If you asked almost anyone if they can see a link between the speed of 5G cellular connections and the safety of flying an airplane, you would hardly get an answer.
And yet, due to a surprising and sudden request from the Federal Aviation Administration that is based on potential unverified radio interference, a highly anticipated increase in 5G speeds and availability has been put into wait.
see more
Confirmed: Samsung really is producing foldable screens for…
China conducts experiments with zebrafish on the space station…
Before we get into explaining why, a little context is in order.
It is important to understand what 5G is, as with all cellular networks it uses radio waves to operate. Signals are sent from our smartphones and received from cell towers at specific frequencies. Think of it like an AM/FM radio. By tuning to certain frequencies, you pick up certain stations and not others.
Also, the quality of that signal (and even which station a given frequency might be connected to) depends on your location. In other words, 93.1 on your FM radio in São Paulo is not going to be the same station (or maybe no station at all) if your car is in Salvador.
Likewise, the types of signals you can receive on a 5G smartphone (and the quality of that connection, measured in bars on the screen your phone) are highly dependent on the frequencies that operators such as Claro, Tim and Vivo transmit in any location. Connection speed is related to the range of frequency groups over which 5G (or 4G) signals are being sent.
Unlike most radio stations, cellular signals are not limited to a specific frequency, but can be sent simultaneously across a range of frequencies. Think of it as the width of the digital superhighway: the wider the road, or in this case, the wider the block of frequencies used, the more data that can be sent at once. And the more data you send at once, the faster the connection.
The reason this all matters is that one of the most interesting aspects of 5G is that it must use new frequencies to send its signals.
In fact, much of the promise of 5G was based on that expectation. Unfortunately, as many consumers have already discovered, that promise has yet to be fulfilled because 5G has had to little to no impact so far on the smartphone experience and download speed of most users.
The FAA cited potential conflicts and interference with radio altimeters, cockpit instruments that tell pilots how close a plane is to the ground as it prepares to land. The question boils down to the fact that radio altimeters use frequencies from 4.2 to 4.4 GHz in their operation.
With these two groups of frequencies located so close together, the FAA argues that 5G signals using C-Band frequencies can interfere with radio altimeters. And because this potentially involves the safe operation of planes, it's easy to see why concerns might be raised – at least, initially.
About 40 countries around the world are already using most C-Band frequencies for 5G, and none have reported any interference with radio altimeters on planes in their countries.
Also, new filtering technologies being built into a somewhat obscure part of smartphones called the RF frontend (radio frequency), such as ultraBAW filters recently introduced by Qualcomm, which can reduce interference problems in smartphones from next generation.
All in all, there are several reasons why the FAA's concerns around 5G deployment appear to be more of a red herring than a legitimate technical concern. While it is true that some older radio altimeters with poor filtering may need to be updated and/or replaced to completely avoid interference, it is unclear whether theoretical interference could cause a problem.
While the safety of the plane must in no way be compromised, an overabundance of unnecessary caution in this issue could have a far greater negative impact on technological advances and the global economy than many realize.