由于新冠，在家办公的工作和可能存在的持续挑战越来越多，这使得在更多地方需要更多的宽带容量。移动电信公司和其他服务提供商正在围绕5G无线技术进行集会，这是实现可靠更快的网络连接的最有前途的解决方案。
但是，推出5G的路途坎坷而艰难.5G是对第五代无线网络技术的模糊引用。至少就消费者的期望而言，各行各业的电子企业如何降低风险，按时交付新产品并在其产品中建立弹性还有待观察。这一切都需要在产品设计阶段解决，协作挑战和注意供应链。
目前处于早期部署阶段的5G网络的响应速度将是当今网络的五倍。总部位于纽约州怀特普莱恩斯的企业软件开发公司Fingent的数字营销分析师Saheen C.Najeeb表示，每秒20 GB的下载速度意味着5G将在工作场所实现更多专业任务。
但他警告说，就像电子领域中的任何新事物一样，创新的高速技术在安全性方面要复杂得多。
他对TechNewsWorld表示：“根据普渡大学和爱荷华大学的一项研究，5G继承了其前任的许多安全策略和子协议，它们更容易出错，因此引发了隐私和其他安全问题。”
如果5G减速带本身可以帮助推出有线宽带的高速无线替代产品，那么对于某些企业和消费者来说，可能值得承受更大的安全风险。行业报告显示，大流行可能会在美国迅速推动5G的普及。
如果确实能够加快部署过程，那么5G可以对克服5G供应链挑战产生重大影响。同时，一些行业观察家认为，5G在整个电子价值链中对WFH的影响大多是投机性的。
5G和FUD因素
每种技术升级都有两个方面。 5G也不例外。开发人员赞扬5G的优势，速度和灵活性，它将带给企业和日常用户。政客和宽带拥护者描绘了一幅更黑暗的图画。一些反对这项技术的人正在大胆地画基于恐惧，不确定性和怀疑的图画。
怀俄明州卡斯珀市一家营销公司Dialed Labs的创始人兼首席执行官Jase Rodley说，那些刚开始转向远程工作的人的确在进行一些研究，因为他们希望改善家庭互联网的连接。
“长期以来人们一直期待已久5G的问题，可能会阻止它从货架上飞到需要它的人们的家中，这是一个事实，许多政治家和官员已经引发了关于其安全性的谣言和辩论。 ”，他告诉TechNewsWorld。
结果，现在越来越多的人转向未经证实的新闻网站，声称中国将利用它来入侵我们的生活并了解我们的所有秘密。他建议，这可能会严重阻碍普通大众采用5G的速度。
其他反对者则质疑5G的美学和个人挑战。 Fingent的Najeeb解释说，例如5G将增强位置跟踪和个人数据收集。
他说：“由于5G信号是短距离的，因此需要更多的信号塔覆盖较小的区域。这意味着它们知道您的确切位置，这是一条敏感信息。”不过要明确的是，Najeeb并未表示他个人反对5G。
5G的作用
Najeeb表示，5G网络提供了几个关键点来提高性能，以超越早期的网络技术，从而帮助加速业务能力。他们是：
比现在更快地连接更多设备
减少设备之间的延迟时间
使大量设备能够以更快的响应速度进行海量数据传输
提供更高的带宽和更低的延迟
通过提供高速宽带互联网，视频会议和其他技术，使在家工作更加可行
Crypsis Group Crypsis Group的高级顾问Drew Schmitt指出，拥有无处不在的网络连接非常适合弹性，并且提供几年前还没有提供的功能，Crypsis Group是一家事件响应，风险管理和数字取证公司，总部位于弗吉尼亚州麦克莱恩。
但是企业部署应该在产品开发以及上市策略中引入安全评估和反馈环。他建议，这将增加对威胁者的保护，这些威胁者会采取策略应对新机会。
4G需要退休
毋庸置疑的是，国家宽带基础设施对于在封锁期间保持企业运营和远程员工连接至关重要
欧洲，中东和非洲（EMEA）副总裁杰米·杰弗瑞斯（Jamie Jefferies）表示，流感大流行本身并持续存在着WFH。他的公司提供通信网络设备，软件和服务，为全球20大服务提供商中的85％提供动力。
他对TechNewsWorld表示：“我们的经济要反弹，那么基础设施必须继续发展。” “随着越来越多的企业使用位于市中心以外的分布式劳动力和中央办公地点策略，5G和光纤部署的加速必须来自惠及所有地区的全国性策略。”
