5G is the hottest topic today. With the issuance of commercial licenses for 5G in China, 5G is bound to accelerate its development. But what you may not know is that corning's fiber optic products also play an important role in 5G network transmission! When we use wireless networks to chat, work, watch movies or play games, you may not realize that the wireless nodes are actually connected to each other through a large number of fiber optic networks. Let light expo xiaobian take you to understand the latest 5G information!

        Now, as 4G and 5G networks expand their wireless access points, more and more fiber will be needed to meet the growing demand for these networks.

       Why is 5G so important?

       Staying connected is an inevitable part of modern daily life. People have become accustomed to answering phone calls, sending emails or watching video anytime and anywhere. In the future, the human society will usher in an era of more advanced and high-speed Internet connectivity, which may be far beyond our imagination. Industry demand for concurrent and instantaneous connections will continue to rise.

        5G network standards need to make progress in what consumers see as "enhanced mobile broadband", which transfers data at faster rates in densely populated areas. In addition, these standards require a large number of connectivity points to support the massive Internet of things (IoT), where everything from appliances to cars to industrial devices will be connected to the network. Some services and applications will also rely on low latency and ultra-high reliability.

       Compared with the previous mobile standards, the relevant requirements of 5G standards are more important and demand is higher. If the wireless network performance is not good, it will cause great inconvenience to the user, for example, it may take a long time to successfully load an application. In the future, the stakes will be even higher. Imagine a future in which self-driving cars must try to avoid accidents while traveling. And when doctors perform life-saving operations by remotely operating medical instruments, there is even less room for error.

        So what is the technology behind these wireless connections? The answer is fiber optics.

        The relationship between fiber and 5G

        Currently, 3G and 4G networks require acer stations to be set up every few miles, and acer stations are typically deployed on tall towers or on the roofs of buildings. In a network of acer stations, there are often gaps in network coverage due to blocked signals, so additional small base stations need to be deployed to fill or enhance coverage to users.

        5G requires a much tighter network of radio antennae to achieve lots of connections, low latency and high connection speeds. While there may be many variables, in some cases it may be necessary to deploy 5G small base stations every 500 feet or less. By deploying more base stations over a smaller area, a denser, faster and more connected network is created.