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new 5g bands

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Here's a technical breakdown of some of the key 5G bands:

  1. Low Bands (Sub-1 GHz):
    • Frequency Range: Typically below 1 GHz (e.g., 600 MHz, 700 MHz).
    • Characteristics: These bands provide good coverage and are suitable for wide-area deployments. They offer better propagation characteristics, meaning signals can travel longer distances and penetrate buildings more effectively than higher frequencies. However, they might not deliver the highest data speeds compared to higher bands.
    • Use Cases: These are often used for initial 5G deployments to provide broad coverage, especially in rural areas and as a complement to mid and high bands for a seamless user experience.
  2. Mid Bands (1 GHz to 6 GHz):
    • Frequency Range: Between 1 GHz and 6 GHz (e.g., 3.5 GHz).
    • Characteristics: Mid-band frequencies strike a balance between coverage and capacity. They can deliver a mix of good coverage and reasonably high data speeds. Mid-bands are crucial for dense urban areas where high capacity and throughput are essential but where deploying only high bands may not be feasible due to their limited coverage.
    • Use Cases: These bands are often used for urban deployments, providing a balance between coverage and capacity. They can deliver faster speeds than low bands while still providing decent coverage.
  3. High Bands (mmWave - Above 24 GHz):
    • Frequency Range: Typically above 24 GHz (e.g., 28 GHz, 39 GHz).
    • Characteristics: High-band or millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies offer extremely high data rates but have limited coverage and are susceptible to blockage by obstacles like buildings and trees. The signals attenuate quickly over distance due to higher free space path loss and are easily absorbed or reflected by various materials.
    • Use Cases: mmWave bands are ideal for ultra-dense urban environments and specific use cases like fixed wireless access (FWA) and high-speed hotspots. Despite their limitations in coverage, they can deliver multi-gigabit speeds in the right conditions.
  4. Unlicensed Bands:
    • Apart from licensed spectrum, 5G also leverages unlicensed bands like the 5 GHz band (e.g., the 5.9 GHz band). These bands are shared with other technologies like Wi-Fi. By using techniques like Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), 5G can coexist with other services in these bands, providing additional capacity and flexibility.
  5. Shared and Dynamic Spectrum Access:
    • Beyond traditional bands, there's also exploration into dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) and other techniques to allow 5G to operate in shared or dynamically allocated spectrum, adapting to varying demands and conditions.