Innovative 5G technology isn't just about millimeter wave radio and gigabit download speeds, although it is definitely encompasses that!

So, we looked at how 5G will revolutionize network design, edge computing, and the world of IoT too, as we judged the entries in the Most Innovative 5G Technology category.

The entries that made the shortlist are from Dali Wireless Inc. , Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), Movandi, Netcracker Technology Corp. , Radisys Corp. (Nasdaq: RSYS) and SK Telecom (Nasdaq: SKM), companies that are delivering some of the most interesting 5G technologies being offering in the early stages of next-gen wireless.

The winners of all 24 Leading Lights awards and the three Women in Comms awards, as well as the identities of this year's Light Reading Hall of Fame inductees, will be announced at the fantabulous Leading Lights dinner/party, which will be held during the evening of Monday, May 14, at the Brazos Hall in Austin, Texas, following a day of pre-BCE workshops. Then, the morning after the awards party, the doors open to this year's Big Communications Event (BCE) at the Austin Convention Center.

You're invited to attend Light Reading’s Big Communications Event -- the ONE event that delivers fresh perspective on the rapid transformation of the telecom industry and the road ahead. We'll see you May 14-16 in Austin -- communications service providers get in free!

To find out which companies were shortlisted across all of this year's Leading Lights categories, please check out Leading Lights 2018: The Finalists and Congrats to 2018's WiC Leading Lights Finalists.

So, here's our pick of the 5G innovators:

Dali Wireless -- Virtual Fronthaul Interface
Dali is trying to open up the 5G mobile edge for operators by delivering a virtual interface (vFI) that allows service providers to mix and match network gear by enabling fronthaul interoperability between RAN elements from different vendors.

5G, and especially high-band millimeter wave, will require operators to deploy more radios closer to users than ever before. So startup Dali says that vFI will help make it less expensive to deploy the latest networks.

Ericsson -- 5G NR Software
Ericsson's 5G softwave, which supports the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) standard, has a simple selling points. Operators can deploy the vendor's Ericsson Radio System (ERS) to support 4G now and switch on 5G -- with a software upgrade -- when compatible devices are available.

Ericsson is already deploying such systems with Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile US Inc. in the US. 5G-compliant smartphones are expected in the first half of 2019.

Movandi -- BeamX
With its BeamX technology, startup Movandi is tackling one of the most exciting, but most difficult to break into areas of 5G technology -- millimeter wave RF and antenna chips.

The fabless semiconductor designer is working on a complete 28GHz and 39GHz mmWave RF front-end that can be used with customer premise equipment (CPE), small cells and basestations, with tablet support in the works. Radio Frequency front-end silicon becomes increasing important with support for high-band 5G, as the ease of mmWave antenna support and integration will become key for a wide range of infrastructure and device manufacturers.

Netcracker Technology -- Netcracker's 5G Monetization solution
Developing new business cases and revenue streams for operators is kind of the whole point of 5G, right?

So, Netcracker's 5G Monetization Solution supports the development of services and "micro-services" that take advantage of 5G features like very low latency.The system provides dynamic provisioning and orchestration of 5G services across network slices with QoS management for ensuring low latency in real time. Netcracker is working with several Tier 1 CSPs, providing "5G-ready" solutions offering network management and orchestration, operational process automation and revenue management.

Radisys -- MobilityEngine
Radisys is trying to be a neutral broker in the world of 5G with its latest software. Mobility supports the 3GPP 5G New Radio (5G New Radio) and LTE-Advanced networks today, promoting a phased approach to 5G rollouts.

Radisys says that MobilityEngine enables 5G mobile access solutions that cover numerous deployment scenarios, from supporting small cell deployments with thousands of users in dense areas to enabling virtualized RAN deployments that boost CPU efficiency and deliver 10x performance improvement overall for NFV infrastructure.

SK Telecom -- Perfect 5G Connectivity
SK Telecom has developed self-driving technology as part of its ongoing 5G tests and trials. Tests are being undertaken in K-City, South Korea, the pilot city for self-driving tests in Korea.

SK Telecom says those tests, in February this year, showed a number of successful 5G-related autonomous vehicle test cases, including self-driving cars incorporating 5G V2X (vehicle-to-vehicle-or-interface) technology.

The tests utilized automotive-related infrastructure, such as CCTV cameras, and traffic lights connected to self-driving cars and control centers, via the low latency 5G network.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading