Samsung '5G' Wireless Technology

Samsung Electronics (005930) announced it had developed a new “5G” wireless standard that could be hundreds of times faster than today’s 4G networks.

The new wireless standard is at least seven years away, so you won’t be streaming full seasons of Game Of Thrones in 3D soon. And seven years is a lifetime in tech—taking nothing away from Samsung’s accomplishment, I’d be surprised if we didn’t see a few standards competing for our bandwidth by 2020.

Already, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) has a ridiculously fast landline system in France. In the U.S., Google (GOOG) Fiber has brought gigabit Internet to Kansas City, Mo., with Austin, Tex., and Provo, Utah, next up for installation. That’s because the rush for more bandwidth is akin to an oil rush. Get data-transmission speeds fast enough, and it doesn’t mean people can simply open Web pages faster; it means whole new businesses can thrive.

For Samsung, one of those businesses is ultra-high definition TV. This new, incredibly high-resolution format was a big deal at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show but remains more theoretical than real, as movies encoded in this format have a file size that would sink a ship. Trying to stream a UHD movie over today’s networks takes days, not minutes. But if Samsung’s new network technology is for real, UHD will suddenly become viable. And if you’re Samsung, that’s nothing to sneeze at, since you’re already the world’s largest TV manufacturer.

Samsung also said that a faster wireless network could help give rise to advanced medical services, since doctors would need high-resolution images to work remotely. That also lines up with the conglomerate’s goal of expanding into health-care technology. Indeed, the company’s goal is to be a major player in that industry by 2020—the same year its new wireless standard is expected.

Wireless standards used to be developed by consortiums that included wireless providers. But Samsung’s move into this field indicates two things: Bandwidth is the life-giving force that allows new devices (and new revenue streams) to flourish, and innovation in this area may no longer come from third-party groups, but directly from the businesses that stand to benefit the most from it.

Samsung Electronics said today it had successfully tested super-fast fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology that would eventually allow users to download an entire movie in one second.

The South Korean giant said the test had witnessed data transmission of more than one gigabyte per second over a distance of two kilometres.

The new technology, which will not be ready for the commercial market before 2020 at the earliest, would offer transmitting speeds "up to several hundred times faster" than existing 4G networks, it said in a statement.

That will permit users to "transmit massive data files including high quality digital movies practically without limitation", it said.

"As a result, subscribers will be able to enjoy a wide range of services such as 3D movies and games, real-time streaming of ultra high-definition (UHD) content, and remote medical services," it added.

Samsung said it had found a way to harness millimeter-wave bands which have proved to be a sticking point for the mobile industry to date.

The test used 64 antenna elements, which the tech titan said overcame the issue of "unfavourable propagation characteristics" that have prevented data travelling across

long distances using the bands.

One of the most wired countries on earth, South Korea already has around 20 million 4G users.

Samsung's 5G mobile communications technology is the next generation of the current 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. 5G is expected to be available by 2020; however,  its implementation has hit roadblocks in the past because of its required broad band of frequencies for operation. According to Samsung, the millimeter-wave Ka bands don't travel well over extended distances due to their unfavorable propagation characteristics.

Samsung has overcome this issue with its new adaptive array transceiver technology, which uses sixty four antenna elements to overcome radio propagation loss. The transceiver technology transmits data in the millimeter-wave band at a frequency of 28GHz, at a speed of up to 1.056 Gbps covering distances of up to 2 kilometers.
Samsung aims to invigorate research into 5G cellular communications worldwide and will trigger the creation of international alliances and the timely commercialization of related mobile broadband services for ultra high-definition (UHD) and 3D content "practically without limitation."