5G-Spectrum And Beyond
Introduction
It is very important that we need to
understand what is mean by spectrum,
before going to the discussion on 5G spectrum. It is nothing but a group of signal or carrier which is having a
predefined frequency. In a common man language , this group of signals or Carriers
are the medium which carries the information from one place to other place. This
information may be voice or data in mobile communication.This is similar as the public
transport & trucks caries humans & goods respectively from one place to
other. Our voice is a very low
frequency signal.The energy of this signal is very low and cannot propagate long
distance. So we use high frequency signal as a carrier to transmit the low
frequency voice or data . The energy of this high frequency carriers is very high.
This helps it to carry the low frequency voice or data to higher distance.In
mobile communication the device which generates the desired frequency is known
as transmitter. An oscillator within the transmitter generates a sinusoidal
alternating current which is having the required carrier frequency. The carrier is modulated with the actual
information(voice/data). This modulated alternating current (signal) is fed to the Antenna which
converts it to the electro magnetic Waves(EM Waves).This EM waves propagate
long distance. The receiver which is tuned to the transmitter carrier frequency can
demodulate the actual voice or Data.
 |
| Fig1: Electro Magnetic Spectrum |
In
the wide range of spectrum mentioned in the above fig, we are going to discuss
only about the frequency used for mobile communication, in specific about the
spectrum used for 5G.
The
1st & 2nd generation of mobile communication(1G &
2G) were allotted with a frequency in the
range from 800 to 1800 MHz. The 3rd generation mobile communication-3G
(IMT-2000) were operated around 2100 MHz. Due to the large number of users and
applications, this band exploited further in both direction,spanning from
450 MHz to 6 GHz . The new generation of mobile communication (4G & 5G
)exploited the unused contiguous frequencies in this spectrum range. Some
countries also started using the older generation spectrum for 4G & 5G as
the part of technology transition. As the traffic capacity demand is huge in
5G, the spectrum requirement is also high. The spectrum up to 6 GHz is not sufficient
to incorporate all the use cases available in 5G. The spectrum even above 80 GHz
also considered for 5G deployment.Who identify this spectrum? There is global regulatory
and standardization organizations for this. But the final spectrum allocation is
fully dependent on the local/country level regulatory & administrations.
An Insight to the spectrum Standardization & Regulatory Body
In
the above introduction we got an idea about frequency spectrum and the band
allocated globally for Mobile communication. Next we need to know about the
global standardization & regulatory body which allocates these frequency
bands & prepare technical specification for mobile communication.We may frequently hear about ITU-R, IMT
& 3GPP, whenever we discuss about the mobile communication. The spectrum
regulation is handled by National, Regional and Global regulatory bodies. ITU
–R (International Telecommunications Union- Radio) the global regulatory body which handle the spectrum regulation on global
level.The moto of this organization is to
“ Guarantee Interference free Operations for all Radio Communication Systems in
the world”. ITU-R identifies the spectrum for IMT (International Mobile
Telecommunication) also. Even-though the ITU-R allocate band for IMT, it is the
regional and Country level regulatory & administrations, differentiates the
spectrum for various generations of mobile communication in a particular region/Country.
3GPP ( 3rd generation
partnership Project) is the only authorized global organization that
develop technical specification for mobile communication.The representative
from various country & regional standardization organization represents
3GPP. As per the latest updates,the
region & country level spectrum regulatory body agreed to use all existing
IMT bands for IMT-2020 (that is for 5G)
. Do you ever think that what will be the situation if there is no global
standardization body ? The device those function in a country may not work in other country. This will make the
international roaming more tedious.
A
World Radio-Communication Conference (WRC) is held every 3 to 4 years. Here the
radio regulations are discussed,revised
and updated. Based on this updation, the spectrum usage will be revised and
updated across the world.
Spectrum Classification for IMT& 5G
WRC-15(
World Radio Conference-15) held on 2015 has
very importance in setting up the spectrum for 5G. As an outcome of this
program a new set of frequency bands were identified for IMT ( International Mobile Telecommunication)
. This bands are shown below:
470-694/698 MHz -(600 MHz Band:) Identified for some countries in America
& Asia-pacific
|
694-790 MHz (700 MHz Band)- Many countries
|
1427-1518 MHz( L-Band)- Many Countries
|
3300-3400 MHz - Many Countries uses this band excluding Europe &
north America
|
3400-3700 MHz(C-band)-Many countries globally uses this band especially
in Europe. Not available in Africa
|
4800-4990 MHz : For few countries in Asia -Pacific
|
It is universally
accepted that, the frequency bands from 3300 to 4990 MHz are the most suitable
spectrum for 5G. As this is a new spectrum range, it is possible to allocate
large block of frequency bands for each mobile operators. As the frequency is
high the size of the antenna elements in the 5G transmitter will be too small.
