IoT: How 5G differs from LTE Page 13 How to improve 5G coverage and capacity Page 24 The challenges of building

ding a 5G base station Page 36

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 5G HANDBOOK
WELCOME TO OUR FIRST 5G HANDBOOK
5G is more than another wireless technology. It’s changed
the radio, the access network, the spectrum, and the network
core. It might even change our lives.
That’s why EE World created 5G Technology World. We cover 5G
technologies on engineering terms. The site launched in January
2020, just as COVID-19 emerged. Since then, we’ve grown into
a resource you can trust for solid technical information relating to
most aspects of 5G.
Why most? Because we hear much about how 5G covers
computing, software, IT issues, and business applications. That’s
not us. People who work higher up the protocol stack assume that
the technology below it works perfectly all the time. We don’t.
The articles in this ebook cover a wide range of 5G topics. We
look at the practical issues of radio and network design and test.
From the wireless perspective, “How to improve 5G coverage
and capacity” looks at how engineers can overcome signal
limitations imposed by mmWave signals on the user side. Available
bandwidth limits capacity. That’s where dynamic spectrum sharing
helps, explained in “DSS lets 5G and LTE share spectrum.”
When it comes to base stations, “The challenges of building a
5G base station” covers the physical layer of 5G radios. That layer
includes the radio’s DSP, often called the higher physical layer.
Two articles in this handbook cover timing, which gained
importance in 5G. “Meet timing requirements in 5G networks”
addresses RF timing, which must be stable enough to meet
network time error requirements. “How timing sources
synchronize open RAN networks” explains that because time-
division duplex (TDD) depends on an
understanding of timing, the network
uses IEEE 1588 Precision Timing
Protocol to synchronize
transmitted and received
signals. While time-
based synchronization is
becoming more common
in the network, frequency-
ITOR
• ED
WE
RO
TIN
MAR
2 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021
based synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) is also critical to system
synchronization.
In Open RAN, some functions need not reside at the tower.
They can reside elsewhere. That’s the functional-split concept.
“Functional Splits, the foundation of an Open 5G RAN” explains
the tradeoffs in locating functions in different locations. “Open
RAN functional splits, explained.” And article not found in the
handbook but available on 5G Technology World and EE World,
continues the discussion. “Deploying and maintaining an Open
RAN network” takes you through the components of Open RAN.
Base-station electronics use power, generate heat, and add
weight to towers. “Size, weight, power, and heat affect 5G base
station designs” takes you into the radio, stressing why these
issues pose new design challenges with 5G.
IoT devices are coming to 5G and they need antennas. “5
tips for designing with embedded antennas” shows you how
to connect and position antennas in your device. 5G’s wireless
technology differs from that of 4G and “IoT: How 5G differs from
LTE” explains those differences.
Remember that those who work at the upper protocol
layers assume everything below works perfectly. To assure that,
engineers need to test components, subsystems, systems, and
networks. Devices that use mmWave signals require over-the-air
testing, as “Why 5G needs over-the-air testing” explains. The
5G New Radio must comply with industry standards, covered in
“5G radios increase emphasis on compliance testing.” Finally,
“Simulate, test, and verify to solve 5G RF design Problems”
brings the mmWave design cycle together.
You can read these articles, plus others, at
5gtechnologyworld.com and eeworldonline.com. We always
welcome contributed technical articles. Contact me at mrowe@
wtwhmedia.com. Let’s talk.
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 CONTENTS 5G HANDBOOK • MAY 2021

02 Welcome to our first 5G handbook 30 Deploying and maintaining an

Open RAN network
06 Why 5G needs over-the-air testing Open radio access networks offer advantages in locating
Over-the-air testing requires different antenna setups network functions of proprietary RANs. Automation
for 5G FR1 and FR2. Temperature is a significant factor in and orchestration let telecom networks do what computing
calibration and validation. networks have dome for years.

