5G Glossary

Broadband refers to high-speed internet access that is always available, surpassing traditional dial-up speeds. As the backbone of digital communication, broadband enables seamless online activities, from streaming and gaming to virtual meetings and remote work, by providing fast and reliable internet service.

In the ever-evolving world of networking, link aggregation has become a fundamental concept for enhancing network performance and reliability. But what exactly is link aggregation, and why is it so important? Let’s demystify link aggregation, highlight its core principles, benefits, and practical implementations.

In today’s connected world, having a reliable Wi-Fi network is essential for both home and office environments. Yet many people encounter performance issues that can be frustrating. What if there was a way to optimize your Wi-Fi performance seamlessly? Lets delve into the world of band steering, explaining what it is, how it works, and how it can significantly improve your Wi-Fi performance.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology can transform network deployment and management by allowing Ethernet cables to transmit both data and electrical power simultaneously. A single cable can thereby provide networking and electrical power to devices such as IP cameras, wireless access points (WAPs), VoIP phones, and other networked devices.

Secure Service Edge (SSE) is a comprehensive and advanced cybersecurity system that combines multiple security components, such as cloud access security broker (CASB), zero-trust network access (ZTNA), firewall as a service (FWaaS), and a secure web gateway (SWG) into one unified platform.

MMTC is developed by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), the organization responsible for standardizing 5G networks and providing new 5G services for the telecommunications industry. Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) refers to a collection of 5G technologies that are tailored to support the Internet of Things (IoT) through enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra reliable low latency communication (uRLLC) and massive Internet of Things (mIoT) use cases where connectivity needs to handle a large number of devices with limited data rates.

Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) is an emerging technology that enables communications providers to maximize the use of their available spectrum. First proposed by the 3GPP in 2017, Dynamic Spectrum Sharing is a technology created to optimally manage spectrum resources in order to optimize the use of spectrum, reduce interference, increase connectivity capacity, and enable new frequency bands.

Also known as eMTC (enhanced Machine Type Communications) or Cat-M1/M2, LTE-M is part of LTE IoT technologies. It offers up to 2.4 Mbps downlink speeds, years of battery-life, and extended coverage. This is suitable for latency sensitive IoT applications such as tracker, wearables, and for any use case that need voice and full mobility support.

Shared spectrum is a way of using radio frequencies that allows multiple users to access the same spectrum. This can be done either by using spectrum sharing technologies, or by using spectrum that is already allocated to multiple users.

User equipment, or UE, is a term used in LTE, 4G, and 5G wireless communications to describe a mobile device, such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other type of wireless device that is used to access the network.

Massive IoT is a term used to describe the growing trend of connecting large numbers of devices to the Internet of Things (IoT). These devices can include everything from sensors and cameras to consumer electronics and industrial equipment.

The 5G Technical Forum (5GTF) was a precursor to the current 5G standard, 5G New Radio (5G NR). 5G TF was created in 2015 by Verizon and a group of companies that were working on launching 5G, including Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung. 5G TF was instrumental in pushing the boundaries of wireless communications beyond the confines of previous generations, aiming to bring ultra-fast wireless broadband to the market quicker than conventional standards development timelines would allow.

URLLC stands for Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications. It is a new type of communication that is being developed to meet the needs of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things. URLLC will provide extremely high levels of reliability and low latency, making it possible to support critical applications such as autonomous vehicles and industrial control systems.

A base station for a cellular network is typically composed of a tower and equipment hut, and is sometimes referred to as a cell site. The cell site usually has equipment that supports a number of different cell towers, each serving a different sector of the surrounding area. The term "eNodeB" refers to the base station equipment that handles the radio interface with the mobile devices.

eMBB is a term used in the telecommunications industry to refer to "enhanced Mobile Broadband". It is a term used to describe networks and services that offer a significantly higher level of performance and speed than traditional mobile broadband services.

LTE Advanced is a mobile communication standard that builds upon the foundation set by the original LTE standard. LTE Advanced offers a number of enhancements over the original LTE standard, including higher data rates, higher system capacity, and lower latency.

Massive MIMO is a type of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology that uses a very large number of antennas to improve communication performance. It is sometimes referred to as large-scale MIMO or distributed MIMO.

Network slicing is a technique that allows for the creation of multiple virtual networks on top of a single physical network. This allows for each virtual network to be customized for the specific needs of the applications that will be running on it.

Sub 6 GHz is a term used to refer to the frequency range below 6 GHz in the radio spectrum. This frequency range is used to provide wireless services such as 4G, LTE, 5G and WiFi.

NB-IoT is a new, cellular Internet of Things (IoT) technology standardized by 3GPP in Release 13. It builds upon existing LTE networks to enable low-power, wide-area (LPWA) connectivity for a variety of IoT devices and applications.

An edge node is a physical or virtual machine located at the edge of a network. Edge nodes act as gateways and bridges between local networks, such as in a home or office, and the outside world.

