5G and IoT: The mobile broadband future of IoT

5G is the fifth generation of mobile, cellular technology, networks and solutions. It heralds a major change in the mobile sector, and although it is not just "built" for the Internet of Things (IoT), it is also shown as a major driver of the Internet of Things, Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0. This article will briefly explain the role of 5G in the Internet of Things and its impact on mobility in the evolving connected business.

As we pursue smart factories, vehicles, buildings, cities and industrial applications that are more automated and make autonomous decisions, the massive amounts of data generated need to be analyzed and collected. This is why edge computing, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence have become so important in the Internet of Things, and why edge computing is undoubtedly one of the top choices for the "evolution of the Internet of Things".

However, in order to achieve a highly connected environment, the IoT needs to be utilized in real time and on a large scale, and there are many changes in the IoT application environment. Ultimately, many of our current network technologies are not really suitable for future needs, and even today, we often need to combine fixed and wireless network technologies to implement large-scale IoT projects.

5G and the Industrial Internet of Things

5G is not only for the Industrial Internet of Things, but will extend far beyond that, it will dramatically change mobility as we know it today. Nevertheless, from an IoT perspective, the main support for the development of 5G is mostly provided by companies and organizations that want to promote industrial transformation, the Industrial Internet or Industry 4.0.

As enhanced mobile broadband, 5G is designed to enable massive IoT, providing network capacity and performance for numerous IoT applications in the most diverse environments. From connected vehicles and other mobile objects to massive machine communications, remote surgery, and the connection of billions of IoT devices, all thanks to a wireless network that enables them to achieve all functions.

The future of 5G and IoT

5G is an extension of LTE and all LTE-Advanced networks, but at the same time it has a completely new network architecture and is likely to be ubiquitous in 10-20 years, far beyond IoT. Although 5G has not yet been widely adopted, IoT communications have become the main use case for 5G.

Among the three major application scenarios defined by 5G, mMTC (massive machine type communication) is aimed at the application of large-scale Internet of Things services, so 5G can also provide Internet of Things access services, and 5G has obvious advantages in wide coverage, large connections and security performance.

GSMA sees 5G as the centre of a heterogeneous network environment, alongside other connectivity solutions such as LPWA.

The goal of the 5G era is to connect everything, connect everything, send a lot of data through the Internet of Things and consumer applications, and 5G technology can also play a good role deep inside buildings. In addition, more research shows that 5G's role in promoting the Internet of Things is far beyond expectations.

According to information from the China Industry Information Network, the IoT market size is expected to reach US$476 billion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 62%; the size of China's IoT market was approximately US$25 billion in 2015, and is expected to reach US$233.3 billion by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 75%.

5G in Existing Wireless IoT Network Solutions

5G is a cellular (like 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE-Cat M and NB-IoT) wireless wide area network standard.

We have all heard of 2G, 3G, and 4G, but we may be unfamiliar with LTE-Cat M and NB-IoT. CAT-NB1/NB-IoT focuses on extremely low data rates and can use 2G, 3G, and 4G spectrum. It is a cellular LPWA technology like LTE Cat-M1, while non-cellular LPWA networks include LoRa (WAN), Sigfox, etc.

In Industrial IoT, LPWA is the fastest growing, especially in new IoT connections (even if the majority are still fixed-line).

5G is expected to reach speeds of 20 Gbps (gigabits per second) or more. Not only can 5G transmit more data at a faster data rate than 4G LTE, but it can also support a large number of devices at a connection density of about 500 at the same time within a specific range, which is twice that of 4G.

Of course, we are far from the point where all IoT applications require 5G or NB-IoT. As the 5G race between operators intensifies, we will see large-scale IoT applications in the future.