10 Simulate, test, and verify to solve 36 The challenges of building a 5G base station
5G RF design problems To meet 3GPP specifications, a 5G New Radio (NR)
Performing these three steps can improve mmWave implementation must meet demanding processing
and beamforming performance. requirements and RF capabilities. Compared to LTE, this results
in a need for higher performing, more flexible 5G NR hardware.
13 IoT: How 5G differs from LTE
5G extends its scope beyond consumer to many new 41 5 tips for designing with embedded antennas
vertical and enterprise markets. Thanks to its flexibility Designing an antenna into a wireless embedded or IoT device
and improved performance, 5G opens the door to many requires special care to maximize performance.
industrial applications.
44 5G radios increase emphasis on
16 Size, weight, power, and heat affect 5G compliance testing
base station designs Compared to 4G and previous generations, 5G’s mmWave
Engineers designing 5G base stations must contend
frequencies and tight integration increase the complexity of
with energy use, weight, size, and heat, which impact
both performance and regulatory compliance testing.
design decisions.

20 DSS lets 5G and LTE share spectrum 47 Meet timing requirements in 5G networks
Dynamic spectrum sharing of 5G and LTE networks 5G needs tighter timing requirements than do 4G networks.
addresses the need for spectrum, particularly at The timing must perpetuate from the radio throughout the
mid-band frequencies. Here’s how it works. telecom network core.

24 How to improve 5G coverage and capacity 50 How timing sources synchronize

The laws of physics work against RF engineers, forcing open RAN networks
design tradeoffs in mmWave systems. Beam steering, IEEE 1588 PTP and SyncE protocols keep radio units, switches
frequency reuse, and greater spectral efficiency can help. and distribution units in sync.

27 Functional Splits, the foundation of

an Open 5G RAN
The open standards for radio access networks offer options
for locating network functions. These functional split options
depend on network services and available transport links.

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5

 5G HANDBOOK
WHY 5G NEEDS OVER-THE-AIR TESTING
Over-the-air testing requires different antenna setups for 5G FR1 and
FR2. Temperature is a significant factor in calibration and validation.
As 5G is brings changes in wireless
communications to consumers and
businesses, it also brings changes in
how engineers perform tests. The tight
integration in 5G user equipment means
that wired testing is no longer viable. Thus,
over the air (OTA) testing is now essential.
How you set up these tests greatly affects
test results. Temperature plays a role, too.
In 3G and earlier wireless networks, wireless
terminals, handhelds, cell phones, and UEs
were tested using hard-wired or cabled
connections. This was sufficient because the
main cause of transceiver failures were high
mobile speeds (also known as Doppler effects)
causing shorter coherence times (the time
when a channel is constant). This produced
estimation errors and a high delay spread,
which caused inter-symbol interference due
Figure 1. Device tests: OTA tests
the entire device performance
whereas conductive tests are
a subset of OTA tests, omitting
antennas and antenna arrays.
6 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
to large echoes of the signal. None of these
issues are antenna dependent.
4G introduced multiple input-multiple
output (MIMO), an antenna technology where
multiple antennas appear at both the source
(transmitter) and destination (receiver). On top
of the Doppler and delay spread, a device’s
transceiver needed testing against correlation:
a metric of how well two or more signals can
be separated in the same frequency band.
Correlation is a function of the antenna and
propagation, thus in addition to propagation,
tests must include the antennas. Therefore,
over-the-air methodologies (Figure 1) became
mandatory to test these devices.
In 5G, the antenna is even more
predominant because of massive MIMO, which
uses the spatial domain to deliver the signal.
Therefore, antennas (now an antenna array) are
an integral part of the transceiver performance.
5 • 2021
JP Nuutinen, Spirent Communications
WHAT IS MIMO OTA TESTING?
MIMO over the air (OTA) testing lets engineers
test a device in a controlled and accurate
environment by subjecting it to a realistic
propagation environment that encompasses
temporal and spatial dispersion. MIMO OTA
is the only way to holistically test a device.
5G MIMO OTA is subdivided into two main
categories: FR1 (Frequency range 1, fc at or
below 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (Frequency range
2, fc at or above 24.25 GHz). In both cases,
a MIMO OTA test system consists of the
following components:
• A network emulator, capable of making
an active connection to the device
under test (cell phone, tablet),
• A 5G channel emulator, capable of
creating the desired propagation
environment,
• Power amplifier modules,
• Frequency converters (for FR2)
• An anechoic chamber. A simplified
schematic is shown in Figure 2.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

