How 5G will change everything

The next big shift in mobile network technology is upon us. MATT BRANDA, Qualcomm’s director of technical marketing, explains how it will change the way we connect.

Mobile networks have been redefined once before in their 30+ year history. From primarily voice networks with 1G/2G, to high-speed data networks with 3G/4G LTE which mobilized the Internet and ushered in the era of the smartphone. And now, as we progress toward 5G, a new kind of mobile network sits on the horizon. A network that will connect new industries, enable new services, and empower new user experiences. A network that will rise up to meet the significantly expanding connectivity needs of today and tomorrow.

At Qualcomm, we are working on a rich roadmap of 4G LTE technologies that has begun this transformation. Pushing the boundaries and capabilities of LTE toward 5G is just one more way Qualcomm is bringing the future forward faster. These new technologies are not only vastly enhancing mobile broadband performance and efficiency, but also expanding LTE to new frontiers such as unlicensed spectrum, device-to-device communications, the Internet of Things, and much more. Introducing LTE Advanced Pro—part of the global 3GPP standard starting with Release 13 and beyond.

Propelling your mobile broadband experience to the next level

LTE Advanced Pro is evolving existing LTE technologies, as well as introducing new features, to make your mobile broadband services faster, more reliable, and more responsive.

1. Delivering fiber-like speeds by evolving Carrier Aggregation (first introduced with LTE Advanced) to aggregate across more carriers, diverse spectrum types and different cells.

2. Extending LTE to unlicensed spectrum globally with Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) to make the best use of the vast amounts of unlicensed spectrum available.

3. Driving significantly lower latency by evolving the LTE TDD and FDD frame structure for faster, more responsive connections.

4. Increasing flexibility of the LTE TDD and FDD frame structure such as allowing dynamic configuration of uplink and downlink capacity based on traffic conditions.

5. Enabling many more antennas at the basestation (up to 64-antenna elements) to exploit 3D beamforming (FD-MIMO)—significantly increasing capacity and coverage.

Proliferating LTE to connect new use cases and services

LTE Advanced Pro is also introducing new technologies that push the boundaries of LTE to support the proliferation of connected cars, smart cities, smart homes and wearables—connecting the world around us. This includes enabling new classes of LTE services that open up new opportunities for the entire mobile ecosystem.

6. Connecting the Internet of Things (IoT) by delivering advanced techniques (LTE-M, NB-IOT) to significantly extend battery life, reduce device costs, and deepen coverage—optimizing LTE for the communication needs of remotely gathering small amounts of data periodically from machines, wearables, and sensors.

7. Building the connected car of the future by delivering new LTE device-to-device and multicast capabilities (LTE V2X) to connect cars to each other, to pedestrians, and to everything around them—making your driving experience safer and more autonomous.

8. Creating a converged digital TV network by evolving LTE Broadcast to enable a single network for Digital TV services for both your mobile and fixed devices (e.g., your home television/STB).

9. Empowering new proximity services by expanding the LTE Direct device-to-device platform to give your mobile devices and apps the ability to passively discover and interact with the world around you—for example, social networking and local search applications.

10. Delivering robust public safety communications by using LTE technologies and the LTE ecosystem for robust public safety services such as Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk communications.

If you want to learn more about the ways LTE Advanced Pro is redefining mobile networks, check out our upcoming webinar with FierceWireless: Leading the Path to 5G with LTE Advanced Pro. You can get further information on both LTE Advanced Pro and 5G from our website. And finally, don’t forget to check us out at MWC2016 where we will be demonstrating LTE Advanced Pro and 5G technologies at the Qualcomm booth. See you then!