The benefits of IoT are evident and have led to transformational growth. However, are IoT connectivity technologies futuristic and sustainable? In this blog, you will get an idea of how 5G performs with energy consumption and network traffic density.
How energy-efficient is 5G for IoT devices?
5G is about 90% more energy efficient than 4G and fares even better than its predecessors. 5G is able to exchange the highest data bits per kilowatt, outperforming any other cellular technologies to date. However, 5G’s roadmap to grow transmission capacity can further increase its energy consumption.
3GPP, the organization that standardizes telecommunication protocol, has defined several practices to ensure that 5G is energy efficient despite growing mmWave transmission capacity. 5G IoT application minimizes baseline consumption through effective data processing, the latest chipsets, and cooling mechanisms.
Green IoT practices to be used with 5G
5G telecommunication companies also focus on selectively reducing power consumption and utilizing resources efficiently. Furthermore, 5G infrastructure overcomes traditional inefficiencies like signal loss, coverage overlapping, and interference.
- Powering down & sleeping techniques
5G infrastructures can achieve sustainability by adjusting network components according to traffic conditions. For example, during periods of low traffic, the network can allow infrastructure resources to enter sleep mode, reducing energy consumption. From power amplifiers to entire mobile stations, network infrastructure can minimize redundant energy consumption wherever possible.
- Adjusting coverage areas & transmission powers
Depending on the required Quality of Service, 5G infrastructure can leverage the concept of Cell Zooming. Cell Zooming involves optimizing power consumption by adjusting the network coverage area of the base station. This smarter resource utilization, combined with sleeping techniques, greatly enhances the sustainability of 5G.
- Offloading computational activities
5G infrastructure is fast and reliable, and as such, 5G IoT devices can efficiently utilize cloud computing abilities instead of on-device computation. By eliminating the need for on-device processing, 5G IoT devices can limit their hardware processing power and energy consumption.
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How will 5G reduce congestion in dense IoT environments?
The proliferation of IoT devices requiring network coverage for their applications is growing exponentially. This surge in network access demands poses a significant challenge for IoT network providers. Failure to effectively manage this increased network traffic can result in various challenges for IoT solutions.
Challenges of overwhelming network traffic
- Degraded network performance
A network infrastructure can only cater to so many network devices and exchanges. Beyond the limit, IoT network infrastructure can lag in its performance, such as through slower transmission rate, higher latency, and even loss of data. - Higher power consumption
Due to network traffic limitations, devices often compete for bandwidth, leading to increased power consumption in their efforts to connect to the infrastructure. This heightened power consumption can be mitigated to enhance the sustainability of IoT applications. - Unreliable functional operations
It’s crucial to utilize network infrastructure resources within their specified limits. Overwhelming them can lead to network inconsistencies, such as delayed exchanges or even data loss. Such consequences can have significant ramifications for certain applications and must be diligently avoided.
How is 5G’s device congestion in dense IoT environments?
5G possesses the ideal characteristics to address challenges in dense IoT environments by effectively managing device congestion. With its superior capacity, 5G offers enhanced bandwidth and can accommodate a significantly larger number of devices compared to 4G. Specifically, 5G supports up to one million devices per square kilometer, a substantial improvement over 4G’s support for 2000 devices per square kilometer.
In addition to the aforementioned benefits, 5G can also enhance the quality of service, minimize latency, and increase data speed. Furthermore, 5G introduces various strategies to further optimize IoT communication in dense environments.
Finally, 5G allows virtual network slicing where the network can be virtually separated for groups of devices, and their performance can be customized accordingly for lower latency and higher transmission. Further, the latest cellular modulation techniques also allow 5G to overcome the limitations of dense traffic from IoT devices.
In summary
The network density and power consumption in a network environment are influenced by various variables, including the number of devices, infrastructure setup, and application requirements. However, through techniques such as network slicing, sleep modes, cloud computation, and AI practices for IoT device management, 5G can surpass our expectations.
5G represents a significant leap forward in technical advancements, positioning itself to be future-ready, capable of supporting more devices, and reducing power consumption compared to its predecessors.
