4G+ cellular | Topics

I write this few lines assuming the risk to read it again in ten years from now and realize that I am wrong: The 5^th generation of 3GPP mobile networks will be the last one.

I am not predicting any catastrophe, neither the crash of the telecommunications business nor the end of any era. I just think that 5G will be the last “G” because it’s implementation can only take us to two scenarios in ten years time: (1) 5G works perfectly and -by definition-, is flexible enough to cope with any new demand, and completely converged with fixed networks, so there is no need of going further with defining next generations of Mobile Networks, or (2) the requirements of future connectivity, bandwidth, mobility and services are so high that only optical links like the –primitive, so far- LiFi approach can cope with, and then the RANs will have found their last frontier, with an evolution limited to smaller incremental improvements to keep serving high-mobility medium-range 1Gbps users.

So, I vouch that there won’t exist a “6^th generation”, and if there is one, will be only a way to give a new brand name to the evolution of the (very successful) actual 5G concept.

Narcis Cardona

Vice-Chair of COST IC15104 IRACON

Seventeen years ago Roberto Saracco wrote a book preconizing the disappearance of telecommunications. According to his vision, our discipline would have soon disappeared, as asphalt did many times before. Who cares about asphalt? It is there. We leave home in the morning, and we find it’s there. Nobody would consider some effort is needed, and maybe innovation processes implemented, to ensure it will be there also tomorrow, possibly better than today.

In fact, he was right. Telecommunications soon disappeared. The best measure for that is the attractiveness of telecommunication studies. Students during the past fifteen years overlooked telecommunications studies more and more; in many Countries in Europe (in Italy this is almost dramatic) there are so few students in telecom engineering that companies need to hire young engineers from Asia. Why should they study about asphalt? It is there.

The reason stands in the fact that, after the dawn of digital mobile radio communications, thirty years ago, the progress in our discipline made the ability to communicate among people a commodity, something we live with, which nobody has to fight for. GSM since the 90’s made our life safer and provided fundamental services that in the Maslow’s pyramid reflect the human needs that are at the base (physiologic needs, and safety). On the opposite, the more recent achievements of our discipline, with the advent of smartphones and social networks, offered the fulfilment of needs that are in the upper part of the pyramid (sense of belonging, esteem).

Most of our research efforts are currently geared towards the fulfilment of “cold” needs that are far from the heart of humans, and their physiological needs (which are at the base of Maslow’s pyramid). Industry 4.0 (the fabric of the future), energy, automotive applications, which are among the main drivers of the 5G era, are far from the base of the pyramid.

On the opposite, the application of (wireless) communications to health can bring to some sort of renaissance of the interest of the society towards our scientific community, discipline and efforts. Simply because it is closer to the base of Maslow’s pyramid.

Maybe health care and the Internet of Medical Things will be the key for the re-appearance of telecommunications?

Roberto Verdone

(dedicated to those who launched the new IRACON SWG on the Internet of Medical Things)

3G, 4G, …and 5G.

The disappearance of Telecommunications and Maslow’s Pyramid