WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.060 --> 00:00:01.200 Let's talk about cellular, 2 00:00:01.200 --> 00:00:03.510 because most of us have a smartphone in our pocket 3 00:00:03.510 --> 00:00:05.100 and we use cellular every day to connect 4 00:00:05.100 --> 00:00:07.890 to the wide area network known as the internet. 5 00:00:07.890 --> 00:00:09.360 Now, when we talk about cellular, 6 00:00:09.360 --> 00:00:11.460 this includes not just our smartphones though, 7 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:12.600 but also our tablets, 8 00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:14.790 dedicated cellular modes for corporate networks 9 00:00:14.790 --> 00:00:17.910 or cellular wireless access points known as hotspots. 10 00:00:17.910 --> 00:00:20.490 There is a wide range of cellular technologies in use, 11 00:00:20.490 --> 00:00:24.600 including 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, and 5G. 12 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:27.810 When you hear someone talking about G like 4G or 5G, 13 00:00:27.810 --> 00:00:29.460 they're basically talking about which generation 14 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.250 of cellular technology is being used by a cellular modem 15 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:34.500 in that smartphone or other device. 16 00:00:34.500 --> 00:00:36.570 Basically, for any of these devices to connect 17 00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:37.560 to a cellular network, 18 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:39.420 they have to have an embedded cellular modem 19 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:41.787 that supports one or more of these different technologies 20 00:00:41.787 --> 00:00:44.100 and the associated frequencies for them. 21 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:46.050 Now, the very first cellular networks we had 22 00:00:46.050 --> 00:00:47.520 which we now call 1G, 23 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.220 were developed all the way back in the 1980s. 24 00:00:50.220 --> 00:00:52.620 These 1G phones communicate using a frequency 25 00:00:52.620 --> 00:00:54.660 of 30 kilohertz and had a bandwidth 26 00:00:54.660 --> 00:00:58.680 of about 2 kilobits per second or 2,000 bits per second. 27 00:00:58.680 --> 00:01:00.270 So we really were pushing a lot of data 28 00:01:00.270 --> 00:01:01.860 over these 1G handsets. 29 00:01:01.860 --> 00:01:04.410 Instead, they were dedicated to providing voice calls 30 00:01:04.410 --> 00:01:05.850 for the most part. 31 00:01:05.850 --> 00:01:06.780 As time went on, 32 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:08.910 cell phones moved into their second generation 33 00:01:08.910 --> 00:01:12.180 known as 2G during the late 1990s. 34 00:01:12.180 --> 00:01:14.880 2G devices communicate over a GSM network 35 00:01:14.880 --> 00:01:17.340 using the 1,800 megahertz frequency ban. 36 00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:19.380 The big difference here, is that 2G devices 37 00:01:19.380 --> 00:01:21.990 ran over a digital network, they use multiplexing, 38 00:01:21.990 --> 00:01:24.180 and therefore, it was able to start using data 39 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:26.340 in addition to just providing phone calls. 40 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:28.800 Now, the data here, wasn't super-fast. 41 00:01:28.800 --> 00:01:31.020 Here in 2G we're talking about speed similar to 42 00:01:31.020 --> 00:01:32.160 a dialup modem. 43 00:01:32.160 --> 00:01:35.070 Usually in the range of 14.4 kilobits per second 44 00:01:35.070 --> 00:01:38.850 to 64 kilobits per second, using GPRS, 45 00:01:38.850 --> 00:01:41.220 which is the General Packet Radio Service. 46 00:01:41.220 --> 00:01:44.850 In fact, when I started my very first company back in 1999, 47 00:01:44.850 --> 00:01:47.700 I had a 2G Motorola flip-phone that I used. 48 00:01:47.700 --> 00:01:50.010 And I was able to tether my laptop to that phone 49 00:01:50.010 --> 00:01:51.720 and dial up to connect to the internet. 50 00:01:51.720 --> 00:01:53.970 And that way, I could email invoices to my clients 51 00:01:53.970 --> 00:01:56.910 once I left their office using this low speed connection. 52 00:01:56.910 --> 00:02:00.210 Now 2G gave us a lot of benefits for cellular devices 53 00:02:00.210 --> 00:02:03.120 even though the speeds here for data were rather limited. 54 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.090 2G devices were the first to have SMS and text messaging, 55 00:02:06.090 --> 00:02:08.310 as well as the ability to do international enrollment, 56 00:02:08.310 --> 00:02:10.230 conference calling, the use of the internet 57 00:02:10.230 --> 00:02:12.720 while away from our computers and other things like this. 58 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:14.340 The next evolution we had in 2G 59 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:15.840 was the introduction up EDGE 60 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.690 or the Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution. 