Technology is always making progress. We hear about these progresses all the time, on the news, in books, and on television and movies. We hear about better cameras. Animojis. Face ID. Many people care about the hardware in their phones but do not think about the cellular network that they are using. A large advancement is about to be made in our networks and will change the way we use it.

5G UWB (5G) is the fifth generation of cellular networks, and it brings a large improvement in speed. The faster the network, the faster you can download files and share videos. You can also play online multiplayer games better with a faster network. The current cellular network, 4G (LTE), offers speeds up to 1 Gbps, or 1000 Mbps (download), and 5G will offer a speed improvement of up to 20 Gbps, making it 20 times faster than 4G. Average speeds of Verizon’s 4G LTE network show speeds of around 35 Mbps. Early testing of Verizon’s 5G network show speeds that are 350 Mbps at a minimum, and can even get up to speeds over 600 Mbps. The other major development of 5G is latency reduction. Latency is the amount of time that it takes before data starts to get transferred. It’s measured in “ms” (milliseconds), and 5G can reduce the time from hundreds of milliseconds (on 4G LTE) to 1 ms. The latency is low enough that surgeons would be able to perform surgery on patients that are a thousand miles away and have a successful operation.

New technology has drawbacks, and 5G definitely has some. One of the major drawbacks of 5G is that it has a shorter range than 4G. 5G uses different wavelengths than 4G does (which is how we get service, through waves sent to our devices), which have shorter ranges. This means that we will need more modems (a device that converts signals) to make sure that we can get reception. Installing these modems will also be costly. 5G smartphones are also more expensive than the phones we have now, going above $1000.

Having a full rollout of 5G across the world will take a long time, probably more than ten years. 5G in the U.S has already started rolling out but may take until 2021 to be available throughout the entire country. This could result in more developments being made, improving range and reducing costs.

While 5G will offer many benefits, such as fast speed and low latency, it is expensive and has a shorter range than 4G. However, in time, improvements may be made to give it farther range and lower costs.

The middle-level Technology Student Association STEM Animation team, comprised of A. Barton, C. Seiffert, and S. Kupchik, were awarded first in the state for their animation “AI Time Machine.” In June their animation will be judged at a national level in Washington DC.

Congratulations and best of luck at Nationals!

On May 3, 2019, the three middle school bands competed against other schools at the Central Dauphin East Middle School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Afterwards, they were able to have some fun at Hershey Park, enjoying the many rides there. Their amazing results are posted below:

Band Awards

• Concert Band won 1st place
• Symphonic Band won 1st place
• Jazz Band won 1st place

Section Awards

• Xylophone section
• Trombone section
• Woodwinds section

Soloist Awards

• L. Myers on French Horn
• B. Nourie on Tenor Saxophone
• G. Gilbert on Tuba
• Q. Jooste on Trombone
• S. Gonser on Percussion

Nineteen extremely talented Cab Calloway 7th and 8th grade students competed at the 2019 BPA National Conference in Anaheim, California, April 30 through May 5. Each student represented our school admirably and did a fantastic job in competition.

In terms of competitive achievement, results as follows:

• J. Chang, H. Kaur, S. Nalavolu, and P. Singh – 1st in Digital Game Design Team
• M. Johnson, E. Li, G. MacNamara, and D. McKenzie – 1st in Presentation Management Team
• C. Sagamreddy, H. Chinthalapati, A. Londono and S. Kupchik – 2nd in Web Site Design Team
• D. Tattari placed 2nd and T. Situ placed 3rd in Business Communication Skills
• G. Breen – 2nd in Computer Literacy
• J. Rayban and D. Tattari – top 10 finalists in Business Fundamentals
• T. Situ – top 10 finalist in Entrepreneurship Exploration
• E. Li – top 10 finalist in Graphic Design Promotion
• M. Virani – top 10 finalist in Spreadsheet Applications

Congratulations to the dance team, color guards, and drum line, who competed in the Tournament Indoor Association Atlantic Coast championships May 4th & 5th.

Here are the results:

• Dance team: 1st place Scholastic Open Dance
• Black Color Guard: 1st place Scholastic Regional Guard
• Purple Color Guard: 1st place Scholastic Intermediate A Guard
• Drum Line: 1st place Scholastic Open Percussion

These groups are composed of students from both CCSA and CSW as well as Conrad and DMA.

Congratulations to all of the participants – they represented us well!