The Technologies of 5G: Opportunities, Applications and Challenges

Abstract

5G which stands for 5 Generation Mobile technology, is a groundbreaking technology that the world now witnesses in mobile telecommunications and which has proven to be twenty or more times faster than the existing 4G technology. New standard releases beyond 4G are already in progress by standardization bodies, but at this time implementation and rollout of systems compliant with 5G is still under way in some parts of the world. The goals of a 5G-based telecommunications network would ideally answer the challenges that a 4G model would present once it has entered widespread use. The innovative features of 5G in many ways can be employed to support governments, established companies, new ideas, business models and services that require continuous connections between multiple parties that may include enterprises, telecom providers, mobile operators, government regulators, infrastructure providers and much more. This research highlighted the idea behind 5G technologies, its interconnections with smart objects of Internet of things (IoT) as well as offerings it has gained from others like Blockchain technology. The design for system model of network architecture for 5G mobile systems is described including creating IP tunnels over IP interfaces obtained by connection to the terminal via the access technologies available to the terminal (i.e., mobile user). The economic impact and the contributions of 5G technology is vigorously highlighted while some of the challenges that is faced in designing, deploying and managing the technology is also probed.