(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) 5Gi : The Made-for-India Variant of 5G

(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) 5Gi: The Made-for-India Variant of 5G

[December-2022]

5Gi: The Made-for-India Variant of 5G

The global standard fuelling 5G is called 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) from the agency that also created the standard for 3G and 4G phones. To enjoy 5G you need a handset that adheres to this standard. This involves special hardware. A 4G phone cannot be ‘upgraded’ to work with 5G networks. You need to invest in a 5G-ready phone. All 5G handsets worldwide adhere to the 3GPP standard.
Soon after the 3GPP standard was issued, Indian scientists examined it carefully. Experts suggested that in order for India to roll out 5G services countrywide, including the vast rural areas with thinner telecommunication networks, some changes to the 3GPP standards would be advisable.
5Gi is a Made-in-India 5G standard jointly created by scientists of IIT Hyderabad and IIT Madras. It is also known as Radio Interface Technology or RIT and achieves longer range by going down in frequency from the band suggested in the 3GPP 5G standard, which is 700 MHz to 52GHz.
The main difference between the 5G and 5Gi is that the 5Gi standard uses what is called Low Mobility Large Cell (LMLC) technology to extend its range by adopting lower frequency bands. The Indian 5Gi standard can go lower than the lowest frequency in the 3GPP standard, which is 700 MHz and on the higher side can work up to 36 GHz without compromising the range. In effect this allows the intersite distance (from tower to tower) from 3GPP’s 1.7 km to 6 km. Longer intersite distance, cheaper deployment!
The Indian 5Gi also reduced the mobility speed i.e. 5G usage on mobile platforms to 3 KMPH – 30KMPH, keeping in mind requirements in India. Global mobility speeds of 120 KMPH - 500 KMPH are less meaningful here.
In a big win for India’s scientists, in December 2021, the International Telecommunication Union which oversees 3GPP, approved 5Gi and agreed to merge its specifications with 5G’s standard. On its part, India has agreed that any future iterations of 5Gi will be rolled out under the umbrella of 3GGP.