5G Networks:

Concepts and
Technologies
Sami TABBANE

April 2021

Resources

5G core network:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxIYKPWYPl4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVoCpqsPwmQ
5G NR interface:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qerqp69ojQw
5G networks in the US:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CTUs_2hq6Y

2
5G motivations
• Traffic increase
• Real-time services
(robotics, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, …)

• Massive IoT
• Ease of services and applications
introduction by third parties
• Network TCO
• Data collection, storage and availability
3

Agenda

I. Architecture features
II. 5G Radio features
III. Concepts and technologies

4
 Agenda

I. Architecture Features

5G Network Technology Architecture

Driven by requirements and new IT technologies, 5G network can be
re-constructed into three-planes based architecture.

Requirements driven Three-planes based 5G network

• 5G scenarios and KPI
architecture control
• Operation enhancement
plane
• Smooth evolution
consideration

Technologies driven

NFV
separation of software and
，
hardware provide flexible
infrastructure platform
SDN

，
separation of control function
and forwarding function Access plane Forwarding plane
impact on architecture design

6
 Slicing

Network slicing description

Cloud-based approaches for a flexible sharing of resources:
• Antenna
• Bandwidth
• Spectrum
• Processing power
• Storage
• Networking
Novel business opportunities for Over the Top (OTT) SPs and
vertical industries.
Network Slice = a composition of NFs, network applications and
underlying cloud infrastructures, bundled together to meet the
requirement of a use case or business model on a per tenant basis
8
 Network slicing

Examples of slices:
• MTC
• Real-time local video (possibly handled by
Mobile Edge Computing)
• Public Safety
• Mobile Health 9

Network Slicing at the 5G RAN

10
 Network Slicing Architecture towards 5G

11

Network Slice Definitions

Service instance: An instance of an end-user or a business
service realized within or by a Network Slice
Network Slice Instance: a set of network functions, and resources
to run these network functions, forming a complete instantiated
logical network to meet certain network characteristics required
by the Service Instance(s).
• A network slice instance may be fully or partly, logically and/or
physically, isolated from another network slice instance.
• The resources comprise of physical and logical resources.
• A Network Slice Instance may be composed of Sub-network
Instances, which as a special case may be shared by multiple
network slice instances. The Network Slice Instance is defined by
a Network Slice Blueprint.
• Instance-specific policies and configurations are required when
creating a Network Slice Instance.
• Network characteristics examples are ultra-low-latency, ultra-
reliability etc. 12
 Network Slice Definitions
Network Slice Blueprint: A complete description of the structure, configuration and the
plans/work flows for how to instantiate and control the Network Slice Instance during
its life cycle. It enables the instantiation of a Network Slice, which provides certain
network characteristics (e.g. ultra-low latency, ultra-reliability, value-added services for
enterprises, etc.). A Network Slice Blueprint refers to required physical and logical
resources and/or to Sub-network Blueprint(s).
Sub-network Instance: A Sub-network Instance comprises of a set of Network Functions
and the resources for these Network Functions.
• The Sub-network Instance is defined by a Sub-network Blueprint.
• A Sub-network Instance is not required to form a complete logical network.
• A Sub-network Instance may be shared by two or more Network Slices.
• The resources comprises of physical and logical resources.
Sub-network Blueprint: A description of the structure (and contained components) and
configuration of the Sub-network Instances and the plans/work flows for how to
instantiate it. A Sub-network Blueprint refers to Physical and logical resources and may
refer to other Sub-network Blueprints.
Physical resource: A physical asset for computation, storage or transport including radio
access
• Network Functions are not regarded as Resources.
Logical Resource: Partition of a physical resource, or grouping of multiple physical
resources dedicated to a Network Function or shared between a set of Network
Functions 13