This will help to incorporate massive amount of small antenna elements in an antenna
Array. The deployment of advanced Massive MIMO technology will be much easier
in this spectrum range. The high bandwidth and the New Radio (NR : means 5G RAN) access
technology easily fulfill the high data demand for various use cases in 5G. The operators and telecom gear makers putting
pressure to global and country regulatory to use this spectrum to realize the actual 5G experience.
In WRC-15 ,it has planned to identify a new
high frequency band above 24 GHz . The ITU-R planned to study about this band
till the WRC-19. The same will be discussed during the WRC-19 and will finalize
about the usage of this band for IMT. World Radio communication Conference 2019
(WRC-19), happens at Egypt from 28 October to 22 November 2019.
The frequency band below 2 GHz is known as Low frequency
bands.The 600 & 700 MHz bands are the important band in this range. Each operator can get a maximum of 20 MHz
bandwidth in this spectrum range. This
band have the advantage of long distance propagation & deep indoor
penetration. The disadvantage is the low band width blocks.
The range 3- 6
GHz is the Medium Frequency band. In
this range a block of 200 MHz band width can be allocated to each operator.
The band above 24 GHz is categorized as High Frequency
band. This is also known as mm waves as the wave length of the frequency in
this bands are in mm. A channel bandwidth upto 400 MHz can be allocate to an
operator . The bandwidth can increase
further through Carrier aggregation.
The 3GPP release 15 has
divided the New Radio(NR- 5G RAN) frequency range into 2 category as below:
1. Frequency
Range 1(FR1) : All existing bands below 6 GHz.
2. Frequency
Range 2(FR2) : All existing bands in the range of 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz.
Why this frequency range is divided into 2? We will get an
idea about this only after studying the New Radio (NR) in detail.NR supports
both FDD & TDD duplexing.
As per the Release 15 there are 26 operating
bands in FR1 & 3 in FR2.
 |
| Fig2 : FR1 and FR2 Spectrum Range |
5G spectrum- A Global Footprint
In US, the initial 5G commercial deployment has been done using low frequency- 600 MHz band . This helped the
major telecom players in the country to enhance the coverage over the rural
area. The customers can experience good network quality as the RAN & Core
upgrades with new NR Technology. The
operators will use the mid and High band spectrum as the 5G use cases comes in
reality. The large amount of bandwidth blocks in this mid and high range will
help to accommodate the massive machines, industrial automation, and other
industrial changes that are going to happen as part of the 4th
industrial revolution (Industry 4.0).
The 700 MHz band , 3.4-3.6 GHz , 3.6- 3.8
GHz are planned to use for the initial deployment
of 5G in Europe.
China Unicom said it has been approved
to use the 3.5 GHz to 3.6 GHz frequency band for a
nationwide 5G trial roll out until June 2020. The band from 3.3-4.9
GHz in the middle frequency band are the frequency spectrum that China planned
to use. India telecom regulatory has planned to auction frequency band below
6 GHz for 5G. Japan has allotted with frequency band 3600 - 4200 MHz. Similar middle band
frequencies are planned for North America,Latin America, Middle East,
Africa,Australia, etc.
The
mm frequency range 27.5 – 28.35 GHz has planned for US, 24.25 -27.5 GHz for Europe, 26.5-29.5 GHz for Korea and 27.5-29.5 GHz for Japan . The 40 GHz range has
planned in some parts of the world like china & US.
 |
| Fig 3: 5G Spectrum- Global Footprint |
Conclusion: 5G is a threat to Life ? No..A Big No..
The frequency used for mobile communication (450 MHz to 100 GHz) are
Non Ionizing. The frequency that breaks bonds in human tissues are comes under
the Ionizing band in the Electromagnetic Spectrum. The X-Rays & gamma rays
comes under this Ionizing category. This rays are harmful to Human tissues .
But the frequency used for mobile communication have energy which is 6,00,000 times lower than sun
light(Mathematically proven). Hence we can strongly say that the frequency used
for mobile communication are not harmful to Human beings, Animals & birds.
Even though the mobile frequency is not
harmful to human tissues, there is good regulation in the maximum power a
BTS/eNB/gNb/Mobile(Radio Equipment) can transmit. This will further reduce the
energy of the mobile communication signals.
There are lot of national
and international organization which makes the guidelines for the exposure of
electromagnetic waves especially for the
mobile communication. ICNIRP
(International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection) is a global
non-governmental organization which makes the limits for radio frequency
emission at public and non public area.Most of the countries in the world
follow the guidelines of ICNIRP. USA follows the guidelines of FCC( Federal Communications
Commission). India adopted the ICNIRP guidelines, further revised and
made effective from 2012 onward. India’s emission limit is 10 times lower than
other global countries.
We can conclude that the energy received from standing in the Sun for One Hour is equivalent to Energy received at 20 meters from an antenna for Two years.(Scientifically Proved).
Thanks
We can conclude that the energy received from standing in the Sun for One Hour is equivalent to Energy received at 20 meters from an antenna for Two years.(Scientifically Proved).
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Thanks
Aneesh....
