Viewpoint: What can boost 5G performance – and public confidence?

With the rollout of 5G continuing to cause issues around the globe, some people would argue that it’s not yet living up to the hype. So what’s needed to unlock its potential? Dr. Ali Sadri, CTO of Airgain, a wireless connectivity specialist, looks at how some of the current limitations can be overcome.

Despite the substantial investments from both government and the private sector, mobile users in the UK experienced some of the slowest average download speeds of any G7 country last year. One report found that they were as low as 118.2 megabits per second between the start of August and the end of October – down from 136.5 mbps for the same period in 2022.

Sluggish

Sluggish download speeds are not just frustrating for consumers; they have wider economic consequences too. Vodafone estimates that small and medium-sized businesses are missing out on as much as £8.6bn a year in productivity savings because the rollout of standalone 5G has been so slow. Without reliable wireless 5G connectivity (or 5G over Wi-Fi), the prospect of smart homes and factories, much less smart cities, still seems a long way away.

Compare this to the US, where despite the challenges of connecting remote communities, adoption rates are high thanks to high coverage and speeds. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have been named ‘5G pioneers’ because they’ve been leading the way in deploying 5G networks.

While there is no single solution to improving 5G rollout and performance, new innovations in both hardware (antennas, repeaters, and modems) and connectivity solutions are now set to bridge the gap between vision and reality. But what does this look like in practice?

Whole network

Until recently, much of the focus has been on solving problems and making improvements in isolation. What’s needed instead is a whole network approach to wireless 5G. In other words, solutions developers should channel their research, design, and technical capabilities into enhancing every aspect of the user journey, from the service provider to the end-user.

Engineers will appreciate the complexities inherent in wireless which is down to the way 5G signals propagate. So, even though it can deliver better performance in terms of lower latency, increased capacity, and faster throughput, the higher frequencies result in a shorter communication distance from the base station. The 700MHz part of the spectrum can transmit signals a long way – but the throughput is lower.

Achieving a higher throughput is possible with the C-Band spectrum at around 3.5GHz. The problem is that it only travels 20% as far, and that reduces further at higher frequencies.

Another challenge to contend with is the environment. Demand for 5G is highest in densely-populated cities yet atmospheric pollution, buildings and people can all interrupt or block high-frequency signals. To counter this, thousands of base stations or small cells would be needed to reach coverage levels close to 700MHz – which, at a cost of billions-of-pounds, would be prohibitively expensive for providers and they’re also likely to face backlash from people living nearby.

RIS

An innovative solution to enhance 5G performance is the Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS). Designed to operate in the sub-6 GHz band, primarily at the center frequency of 3.5 GHz, RIS comprises thousands of unit cells equipped with varactor diodes. These diodes allow the surface to reconfigure its response, manipulating incoming electromagnetic waves to improve signal reception in coverage blind spots.

RIS technology employs a control unit to manage the reflecting surface’s response, inclining the reflected beam toward the desired direction based on the generalised Snell’s law. This reconfiguration capability enhances signal levels at the receiver side by more than 15 dB when configured for a specific direction.

A real-world demonstration using a test-bed system showed RIS’s potential. The system successfully directed reflected waves towards a receiver in a coverage blind spot, enhancing signal strength and enabling proper demodulation of the received signal. This highlights RIS’s potential to ensure seamless connectivity in 5G and future 6G networks.

RIS technology promises to be a game-changer in ensuring seamless connectivity for future wireless networks. Its ability to reconfigure and direct EM waves towards areas with poor coverage can significantly boost 5G performance and has the potential to boost public confidence in wireless communication technologies.

Smart repeaters

Another transformative technology is the 5G smart repeater – capable of receiving, cleaning up, amplifying, and passing the signal down the line. It automatically detects the optimal signal direction, while mobile devices maintain fidelity and upload/download speeds even if the base stations are further away.

What’s notable is that smart repeaters don’t rely on broadband cables; the only requirement is access to power which could include solar, so they’re ideal for remote rural areas that have always struggled with reliable connectivity. Because they’re easy to install, without compromising on performance, solutions providers are rapidly moving into the home and enterprise market, as well as continuing to cater to mobile network operators.

IBW solutions

In the early days of cellular communications, in-building wireless (IBW) coverage was not a primary concern. The focus was on providing service to the privileged few with car phones. As mobile phones became smaller and more ubiquitous in the 1990s, the limitations of indoor coverage became apparent. By the mid-2000s, the need for reliable in-building coverage had grown significantly with the advent of 3G and 4G technologies, and this demand has only intensified with the introduction of 5G.

IBW solutions are designed to address these challenges by enhancing network coverage and capacity in areas where the macro network cannot adequately service the demand. This can be due to high penetration losses from building materials, low emissivity glass, or simply the building’s structure blocking the signal.

DAS

Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) are a popular method for improving IBW coverage. DAS involves deploying a network of antennas throughout a building to distribute the signal from a central location. There are several types of DAS, including passive, active, hybrid, and digital DAS, each with its own advantages and limitations.

In a passive DAS, signals from one or more RF sources are distributed throughout the building using only passive components like coaxial cables and splitters. This system is typically used in smaller venues where the signal loss can be managed without the need for active amplification.

Active DAS systems use fiber optic cables to distribute the signal, which allows for longer distances and more extensive coverage areas. These systems are ideal for larger buildings and venues where passive DAS would result in significant signal loss.

Hybrid DAS combines elements of both passive and active DAS, providing a balance between cost and performance. This system is often used in medium to large buildings where some amplification is needed, but a fully active system would be too costly.

Digital DAS systems use digital signal processing to distribute and manage the signal. These systems offer the highest level of performance and flexibility, making them ideal for complex environments with high demand for coverage and capacity.

5G network infrastructure

The cost and complexity of developing 5G infrastructure remain a challenge but there is light at the end of the tunnel for those who are frustrated by the lack of progress. Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) is a type of MIMO wireless communication technology that uses hundreds or thousands of antennas to communicate with multiple user devices at the same time.

Fitted to the base station, they can vastly improve performance. Advanced signal processing algorithms at the base station separate and decode the different data streams from each user device. This allows Massive MIMO systems to significantly increase the capacity and efficiency of wireless networks, enabling higher data rates, reduced latency and improved spectral efficiency.

Device configuration

The way devices are managed, monitored, and configured naturally impacts their efficiency, cost, and user experience – so optimizing them across all three areas is the final piece in the jigsaw when it comes to improving 5G rollout and performance.

Operators need a way to manage equipment in their network remotely, as well as any devices they add in the future. This includes configuration management, change tracking, graphing performance metrics, alert monitoring and two-way communications with devices.

Since the technology is still so new, the best way to achieve this is through strategic partnerships between providers of hardware, software, firmware and middleware. It means leveraging automation wherever possible to save time and reduce the risk of error as network infrastructure becomes more complex.

5G performance

Every day that goes by when enterprises don’t have access to reliable 5G is a missed opportunity to leverage data-hungry applications of AI and edge computing to innovate and grow.

5G connectivity could transform industries like manufacturing and agriculture and meanwhile consumers are growing impatient. They want better streaming experiences and connected smart home devices – and it is up to industry to use infrastructure in the best way possible to maximize performance while avoiding needlessly building more base stations. Its reach should extend beyond urban centers to ensure equitable access to people living in underserved areas too.

All this depends on network providers having the latest technologies to not only overcome the challenges outlined but also to enable the many benefits 5G brings.

Dr. Ali Sadri, CTO of Airgain

See also: 273Mbps 5G upload speeds