Figure 2. Schematic of an FR2 MIMO OTA system, which includes a gNB emulator,
channel emulator, and anechoic chamber with the device under test.
Critical to the design of such a chamber is correct radiator antenna
probe placement. Probe locations (and power weights) are defined by
propagation models. In industry standards, a subset of 5G channel models
is used to optimize the probe locations to create the appropriate signal
distribution in space [Ref. 1]. Thus, designing a MIMO OTA system always
requires a deep understanding of radio channel modelling [Ref. 2].
TESTING 5G NR FR1 VS. 5G NR FR2
In 5G NR FR1, MIMO OTA tests are compatible to 4G tests; the only
difference is that the probe layout is a 2D ring using 16 dual polarized
probes in a circle, while 4G MIMO OTA uses eight dual polarized
probes in a 2D ring (Figure 3). The main motivation of this choice
was the compatibility to 4G and the fact that 5G NR FR1 devices are
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
OTA TESTING
primarily used in MIMO mode, not beamforming mode. The key device
performance characterization metric, or figure of merit (FoM) used in
both 4G LTE and 5G NR FR1 is spatial correlation. FoM is function of
angular spread and antenna array element orientation and separation.
In 5G NR FR2, the probe layout is completely different due to
design around a different FoM called power angular spectrum similarity
percentage (PSP), which expresses the beamformer’s ability to estimate
the appropriate power angular spread. PSP characterization can be
achieved in a much smaller footprint and results in the configuration of
a 3D wall optimized to support two channel models from the 3GPP 5G
channel model definitions. The layout is heavily affected by gNodeB
beamforming. A typical gNodeB is an 8x16 array, which results in high
spatial filtering when applied to any channel model. After this spatial
filtering occurs, only 1-2 clusters remain. Therefore, only
a small wall is sufficient for probe placement and the
size of the associated chamber is also relatively
small. If a device under test is placed in radiated
near field conditions, only nulls are affected.
Many studies show that a 75 cm distance
is sufficient to accurately test a handheld
device with this method [Ref. 3].
Figure 3. 2D probe layouts for 5G NR
FR1 and 4G LTE MIMO OTA testing.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 7
 5G HANDBOOK
MIMO OTA TEST SYSTEM DESIGN
In the design of any test system, the first thing to consider is link
budget. That is, does the device under test and the network emulator
get sufficient power levels to receive and decode the signal and is
there enough margin to vary the signal levels? In OTA tests, the main
consumer of the link budget is the air link between the probe antenna
and device under test. Thus, you need a power amplifier to compensate
for the large air loss. This is specifically important in a 5G NR FR2
system, where path loss is very high.
Next, you must choose propagation models. The propagation
models define how the probe antennas are distributed and weighted
in the chamber. The original model needs mapping to a spatially
discretised probe-antenna constellation. This requires a deep
Figure 5. Throughput vs
power level results for a
selected channel model.
8 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021
Figure 4. 3D probe layout for 5G NR FR2 testing.
understanding of the channel models and how to translate that into
chamber design.
The system needs calibration and validation. Calibration ensures
alignment of phase and amplitude in the test volume (area where the
device under test is placed). Calibration is time consuming and requires
expertise on using the instrumentation. Validation, on the other hand,
is the process that verifies the system creates the desired propagation
conditions (level, polarization, temporal, and spatial aspects) in the test
volume. Both system understanding as well as propagation testing skills
are needed for this exercise.
Typically, a MIMO OTA system is unidirectional, meaning only
downlink signals are faded. That’s because MIMO OTA stresses the
device receiver. Uplink signals aren’t faded, simply because your goal
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
 OTA TESTING