Resource isolation between slices

 Avoids one slice affecting another slice.
• Hardware/software resource isolation depends on the
implementation.
• Slices assigned with either shared or dedicated radio
resource up to RRM implementation and SLA.
• When assigned dedicated radio resource the slice may
be isolated and configured with one or more items:
 Time/frequency/code resources etc;
 Access channel (It is up to RAN1/RAN2 to decide how to
partition access channel e.g. in frequency, time and
preamble);
 Independent Access control, Load control, QoS etc.
• Logically, slices may be isolated in terms of DRBs.
14
Tenant and Multitenancy

• Tenant = group of users who share a common access with

specific privileges to the SW instance.
• Software multitenancy = SW architecture where a single SW
instance runs on a server and serves multiple tenants.
• Such systems are called shared (in contrast to dedicated or
isolated)
• In a multitenancy environment, multiple customers share the
same application, running on the same OS, one the same
HW, with the same data-storage mechanism. The difference
between the customers is achieved during application
design. Customers do not share or see each other’s data.
• Multitenancy ≠ Multi-instance architectures where separate
SW instances operate on behalf of different tenants.

15

Evolution from 4G to 5G environment

16
Multi-connectivity in the 5G environment

17

Quiz 1

1. What are the 3 planes of a 5G network?

2. What are the 6 resources that slicing allows
to share dynamically?
3. How slices can be isolated from each-
others?
4. What are the 3 options for RAN slicing?
5. What does multi-tenant architecture allow
to provide?
18
 Agenda

II. 5G Radio Features

19

5G Frequency Bands

• Spectrum usage improvements in 3GPP R15

have 3 directions:
 Spectral efficiency improvement: with CoMP,
MIMO, techniques and interference
management mechanisms.
 Higher network cell density: extra layer cells
with BSs covering smaller areas compared to
macro and micro BSs.
 Exploitation of underutilized radio spectrum
resources
20
Agenda

a. 5G Frequency Bands

21

System configuration for LTE-A and 5G systems from 6-100 GHz

Coverage layer Coverage and Capacity layer Super data layer

Below 1 GHz From 1 to 6 GHz Above 6 GHz
700, 800, 850, 900 MHz L Band, 1800, 2100, 2300, 24, 25, 29.5, 31.8-71, 71-
2500 MHz, 3.3-3.8 GHz 86 GHz 22
Unified 5G design across spectrum types and bands

23

CMR15 Identified frequency bands

RCC
1272 MHz
700MHz
Europe Band L
3.4-3.6 GHz
1272
MHz
700MHz
Band L
Middle East and
North Africa
Americas 1272MHz
1326-1592MHz 700 MHz
Band UHF Band L Asia Pacific
Sub-saharian
Band L Africa 1268-1368MHz
3.4-3.6 GHz Band UHF
3.6-3.7GHz 1372MHz Band L
700MHz 3.3-3.4 GHz
Band L 4.8-4.99 GHz
3.3-3.4 GHz
3.4-3.6 GHz

Region 2 Region 1 Region 3

24
 Bands emerging as key for 5G (GSMA)

• 3.5 GHz (16% of total

number of trials)
• 26/28 GHz (19% of total
number of trials)
25

5G trials frequencies

First trials and introduction of 5G services consider

parts of the band 3300 – 4200 MHz and 4400 – 4990
MHz:
• Europe 3.4 – 3.8 GHz (awarding trial licenses)
• China 3.3 – 3.6 GHz, 4.4 – 4.5 GHz, 4.8 – 4.99 GHz
• Japan 3.6 – 4.2 GHz and 4.4-4.9 GHz
• Korea 3.4 – 3.7 GHz
• USA 3.1 – 3.55 GHz (and 3.7 – 4.2 GHz)

