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PERSPECTIVE
Srinjoy Nag Chowdhury
ECE Department, Manipal University
Manipal, Karnataka, India
rahulsrinjoy@gmail.com
Figure 1: From 1G to 5G
210MHz per
operator
maximum
3.43.8GHz
Up to 400MHz
either in a paired
or an unpaired
arrangement
Depending on
use by existing
services this band
could provide
substantially
more bandwidth
than bands below
1GHz (for
example,
100MHz and
above)
Channel sizes
likely to be
multiples of
20MHz, meaning
4 or more licenses
of 50100MHz
could be feasible
depending on the
available spectrum
in the band
5GHz
This band is being
considered at the
ITU World Radio
Conference in
2015 (WRC-15)
in total over
300MHz in new
spectrum could be
allocated
Channel sizes
likely based on
current Wi-Fi use,
in multiples of
20MHz, and the
band is likely to
remain as a
license-exempt
band in line with
current Wi-Fi
Merits
Spectrum
packaging/number
of licenses
700MHz
Varies in different
markets, from
around 230MHz
to 245MHz
Ideal for
providing wide
area coverage,
needed for
certain envisaged
applications (for
example, IOT)
15GHz
Potentially over
500MHz
depending on the
sub-band used
and sharing with
existing uses
28GHz
Similar to the
15GHz band, for
example, over
500MHz
depending on the
sub-band used
and sharing with
existing uses
Similar to the
15GHz band
6080GHz
Similar to the
Potentially up to
15GHz and
5GHz depending on 28GHz bands
the selected subband (for example,
7176MHz and/or
8186GHz)
Channel sizes
could be very wide,
for example,
multiples of
100MHz.
Depending on the
bandwidth
available, the band
could
accommodate
multiple operators,
with the
opportunity for
companies other
than established
mobile operators
to offer some 5G
services with an
assignment of
100MHz per
operator, or more,
depending on
national
availability and
sharing with
existing services
Similar to the
15GHz band
1. mmWave Propagation
Until now this spectrum remained unoccupied as it was
deemed inappropriate for mobile communications because of
antagonistic qualities including strong path loss, atmospheric
and rain absorption, low diffraction around obstacles,
penetration through objects, strong phase noise and outlandish
equipment costs. Nonetheless with the developments in
semiconductor technology all these insurmountable obstacles
are looking conquerable given time and effort.
2. Key Issues Under Investigation
1) Data rate: As millimeter waves lie in between frequency
ranges 30-300 GHz, they are able to harvest large continuous
chunks of spectrum with emerging mm-wave technologies for
ultra-high data rate wireless communication. The speeds may
range from few Gbps to few tens ofGbps.Although this is the
most important advantage of the millimeter wave spectrum,
still a definite problem remains in building of proper
transceiver structures which may be able to realize multigigabit data rates in practical deployments and in turn
alleviate power consumptions, cost and implementation
complexity problems in mm-wave communication.
2) Path loss: Usually when the electrical size of the antenna
is kept constant which is necessary for wireless
communication. The free space path loss between a transmit
and a receive antenna grows with center frequency squared
that is if one can increase the order of the frequency from 3 to
30GHz, it would add 20 dB of power loss regardless of the
transmit-receive distance. Thus, when we use Mm wave this
may pose a serious problem. However, after further study
itwas found that if both transmit and receive antenna apertures
are held constant, then the free space path loss decreases by
amount which is equal to center frequency squared. This
power gain would in turn help thwarting the higher noise
associated with broader signal bandwidths.
3) Obstruction: Millimeter wave signal display reduced
diffraction and better specular propagation than the others and
thus they are more vulnerable to obstructions.There is an
effective increase of about 40 dB/decade loss when the waves
hit obstacles and due to this kind of sensitivity the reliability
of the links may come under question.
Similar to the
15GHz and 28GHz
bands
in these bands. The only major problem that these bands arrive
at are the quality of service that they promise to deliver cannot
be relied upon. Even Qualcomm with its 4G LTE has
beenadvocating the aggregation of unlicensed spectrum with a
solid anchor in licensed spectrum so as to give away to the
quality of service problem. At mmWave frequencies, the main
issue is signal strength rather than interference, and it is
therefore plausible that mmWave bands be unlicensed, or at a
minimum several licensees will share a given band under
certain new regulations. Thus, unlicensed spectrum has much
more to offer than what it had been offering till now.
3. Spectrum Sharing
It is a known fact that white spaces exist in spectrums and
for having a wireless technology like 5G exist the need of
using the available spectrum to the fullest possible limit is
necessary. This requires the famous quote of sharing & caring
going hand in hand to come to life that is spectrums should be
shared together. Presently there are two regulatory
frameworks, Authorized Shared Access and Licensed Shared
Access, that allow spectrum sharing by a limited number of
parties each having a license under certain afore agreed
conditions. Telecom operators agree on how the spectrum is to
be shared, seeking interference protection from each other,
thereby raising the quality of service of their services. Mobile
wireless has spanned across many technologies across several
bands and across different licensing models in order to allow
5G to exist. The aggregation of all the available spectrum
resources enables operators to increase overall network
capacity and to provide best possible experience to users.
[23][28]
Projects such as METIS setup by the EU, the ITU, and all
other major wireless establishments are working towards
developing standards both for the spectrum and the
technology that is to be used to utilize it. In the ETSI meet for
future mobile summit in November 2013 it was decided upon
that the current LTE system would also be unable to meet the
challenges that would be imposed by 5G.Though the
standardization procedure has not yet been formally
developed yet one can estimate that with the current pace it
IX.CONCLUSION
In this paper we have surveyed the spectral needs of 5G
technology for mobile communications and have tried to find
out alternate novel solutions to the persisting problems that
exist. With the IMT 2020 vision and with different world
bodies slowly uncovering the solutions to the problems posed
by its conception, one can hope that strong principles would
be laid down in terms of spectral licensing, sharing and other
standardization procedures. Proper utilization of the spectrum
as an integration of different frequency bands and path
breaking developments in the usage of Mm wave spectrum
may not only help to realize this vision of 5G but also may
help to propagate this state of art wireless technology in
countries like India. Thus, 5G technology is such a frontier
which once if achieved would change modern day wireless
technology by quite a margin, and if compatible mobile
architectures to support this technology come up, then maybe
personal computers, laptops and even tablets may lose their
share in the market place.
REFERENCES
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