isn’t to test the network emulator. It is, however, mandatory to have an
active connection to the device under test. Thus, both the uplink and
downlink must be part of the test system. How, then, do you separate
the uplink from the downlink in the system?
For FR1 tests, you should use a communication antenna located
close to the device under test. Engineers have used this method for
many years with 4G MIMO OTA testing. For 5G NR FR2, however, the
device under test uses beamforming. Signals from the DUT are spatially
selective and some directions are less favorable for establishing a
connection than others. Thus, you can no longer use a single (or dual)
communication antenna for the uplink. Instead, you must use multiple
antennas to establish the uplink connection. Alternatively, you can use
the same antennas for the uplink and downlink, but that requires precise
timing to switch between the two directions. In principle, the switch
should be synchronized to transmitted slots and must be configured
to different uplink and downlink transmission structures (i.e., heavy
downlink traffic, heavy uplink traffic, balanced traffic).
Next, you must consider phase drift over the time. All instruments
in the test system should connect to the same master clock (or 10 MHz
reference signal). Doing so becomes important in 5G NR FR2 because
the DUT uses a beamformer. Beamforming results from controlling the
phase (and amplitude) of the transmitted signal, thus any phase change
in the test system will modify the received signal. Therefore, you must
ensure that phase is stable over time, with no drift introduced; this is
addressed as part of the system validation and bring up. At Spirent,
we found that temperature is the most important factor in maintaining
phase stability. If the room temperature remains constant, the phase will
remain stable for days. Temperature is the main reason for abrupt phase
changes in instruments.
Lastly, all MIMO OTA test systems need software, commonly known
as the test executive. The test executive not only takes care of running
the test cases, but also calibration, validation, progress monitoring,
reporting test results, and informing the user of any failures.
REFERENCES
1. Standard 5G channel propagation models are defined in several 3GPP
specifications, dependent upon the frequency range and environment of
interest - https://www.3gpp.org/specifications-groups/ran-plenary/ran4-
radio-performance-and-protocol-aspects
2. J.P. Nuutinen, D. Reed, A. Rodriguez-Herrera,”5G MIMO
OTA Testing on Frequency Range 2 (FR2)”, URSI GASS 2020,
Rome, Italy http://www.ursi.org/proceedings/procGA20/papers/
URSIGASSSummaryPaperNuutinenReedHerrera.pdf
3. 3GPP RAN4, “R4-1915062 Range length and probe layout
considerations in 5G NR FR2” Spirent Communications, November
2019, Reno, TX https://portal.3gpp.org/ngppapp/TdocList.
aspx?meetingId=32851
JP Nuutinen is an industry-renowned subject matter expert in radio
channel emulation with over 20 years of experience in engineering
and research and is currently focused on cellular base station
(gNodeB) and device test methodology for 5G technologies. Born
in Valkeakoski, Finland, JP holds both Masters and Licentiate
Technology degrees from Tampere
University of Technology. He has
more than 20 granted patents in
addition to over 30 authored or
co-authored publications.

TESTS AND RESULTS

Typical FR2 MIMO OTA tests cover throughput vs. power (i.e.,
energy per resource element or EPRE) and throughput vs. signal over
interference and noise ratio (SINR) with varying channel models. The
plot in Figure 5 shows how the throughput increases as power level
increases until reaching a plateau.
The architecture of a MIMO OTA test system is determined by the
target frequency range. With 5G NR FR1, the test chamber size is large
(roughly 16 ft W x 10 ft H x 16 ft D or 5 m x 3 m x 5 m) and typically
requires customized construction and a great deal of space to be
accommodated. Therefore, a system integrator typically needs to lead
the delivery. However, with 5G NR FR2, the chamber size is relatively
small (roughly 3 ft W x 4 ft H x 2 ft D or about 1 m x 1.2 m x 0.6 m) so
that the complete system can fit into a standard lab space.

