How 5G will shape our world

Connectivity is one of the key enablers of technological advancements. For example, the past couple of decades have exhibited how cellular technology has shaped the internet of things (IoT). During the 2000s, 2G and 3G brought Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication which, although revolutionary at the time, was comparatively simple in terms of what it enabled. Then came 4G, which enabled far more sophisticated applications in the IoT. Empowered with robust cloud connectivity it allowed efficient data transfer and better device management and control.

Power of 5G

India is poised to take a solid step in ushering in the much-awaited 5G era since the completion of the 5G spectrum auction. According to numerous reports, India, with its current data prices which are significantly lower than the global average, will continue to set rate benchmarks as new services are rolled out. 5G, will create unprecedented opportunities for businesses and people. While the dominating discussion in the media about the benefits of 5G was initially focused on how we will be able to download an HD movie in  few seconds, it has now shifted towards a broader set of benefits. 5G, which is up to 100 times faster than 4G, will create unprecedented opportunities for business and people.

Layered with artificial intelligence (AI), 5G will enable the Intelligent Internet of Everything (IoE), where anything powered can compute, and anything that computes can be connected. 5G, IoT, and AI will be fundamental to the next phase of technological development.  It will transform industries, including e-health, gaming, agriculture, traffic systems, and automotive safety. In short, it has the potential to unlock a new world of possibilities. For example, let's look at automotive safety. Maps will evolve to absorb and deliver more information in real-time rather than simply updating us on live traffic conditions.

The vehicles will amass abundant sensors and cameras and survey the roads and surroundings constantly. This information will be shared almost in real-time with other vehicles and road networks. In other words, V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication will allow cars to communicate with the different parts of the traffic system that may affect the vehicle and vice versa, improving automotive safety. 5G brings incredible improvements across network transmission speeds, capacity, and latency:

Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB): First, we must mention how phenomenally fast it is, after all, it is one of the most touted benefits of 5G. Peak data rates will be in the tens of Gbps. However, eMBB will also deliver 

three other distinct and extremely important attributes. 1) Higher capacity – availability in densely populated, indoor, and outdoor areas; in a world where the number of devices is increasing every day, a higher capacity becomes imperative for the newer generation of connectivity. 2) Enhanced connectivity – availability everywhere, and 3) It is designed to overcome the connectivity challenges caused by high mobility for example, in high-speed trains, cars, planes, etc. Typical IoT use cases include devices that require higher capacity and lower latency for video and data streaming, as well as industrial applications for AR/VR-based digital twins.

Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC): With its ability to intelligently transmit to each device with high precision, 5G can handle as many as 1 million¹ devices per square kilometer without congestion issues. It enables massive network capacity to connect thousands of IoT endpoints and edge devices reliably. Typical endpoints would be low-cost, battery-powered devices periodically transmitting small amounts of stored data either to the core or other devices locally via mMTC IoT gateways.

Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications (URLLC): It may not impact smartphone users significantly, but low latency and high reliability are of paramount importance for mission-critical applicationssuch as autonomous driving, wireless control of industrial automation, and robotic surgery.

These different features will enable variegated use cases and benefit consumers and enterprises alike. For example, on the road, vehicles will use eMBB to access multimedia content for passengers, while autonomous driving will be made safer through URLLC by lowering reaction times. Applications related to robotics, supply chain management, and operational control that would have strict reliability and latency requirements will rely on mMTC and URLLC.  

Different Storage Requirements: Before 5G and AI, endpoints and edge devices had smaller storage footprints due to the minimal data and bandwidth requirements. With the advancing capabilities of AI and 5G, storage needs will rise exponentially. Storage must also be more reliable and high-speed for enabling optimal performance. Furthermore, as more data will be processed at the edge, it will also increase demand for flash-based storage. At the edge, it is harder to perform a hardware refresh or maintenance due to the location of the device. As a result, storage solutions with higher capacities, newer interfaces, more random read/write performance, longer data retention, and increased endurance and reliability are needed. From a storage interface perspective, the older storage interface for SSDs, SATA, can be a bottleneck for 5G edge processing. Systems designers will need to consider the switch from SATA SSDs to NVMe™, as NVMe offers faster speeds, lower latencies, and higher capacities than SATA SSDs. 5G will need more local storage at the edge and endpoints.

The intersection of 5G, AI, and IoT will bring a seismic change to the world around us. It will also mean more data to be captured, processed, analyzed, and actioned at the network edge. This new era of the intelligent internet of everything will bring with it a need for advanced networking, computing, and storage, in edge devices and endpoints. As India enters the dawn of 5G, we will see diverse and probably different use cases than what are or will be prevalent in the rest of the world. It is because India is vastly different in terms of its geography and demographics. But one thing is sure, with the rollout beginning soon, we are much entering an even more data-intensive era, and storage will play a critical role in it.

Authored By: Khalid Wani, Senior Director - Sales, India, Western Digital