26
 Potential first deployments of higher 5G bands
USA 27.5 – 28.35 GHz and 37 – 40 GHz pre-commercial
deployments in 2018
Korea 26.5 – 29.5 GHz trials in 2018 and commercial deployments in
2019
Japan 27.5 – 28.28 GHz trials planned from 2017 and potentially
commercial deployments in 2020
China Focusing on 24.25 – 27.5 GHz and 37 – 43.5 GHz studies
Sweden 26.5 – 27.5 GHz awarding trial licenses for use in 2018 and
onwards
EU 24.25 – 27.5 GHz for commercial deployments from 2020
Other bands of interest
600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.5 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz for
both traditional and new non-traditional applications and are key to deliver
necessary 5G broadband coverage for applications such as internet of things (IoT),
industry automation, and business critical use cases.
27

Triple-layer concept

28
Agenda

b. Cognitive radio

29

Cognitive radio

Underutilization of licensed spectrum

• Licensed portions of the spectrum are underutilized.

– According to FCC, only 5% of the spectrum from 30 MHz to 30
GHz is used in the US.
30
Cognitive radio
• Intelligent devices coexisting with licensed users without affecting their QoS.
– Primary users: licensed users have higher priority.
– Secondary users: cognitive radios access the spectrum in an opportunistic way.
• Networks of cognitive radios could function at licensed portions of the
spectrum.
– Demand to access the ISM bands could be reduced.
Restrictions to secondary users
• Licensed portions of the spectrum consists of frequency bands
that belong to one of the following categories:
– White spaces: Primary users are absent. These bands can be utilized
without any restriction.
– Gray spaces: Primary users are present. Interference power at primary
receivers should not exceed a certain threshold called interference
temperature limit.
– Black spaces: Primary user’s power is very high. Secondary users should
use an interference cancellation technique in order to communicate.

31

Cognitive radio

• Secondary users can identify white, gray and black spaces and adapt
according to the corresponding restrictions.

32
 Agenda

c. 5G RAN technologies for

capacity enhancements

33

Physical Layer Features to Improve Capacity

Advanced physical layer techniques:
 Higher-order modulation and coding schemes (MCS), such as 256-
quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM),
 mMIMO (64x64 tested) to include AR, VR, …
 Add some intelligence at the transmitter and receiver to coordinate
and cancel potential interference at the receiver,
 Introduce new schemes such as non-orthogonal multiple access
(NOMA),
 Filter bank multicarrier (FBMC),
 Sparse coded multiple access (SCMA),
 Advanced power control,
 Successive interference cancelling (SIC).
SIC + NOMA can Improve overall throughput in macrocells compared
to orthogonal multiple access schemes by up to 30 percent even for
high-speed terminals.
34
3 Dimensions for Capacity Enhancements

35

Technology components for the evolution to 5G wireless access

• Multi-antenna transmission

• Ultra-lean design: minimize transmissions

not directly related to the delivery of user
data (i.e., synchronization, network
acquisition and channel estimation, broadcast
of different types of system and control
information)  control signals deactivated if
the cell is empty.

36
Technology components for the evolution to 5G wireless access
• User/Control separation

• Flexible spectrum usage: spectrum sharing between a limited set of

operators, operation in unlicensed spectrum.
• Flexible duplex

• Direct D2D communication

• Access/Backhaul integration:
wireless-access link and wireless
backhaul integrated (same
technology) and operate using a
common spectrum pool.
37

Agenda

d. Multiple Access Techniques

38
Candidate multiple access techniques
 Filtered-OFDM (Filtered-Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing), allows inter-sub band non-orthogonality,
 SCMA (Sparse Code Multiple Access), enables intra-sub band
non-orthogonality
 UFMC (Universal Filtered Multi Carrier)
 GFDM (Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing).
With:
• Channel code Polar Code,
• Full-duplex mode,
• Massive MIMO technology.