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 9

 5G HANDBOOK
SIMULATE, TEST, AND VERIFY TO
SOLVE 5G RF DESIGN PROBLEMS
Performing these three steps can improve mmWave and beamforming performance. Xiang Li, Keysight Technologies
The year 2020 saw the first deployed
5G networks that use millimeter-wave
(mmWave) technology. Tests have found
that mmWave achieved greater than 1 Gbps
downlink speed and up to 3 Gbps peak
speed [Ref. 1]. The good news: download
speed on a 5G mmWave network is 20 times
faster than on a 4G LTE network. Tests have
also found that 5G mmWave can cover an
entire football stadium - including the park-
ing lot - with only one frequency band to
deliver ten times throughput capacity than
LTE networks.
The downside: mmWave signals have a
shorter range and don’t penetrate obstacles
compared to LTE and 5G low-band and mid-
band frequencies. The benefits of mmWave,
however, far outweigh these drawbacks.
Massive worldwide deployment of mmWave
is happening. The real question is how do we
minimize these impediments of mmWave when
it comes to 5G device designs?
SPURIOUS HARMONICS AND
INTERMODULATION INTERFERENCE
Nonlinearities in power amplifiers and mixers
crate unwanted signals that appear outside
the assigned channel, that interfere with other
channels. We refer to this intermodulation
interference as spurious harmonics. In Figure
1, all frequencies outside of the frequency
band of interest (the fundamental frequency)
become unwanted spurious harmonics.
Removing spurious harmonics from
mmWave signals is difficult because of the
short wavelength. Ignoring this issue in device
design could violate FCC emission rules on
allowable effective isotropic radiated power
(EIRP) [Ref. 2]. From an operational point
of view, interfering with nearby antenna
10 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
signal beams could cause other wireless
communication devices to malfunction.
Just as with other noise signals in wireless
communication, you can’t eliminate spurious
harmonics. Identifying the source of harmonics
and the interference they cause is difficult.
Even once you identify the source, you may
have a difficult time reducing its impact.
PERFORMANCE VERIFICATION WITH BEAMFORMING
The advantages of mmWave come not only
from wider spectrum availability, but from
more intelligent radio resource management
methods such as beamforming. The complexity
of the phased-array antenna system that
supports multiple connections simultaneously
requires a reliable performance verification
process. Engineers need to consider all real-
world scenarios and verify that a design works
properly before deployment.
One specific example involves accurately
verifying the performance of the beamforming
signal and antenna in the presence of proper
5 • 2021
Figure 1. Signal output power
from an amplifier can include
spurious harmonics interference.
channel models. Because base stations may
use a complicated phased-array digital,
analog, or hybrid beamforming technology, the
connecting 5G devices may use different types
of antennas depending on the applications.
Therefore, verifying the connection process
to find the optimal transmission channel
between a base station and a 5G device is
crucial, although difficult. With the ultra-short
wavelength of mmWave, base stations must
perform a computationally intensive process
of baseband precoding to select the optimal
precoding modulation to apply to the signal
streams for each user.
To achieve the best performance,
engineers also need to verify 4G and 5G
compatibility. Both the 5G infrastructure and
devices must support dual-mode 4G and 5G
operation to provide a quality user experience
in mixed-deployment networks.
Furthermore, we still have pre-coding
algorithms, RF phased-array multiple-input and
multiple-output (MIMO) system architecture
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

Figure 2. This lab environment lets
engineers test mmWave device designs.
at the base station, and multiple handset antenna placement and
radiation patterns to verify. If any of these aspects of 5G mmWave were
measured incorrectly, the whole design will fail. Once again, due to the
short wavelength of mmWave, setting up the verification can be very
challenging as well. A slight misalignment of the equipment can make a
significant difference in the results.
Figure 2 shows a common mmWave device laboratory testing
environment. The device under test is in the middle box, which will
radiate a signal to the reflector (curved object on the right), then arrive at
the receiving antenna, not shown in this photo. The red line represents
the signal path. Assume the test is under 100 GHz. That means the
wavelength of the signal is around 3 mm, and any misalignment around
3 mm will have a big impact on the test result’s accuracy. In practice, one
unnoticeable dent on the reflector, or if the curvature of the reflector is off
by a small fraction can lead to a false measurement.
Thus, it usually takes a long time to setup mmWave verification
testing and calibrate all the testing equipment. A real-world phase-
locked loop measurement can take six hours to set up and calibrate the
hardware. Completion of all verification tests can take considerably longer.
COMPACT PACKAGE ISSUES
Recall that mmWave signals have a very high path loss, meaning that
they cannot travel far, nor can they penetrate obstacles such as walls
or trees very well. To provide high data rates and support more traffic,
5G base stations use large amounts of energy. More cost and energy-
efficient 5G base stations ease the burden.
Producing more cost-efficient and energy-efficient base stations
sounds relatively easy. Not so. 5G mmWave base stations support much
wider spectrum than 4G base stations. Plus, 5G mmWave base stations
must support many more features than 4G base stations. Our goal as
engineers is to make 5G mmWave base stations as compact and as cost
effective as possible, without sacrificing any performance. To provide a
better sense of the dimensions involved, Figure 3 is a size comparison
between a phased-array chipset and a coin.
The parts in Figure 3 represent only a small part of a 5G picocell.
Ultimately, a fully functional 5G mmWave picocell should achieve over-
the-air rates of 100 Gb/s with kilometer coverage. In terms of reducing
deployment cost, designers should leverage low-cost and traditional
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
mmWAVE DESIGN PROCESS
manufacturing techniques without using exotic
packaging processes and materials.
PROTOTYPE TROUBLESHOOTING COMPLEXITY
This challenge may not sound as technical as any of
the previous challenges, but in practice it is just as
prevalent, and the impact could be worse than any of
the technical challenges.
As mentioned earlier, mmWave device design
requires engineers to measure and verify as many
RF device characteristics as possible, and there are
already many technical design challenges you need
to consider before a prototype device goes to the
verification phase. Furthermore, as the complexity
of wireless technology and application grows, it
requires different skillsets to do device design and
device verification. Many companies these days often
have designated - but separate - departments to work on design and
testing. In some cases, design teams and testing teams are even located
in different countries as Figure 4 shows. Therefore, exchanging ideas,
data, and knowledge between design and test teams might not be very
straightforward. Additional time maybe required due to knowledge,
functional, and even geographical gaps.
For instance, test engineers can perform antenna measurements, RF
parametric, and function/protocol testing. Performance issues not caused
by the testing setup can prove difficult to troubleshoot. Design engineers
and test engineers to must collaborate to resolve any design issue.
SIMULATION CAN HELP
Simulation lets engineers tackle the challenges posed by mmWave. Our
dependence on simulation will grow as mmWave devices become more
popular. Simulation may not solve all the challenges outlined above, but
it can certainly simplify the design process.
Beginning with spurious harmonics and intermodulation interference,
designers can use simulation tools to predict the frequency and direction.
Simulation can also help to identify the root cause of spatially radiated
spurious harmonics, including the components that generate them
and the signal paths used in the RF chain. Designers can also simulate
characterization of the spurious harmonics to assess their impact.
Regarding performance verification with beamforming, simulation
tools can greatly reduce development time by addressing the signal
visualization and verification of many different aspects of 5G end-to-
end systems. For example, a simulation tool can simulate 5G link-level
validation with a proper phased array antenna to verify the performance
of the beamforming design. 5G simulation tools can be used to
optimize time, frequency, and spatial resources.
For base station cost efficiency and footprint, designers can use
simulation tools to simulate major component blocks of their design, then
do a proper linearity and noise figure and gain simulation for the entire
system. System-level modeling and simulation allows designers to test
their designs against multiple variables, without physically setting up
testing equipment.
Simulation can also help with prototyping complexity. Design
engineers can simulate their design under over-the-air conditions to
find discrepancies and predict results. If the simulation and the testing
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 11
 5G HANDBOOK

