How 5G Advanced will bring new innovations to the 'Connected Intelligent Edge'

While the global 5G buildout is already underway — over 225 operators have deployed 5G commercially — 5G technology will continue to evolve for the rest of this decade. Today, the second wave of 5G innovations, dubbed 5G Advanced, is just starting and aims to realize new possibilities at the Connected Intelligent Edge.

5G Advanced builds on the 5G technology foundation and aims to fulfill the original 5G vision of connecting virtually everyone and everything around us. It is already delivering enhanced mobile broadband, and it is expanding into new use cases and verticals. Regarding technology standardization, 3GPP Release 18 marks the start of 5G Advanced and will continue into Releases 19, 20, and beyond.

5G Advanced will bring new and enhanced devices, services, and deployments. For instance, the metaverse is a ubiquitous spatial internet with personalized digital experiences that span the physical and virtual worlds, where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly. 5G is essential to realizing the full potential of the metaverse, and 5G Advanced will bring new levels of performance and efficiency. Reliable and high-speed connections are cornerstones for real-time immersive experiences in extended reality (XR).

Looking forward to 5G Advanced and the path to 6G, artificial intelligence (AI) is another key technology vector that will play an essential role in solving complex wireless challenges. 5G and AI are two of the most disruptive technologies the world has seen in decades. While each is individually revolutionizing industries and enabling new experiences, the combination of 5G and AI will provide new levels of cellular performance and efficiency.

5G Advanced also has new features and capabilities that facilitate the proliferation of IoT deployments. Beyond 5G's capability to address high-performance IoT requirements, e.g., for industrial automation, scaling down the 5G design for lower complexity IoT devices is also now a reality. The 5G Advanced evolution will continue to broaden the 5G IoT ecosystem. 

As the 5G Advanced rollout continues to evolve, the early vision for 6G is starting to emerge. While the specifics are still unfolding, what we do know is that 5G Advanced will establish the technology foundation for 6G, which is expected to become the innovation platform in 2030 and beyond.

For decades, Qualcomm has been developing breakthrough technologies that transform how the world connects, computes, and communicates. 5G Advanced and beyond is no exception. Check out this conversation between ZDNET and Qualcomm Technologies on how 5G Advanced will deliver the next wave of wireless transformations.