5G wireless communications is expected to move voice, video, text, and image data with bandwidth as fast as 300 GHz to create data on demand for the battlefield.
RF/AnalogWhat 5G means to the military5G wireless communications is expected to move voice, video, text, and image data with bandwidth as fast as 300 GHz to create data on demand for the battlefield.John KellerDec. 2, 202018 min read Add Us On Google 5G telecommunications technology offers far more to the military than today’s voice and data radio. It has the potential to create a ubiquitous infosphere where data from sensors, targeting, surveillance, and signals intelligence are instantly available.NASHUA, N.H. - Emerging fifth-generation wireless communications — better-known as 5G — will be far more than quick-connect phone calls and fast movie downloads, particularly for the U.S. military. 5G, in fact, could make reality of what military leaders as far back as the 1980s referred to as the “infosphere,” where access to data from video, voice, sensors, targeting, reconnaissance, and even the sights on infantry weapons are easy and instantaneous for anyone who needs it. 5G holds the promise of ubiquitous high-speed data connectivity: vastly improved intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); fast and secure command and control; more efficient logistics; swarming unmanned vehicles; and wide use of virtual reality and augmented reality for simulation, training, and mission rehearsal. The promise of 5G is for instant situational awareness anywhere on Earth, smart hypersonic weapons with re-targeting on-the-fly, rich access to mission-critical data on the leading edge of the battlefield, and unmanned aircraft that can fly safely alongside passenger aircraft in commercial airspace. 5G, however, will not come easily, quickly, or inexpensively. When compared to the overall 5G vision for the military, commercial interests, and for the consumer, the technology today is only in its infancy — despite the advertising we see on TV from cell phone providers. Bringing the 5G future to fruition will require time, much testing, experimentation, investment — and a whole lot more cell towers than we have today. What is 5G? 5G is to increase the speed, reduce the latency, and improve reliability of data transfer compared to existing 4G technologies, and support interconnected or Although 5G has the potential for lightning-fast military data communications, its higher frequencies have relatively short ranges, which will require building large numbers of fixed-site and mobile towers.autonomous devices like smart homes, self-driving vehicles, precision agriculture and industrial machinery, and advanced robotics, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service in Washington, in an October report titled National Security Implications of Fifth Generation (5G) Mobile Technologies. For the military, 5G could improve ISR systems and signal processing, enable new command-and-control applications, and streamline logistics. 5G also could give the military broad access to augmented and virtual reality, 5G smart warehousing, distributed command and control, and dynamic spectrum use. To do all this, 5G will operate on three segments of the electromagnetic spectrum: low band, which operates at frequencies lower than 1 GHz; mid band, which operates at frequencies between 1 GHz and 6 GHz; and high band, or millimeter wave, which operates at frequencies between 24 and 300 GHz. Low band and mid band collectively also are called sub-6, and this is where all of today’s so-called 5G cell phone services operate. Although sub-6 frequencies can offer faster service than cellular 3G and 4G, the sub-6 frequencies offer capabilities that will lag far behind most future high-band systems. High bands’s use of millimeter waves will enable faster data transfer rates, which some telecommunications companies argue is necessary for autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, and other data-intensive applications like smart cities, according to the Congressional Research Service report. Yet there are substantial technology tradeoffs when moving to the high band’s millimeter waves. RF signals in the 24-to-300-GHz bands can be absorbed by rain A big priority for military communications experts is to bring 5G technology to the leading edge of the battlefield to bring high-speed sensor, targeting, and intelligence data to front-line warfighters.or disrupted by physical objects like buildings and vehicles. As a result, 5G millimeter wave technologies require installing many more cell sites than those operating in the lower bands. This move to a larger number of cell sites will come at much higher cost and on a much slower deployment schedule than the sub-6 approach. 5G deployment will rely on millimeter wave technology for high-speed, high-bandwidth communications, and on sub-6 signals for nationwide coverage. “Unlike 3G, the 5G technologies represent more than a radio capability,” says Ian Dunn, vice president of advanced development and chief scientist at embedded computing and electronic warfare (EW) specialist Mercury Systems in Andover, Mass. “It is a ...