environments are built on a common platform, it is much

easier for test engineers to tell if the simulation agrees with
the tested results. This makes it much easier to troubleshoot
remotely if the design engineers and test engineers are not in
the same physical location.

CONCLUSION
Higher frequency mmWave spectrum can deliver much faster
data rates with low latency, while offering greater traffic capacity.
These advantages of mmWave unleash the true potential of 5G.
In the 5G era, mmWave will play a very important role. It will be
heavily used in urban cities, indoor office spaces, transportation
hubs, and the industrial Internet of Things.
While mmWave does bring significant design challenges
to the table, its widespread deployment is inevitable. Device
makers and network equipment manufacturers can accelerate
their mmWave design cycles by adopting more simulation
solutions in their design workflows. At the same time, they
also need to improve simulation accuracy, and connect design Figure 3. A phased-array chipset makes up
simulation and prototype test workflows. Simulation provides some of the components in a picocell.
the shortest path to mmWave market-ready products without
extensive investment or sacrificing performance.

REFERENCES
1. Deploying mmWave to unleash 5G’s full potential,
Qualcomm, Nov. 10, 2020.
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2020/11/10/
deploying-mmwave-unleash-5gs-full-potential

2. Guidelines for Determining the Effective Radiated Power

(ERP) and Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power (EIRP) of a
RF Transmitting System, Federal Communications Commission
Publication 412172, https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/comments/
GetPublishedDocument.html?id=204&tn=255011

Xiang Li, Industry Solution Marketing Engineer, Keysight

Technologies. Xiang is an experienced wireless network
engineer with bachelor’s
and master’s degrees
in electrical engineering
from the University of
Manitoba.

Figure 4. Gaps in mmWave development workflow can hinder

communication between test engineer and design engineers.

12 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

 5G VS. LTE

IoT: HOW 5G DIFFERS FROM LTE

5G extends its scope beyond consumer to many new vertical and enterprise markets. Thanks to its
flexibility and improved performance, 5G opens the door to many industrial applications.
Guillaume Vivier, Sequans Communications

When researchers and engineers began developing 5G in 2012,
they began to look at use cases. The primary motivation for launch-
ing a new generation of wireless technology was insufficient spec-
trum. Most industry analysts predicted an explosion of data traffic
that would result in saturation of existing spectrum resources.
Another motivation arose from the expected tremendous growth in
the number of connected devices including many new device types
for machine type communications (MTC) and Internet of Things (IoT)
applications. This expansion gave rise to a variety of requirements that
4G missed. Here’s how 4G and 5G compare in relation to IoT.
5G’s definition took the shape of a now famous triangular icon
with three sides depicting the three main 5G components. The
triangle was subsequently modified, reused, and adapted by many
companies throughout the wireless industry. Figure 1 summarizes the
three 5G use cases.
• eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband. Somewhat the same as
4G, but with faster speed and larger capacity. eMBB supports
the accelerating growth in the number of consumer devices and
to mitigate the expected saturation of 4G networks.
• URLLC: Ultra Reliable, Low-Latency Communications. URLLC
fulfills requirements of vertical market segments such as
industrial, health, transportation, and aviation that have high
demands for low latency and high reliability. These new
use cases came from stakeholders outside of the traditional
telecommunications world, such as automotive and energy.
• mMTC: Massive Machine-Type Communications. mMTC
supports a massive number of connected objects. While not
necessarily requiring high data rates or low latency, these
connected objects have other demanding requirements such as
ultra-long battery life, small footprint, and simplicity needed to
enable connections for almost any kind of object.
higher speed, and lower latency. To improve the capacity, concluded
Shannon, one must either increase the bandwidth or improve the signal-
to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) [Ref. 1].
4G and 5G differ in their use of spectrum. To increase the bandwidth
for cellular, regulatory agencies look to repurpose spectrum from other uses.
In the U.S., for example, frequencies formerly used for broadcast TV are
allocated for cellular. While 4G resides mainly below 3.8 GHz, 5G uses bands
below 6 GHz (frequency range 1, FR1) and 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz (FR2).
In 4G, the use of unlicensed spectrum was introduced later in
development with LTE assisted access (LAA) and LTE in unlicensed bands
(LTE-U). In 5G, the use of unlicensed spectrum was considered early,
under the NR-U (new radio unlicensed) name.
More efficient modulation schemes can increase spectral efficiency,
resulting in the delivery of more bits per hertz. 5G uses 256 QAM and
1024 QAM, which provides greater spectral efficiency than lower-order
modulations. New waveforms, generalization of multiple-input, multiple-
output (MIMO) antenna schemes, and the introduction of improved
forward error correction (FEC) techniques help to improve SINR.
Many of 4G’s principles continue in 5G. For example, OFDM,
OFDMA, and MIMO all came from 4G, and the protocols are almost
identical [Ref. 2,3,4].
5G USAGE SCENARIOS

With so many use cases and requirements, 5G needed versatility

and support for these generally non-compatible requirements. These
requirements were key in driving innovation in 5G design.
The new requirements imposed on 5G include not only a new
radio (NR) interface. 5G adds an evolution in core network principles:
convergence of wireless and wireline systems, new radio access
networks (RANs) and new telecom network core architectures. These
aspects are beyond the scope of this article. Figure 1. The original 5G triangle, from Recommendation ITU-R M.2083 [ITU-R,
IMT Vision—Framework and overall objectives of the future development of
5G DESIGN PRINCIPLES IMT for 2020 and beyond]. Recommendation ITU-R M.2083, September 2015,
To meet the three main use case requirements, 5G NR needed more https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-M.2083/en]
flexibility and higher efficiency than 4G while providing more capacity,

