanged continue to increase.
With speeds that can theoretically reach 1 gigabit per second, 4G allows the widespread use of nomadic applications and the exchange of large quantities of data. Smartphones can "do everything" and allow you to view images or videos in high resolution. They are gradually replacing computers for many purposes... and are also used to make calls!
Instantaneity and everything connected
2020s: 5G and everything connected
5G was developed to meet the growing needs for connection and immediacy introduced by our digital society.
Allowing 1 connections per km000, 5G aims to avoid network congestion in dense areas while offering a speed 10 times higher than that of 4G (up to 10 gigabits).
This technology is able to adapt to needs by prioritizing, on demand, speed, responsiveness or connection capacity. It is therefore perfectly suited to the "all connected" that is coming: connected vehicles, e-health, industry 4.0, smart city.
The uses of 5G can be grouped into 5 groups:
- High speed and capacities for all uses that require a very large size and download speed: applications and video games, 4K videos, augmented reality, data storage…
- Internet of Things and Energy Efficiency for uses requiring communication between a large number of connected objects : smart city, connected buildings…
- Low latency and high flexibility for real-time applications that require a lot of responsiveness: industrial automation, autonomous vehicles, critical applications, etc.
Finally, 5G aims to be “greener” than 4G since this technology allows for at least half the energy consumption for the same amount of information transported!
And then? In a few years, we will certainly be talking about 6G… a technology that is ever more powerful and probably even more efficient for the environment! We will talk about it again soon!