Jefferies补充说，为了扩大5G的部署，服务提供商和政府将需要迅速促进新的安排，以将更多的光纤挖掘到地面，建造无线电塔以及开发可以智能转移网络t容量以支持新位置需求的网络。
他谈到5G升级的日益增长的需求时说：“这将为全国的增长和创新铺平道路。”
移动需求超越固定宽带
开发4G时，无线系统基本上由三大供应商定义。标准未开放，并且使用固定电缆建立了连接。蜂窝运营商从这些主要供应商那里购买设备，4G成为了现实。Rizzatti的顾问Lauro Rizzatti博士解释说，Rizzatti是西北太平洋地区的电子设计自动化（EDA）营销和公共关系公司。
“随着诸如联网汽车（例如汽车，飞机，火车，建筑设备，农用拖拉机等）以及包括物联网在内的所有其他联网设备的应用的兴起，蜂窝网络的数据量激增。这催生了对5G的需求以及众所周知的5G网络正在由世界各地的许多运营商提供。”他告诉TechNewsWorld。
但是，新无线网络的实施方式存在重要的变化。这次，蜂窝运营商控制了并定义了开放标准。 Rizzatti解释说，这使新公司能够构建5G网络所需的硬件和软件。
5G技术的实施比4G更具挑战性。例如，信号传输需要多达64 X 64个多输入/多输出（MiMo）天线的阵列，这些天线可以支持5G信号所需的波束成形。
“尽管WFH在更多地方产生了对更多宽带容量的需求，但只有在为5G供电的芯片经过充分测试和验证之后，才能实现快速转发5G的采用，这是一个巨大的且可能被低估的挑战，” Rizzatti说。
应对5G挑战
针对5G市场的新产品的核心是关键任务片上系统（SoC）。 Rizzatti认为，对那些SoC进行验证是具有挑战性的。硅前验证需要的不仅仅是标准芯片设计验证流程。
挑战之一是需要为这些SoC开发健壮且可重复使用的测试。这涉及可靠的确定性验证套件，这些套件可以在硬件原型上可用硅片之前以及实际系统上可用硅片之后运行。
在芯片开发的硅前阶段，需要硬件仿真来快速运行所需数量的测试。一旦有硅可用，重点便放在实验室和现场验证芯片上。
当这两种技术来自同一供应商时，就可以创建它们，以便准确地映射前硅片和后硅片，从而在设计和部署过程中的任何时候解决问题。
由于5G生态系统的规模，这些验证测试套件需要共享以确保互操作性，Rizzatti解释说。为了缓解此问题，电信行业公司联盟创建了开放无线电访问网络（O-RAN）标准。
更快的连接-赶上
5G技术有望以更少的附加条件提高互联网的可用性和性能。根据Crypsis Group的Schmitt的说法，其基础架构明显少于光纤或DSL。
他对TechNewsWorld表示：“从业务生产力和连续性的角度来看，这意味着企业能够更好地支持COVID-19和后COVID世界中的远程工作，而在远程世界中，远程工作可能仍然是主流业务模型。”
他警告说，但这可能带来更高的安全开销。由于用户需要从家中灵活地连接到业务网络，因此许多企业已经在努力确保安全优先。
施密特说：“安全可能会遇到一些麻烦。随着5G变得越来越普遍，企业调整其策略以包括更多（也许是永久性的）远程工作者，这意味着网络防御者必须准备应对这一增加的表面积。”
传统的安全措施始终集中在外围。在那里，可以由位于物理层中的用户控制它的实体位置。 借助5G技术，防御者还必须考虑针对端点的策略，该策略可为在任何给定时间可能连接到组织网络或用户家庭网络的系统提供保护。
他说：“在考虑物联网设备时，这一点是很重要的。”
5G Rollout Includes Challenges to Supply Chain, WFH Value
The growing work-from-home movement amid the coronavirus and its likely continuing challenges has created the need for additional broadband capacity in more places. Mobile telco and other service providers are rallying around 5G wireless as the most promising solution for reliably faster Internet connectivity.
