The Patterns of Innovation Agendas on 5G Mobile Technology

This paper aims to map the patterns of innovation agendas for 5G mobile technologies by investigating the scientific research activities already related to the development of this mobile generation. To carry out this research, 380 research publications from 2009 to 2016 held in the Scopus database were utilized, from which 992 keywords were extracted and categorized into 39 innovation agendas. The numbers of documents grouped into these agendas, and the ways in which they were connected to each other, were then analyzed. The findings identify five patterns of innovation. The first contains innovation agendas related to “millimeter wave” and “energy” as the main technical issues that shape the overall profile of 5G mobile development. The second reflects that, despite 5G being proposed as a new communication system, it will not be entirely independent of previous technological platforms in which long-term evolution (LTE) has a strong influence on current technical innovation systems. In the third, it can be seen that some innovation agendas that deliver low productivity have in fact provided more room for those who want to be involved, and have thus opened up opportunities for science creators to actively engage with and contribute to these agendas. The fourth demonstrates that current innovation related to 5G is still marked by intense research activity on basic technical issues relating to wireless infrastructure. Finally, the fifth pattern indicates that there are many technical innovations being proposed, but only some will finally be utilized in a mature 5G system.                              

This paper aims to map the patterns of innovation agendas for 5G mobile technologies by investigating the scientific research activities already related to the development of this mobile generation. To carry out this research, 380 research publications from 2009 to 2016 held in the Scopus database were utilized, from which 992 keywords were extracted and categorized into 39 innovation agendas. The numbers of documents grouped into these agendas, and the ways in which they were connected to each other, were then analyzed. The findings identify five patterns of innovation. The first contains innovation agendas related to “millimeter wave” and “energy” as the main technical issues that shape the overall profile of 5G mobile development. The second reflects that, despite 5G being proposed as a new communication system, it will not be entirely independent of previous technological platforms in which long-term evolution (LTE) has a strong influence on current technical innovation systems. In the third, it can be seen that some innovation agendas that deliver low productivity have in fact provided more room for those who want to be involved, and have thus opened up opportunities for science creators to actively engage with and contribute to these agendas. The fourth demonstrates that current innovation related to 5G is still marked by intense research activity on basic technical issues relating to wireless infrastructure. Finally, the fifth pattern indicates that there are many technical innovations being proposed, but only some will finally be utilized in a mature 5G system.