Can 5g be harmful?
Tags: IoT, 5g, 5g Technology, Internet of Things

In 1979 the first Generation of automated cellular network launched in Tokyo, named 1G. Throughout the 80s, 1G spread around the world, marking the beginning of a new era in wireless mobile communications. In the coming decades, several new generations emerged, including 2G in the 90s, 3G at the early 00s, and the well known and most successful of all, 4G in 2009, at the capitals of Norway and Sweden, respectfully. last but not least, in April of 2019, the fifth generation of cellular networks was introduced in the capital of South Korea, you guessed it, named 5G.

5G

In the last 10 years or so, a large amount of the world uses mainly 3G and 4G. 3G offers download speeds up to 42 Mbps/s and it transmits in ultra-high-frequency radio waves. 4G transmits in high-frequency radio waves and depending on the standard in use, can have a maximum download speed of up to 1 Gbps/s.

Both 3G and 4G are using relatively low energy electromagnetic waves to transmit, but 5G technology is about to change that. The next generation will operate mainly in millimeter waves, specifically, it will be separated into two basic categories, that will have different frequency ranges. The first one, known as mid-band, will be used for long distances and transmit in frequencies lower than 6 GHz. The second one, typically referred to as high-band, is meant to be used for short distances, at higher frequencies, over 24 GHz. But for 5G to be implemented, telecommunication companies must make a major upgrade in hardware. A lot of new antennas will have to be installed. Practically every few meters a new one must exist in order for 5G to work properly. For example, a good spot to place them would be on top of traffic signals, public lighting columns, government buildings, and so on. But why we need that many antennas in the first place? Well, for starters, the equipment on the existing cell towers is relatively old and it was meant to send and revive signals at lower frequencies. Although most cell towers already have the necessary hardware for the mid-band (that is the one for long distances). The implementation of the high-band (aka for sort distances) will be trickier. Millimeter waves have a short wavelength, therefore they cannot travel long distances. As you can understand that forces carriers to install significantly more antennas than they already have. Thankfully the size of the wavelength also affects the size of the antennas, forcing them to be smaller and thus helping carriers with the installation. But that’s not the only reason why we need that many antennas. The frequencies used by the high-band make the signal hard to pass through dense objects making even harder the transition to the next generation. Practically, almost anything can be an obstacle to 5G. From walls and windows to trees, thus forcing the antennas to reroute the signal in order to reach you.

Someone could ask, why should we get to all that trouble in order to add a new number in front of G. What 5G has to offer that 4G hasn’t? Well, obviously, speed is one of its main advantages. 5G is expected to be about 100 times faster than 4G. In actual numbers that translates to a maximum theoretical download speed of up to 10 Gbps/s. This speed is highly theoretical, don’t expect to experience it for many years to come. In the real world, carriers have started to give some numbers and it seems like we can expect a maximum real-world speed of about 2 Gbps/s give or take. But speed is not the only reason 5G is better than its predecessor. Another one is latency and it’s probably the biggest advantage of 5G. In comparison, 4G has a latency of about 60 ms which stands for milliseconds. 5G is expected to have latency as low as 1 ms. Again, as with the speed, 1 ms is not a real-world number, it’s highly theoretical. Do not expect to experience that low latency any time soon. For the brief time that 5G is been tested in the US and other parts of the world, they have been reports that claim latency drops as low as 10 ms in close proximity to an antenna. Although the average latency is expected to be around 30 ms. Keep in your mind though that these numbers- might change at any time, since it’s practically too early to know the exact real-world speed and latency at the moment. All that I have said so far about the speed and latency of 5G, refer to the high-band that I spoke about earlier. The mid-band in early deployments will operate on older equipment used by 4G that has the capability through software updates to work at higher speeds- and lower latency. With the improvements in software, speed is expected to reach up-to 400 Mbs/s.

Other major advantages of 5G are bandwidth and throughput. Think of bandwidth like a pipe that carries water and throughput like the water that flows through that pipe. Now imagine that inside the pipe there is a lot of dirt, aka noise. When you open the faucet, the water of course will flow slower because dirt is holding it back. Now replace the pipe with a new bigger and cleaner one. As I am sure you understand, water will flow faster and at a greater capacity. So far telecommunication companies- are forced to use a very narrow part of the available spectrum, therefore- limiting their bandwidth or if you will how big, is the pipe. Although that is mainly because physics keeps us back, the really crowded radio waves, by other applications such as tv broadcasts or wi-fi creates a lot of noise 5G will not have this problem because of the frequencies used by it, so far don’t have any other relevant applications. Now, throughput will be bigger, therefore better (no pun intended). Mainly-a technique named beamforming will be used to achieve this. In short, until now antennas transmit data uniformly in the air. In 5G, data will be sent directly to the device through an invisible beam and not to all directions at once, this won’t create unnecessary noise. This way, more data packages will be delivered faster and more reliably. All that is achieved through complicated algorithms, that analyze and improve the network’s transmissions.

Health Concerns

Ever since 5G became mainstream a couple of years ago,- many have raised questions about the safety of the new generation with regards to the use- of millimeter waves- instead of radio waves. Many myths- and misunderstandings are circling around the internet that they couldn’t be farther from the truth. Millimeter waves practically- are radio waves of shorter- wavelength. They do not carry enough energy to cause damage to DNA thus they cannot cause cancer. If that was true, visible light should also cause cancer, since it has more energy than millimeter waves. The rule is that the greater the energy, which is carried by an electromagnetic wave, the greater is also the damage that it causes to DNA. The energy needed for an electromagnetic wave to be carcinogenic- is way bigger. There are two main types of radiation. Ionizing, which can cause cancer, and non-ionizing which does not cause. Millimeter waves are a type of non-ionizing radiation. All that fuzz about millimeter waves being carcinogenic was caused mainly by a misunderstanding of a document published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer or- IARC. In that document, radio waves are being classified as possibly carcinogenic. What the IARC means is that while there is a limited amount of studies that present some evidence about radio waves being carcinogenic, that evidence is, at the very least, inconclusive. As far as we know, there is no other mechanism with which electromagnetic waves can cause damage to DNA, except by being a type of ionizing-radiation. IARC just plays it save.

IoT (A network that will change thinks forever)

So far, I have talked about the advancements of 5G in numbers. I think a practical application can help you understand better, why the new generation is considered by many the holy grail- of mobile communications. I am sure most of you already know it, and probably even use it. What I am talking about is the Internet of Things or IoT. In short, IoT is a system of devices with the integrated ability to transfer data over the internet automatically, thus completing a task without requiring interaction with any person. Those connected devices- could be anything, from your coffee machine or medical devices-and robotic arms= in factories to mailboxes and cars. In the coming decades, millions of devices will require a fast and low latency internet connection. Currently, due to bandwidth limitations that I already explained earlier, up to 100,000 devices per square kilometer could be connected to the internet using a 4G network. With 5G that number is going to explode to as many as 1.000.000 devices per square kilometer, therefore allowing the Internet of Things to operate smoother. Of course, the improved latency and speed that 5G brinks along will play also an important role in the implementation of IoT.

Conclusion

I want you to imagine a casual morning in the future, where everything is automated. You wake up and you find your breakfast ready waiting for you to eat it. You step out of the door and you see your mail delivered in your mailbox from the post service’s robot. You get into your car and say your destination. The car drives you on its own to your work, while communicating with other cars in order to avoid accidents and finding the optimal route. All that can be achieved partly because of 5G. So, is 5G a reason to be feared-or excited? I personally believe that there is nothing to fear from 5G and I already explained why. Lay back and enjoy the ride to a fully automated future.