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Concept and Characteristics of 5G Mobile

Communication Systems (1)
January 16, 2015 | By Dr. Howon Lee (hwlee@hknu.ac.kr)

The current systems that we are using now, like 3GPP LTE or LTE-A, are commonly called 4G mobile
communication systems. Then, what are 5G mobile communication systems? To discuss 5G, we should first
look into what the mega trends in mobile services are these days.
[M1. Traffic growth] The biggest trend would be soaring demands for multimedia and social network services
witnessed recently. As a result of that, mobile traffic has been growing tremendously. The mobile traffic is
expected to explode as an enormous number of things are to be capable of interacting with each other with
the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT). So, the ever-expanding mobile broadband services and the growing
number of communication-enabled things will continue to cause traffic increase. According to the Cisco VNI
Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast, mobile data traffic is expected to surge about 10 times - from 1.5EB (Exa
Bytes, 1EB = 1,000,000TB) in 2013 to 15.9EB in 2018.[1]
[M2. Increased number of devices] No. 2 trend would be, as mentioned above, a sharp increase in the
numbers of mobile devices and things that can be connected to the Internet (network) - from 7 billion and
12.5 billion in 2013 to 10.2 billion and 50 billion in 2018, respectively.[1]-[3] Like more mobile devices are
being introduced in the market every day, an increasing number of new things (e.g. wearable device, sensor,
actuator, etc.) designed to realize this future 5G mobile service, IoT service, are being brought to market as
well. The more these services get popular, the more mobile devices and connected things for the services will
be available. These changes in the market and communication environment will give users more use cases to
choose from, constantly causing new requirements to be added in the system.
[M3. Higher dependency on cloud] Thanks to the growing user demands for cloud computing systems,
various solutions aimed at mobile (personal) clouding computing market are actively being developed. As a
result, the transition from the current PC era to the new mobile cloud computing era is likely to be
accelerated.[4] Cisco shared the similar point of view, predicting the mobile cloud traffic would increase
continuously and account for 70% (twice the current 35%) of the total mobile traffic by 2020.[5] In that
respect, most 5G mobile services will most likely be provided through mobile cloud computing systems.
[M4. Various mobile convergence services] Last but not least, there will be also fast-growing demands for
mobile-based convergence services in various fields such as augmented reality/virtual reality, ultra highaccuracy location-based service, hologram service, smart healthcare service, etc.[6] Accordingly, development
of 5G mobile communication systems that can satisfy all the requirements of these various services should be
followed to ensure seamless and reliable supports for the services.
5G mobile communication systems must be designed with the foregoing four mega trends (traffic growth,
increased number of devices, higher dependency on clouding computing, and various 5G convergence services)
in mind. To this end, some suggestions have been made by some interested countries and companies in
relation to selecting key performance indicators to be used for 5G mobile communication systems. Then,
based on such suggestions, ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector) WP
(Working Party) 5D selected the final 8 candidates as seen in Table 1. [7][8]

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Concept and Characteristics of 5G Mobile Communication Systems (1)

<Table 1> 8 key candidate performance indicators by ITU-R WP 5D

Key Performance Indicators (System Requirements)

Target Values

User Experienced Data Rate

Peak Data Rate
Mobility
Latency
Connection Density
Energy Efficiency
Spectrum Efficiency
Traffic Volume Density*

100Mbps 1Gbps
10Gbps 50Gbps
Up to 500Km/h
~ 1ms (radio interface)
106 107 per Km2
50 ~ 100 times more efficient than IMT-A
5 ~ 15 times more efficient than IMT-A
1TB - 10TB/s/Km2 *

