Mobilizing mmWave to Realize the Full 5G Potential

Abstract

5G NR mmWave opens doors to vast amounts of network capacity, fiber-like speeds and ultra-low latencies that promise to bring new and enhanced experiences to the masses, as well as inherent security and privacy benefits. However, millimeter wave signals are extremely challenging to work with, making mobile communications utilizing mmWave inherently difficult to implement from a physics perspective. Mobilizing mmWave is a unique system-level problem because it requires overcoming non-line-of-site issues, drastically shrinking components enough to fit in a handset, and solving other issues. Great strides have been made to mitigate these physical challenges to make mmWave viable operationally in the mobile cellular ecosystem by using techniques such as adaptive beam forming, switching, tracking and more.