Is 5G really useful? Please give technology some time

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What is 5G network?

"5G" actually refers to an industry standard, namely the "fifth generation mobile communication technology standard". Its elder brother (1G), the second brother (2G), and the third brother (3G) are simply incomparable to it. Even the fourth brother (4G), which is already very advanced, can only look up to it.

5G not only means faster network speed and greater network capacity, but also the foundation for the Internet of Everything (IOT), which means that machines will be more automated. A series of applications such as virtual reality, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, smart cities, ultra-high-definition video, etc. will have a broad application space after the more powerful 5G.

Why does the "5G is useless" theory arise?

The key lies in the application.

For ordinary 5G users, their current experience with 5G may just be an increase in network speed, and they do not have an intuitive feeling for the greater functions that 5G brings.

Zhihu APP screenshot

Why is this so? The key reason is that applications adapted to 5G have not yet appeared on a large scale.

Back then, when the transition from 3G to 4G took place, a large number of popular mobile Internet applications were born. If you use WeChat or Weibo on the 3G network with a 3G mobile phone, in one word: lagging! Not to mention watching videos.

As a result, everyone rushed to change to 4G mobile phones and 4G cards, because some mobile applications are completely unusable under 3G conditions. Users have to abandon 3G mobile phones and 3G networks and embrace 4G.

Therefore, as application scenarios become more diverse, users’ demand for 5G will continue to be stimulated. At present, 5G is mainly used under the guidance of national strategies to meet the application needs of industries such as industrial Internet of Things and highly sensitive data with its high speed and low latency.

In other words, the current value of 5G may occur more in areas that are difficult for most consumers to directly perceive. However, the difficulty in direct perception does not mean that it has no space and future. For example, online emergency treatment, which has been put into use, has a very high bandwidth demand for patient diagnosis and treatment images. When the patient is on the way to the hospital, the pre-hospital diagnosis and treatment images need to be transmitted to the emergency hospital for doctors to formulate diagnosis and treatment plans. In this way, when the patient is admitted to the hospital, the doctor can directly implement treatment.

For an individual, there is no difference between a video loading in 1 second and a video loading in 0.2 seconds. However, for online emergency rescue, the faster the image transmission speed, the more room it can create for saving lives.

What disruptions will 5G bring to our lives in the future?

Before discussing this issue, we must understand that "5G" actually refers to an industry standard. It is not static, but constantly evolving.

As standards continue to improve, 5G technology will become more mature. However, when 5G applications are not yet fully mature and powerful, it seems too early to discuss the "5G is useless" theory. After all, in the early days of 4G commercial use, there were doubts about the usefulness of 4G. Now it seems that it is tantamount to being slapped in the face.

So, when 5G applications gradually mature, what disruptions will 5G bring to our lives?

First, high speed.

Taking the VR games that have been popular in recent years as an example, for existing communication technology, due to factors such as small network bandwidth, low rate and high latency, users may experience screen freezes or even dizziness. With 5G, VR can be used very well.

Japanese restaurants incorporate VR high-tech to create a dream dining experience.

Second, ubiquitous network.

Ubiquitous Internet means that the Internet exists in every corner of social life. You may wonder, do we really need this? The answer is yes.

In the morning, your pillow, quilt or bed wakes you up from your sleep in a more natural way, and then opens the curtains and turns on the lights in the room as needed.

When you go to the bathroom, the automatic control equipment will adjust the water temperature, lighting and even the temperature of the toilet seat for you.

When you have washed and dressed, your basic physical examination data has been detected through the household items you use.

If further examination is necessary, you will be reminded to go to the hospital for examination.

Nearly zero power consumption, high performance, mass-producible color e-paper display

Third, low power consumption.

We all wear smart watches, but it is inconvenient to wear smart watches now because they have to be charged every day. We definitely hope that it only needs to be charged once a month. How can this be achieved? This requires low power consumption.

Fourth, low latency.

Why do we need "low latency"? Take autonomous driving as an example. This technology is considered to be the most important application in the 5G era. If the latency is too long and the network response is too slow, the system cannot convey instructions in time, which may cause the car to crash and people to die at high speed.

Therefore, the latency issue is the core issue in the communication system, and 5G technology can help us solve the latency issue.