The era of 5G networks, has brought another transformation to the landscape of telecommunications. Central to this evolution is the gNodeB (Next Generation Node B), the foundational base station for 5G NR (New Radio) networks. Much like how eNodeB was crucial for LTE networks, gNodeB serves as the cornerstone for 5G infrastructure, enabling unprecedented levels of speed, connectivity, and scalability.

Carrier aggregation, originally a feature of the LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) standards defined by 3GPP, enables the combination of multiple frequency bands to boost network performance. By integrating frequency bands as component carriers into a single channel, networks achieve superior uplink and downlink data rates.

V2X refers to the communication between vehicles and infrastructure, or "vehicle-to-everything" communication. This type of communication is designed to improve safety and efficiency on the road by allowing vehicles to share data with each other and with the infrastructure around them.

The CBRS band is 150 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band that is being made available for shared use by the Federal government, commercial wireless service providers, and unlicensed users. The CBRS band is broken up into three tiers of access: General Authorized Access (GAA), Incumbent Access (IA), and Priority Access (PA).

An edge cloud is a type of cloud computing that brings data storage and compute resources closer to the edge of the network, where devices are located. By doing so, data and compute resources can be accessed more quickly and directly by devices, rather than having to travel all the way back to a centralized data center.

Edge AI is a term for AI applications that are deployed at the edge of a network, typically close to the data source. Edge AI is used to enable real-time decision making and improve the efficiency of data processing.

Edge computing is a type of computing where data is processed at the edge of a network, close to the source of the data. This is in contrast to traditional centralized computing, where data is processed in a central location.

The 802.11ax standard—officially known as IEEE 802.11ax-2019—is the latest generation of Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 6). It builds upon the previous 802.11ac and 802.11n standards by adding numerous improvements that make it faster, more efficient, and more capable of handling dense networks.

Customer premise equipment (CPE) is the telecommunications equipment that is installed at a customer's location, typically at their home or business. This equipment is used to connect the customer's premises to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or other networks.

Radio Access Network, or RAN, is a network of radio transmitters and receivers that are used to communicate with mobile devices, such as cell phones. RANs are typically designed to cover a large geographic area, such as a city or country.

5G beam steering is a process of directing radio waves from a transmitting antenna towards a receiving antenna. The process is accomplished by controlling the phase and/or amplitude of the waves emitted from each element in the antenna array. The aim is to create a beam of radio waves that is directed towards the receiving antenna, while minimizing interference to other nearby receivers.

Beamforming is a signal processing technique used in sensor arrays for directional signal transmission or reception. This process involves combining elements in an array in order to direct a wave in a desired direction or at a specific target. The main advantage of beamforming is that it helps to reduce interference from other sources and increases the overall signal-to-noise ratio.

Baseband is a type of signal that consists of a single carrier wave with no modulation. This makes it different from other types of signals, such as amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation (FM), which do have modulation. Baseband is used for a variety of purposes, including carrying digital data, carrying analog data, and providing a clock signal for synchronizing other components in a system.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an international collaboration between seven telecommunications standard development organizations (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSG, ITU, and TTA) that collaborate to create and maintain the technical specifications for 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE-Advanced, and 5G mobile networks.

WAN stands for Wide Area Network. A WAN is a computer network that covers a large geographic area, such as a city, state, country, or even the entire world. It can connect multiple local area networks (LANs) together, such as two LANs in different cities, or even two different countries. In this blog we will go over the purpose of WANs, how they work, and what the benefits of WANs are.

A WWAN uses cellular technology, such as 3G, 4G, or 5G, to create a wireless connection over a wide area. WWANs provide high-speed data connections over long distances. They are often used in areas where there is no wired internet connection available, such as in rural areas or when traveling.

An antenna array is a collection of antennas that work together to focus radio waves in a particular direction. Antenna arrays are used in a variety of applications, including radar, communications, and navigation.

5G non-standalone mode is a technology that allows 5G networks to be deployed using existing 4G infrastructure. This technology allows carriers to provide 5G coverage in areas where they don’t yet have the necessary equipment in place to build out a fully-fledged 5G network.

5G SA mode is a term used to describe the standalone operation of the 5G network. In this mode, the 5G network is not reliant on any other network infrastructure and can operate independently.

C-band is a range of electromagnetic frequencies used for various telecommunications purposes, including 5G services. The name comes from the fact that the frequencies are in the "C" range of the electromagnetic spectrum.

5G New Radio (NR) is the new radio interface being developed by the 3GPP for 5G cellular networks. It is designed to provide speeds up to 10 Gbps, as well as reduced latency, improved spectrum efficiency, and increased capacity. It is the first 5G radio interface to be standardized, and is expected to be widely adopted in the near future.

Millimeter wave (mmWave) is a high-frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum. MMwave frequencies are typically between 30 GHz and 300 GHz. These frequencies are much higher than those used in cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which operate in the low- to mid-GHz range.

Fixed wireless access (FWA) is a type of broadband Internet access that uses radio waves to provide high-speed Internet services to users in fixed locations. FWA technology uses radio waves to communicate between a fixed base station and a user's premises, typically a home or office.

5G is the fifth generation in mobile networks. It is the super fast successor to 4G, because in theory you can achieve a download speed of 4.2 gigabits per second.