But the path to rolling out 5G -- which is a vague reference to the fifth-generation wireless network technology -- has been rocky and spotty. It remains to be seen, at least in terms of consumers' expectations, how electronics businesses in various sectors can decrease their risk, deliver new products on schedule, and build resiliency into their products. This all takes addressing collaboration challenges and supply chain considerations during the product design phase.
5G networks, now in their early deployment phases, promise to be five times more responsive than today's networks. Download speed of 20 gigabits-per-second means 5G will enable more specialized tasks at the workplace, according to Saheen C. Najeeb, Digital Marketing Analyst at Fingent, an enterprise software development company headquartered in White Plains, N.Y.
But like anything new in the electronics world, the innovative higher-speed technology is much more complex when it comes to security concerns, he warned.
"As per a research study by Purdue University and the University of Iowa, 5G inherits many security policies and subprotocols from its predecessors, which are more error-prone and thus raise privacy and other security concerns," he told TechNewsWorld.
That 5G speed bump itself could be worth the heightened security risks to some businesses and consumers if it helps launch a high-speed wireless alternative to wired broadband. Industry reports suggest the pandemic may fast-forward 5G adoption in the U.S.
If it does speed up the deployment process, 5G can have a big impact on overcoming 5G supply chain challenges. Meanwhile, the full implications that 5G holds for WFH across the entire electronics value chain are mostly speculative, some industry watchers suggest.
5G and the FUD Factor
Every technology upgrade comes with two sides. 5G is no different. Developers sing the praises of the better benefits, speed, and flexibility 5G will bring to business and everyday users. Politicians and broadband proponents paint a darker picture. Some opponents to the technology are painting with broad strokes a picture based on fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Those just switching to remote working are indeed in for some research as they look to improve their home Internet connections, according to Jase Rodley, founder/CEO of Dialed Labs, a marketing firm in Casper, Wyo.
"The problem with the long-promised and long-awaited 5G, and something that will likely stop it flying off the shelves into the houses of people who need it, is the fact that many politicians and officials have sparked rumors and debates about its safety," he told TechNewsWorld.
As a result, more people now are turning to unconfirmed news websites claiming that China will use it to hack into our lives and learn all of our secrets. This could seriously impede just how quickly 5G is taken on by the general public, he suggested.
Other naysayers take issue with some of 5G's aesthetic and personal challenges. For instance, 5G will enhance location tracking and personal data collection, Fingent's Najeeb explained.
"Since 5G signals are short-range, it requires more cell towers covering a much smaller area. It means they know your exact location, which is a piece of sensitive information," he said. To be clear, however, Najeeb was not stating his personal opposition to 5G.
What 5G Does
The 5G network offers several key points to improve performance over earlier network technologies to help accelerate business capabilities, according to Najeeb. They are:
To connect more devices faster than is done now
Reduce the lag time between devices
Enable the bulk volume of data transmission from a large number of devices with better responsiveness
Provide higher bandwidth and lower latency
Make working from home more feasible by providing a higher-speed broadband Internet, video conferencing, and other technologies
Having ubiquitous Internet connectivity is great for resiliency and provides functionality that was not available even a few years ago, noted Drew Schmitt, senior consultant at Crypsis Group Crypsis Group, an incident response, risk management, and digital forensics firm with headquarters in McLean, Va.
But enterprise deployments should introduce security evaluations and feedback loops into product development, as well as go-to-market strategies. That will add protection against threat actors who evolve tactics against new opportunities, he suggested.
4G's Needed Retirement
It is a non-disputed fact that the national broadband infrastructure is critical to keeping businesses running and remote workforces connected during the lockdown and the continuing WFH mandates of the lingering pandemic, according to Jamie Jefferies, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) vice president at Ciena. His firm provides communications networking equipment, software, and services that power 85 percent of the world's top 20 service providers.