61 00:02:18.690 --> 00:02:21.330 This brought our speeds up to about 1 megabit per second 62 00:02:21.330 --> 00:02:23.040 for most modern 2G devices, 63 00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:26.340 like the very first iPhone that was released in 2008. 64 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:29.010 The third generation of cellular saw the release of 3G 65 00:02:29.010 --> 00:02:30.750 with faster data speeds. 66 00:02:30.750 --> 00:02:33.030 At a minimum, 3G networks must support 67 00:02:33.030 --> 00:02:36.570 144 kilobits per second to be called 3G. 68 00:02:36.570 --> 00:02:38.730 But most devices were faster than that. 69 00:02:38.730 --> 00:02:41.760 And they supported speeds around 384 kilobits per second, 70 00:02:41.760 --> 00:02:42.990 if you're moving in a car 71 00:02:42.990 --> 00:02:44.610 or up to 2 megabits per second 72 00:02:44.610 --> 00:02:46.890 if you're walking or standing still. 73 00:02:46.890 --> 00:02:48.420 To provide these faster speeds, 74 00:02:48.420 --> 00:02:50.940 3G devices used a wider frequency band 75 00:02:50.940 --> 00:02:53.550 with frequencies ranging from 1.6 gigahertz 76 00:02:53.550 --> 00:02:56.730 all the way up to 2 gigahertz within the 3G spectrum, 77 00:02:56.730 --> 00:02:58.770 depending on where you lived in the world. 78 00:02:58.770 --> 00:02:59.940 When it comes to 3G, 79 00:02:59.940 --> 00:03:02.700 there are three different technologies that you might find. 80 00:03:02.700 --> 00:03:06.720 WCDMA, HSPA and HSPA-plus. 81 00:03:06.720 --> 00:03:10.740 WCDMA is the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access 82 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:12.870 which uses the UMTS standard, 83 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:14.490 it could reach data speeds up to about 84 00:03:14.490 --> 00:03:15.930 2 megabits per second. 85 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:18.720 This is the slowest of the 3G technologies. 86 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:20.820 As an improvement to WCDMA, 87 00:03:20.820 --> 00:03:24.360 there was HSPA or the High Speed Packet Access Standard. 88 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:28.020 This could reach speeds at up to 14.4 megabits per second. 89 00:03:28.020 --> 00:03:31.401 This is sometimes referred to as 3.5G by the industry. 90 00:03:31.401 --> 00:03:33.990 Then over time, that wasn't fast enough. 91 00:03:33.990 --> 00:03:38.400 So we went to HSPA-plus, High Speed Packet Access Evolution. 92 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.550 This brings us speeds up to about 50 megabits per second 93 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:44.820 and is often referred to as 3.75G. 94 00:03:44.820 --> 00:03:47.670 Now after that, we got to our fourth generation. 95 00:03:47.670 --> 00:03:50.427 This gave us 4G with even faster speeds 96 00:03:50.427 --> 00:03:52.560 and the introduction of using MIMO, 97 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:55.650 which is Multiple Input Multiple Output technology. 98 00:03:55.650 --> 00:03:57.570 With 4G, we could get speeds of up to 99 00:03:57.570 --> 00:03:58.800 100 megabits per second 100 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.380 while driving or up to 1 gigabit per second 101 00:04:01.380 --> 00:04:04.590 for fixed stationary size or modems with a large antenna. 102 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:07.890 4G devices even used a wider frequency band than the others 103 00:04:07.890 --> 00:04:10.650 covering frequencies from 2 to 8 gigahertz 104 00:04:10.650 --> 00:04:13.350 depending on the implementation in a given country. 105 00:04:13.350 --> 00:04:17.040 Now, when 4G first came out it was often called 4G LTE 106 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.410 or 4G Long-term Evolution. 107 00:04:19.410 --> 00:04:20.730 These devices could reach speeds 108 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:23.040 up to about 100 megabits per second. 109 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.740 Now over time, there is an improved version of LTE 110 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:28.800 known as LTE-A or LTE Advanced. 111 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:30.540 This is an advanced version of LTE 112 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:33.300 that add even more capabilities and increased speeds 113 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:36.300 of 2 to 3 times of that, of regular LTE 114 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:37.740 and under perfect conditions 115 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:39.450 with a stationary cellular modem, 116 00:04:39.450 --> 00:04:42.035 it could get up to speeds of 1 gigabit per second. 117 00:04:42.035 --> 00:04:45.480 Our fifth generation of cellular is called 5G. 118 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.810 And again, it has faster speeds and more capabilities. 119 00:04:48.810 --> 00:04:50.610 5G is actually relatively new 120 00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:53.550 and it just began deployment back in 2019. 