* Indicator name/target value: TBD

Unlike the current 4G mobile communication systems, 5G systems have some key characteristics that make
them different from their precedent. Below we will closely look into the two most important characteristics of
the systems: latency and user experienced data rate.
[R1. End-to-End Latency]
First of all, most previous and current mobile communication systems have been focused merely on improving
peak data rates of a user device. But, for 5G systems, more attention and interest are being flown to
improvement of end-to-end latency.
Soon, more real-time interactive multimedia services, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, real-time
online games, etc., will become available in the market. What is essential for users to enjoy these interactive
services seamlessly is low delay.[9,10] In general, when visual and auditory information is perceived through
media, visual information must be delivered within a tolerable latency of about 10 ms, and auditory
information within about 100 ms.[11] If not, that is, if the latency is longer, users feel disturbed, unable to
enjoy the seamless service.
In addition, new mobile communication services will be released in various mobile communication-applicable
areas like transportation, sports, education, medical field, manufacturing, etc. And obviously in these services,
users' tolerable end-to-end latency will become shorter, even down to several ms.
For example, services like vehicular-to-vehicular (V2V) communications or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)
communications require extreme low latency to ensure traffic safety-related services are provided in time. Or
in case remote robot-assisted surgery is needed on a moving ambulance, again a mobile communication
technology that can guarantee extreme low latency would be the key factor for reliable and successful
surgery.
Tactile Internet, one of the most noted core features of 5G mobile communication, can support a low-latency
mobile communication service capable of delivering tactile information in time. This kind of service requires
extreme low latency to properly respond to users' requests. [9,10,12] According to [13,14], if tactile (the
most latency-sensitive sense of all the five senses of human) information is to be delivered through a mobile
communication system, the tolerable latency must be less than 1 ms to prevent users from experiencing any
delay or lag.
Otherwise, users would suffer from discomfort, feeling so-called "cyber sickness". To avoid this cyber sickness,
user-oriented service scenarios and relevant technologies must be secured so that, based on them, a mobile
communication system with extreme low latency can be developed.

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Concept and Characteristics of 5G Mobile Communication Systems (1)

It is known that it takes up to 120m/s for an electronic signal to be delivered through a human's nervous
system. This means it takes less than 10 ms for tactile information from a user's hand to reach his brain. So, in
order to make user experience in a mobile communication system as natural as an electronic signal traveling
through the nervous system, end-to-end latency less than several ms should be guaranteed.
<Figure 1> illustrates the effects of data rate (bandwidth) and round trip time (RTT) on HTTP's page load time
(PLT). [15] As seen in the figure, data rate improvement does not have significant effects on reducing HTTP PLT
once it exceeds certain level.
This means a system aimed just for improvement of data rate without considering RTT would not be effective
in further reducing PLT. To address these issues in 5G, active R&D on low-latency mobile communication
technologies and services in various aspects like physical, medium access control (MAC), network, and
transport layers should be followed.

<Figure 1> Changes of PLT by bandwidth and round trip time changes (source: Vodafone)[15]
[R2. User Experienced Data Rate]
In addition to its No. 1 goal, achievement of lower end-to-end latency, 5G mobile communication systems
have another goal, improvement of user experienced data rates. Then what is the difference between peak
data rates and experienced user data rates? ITU-R WP 5D's 5D/TEMP/390-E defines them as follows:[8]

Peak data rate: peak data rate refers to the maximum achievable data rate per user. Future IMT
systems should provide very high peak data rate capability that leads to high network capacity
enabling new differentiated services and enriching the end user experience.
User experienced data rate: user experienced data rate is defined as the minimum data rate per user
that should be achievable anytime anywhere. Future IMT systems should have the capability to
provide anytime, anywhere [gigabit] data rate experience to mobile users. Also, Future IMT systems
should provide an [edgeless] experience to the mobile users unlike the existing systems where the
user experience is limited by the cell edge performance.