39

Non Orthogonal Multiple Access

40
 Non Orthogonal Multiple Access
Transmission
U2 -b +b

U1 -a +a P2=P1
P1

Reception at the base station

+a +a -a -a

+ + + +
+b -b +b -b

= = = =
a+b
a-b -a+b -a-b
41

Non Orthogonal Multiple Access

Transmission
P2>P1 U2

-b +b
P1
U1
-a +a

Reception (U1 side)

+b +b -b -b

+ + + +
+a -a +a -a

= = = =
a+b
b-a -b+a -a-b
42
 Non Orthogonal Multiple Access
Transmission
P2>P1 U2

-b +b
P1
U1
-a +a

Initial transmission power

Received power
Reception (U2 side)

+b +b -b -b

+ + + +
+a -a +a -a

= = = =
b-a
a+b -b+a -a-b
43

3D beamforming and cell

concept change

44
Beamforming and Array Antennas

45

3D Beamforming

46
Moving cell concept

47

UP and CP separation

48
 Control–data separation architecture (CDSA)
• Has a built-in feature to support the network-driven sleep mode
methods with a lower delay, lower on/off oscillations, a higher
energy efficiency, and a higher QoS.

49

CDSA Savings
• An LTE Pico BS without load consumes 92.9% of the
power consumed by a fully loaded Pico BS (EARTH
power model)
• BSs consume a significant amount of power in low-traffic
hours and active/idle (sleep) mode as the main dc–dc
power supply and the BB components must stay on
• The baseline power consumption of a small BS in sleep
mode could reach about 50% of the peak value
• The BS sleep modes provide throughput gains of 10–
20% when the small BSs are switched on whenever a UE
is associated with them (even if the UE is idle, as in the
conventional RAN). When the small BSs are switched on
only when there are active UE devices (as in the CDSA),
the throughput gain reaches 30–110%.
50
Cell concept changes

51

Cloud RAN

52
 BS architecture evolution

RF RF RRU
Coaxial cable RRU

Synchronisation

Baseband
Transport
Control
Synchronisation

Baseband
Transport
Control

PA
RF

RF RRU

BS with RRU
Traditional BS
Optical fibre
Remote Radio
Synchronisation

Baseband
Transport

Head (RRH) or
Control

S1/X2 RF RRU
Remote Radio
Unit (RRU) =
remote radio
transceiver. C-RAN with RRU 53

C-RAN

C-RAN allows significant savings in OPEX and CAPEX.

Ex. China Telecom: 53% savings in OPEX and 30% in CAPEX. 54
 Elimination of cell boundaries

• Classical networks: devices associate with a

cell.

• 5G = virtualized device centric network:

access point(s) associated with the device.
The cell moves with and always surrounds
the device.

55

xRAN, Open vRAN and

Open RAN Initiatives

56
 xRAN, Open vRAN and Open RAN
Virtualizing the RAN = lower operator capex and opex costs + new
capabilities Three different groups:
 xRAN Forum (2016): open alternative to the traditional HW-based
RAN (AT&T, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, NTT Docomo, SK
Telecom, Telstra, and Verizon). 3 areas:
• Decouple the RAN control plane from the user plane,
• Build a modular eNodeB software stack that uses COTS (common-off-the-
shelf) HW,
• Publish open north- and south-bound interfaces.
 Telecom Infra Project’s OpenRAN Group (2016): Disaggregation of
SW and HW (Facebook, Intel, Nokia, Deutsche Telekom, and SK
Telecom + more than 500 Internet companies, telcos, vendors, and
system integrators).
 Open vRAN (MWC 2018): New open virtualized RAN (vRAN).
Assemble an open and modular RAN architecture, based on general
purpose processing platforms (GPPP) and disaggregated software,
that will support different use cases. Cisco’s initiative. 57

OpenRAN

• Architecture for software-defined

RAN via virtualization
• Achieves complete virtualization
and programmability vertically, and
benefits the convergence of
heterogeneous network horizontally
• Provides open, controllable, flexible
and evolvable wireless networks
58
Evolution of RAN architecture

Typical RAN Virtualized RAN (vRAN)

