In meetings around the globe this week, engineers are reviewing proposals for a broad suite of standards for 5G. Their work is expected to take at least two years, touching every aspect of wireless networks, EE Times reports

Nearly a dozen study groups are meeting to hammer out topics ranging from radio access technologies to network architectures

“You eat an elephant in small pieces … it takes lots of people to develop these new technologies,” said Karri Kuoppamaki, a TMobile vice presidemt.

Operators want 5G to enable more powerful and flexible networks, with many tasks implemented in open-source software running on standard servers using virtualisation. This would see 5G open a huge market for server chip, systems and software makers.