Here, Future IMT systems refer to 5G mobile communication systems. As seen in the definition above, for
consistent and guaranteed user experienced data rates, 5G mobile communication systems should be able to
provide users with [gigabit] data rates anytime anywhere. None of the previous systems up to 4G has been
able to present a solution for their biggest drawback, degraded performance at cell edges.
So, improving user experienced data rates through upgrading cell edge performance has been one of the most
important goals that 5G mobile communication systems must achieve. To this end, many companies including

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Concept and Characteristics of 5G Mobile Communication Systems (1)

Samsung Electronics, being well aware of that, have included this guaranteed 1 Gbps anywhere
(inner/outer/edge) as one of the key system requirements of 5G mobile communication systems.[16]
To ensure that 5G systems offer better user experienced data rates than 4G, researches on many different 5G
candidate technologies, such as interference management technology, including interference
alignment/neutralization, small cell network/heterogeneous network technology, and advanced
MIMO/beamforming technology are being conducted actively.

<Figure 2> Example of uniform experience regardless of user-location (source: Samsung Electronics)[16]
So far we have discussed the various mega trends in mobile services (traffic growth, increased number of
devices, higher dependency on cloud, various mobile convergence services). We also learned 8 key system
requirements that ITU-R WP 5D derived from the trends (user experienced data rates, peak data rates,
mobility, latency, connection density, energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency, and traffic volume density).
As such, compared to 4G and earlier systems, 5G has additional and different requirements to satisfy,
including latency and user experienced data rates, the two most important requirements discussed in detail
here.
Other important issues to be considered when developing 5G mobile communication systems include:
Connection density related to the increase of devices/access points (AP)/base stations, and their
density
Energy efficiency related to addition of new features to devices, and use of more
complicated/efficient protocol/algorithm, etc.
5G mobile communications systems are to be developed by considering and meeting these new requirements,
and are expected to provide users with user experience different and better than that of 4G.

References
[1] VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast 2013-2018, Cisco, 2014
[2] Internet of Things, Cisco, 2013
[3] J. Gubbi et al., Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions, Elsevier
Future Generation Computer Systems, pp.1645-1660, Feb. 2013
[4] Forbes, 6 Big Internet Trends to Watch for in 2012, Dec, 2011
[5] The Mobile Economy, GSMA, 2014

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Concept and Characteristics of 5G Mobile Communication Systems (1)

[6] ICT R&D Mid- and Long-term Strategies (2013-2017), Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, 2013
[7] 20th ITU-R WP 5D meeting, TTA, 2014
[8] IMT Vision Framework and overall objectives of the future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond, ITU,
Feb. 2014
[9] G. Fettweis and S. Alamouti, 5G: Personal Mobile Internet beyond What Cellular Did to Telephony, IEEE
Communications Magazine, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 140-145, Feb. 2014.
[10] G. Fettweis, The Tactile Internet Applications and Challenges, IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine,
vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 64-70, Mar. 2014.
[11] M. T. G. Pain and A. Hibbs, Sprint Starts and the Minimum Auditory Reaction Time, J. Sports Sciences,
vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 7986, Jan. 2007.
[12] Korea Communications Agency (KCA), New Issues regarding 5G Mobile Communication, Tactile Internet
Overview, Broadcasting Communication Technology: Issues and Perspectives, Korea Communications Agency,
no. 49, Feb. 2014.
[13] E. Steinbach et al., Haptic Communications, Proc. IEEE, vol. 100, no. 4, pp. 93756, Apr. 2012.
[14] T. DeFanti and R. Stevens, Teleimmersion, Ch. 6, The Grid: Blueprint for a New Computing Infrastructure,
Elsevier Series in Grid Computing, pp 13155.
[15] Walter Haeffner, Networks at the Speed of Light, Symposium Das Taktile Internet, Oct. 2013.
[16] Wonil Roh, 5G Mobile Communications for 2020 and Beyond - Vision and Key Enabling Technologies,
EUCNC, Jun. 2014.

About author
Professor Howon Lee (hwlee@hknu.ac.kr, http://wsl.hknu.ac.kr)
Assistant professor at Department of Electrical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Hankyong
National University, and adjunct professor at KAIST institute for IT Convergence
GLOBECOM/VTC/WCNC/PIMRC Technical Program Committee (TPC) Member
Division of 5G Forum Service Committee Member
Research interests: 5G Wireless Communications, Ultra-Dense Distributed Network, Internet of Things

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