Open RAN: Disaggregating Hardware and Software

59

Different Types of Network Architectures

Whitebox RAN = All-in-one GPP based base station

•But you can have a Whitebox RRU + COTS BBU

60
 Basics: GPP vs SPP
A general purpose processor (GPP) is generally called a
Central Processing Unit (CPU). Examples: Intel x86, ARM,
MIPS, SPARC, RISC-V
True hardware / software disaggregation possible
The main advantage of GPP is that:
 Due to large volumes, economy of scale is achievable
 Costs are lower in high volumes
 Faster pace of innovation due to software-driven
development.
A single purpose processor (SPP) has a limited number of
functions and would be optimized for a specific area.
Example: a MAC processor from DSP.
It runs much faster than running the same algorithm on a
general CPU and would use a lot less power.
61

Evolution to 5G OpenRAN
•3GPP introduced the DU
and CU concept as the
evolution path toward
vRAN
•Introduction of midhaul
provides more flexibility for
transport options

Example Scenario: 5G
OpenRAN Deployment
Model

OpenRAN Software (CU)

OpenRAN Software (DU)

OpenRAN RRU
62
Software-defined RAN

63

OpenRAN Alliance

64
 Quiz 2
1. What are the 3 means R15 introduces to improve spectrum
usage?
2. What are the 3 spectrum types and bands in 5G?
3. What is the 5G core spectrum band?
4. What are the 3 frequency bands categories in cognitive
radio?
5. What is the triple-layer concept (frequency bands and
usage)?
6. What are the 3 ways for capacity enhancement?
7. What are xRAN, Open vRAN and Open RAN groups main
objective and based technique?
8. What is a GPP?
9. What is a SPP?
10. Who are the members types of the OpenRAN Alliance? 65

Agenda

III. Concepts and Technologies

66
 Future cellular systems technologies

UDN (Ultra Dense Networks)

Massive MIMO

mmWave and/or TeraHertz communications

67

Automation framework for E2E 5G service lifecycle

Foundational components for the deployment:
• Orchestrator: to orchestrate cross domain activities related to design
and configuration of a service. Template-driven automated creation of
a network slice covering xHaul, core, data center, 5G PC and
programmable radio functions
• VNF Manager: integrates with orchestrator(s) and virtual infrastructure
manager (e.g., OpenStack)
• Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM): to control and manage NFVI
resources (compute, storage and networks)
• Data Collection and Analytics Platform: telemetry-based data
collection, ingestion, normalization, consumption and analysis.
Supports applications for use cases (real-time monitoring, network
auto-healing, on-demand capacity optimization)
• SDN Controller
• Workflow Manager: for workflow and process automation. Provides
the frontend for service creation and change management to the
operator and hides the underlying complexity of multiple operational
and change management processes. 68
Disruptive Technology Directions for 5G
• Full duplex

• NOMA multiplexing

• QAM256
69

Disruptive Technology Directions for 5G

• Flexible and powerful nodes at the edge:
 Offload the traffic from the core network,
 Manage data flows efficiently by dynamically adjusting network
resources to insure high QoE for each application flow.
• Mobile Edge Computing: More content cached at the edge (reduces core
network traffic at BH and reduces latency).

• Optimized content delivery, Pre-caching of user generated content and

Internet content based on estimated popularity, social trends and used
presence and preferences. Better utilize network pipelines based on
context information.
70
Disruptive Technology Directions for 5G
Carrier aggregation
2015: 10 MHz at Band 5 (850 MHz), 20 MHz at Band 7 (2600 MHz) and 10
MHz at Band 1 (2100 MHz)
2016: commercially used in tens of mobile networks (South Korea, Japan, …)
DL 3-CC CA deployed in some areas of South Korea.

