Right now, 5G is generating waves for simply being that much of a step up from 4G in terms of the download speeds that it offers. The real impact that 5G will have is a little less immediately obvious.
5G will indeed deliver blistering-fast speeds that have been rated as high as 10Gbps (though the average speed most will receive will be around 50Mbps). The applications of that are fairly obvious “ high quality streaming anywhere, any time, along with the ability to connect to, and work from the cloud with no bandwidth concerns. For both work and entertainment, 5G offers an immediate boost.
However, it’s a second quality of 5G that will prove the real difference; latency.
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What’s latency?
In simple terms, latency is the reaction time from when a piece of data is sent along the Internet network destination and then back again. Once latency gets below a certain rate, it becomes impossible for humans to notice a delay in the data transfer, but the reality is that there are some small delays in any connection currently. The lower the latency, the closer to true real-time computing it becomes.
So, where 4G offered latency of around 30ms to 70ms, with 5G latency the rate drops to between 20ms to just 5ms, and it would be theoretically possible for 5G latency to reach 1ms. Again, the difference won’t necessarily be perceptible to humans, but this drop in latency with 5G will enable a lot of innovation.
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Smart devices operating in real time
Essentially, what zero latency (or near zero latency) means is that devices that are connected to the Internet will respond to instructions and data immediately; 5G will unlock a revolution in smart devices and, in particular, genuine AI and automation.
It is latency, not data speeds, that has been the challenge with AI and automation to date. In most circumstances 4G and fixed wireless Internet provide enough raw speed to handle these data flows. The problem lies in the ability for the application to get the information fast enough.
Consider the potential of a medical robot as an example. With the assistance of a robot, it has been theorised that doctors will eventually be able to conduct operations remotely, which will be a good outcome for patients (who may no longer need to travel so far for operations), and for the doctors themselves, who will be able to reduce their risk of error. For these machines to work, however, they need to be absolutely precise, and immediately responsive to commands. Even the slightest delay in the machine responding could be catastrophic. 5G will be the first time that risk can be effectively eliminated.
Another example would be the factory floor, where 5G, in combination with smart manufacturing processes, could be able to operate with greater efficiency and productivity than ever. The entire, connected factory line, for example, could run AI-assisted analytics on the environment, and adjust manufacturing quantities, or even entire product lines, based on continually-monitored inventory and production line data sources.
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The case for automation
Indeed, automation in general is set to be a key theme in business and technology in the coming years, across all sectors and verticals. Automation has its detractors “ there are some that would point to statistics such as that it will gut 1.5 million jobs from the Australian economy, for example. However, the reality is more complex than that.
Automation, powered by 5G, will remove the need for humans to undertake menial tasks. Vehicles will steer themselves, services will be delivered over the cloud, and augmented reality and virtual reality will increasingly bear the burden of everything from retail sales to security systems, to medical diagnostics. However, this simply frees the human staff up to take on higher-value, non-process-based tasks. In fact, studies show that automation and machines will create more jobs than they displace. For businesses this means far more productive, value-creating operations, with happier staff undertaking more interesting jobs, and happier customers that benefit from the sheer efficiency of it all.
This highlights the final advantage of 5G and why it is uniquely placed to drive a revolution in smart computing: 5G can handle a massive number more devices connected at once than previous technologies. That’s going to be needed because, as part of automation, there is going to be an exponential explosion in connected devices.
5G enables automation and AI in a way that had only been theorised previously. The improved data speeds are, of course, a benefit, but that’s a secondary benefit to the ultra-low latency which will, for the first time, enable effectively real-time computing. The applications of that are only now starting to be contemplated, so as 5G becomes mainstream, you can expect to see a wave of innovation like humanity has never seen before.