121 00:04:53.550 --> 00:04:55.620 5G devices bringing enormous improvement 122 00:04:55.620 --> 00:04:57.329 over previous generations devices. 123 00:04:57.329 --> 00:04:59.700 With 5G, it's possible to reach speeds 124 00:04:59.700 --> 00:05:03.690 up to 10 gigabits per second using high-band 5G frequencies. 125 00:05:03.690 --> 00:05:06.030 Now, this is one of the biggest differences with 5G 126 00:05:06.030 --> 00:05:07.590 over the older generations. 127 00:05:07.590 --> 00:05:09.390 With 5G, we actually split it up 128 00:05:09.390 --> 00:05:11.340 into three different frequency bands. 129 00:05:11.340 --> 00:05:14.580 There's low-band, mid-band and high-band frequencies. 130 00:05:14.580 --> 00:05:18.600 Now low-band frequencies are between 600 and 850 megahertz 131 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:19.830 and they provide us with speeds 132 00:05:19.830 --> 00:05:22.650 of 30 to 250 megabits per second. 133 00:05:22.650 --> 00:05:25.170 The benefits of using this low-band frequency range 134 00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:26.550 is that it has a longer range 135 00:05:26.550 --> 00:05:28.320 and can cover an area similar in size 136 00:05:28.320 --> 00:05:30.390 to the older 4G networks. 137 00:05:30.390 --> 00:05:32.314 The mid-band frequencies operate between 138 00:05:32.314 --> 00:05:34.920 2.5 and 3.7 gigahertz. 139 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:36.780 This higher frequency band is going to support 140 00:05:36.780 --> 00:05:40.380 higher data rates of 100 to 900 megabits per second, 141 00:05:40.380 --> 00:05:42.701 but each cellular tower now covers less area 142 00:05:42.701 --> 00:05:45.424 than the low-band or 4G towers could. 143 00:05:45.424 --> 00:05:48.150 As of 2021, most 5G deployments 144 00:05:48.150 --> 00:05:50.880 are actually being done using this mid-frequency towers, 145 00:05:50.880 --> 00:05:53.130 because it provides a good balance of coverage 146 00:05:53.130 --> 00:05:54.425 with those higher speeds. 147 00:05:54.425 --> 00:05:56.610 Now, the third frequency range we have 148 00:05:56.610 --> 00:05:58.410 is known as the high-band frequencies, 149 00:05:58.410 --> 00:06:01.560 and these operate between 25 and 39 gigahertz. 150 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:03.060 This much higher frequency band 151 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:05.250 is going to support extremely high speeds 152 00:06:05.250 --> 00:06:07.170 in the gigabit per second range. 153 00:06:07.170 --> 00:06:09.420 Now, the challenge here is that these frequencies 154 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:11.220 operate in the millimeter waveband 155 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:13.110 and this causes the range of these towers 156 00:06:13.110 --> 00:06:14.653 to be much, much smaller. 157 00:06:14.653 --> 00:06:17.460 Also, because the smaller millimeter waveband 158 00:06:17.460 --> 00:06:19.710 the signal is easily blocked by walls, windows 159 00:06:19.710 --> 00:06:21.000 and other objects. 160 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:22.650 For this reason, there is not a lot 161 00:06:22.650 --> 00:06:25.080 of high-band deployments going on quite yet. 162 00:06:25.080 --> 00:06:27.120 So far, we're seeing these deployed near areas 163 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:28.710 where there's a lot of people expected to be 164 00:06:28.710 --> 00:06:31.440 in one small area, such as the sports stadium, 165 00:06:31.440 --> 00:06:33.720 and amusement park or convention centers. 166 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:34.650 All right, I just gave you 167 00:06:34.650 --> 00:06:37.140 a lot of facts and figures about cellular 168 00:06:37.140 --> 00:06:39.510 and all the different generations of cellular technology, 169 00:06:39.510 --> 00:06:40.710 and you're probably wondering, 170 00:06:40.710 --> 00:06:42.660 do you need to memorize the speeds and frequencies 171 00:06:42.660 --> 00:06:44.040 for each and every one? 172 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:46.107 And the answer is no, you don't. 173 00:06:46.107 --> 00:06:50.010 Instead, you need to know that the higher the G such as 4G 174 00:06:50.010 --> 00:06:51.002 is higher than 3G, 175 00:06:51.002 --> 00:06:53.010 this would mean that the newer standard 176 00:06:53.010 --> 00:06:54.780 and it has increased speeds. 177 00:06:54.780 --> 00:06:56.460 It also is important to remember that 5G 178 00:06:56.460 --> 00:06:58.080 comes in three different bands, 179 00:06:58.080 --> 00:07:00.330 low-band, mid-band, and high-band. 180 00:07:00.330 --> 00:07:03.000 As you go upward in the bands, you get faster speeds, 181 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.340 but you decrease your coverage area. 182 00:07:05.340 --> 00:07:07.350 For this reason, most 5G deployments 183 00:07:07.350 --> 00:07:10.050 are going to use that mid-band frequency I spoke about, 184 00:07:10.050 --> 00:07:12.603 leading to better coverage and pretty high speeds.