Thursday, March 28, 2024
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HomeDAS & In Building Wireless5GGeoverse Brings More Clarity To The 5G Phenomenon

Geoverse Brings More Clarity To The 5G Phenomenon

It’s been quite some time since the next generation of wireless, most commonly known as 5G, elevated from “if ” it would be deployed to “when.” While no official deployment date has been set, commercial real estate owners are anticipating 5G’s arrival and wondering what impact it will have on how they provide in-building wireless to their tenants. Meanwhile, the only cloud looming over 5G that’s larger than the anticipation right now is a cloud full of questions. It’s well known that 5G will bring faster network speeds, but what else the network will bring falls somewhere between speculation and educated guesses.

Geoverse Co-Founder and CEO Rod Nelson recently spoke with Connected Real Estate Magazine to clear up some of the speculation and questions surrounding 5G. Geoverse, which provides wireless networks for commercial real estate owners, has put forth a pair of technology platforms that will equip building owners with the necessary solutions for their private LTE or 5G networks, making Nelson a good authority to speak on what can be expected with the next generation of wireless.

The first platform, GeoCore, establishes a trusted connection between enterprises and the carrier community. The second, GeoTrade provides building owners with data to help them better understand the movement of people and devices on their networks.

“One of the realities of cellular in-building networks today is that the mobile operators have this ability to monitor traffic and movement within a distributed antenna system (DAS), but the building owner and manager does not,” Nelson said. “With GeoTrade, we’re changing that up and letting the building owners see the data about the movement of their devices and people as well.”

Geoverse stands ready to help any commercial real estate owner who wants to make sure their building is equipped to accommodate a private LTE network or 5G when the time comes. In the meantime, here are five tidbits of information Nelson and the Geoverse team shared regarding 5G.

“What (5G) also means is ultra-reliable low latency communication, unlike today’s cellular wireless technology. If you need real time control, autonomous vehicles, control of robotics or an aircraft, you will have to have millisecond control over machinery on 5G today.”

HOW 5G DIFFERS FROM OTHER WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES.

There are a few functions in 5G that make it new and different according to Nelson. The first is an enhanced mobile broadband experience and faster speeds for mobile users. “That’s the function that’s getting the most attention in terms of the media, Verizon, AT&T and other carriers promoting faster broadband experiences,” Nelson said. “What (5G) also means is ultra-reliable low latency communication, unlike today’s cellular wireless technology. If you need real time control, autonomous vehicles, control of robotics or an aircraft, you will have to have millisecond control over machinery on 5G today.”

Another differing aspect of 5G is it will allow for thousands, possibly millions of connected devices operating in a smaller area. There will be a connection density of many more sensors and improved Internet of Things (IOT).

“Those two aspects, the low latency and the mass deployment of devices are hard to achieve and are the benefits that make 5G attractive to enterprise and where we think the real move is going to be on the enterprise side,” Nelson said. “More than the mobile broadband, which is in a lot of ways what people have today, but a little better. On the industrial enterprise side, there are really critical improvements coming.”

NUMEROUS ENTITIES WILL BENEFIT FROM 5G.

Nelson sees IOT and enterprise applications benefitting the most from 5G’s deployment, as well as anything having to do with augmented and virtual reality and massive industrial IoT. “That’s where we think the real gains are going to come,” Nelson said. “That’s going to drive the adoption of spectrum for 5G that’s actionable by an enterprise.”

Previously, large-scale operators controlled the spectrum for cellular technology and Wi-Fi was the only available technology that was at enterprises’ disposal. With the emergence of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) at 3.5 Gigahertz, there is spectrum for enterprises to take action to build high performance and secure networks using LTE, which will be upgraded to 5G in the coming years, will be available.

5G HAS SOME LIMITATIONS, BUT THEY CAN BE COUNTERACTED.

In the United States, most of the 5G expansion is being built using spectrum known as millimeter wave or very high frequencies. AT&T and Verizon have announced this is what their 5G services are, which have the advantage of having large chunks of spectrum to get to these super fast networks. The down side is the propagation, or line of sight, is short so the receiver has to have a clear path to the base station. This can be very challenging in buildings due to obstacles like walls and any equipment that might be in an industrial facility.

However, Geoverse believes with enterprises being able to access 3.5 Ghz spectrum, they can overcome those challenges. The 3.5 Ghz spectrum does not require the line of sight that 5G does. Plus, building owners will be able to get large pieces of spectrum for broad channels for high performing networks. “It’s also aligned with what 5G means in a lot of other countries, which more around this 3.5 Ghz band in Europe and Asia.”

PRIVATE LTE NETWORKS ARE THE PATH WAY TO 5G.

“If you’re able to build a private LTE network, meaning you have spectrum you can use for an enterprise- led private network, that gives you a platform for 5G in the future,” Nelson said. “Starting an enterprise network today, it’s an already advanced. I think the real important change in the industry is that with CBRS, enterprises will have an actionable way to take advantage of high-performance cellular networks, whether that’s LTE advanced pro today or 5G next year or in the years to come.”

Additionally, for building owners who currently have full coverage and are wondering if they should wait for 5G or make a change now, Nelson said there’s nothing wrong with making the transition to LTE.

“It’s already a great service,” he said. “At several suppliers we know there is a roadmap from LTE advanced pro to 5G. It gives enterprise the opportunity to take action now with a network that’s capable of evolving into the future.”

“I think the real important change in the industry is that with CBRS, enterprises will have an actionable way to take advantage of high-performance cellular networks, whether that’s LTE advanced pro today or 5G next year or in the years to come.”

BUILDING OWNERS SHOULD ASK A FEW QUESTIONS BEFORE INSTALLING A PRIVATE NETWORK.

One of the first things CRE owners should determine before putting in a private network is if their current network provides good coverage for smartphone users from all the carriers who work or visit their facility, Nelson says. Secondly, CRE owns should ask if they can create benefits from a better platform for IoT than Wi-Fi, and if they can use a private LTE network to replace their two-way radios or to be able to add new types of sensors more cost effectively.

“Can I do industrial IoT applications or do I need a better platform for industrial applications than what I may have?” Nelson said. “So those are the two questions that I think if the answer to one or both of those is yes, then you definitely should invest in a private LTE solution.”

If and when a CRE owner opts to install a private LTE solution, they should look for a service provider that’s going to be able to develop a network to their requirements to be able to support and evolve that into the future so that this private LTE today can become 5G tomorrow.

“You want to look for a service provider that’s going to be able to stand behind the quality of that network and provide the data and analytics on how that network is performing, and really give the enterprise the insights they need not only into how their network is performing, but what are their users doing and how is their user experience,” Nelson said. “Our business concept provides a network as a service on a subscription model that loops in not only the day one costs of the network, but also the ongoing operations as well as the ongoing updates to keep the network in top form. That really should be a stress-free and worry-free way for enterprise to take advantage of private LTE and 5G.”

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