The intersection of 5G and storage: Transforming mobile media consumption

5G technology is requiring storage solutions to answer the growing demands of the content supply chain

News By Roger Beck published 14 October 2024

The blazing-fast speeds, extremely low latency, and massive connectivity achieved with 5G technology are changing how mobile media is being perceived. As such, storage solutions need to keep up with the growing demands of the content supply chain. In 2009, 4G introduced the concept of mobile data as an object that is downloaded to a device and is then played back. This innovation led to an increase in the amount of data processed on mobile devices.

For example, more than 500 hours of video content are uploaded in a single minute just on YouTube alone, and 5G is only going to increase how much media can and will be consumed worldwide. In this article, we’ll provide insights on how the 5G innovation will change storage requirements and the way media is consumed on mobile devices.

Roger Beck

Senior Systems Engineer, OpenDrives.

Impact of 5G on Media Consumption

The performance of 5G far surpasses standard wired Ethernet ports on desktop computers, with speeds up to 20 Gbps in theory. This is compared with the typical 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps of wired Ethernet. In practice, 5G is more than a match for most wired connections, capable of download speeds from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps, which is on par with your desktop computer. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile own the 5G infrastructure and are able to create private 5G cells, where a higher performance can be achieved and may even reach 20 Gbps as you don’t have to share the bandwidth with many devices.

UHD Streaming

5G's higher speed and lower latency allow high-resolution videos such as 4K and 8K to be streamed easily with minimal buffering on mobile devices. For reference, a 4K stream requires about 25 Mbps of bandwidth, while an 8K stream calls for 100 Mbps, both of which are demanding, but easily achievable with 5G. As a consequence, consumers can seamlessly stream UHD videos from their phones in almost any setting.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): AR and VR apps, with their full immersion, rely extensively on high bandwidth and low latency. Although 5G's 1ms latency is significantly higher than Ethernet's 10-30 microseconds latency, it is still suitable for these applications. To meet these fast requirements, storage systems must be capable of real-time data retrieval and processing.

Interactive Live Streaming: High-data volume and speed for 5G empower new interactive live streaming possibilities, such as multiple angles and instant replays. To achieve this, the underlying system and storage infrastructure need to be efficient and quick enough to handle countless requests while maintaining sub-second video latency.

Storage Challenges and Solutions

As more advanced and data-driven media technologies become possible through 5G, older, conventional storage infrastructures face various technical limitations:

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