There’s a lot of discussion about how the planet’s devices will soon be chatting with one another.
While the technology behind this is still evolving, it’s close enough to examine what’s really going on.
Device-to-device communications refers to a radio technology that enables devices to communicate directly with each other, that is without routing the data paths through a network infrastructure. The best example of this is the Internet of Things (IoT) and involves the interconnectivity of everything from coffee pots and garage door openers to house lights and autonomous cars.
Other expected applications include social applications triggered by user proximity, advertisements, local exchange of information, smart communication between vehicles, Industry 4.0 machine to machine communications in industrial assembly lines, and public safety support, where devices provide at least local connectivity even in case of damage to the radio infrastructure.
The enabling force behind it all is 5G broadband with its potential for insanely fast speeds and nearly real-time latency.
D2D Scenarios
Device to device communication can be achieved in multiple modes of operation depending on the scenarios. According to the situation, most suitable operation mode is chosen to establish efficient transmission.
For example, if two devices are in proximity they can start communication by sharing data. This helps to improve data rate, reduce power consumption of devices and total load reduction of base stations. The control is handled by the base station.
In another example, multiple devices can connect to a device which has an active connection to the base station and further extend this network with adding connection to more devices. All devices in this small mobile cloud will receive the same data in the form of advertising or messages from the source.
It’s also possible for multiple devices to be offloaded to Wi-Fi data connection for communication. This Wi-Fi offloading scenario offers much higher data rate, less power consumption and avoid traffic overload of base stations.
There’s much more to learn about D2D Communications. Tonex offers D2D Communications Training | 5G Device to Device Communications, a 2-day class that covers 5G application scenarios including proximity-based services, advertisements, local exchange of information, vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v), public safety support and many more.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.