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It didn’t happen overnight, but 5G technology is coming of age.

There are many essential parts to 5G architecture. For example, there’s 5G network slicing. Network slicing is a method of creating multiple unique logical and virtualized networks over a common multi-domain infrastructure.

Using Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), orchestration, analytics, and automation, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) can quickly create network slices that can support a specific application, service, set of users, or network.

Network slices can span multiple network domains, including access, core, and transport, and be deployed across multiple operators.

Network slicing, with its myriad use cases, is one of the most important technologies in 5G. It will support new services with vastly different requirements—from a connected vehicle to a voice call, which require different throughput, latency, and reliability.

Another important 5G essential is beamforming, a particular processing technique for signals that allow for directional transmission or reception.

5G beamforming allows carriers to make 5G connections more focused toward a receiving device. For example, a typical 5G small cell that does not employ beamforming during its multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission will not be able to narrowly concentrate or focus its transmit beams to a particular area.

With beamforming, the small cell can focus the transmission in a particular direction toward a mobile device such as a cellphone, laptop, autonomous car or IoT node. This improves the efficiency overall of the network and saves energy.

Because millimeter waves can be more prone to disruption from interfering objects, and mmWave does not penetrate walls and other barriers as easily as low and mid band spectrum used for 4G and DSS applications, beamforming can help to create more reliable connectivity dynamics.

Another work-around for the propagation challenge with mmWave is the ability to leverage the diversity and multiplexing gains that accrue from MIMO-based transmission to provide for higher throughput and more robust signal reception at the receiver that result in a better overall user experience.

Want to learn more? Tonex offers 5G Essentials, a 2-day course that features a mixture of lecture and practical hands-on training. Participants will learn 5G Services, 5G Slicing, NFV and SDN, Containers and Kubernettes, RAN, 5G New Radio (NE) Cloud-RAN, O-RAN, 5G NSA, 5G SA, SBA, MEC, VoNR, Massive MIMO. Beamforming,  and more.

For more information, questions, comments, contact us.

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