Relevance: GS-3: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
Key phrases: Airline, 5G, Altimeter, frequencies, C-band, power, buffer zone, GHz.
Why in News?
- Air India has cancelled a number of its long-haul flights to the United States, including on the Delhi-New York-Delhi, Delhi-San Francisco-Delhi, Delhi-Chicago-Delhi and Mumbai-Newark-Mumbai sectors, from January 19 until further notice. The cancellations come in the wake of concerns over the implementation of fifth generation (5G) mobile communications networks in the C-band, the frequency band that is allocated for commercial telecommunications via satellites.
Background:
- Flights to the United States from India were briefly suspended after the Federal Aviation Administration warned that the rollout of new 5G technology could potentially lead to interference with on-board instruments.
- Besides AI, US-based American Airlines and Delta Airlines operate direct flights between the countries. These carriers, too, cancelled their flights.
- The deployment of 5G by AT&T and Verizon, two of the biggest wireless communications service providers in the US, has triggered concern among airlines, who have said that the frequencies used by the telecom companies is very close to the frequencies used by onboard instruments such as radar altimeters, which operate in the 4.2-4.4 GHz range.
- According to industry experts, there are chances of interference of the two bands : as telecom service operators, in order to extract the full value of 5G and give customers the best experience, push operations to the highest band possible. Altimeters too need to operate at higher frequencies in order to get the most accurate readings possible.
What is 5G and the technology used in it?
- 5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.
- 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.
- 5G is based on OFDM (Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing), a method of modulating a digital signal across several different channels to reduce interference. 5G uses 5G NR air interface alongside OFDM principles. 5G also uses wider bandwidth technologies such as sub-6 GHz and mmWave.
Where do altimeter and 5G’s C-Band clash?
- The concern is that the signal emitted by the 5G’s C-Band will interfere with the signals the altimeter receives about the plane’s altitude, which could impact operations during low-visibility landings or landings in bad weather.
- Commercial aviation radio altimeters operate in the 4.2-4.4 GHz band, which is separated by 220 megahertz from the [5G] C-Band telecommunication systems in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band.
- But it adds that while the “the receiver on the radio altimeter is typically highly accurate”, it might give “erroneous results” when there are “out-of-band radio frequency emissions from other frequency bands”.
- The radio altimeter must detect faint signals reflected off the ground to measure altitude, in a manner similar to radar. Out-of-band signals could significantly degrade radio altimeter functions during critical phases of flight, if the altimeter is unable to sufficiently reject those signals.
What is C-Band?
- C-Band is a portion of the airwave spectrum and is considered most popular for 5G connectivity. It is wave frequency ranging from about 3.3 to 4.2GHz. In the US, the 5G C-Band debate is mostly around the 3.7-3.98 GHz range.
- C-Band is deemed a great fit for 5G because it offers a wide spectrum range that can be used for faster connection than its predecessor 4G.
What is an altimeter?
- The radio or radar altimeter is an instrument in an aircraft to give direct information about the aircraft’s altitude when it is above land or water to other parts of the aircraft systems especially when the plane is in automatic mode.
- For all airborne vehicles — an aircraft, spacecraft, or even a missile — an altimeter is crucial to gauge the altitude and the distance covered.
- Altimeters are of three main kinds: barometric, laser, and radio or radar altimeters. Most commercial passenger and cargo aircraft use a combination of all these altimeters along with global positioning system (GPS) to determine their path, as well as factors such as height above sea level, presence of high-rises, mountains, and other obstacles, and the likely flying time.
- The radio or radar altimeter is a very small, low-power radar system that operates in the 4.2-4.4 GHz frequency microwave C-band. The high frequency of these altimeters enable aircraft makers to install small antennae that produce powerful signals that can be relayed quickly and accurately.
Way forward:
- The concerns are confined to the United States. It's not a global or European issue. It's really an issue specific to the use of 5G and its rollout in the United States in terms of frequency bands and power.
- US is having trouble with 5G deployment whereas countries like France and Japan have managed to evade the same issue. So US has to learn from other countries like.
- In Europe, 5G networks were given C-Band frequencies ranging between 3.4 and 3.8 GHz, thus providing more distance to those used by aircraft. So U.S can also use this C-Band frequencies.
- In France, buffer zones were created around 17 large airports, restricting the strength of 5G signals and ensuring mobile base station antennas do not broadcast upwards.
- In the US, the buffer zones will only protect and not interfere with the last 20 seconds of flight while in France, the last 96 seconds of flight are not interfered with. The 5G power levels in the US are 2.5x higher than in France, making signal interference a problem, while the French government has also made it necessary for the 5G antenna to be tilted downward to limit “harmful interference”, unlike in the US.
Is this situation in India?
- In India, where 5G is yet to be rolled out, the frequency range for 5G telecoms operations is pegged around 3.3-3.68 GHz. It is learnt that the Federation of Indian Pilots has, in its meetings with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), expressed concern about the frequencies being close together.
- The DoT however, assured them that there would be no interference as the frequencies for commercial 5G services were at least 530 MHz away from those used by altimeters
Source: Front Line The Hindu
Mains Question:
Q. The deployment of 5G by AT&T and Verizon, two of the biggest wireless communications service providers in the US, has triggered concern among airlines. Discuss the concerns of the airlines with the deployment of 5G in the US? Does India need to consider similar concerns in deployment of 5G network in India? Critically examine.
Q. Deployment of 5G in world over has given rise to public concerns about some possible adverse effects to human health. Illustrate. (250words)