"This infrastructure must continue to evolve if our economy is going to bounce back," he told TechNewsWorld. "With more and more businesses using distributed workforces located outside of city centers and central office locations strategies, the acceleration of 5G and fiber rollout must come from a nationwide strategy that benefits all areas."
In order to expand 5G's rollout, service providers and the government will need to quickly facilitate new arrangements for digging more fiber into the ground, building radio towers, and developing networks that can intelligently shift Internet capacity to support demand in new locations, Jefferies added.
"This will pave the way for growth and innovation across the nation," he said of the growing need for a 5G upgrade.
Mobile Needs Push Beyond Fixed Broadband
When 4G was developed, wireless systems were defined by essentially three major vendors. The standards were not open, and connections were established with fixed cabling. Cellular operators sourced equipment from these major vendors, and 4G became a reality, explained Dr. Lauro Rizzatti, consultant at Rizzatti, an electronic design automation (EDA) marketing and public relations firm in the Pacific Northwest.
"With the rise of applications such as connected vehicles -- think cars, planes, trains, construction equipment farm tractors and so forth -- and all the other connected devices that comprise IoT, the data volume for cellular networks has exploded. That spawns the need for 5G and, as everyone knows, 5G networks are being brought up by many carriers in all parts of the world right now," he told TechNewsWorld.
But there is an important twist in the way the new wireless network is being implemented. This time, cellular operators took control and defined open standards. This allows new companies to build hardware and software required for 5G networks, Rizzatti explained.
5G technology is more challenging to implement than 4G. For example, signal transmission requires an array of up to 64 X 64 multiple-input/multiple-output (MiMo) antennas that can support the beamforming required for 5G signals.
"While WFH creates the need for more broadband capacity in more places, fast-forwarding 5G adoption will only happen if the chips powering 5G are fully tested, and verification, a huge and potentially underestimated challenge," said Rizzatti.
Chipping Away at 5G Challenges
New products for the 5G market have at their core a mission-critical system on chip (SoC). It is the verification of those SoCs that is challenging, according to Rizzatti. Pre-silicon verification requires more than the standard chip design verification flow.
One challenge is the need to develop robust and reusable tests for these SoCs. This involves solid, deterministic verification suites that can be run before silicon is available on prototypes of the hardware and, after silicon is available, on the real system.
In the pre-silicon stage of chip development, hardware emulation is required to run the requisite number of tests at speed. Once silicon is available, the focus moves to verification of the chip in the lab and in the field.
When these two technologies come from the same vendor, they can be created so both pre-silicon and post-silicon are mapped accurately to resolve problems at any point during design and deployment.
Due to the size of the 5G ecosystem, these verification test suites need to be shared to ensure interoperability, explained Rizzatti. To help alleviate this issue, an alliance of telecom industry companies created the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) standard.
Faster Connectivity - With a Catch
5G technology promises increased Internet availability and performance with fewer strings attached. Its infrastructure is significantly less than fiber or DSL, according to Crypsis Group's Schmitt.
"From a business productivity and continuity perspective, this means that businesses are better able to support remote work in a COVID-19 and post-COVID world, where remote work may remain as more of a mainstay business model," he told TechNewsWorld.
But it comes with a potential for higher security overhead, he warns. Many businesses are already struggling to keep security prioritized as users require flexible connectivity into business networks from home.
"Security may have some trouble keeping up. As 5G becomes more prevalent and businesses adjust their strategies to include more, perhaps permanent, remote workers, this means that network defenders must be ready to account for this increased surface area," said Schmitt.
Traditional security measures have always been focused on the perimeter. There it could be controlled with users located in physical locations. With 5G technologies, defenders must also consider endpoint-focused strategies that provide protections for systems that may be connected to the organization's network or users' home networks at any given time.
"This becomes even more crucial when we consider IoT devices," he said.
Jack M. Germain
https://www.technewsworld.com/story/86795.html