71

Agenda

c. Network main features

72
 1 ms latency: the main disruptive feature of 5G

• Tactile internet (IEEE) =

dealing with processes or
objects in perceived real
time.
• Catch a falling object
remotely,
• Control a connected car at
an intersection.
• Will be used in areas such as automation, education,
entertainment, gaming, farming, health care, industrial
transportation, …
• Enables humans to control robots remotely in real time.
73

Main techniques to reduce the latency

Technique
Extension of semi-persistent scheduling
Shorter transmission intervals
Shorter processing times
Periodic UL grants (1 ms periodicity)
Overbooking of UL resources with
different RS settings
Shorter TTI (e.g., 2 OFDM symbols)
Grant-free UL transmission
Flexible frame structure for TDD
Frequent transmission opportunities
Flexible transmission duration
Reduced processing time at the UE/gNB
Impact
Faster UL access
Reduced transmission delay
Reduced data delivery
Transmission without SR delay
Reduced access waiting time
Reduced data transmission and
processing delays
No waiting
Reduced transmission times
Reduced waiting time
Allows short transmission times
Reduced transmission delay
74
 Fog and Edge computing

The difference between fog and edge computing = where that intelligence and
computing power is placed

• Fog computing pushes

intelligence down to
the local area network
level of network
architecture, processing
data in a fog node or
IoT gateway.

• Edge computing pushes the intelligence, processing power and communication

capabilities of an edge gateway or appliance directly into devices like programmable
automation controllers (PACs).

75

5G Core Elements

• SDN =
Data and IT decoupling of
systems
Layer2/3 from
physical HW
SDN Evolution 5G • NFV = decoupling
SW applications/
functions from
NFV
HW
SDN: allows to implement slicing on the basis of NFV.
NFV: replaces the traditional NE (MME, PCRF, P/S-GW, RAN) by NFs in the cloud
76
 5G Networks Architecture

Cloud (network protocols, users data,

applications, services, …)

Transport (core IP, backbone FO)

PGW AC GGSN
BAS

LTE-A 77
WiFi/WiMax xDSL/LAN GPRS/UMTS

Virtualized, sliced, future 5G networks will collect, carry, store and process part of the data
77

Agenda

d. 5G Roadmap

78
 ITU-R WP5D

ITU-R WP 5D timeline for IMT-2020

Detailed specifications for the terrestrial radio interfaces
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
WRC-15 WRC-19

5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D 5D

#18 #19 #20 #21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #31bis #32 #33 #34 #35 #36

Report: Technical
Technology trends performance Proposals IMT-2020
(M.2320) requirements
(M.2410) Evaluation
Report: IMT feasibility above
6 GHz (M.2376) Evaluation criteria &
Consensus building
method (M.2412)
Recommendation: Vision of Outcome &
Requirements,

Workshop
IMT beyond 2020 (M.2083) decision
evaluation criteria, &
submission templates
Modifications of
(M.2411) IMT-2020
Resolutions 56/57
specifications
Circular Letters &
Addendum

Background & process

• Initial technology submission: Meeting 32 (June 2019)

• Detailed specification submission: Meeting 36 (October 2020)
79

Techniques evolution from 2G to 5G

Domain 2G 5G Gains
MIMO • Increase cell capacity
Antennas Single or diversity (2)
Beamforming • Interference mitigation
Cells Fixed area Elastic cells • Improved QoE
GMSK or 8-PSK (3 256-QAM (8
Modulation • Improved cell capacity
bits/symbol) bits/symbol)
Unique code rate (1/2) Turbo coding • Improved cell capacity
Coding
Convolutional and block AMC • Improved QoS
• Cost reduction
Switching Circuit and packet Packet only
• Increased flexibility
• New services
Latency Tens of ms 0.5 to 1 ms
• Improved QoE
Multiple access TDMA, CDMA OFDMA, NOMA • Improved capacity

Static, SW and HW in • Flexibility, efficiency,

the same location costs, energy savings,
Architecture Softwarisation
Strong dependence to increased independence
the vendors from vendors
80
Agenda

Thank you!

81