5G Infrastructure and what it Really Means: You will Never Hear These Facts in the Mainstream Media

5G Infrastructure and what it Really Means: You will Never Hear These Facts in the Mainstream Media 5G infrastructure refers to the network of macro and small cell base stations with edge computing capabilities that are required for the functionality of the fifth generation technology standard for cellular networks. 5G infrastructure provides low latency coverage for big data streams that power applications like IoT devices, semi autonomous vehicles, and augmented reality. 5G network infrastructure consists of standalone 5G infrastructures, which have their own cloud-native network core that connects to 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and non standalone (NSA) infrastructures, which still partially rely on existing 4G LTE infrastructure. Until network carriers are able to build out the independent infrastructure needed for 5G, the NSA approach uses a combination of 5G Radio Access Network (RAN), 5G NR interface, and existing LTE infrastructure and core network to provide a 5G like experience. Standalone 5G deployment consists of user equipment, the RAN and NR interface, and the 5G core network, which relies on a service based architecture framework with virtualized network functions. Network functions that usually run on hardware become virtualized and run as software.