Broadening The 5G Ecosystem With RedCap
By John Oncea, Editor
By November 2023, 5G RedCap software should be added to stand-alone 5G networks. The initial commercialization of 5G RedCap chipsets will begin in 2023, with mass production slated for 2024. It is expected that commercial RedCap devices will be available between 2025 and 2026.
Are you ready for some RedCap? And we’re not talking about the chicken breed, Negro League team, or the alternate tile for the fairy tale Litte Red Riding Hood.
No, we’re talking about 5G RedCap which was introduced with the 3GPP Release 17 and finalized in mid-2022. According to Qorvo, RedCap aims to meet the requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that need smaller, less complex, lower-cost RF solutions with better battery life than existing 5G offerings.
With more than 1 billion connections, “5G has primarily been used for smartphones and fixed wireless access (FWA) applications,” writes Qorvo. “While those are critical use cases, the potential applications for 5G are much broader – and over the next few years, 5G will expand in scope to cover many more applications and device types.”
RedCap is designed for devices currently served by LTE CAT-4 but provides equivalent or better performance with up to 150Mbps theoretical maximum downlink throughput. It helps reduce the complexity, cost, and size of 5G devices while introducing options to allow devices to operate at lower power levels. It will address new use cases that cannot be served by advanced 5G standards like eMBB/URLLC and LPWAN, as well as cover use cases with higher data rate requirements than LTE-M or NB-IoT and lower power consumption and device size than eMBB.
Benefits And Limitations Of 5G RedCap
Costs will be lower because RedCap devices use fewer antennas and multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) layers support lower bandwidths than conventional 5G user equipment, Keysight reports. “RedCap provides other enhancements that further reduce the cost of RedCap devices. For example, RedCap supports half-duplex frequency division duplex (FDD), a transmission mode that can significantly affect device cost. Half-duplex FDD prevents the device from transmitting and receiving data on different frequencies at the same time. As a result, RedCap devices can use switches instead of expensive duplexers.”
RedCap also will reduce consumption and devices will save energy because they can transmit data without connecting to the network and have less stringent radio resource management requirements than other 5G devices.
“Because RedCap devices have fewer antennas and support lower bandwidths, they lack the full throughput, latency, and frequency-range capabilities of conventional 5G devices,” reports Keysight. “5G RedCap devices only support 2x2 MIMO for the downlink and single-input/single-output for the uplink, and bandwidths of 20 MHz for frequencies below 7.125 GHz and 100 MHz for millimeter-wave frequencies.”
RedCap’s lower bandwidths also require changes in bandwidth part configurations for both the downlink and the uplink, and RedCap devices also require specialized signaling parameters and procedures.
“RedCap devices use a different random-access channel procedure to access the network, which affects device compatibility,” reports Keysight. “RedCap devices also do not detect scheduling information for the downlink and the uplink in the same set of symbols. As a result, they cannot check messages in the downlink while in uplink mode or send information in the uplink while monitoring the downlink.”
Coming Soon To A Device Near You
“5G RedCap chipset is already available in the market but we can expect commercial rollout by the first half of 2024,” reports Counterpoint Research. “5G RedCap modules will constitute 18% of total cellular IoT module shipments by 2030, indicating a significant market potential, particularly in developing nations where the cost is key to wide technology adoption for digital transformation.
“The subsequent 5G eRedCap is planned for a 2024 introduction, with commercial availability likely by 2026. Expected to bring further innovations to the IoT segment, 5G eRedCap modules are projected to contribute 8% to the total cellular IoT module shipments by 2030. During the transition phase, network operators will maintain IoT device support through the existing 4G network while focusing on 5G high-end applications like routers/CPE, XR/VR devices, and automotive.”
Potential Uses Of RedCap
Omair Iqbal, writing on LinkedIn, offers up five scenarios in which RedCap would be a better choice than a full-scale 5G solution, including agricultural IoT, smart metering, environmental monitoring, asset tracking, and smart cities.
“In each of these scenarios, the high data rates, ultra-low latency, and high reliability offered by full-scale 5G solutions like eMBB or uRLLC are not necessary,” writes Iqbal. “5G RedCap, with its focus on energy efficiency, wide coverage, and support for moderate data rates, provides a more suitable and cost-effective solution for these use cases.”
The flexibility RedCap offers – along with lower latency and higher speeds compared to previous LTE generations – should make it the “go-to” choice for future mass IoT deployment. A significant addition to the existing cellular network options, RedCap’s potential is to provide IoT manufacturers access to smaller, less expensive RF solutions. This will enable manufacturers to build compact IoT devices that support 5G networks, offer extended battery life, and deliver higher data rates than devices using older IoT network standards.