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 13

 5G HANDBOOK

LTE VS. 5G communicating with each other. MTC was originally considered only
Because flexibility was deemed necessary to meet the needs of a wide for low-data-rate devices and applications, generally known as IoT.
variety of new use cases, the time-frequency grid must accommodate 5G NR opens the door for communication of more sophisticated and
different numerologies µ (from 0 to 4), corresponding to the subcarrier higher data rate objects that must meet stricter latency and reliability
spacing (SCS) of OFDM symbols. Numerology 0 refers to a subcarrier requirements. This corresponds to the URLLC side of the ITU triangle
spacing of 15 kHz (same as LTE). Numerology 1,2,3 and 4 correspond (Fig. 1). These more demanding objects are sometimes referred to as
respectively to 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz), resulting in industrial IoT or critical IoT objects to distinguish them from low profile
different slot durations (the number of OFDM symbols in a slot is kept IoT objects, mMTC.
constant at 14). Table 1 summarizes the numerology. With this flexibility, 3GPP defined 4G LTE in 2012 with Release 8. It was then improved
the NR frame design can accommodate low latency traffic (using very in subsequent releases, adding higher throughput and more features.
short slot durations), as well as variety of frequency bands (the higher Release 13 (2016) added two new flavors specifically defined to address
the frequency, the higher the SCS). IoT: Category M (LTE-M) and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT, category NB).
The former operates in regular LTE deployments, using the smallest
TABLE 1. VARIOUS NUMEROLOGIES IN 5G NR possible channel size (1.4 MHz) and the latter operates in a 180 kHz
channel. That lets it be deployed in standalone mode (typically reusing
Numerology (µ) 0 1 2 3 4 GSM channels), in regular LTE bands, or within LTE guard bands.
Think of LTE-M and NB-IoT as stripped-down versions of regular
Subcarrier Spacing (kHz) 15 30 60 120 240
LTE, with the design target being low cost, improved (indoor) coverage,
slot duration (ms) 1 0.5 0.25 0.125 0.0625 and very long battery life. That’s needed for battery-powered IoT
applications - utility meters, wearables, alarm panels, and asset trackers.
Nb slot per subframe 1 2 4 8 16 Primary design objectives of LTE-M and NB-IoT include:
Nb slot per frame 10 20 40 80 160
• Reduced cost, smaller footprint: LTE uses two antennas on
OFDM symbol duration (µs) 66.67 33.33 16.67 8.33 4.17 the device side. LTE-M and NB-IoT use one, simplifying signal
processing. Smaller channel sizes further simplify processing.
Cyclic Prefix duration (µs) 4.69 2.34 1.17 0.59 0.29
Eliminating the duplexer (the specific filter that protects the
OFDM symbol duration + CP 71.35 35.68 17.84 8.92 4.46 receive path from the transmit signal) also simplifies the design
in half-duplex FDD (HD-FDD), the mode used in LTE-M and
4G LTE protocol has two main frame structures: FDD and TDD. NB-IoT. This simplified design lets a single hardware design
In contrast, 5G NR has 56 slot formats currently defined that operate operate globally.
in either duplex mode, FDD, TDD, or even in self-contained slots that • Improved coverage. Removing one antenna negatively impacts
contain downlink and uplink symbols. Such self-contained slots enable receiver sensitivity. To compensate for this loss and improve
fast communication on the air interface, minimizing the transmission the coverage (as necessary for deep indoor deployments such
time interval (TTI). as smart meters), coverage enhancement (CE) modes were
Beamforming shows another difference. In 5G NR, all signals are introduced. CE modes are simply signal repetitions, a low-cost
beamformed, which provides better reach and limits the overhead technique for improving SINR.
(pilots are transmitted only when needed). The pilot structure is flexible, • Long battery life. New power-saving schemes and protocol
allowing adaptation to the channel characteristics. Front-loaded pilots optimizations let IoT devices enter deep sleep as fast as and for
let channel estimation occur first, and then demodulate received data as long as possible, resulting in reduced power consumption.
symbols on the fly, for faster demodulation.
Additional innovations accommodate operation in mmWave LTE-M is richer in capability than NB-IoT. It supports mobility, VoLTE,
bands. For instance, dedicated pilots such as phase reference symbols and a data rates up to 1 Mb/s while NB-IoT is limited to 30 kbps. NB-IoT
(PRS) counteract harmful phase noise. achieves theoretically better coverage and lower power consumption.
5G also introduces low density parity codes (LDPC) as forward- In Releases 14 and 15, 3GPP improved LTE-M and NB-IoT from
error-correction codes for the data channels and polar codes for the their initial release. When 3GPP submitted its proposal to ITU for 5G,
control channels. Though polar codes are quite novel, LDPC were it submitted NR for eMBB and URLLC, while LTE-M and NB-IoT were
already being used in Wi-Fi. accepted as already meeting the requirements for the mMTC aspects
While NR design didn’t introduce anything revolutionary, it is a of IMT-2020.
better version of 4G. It can deal with larger bandwidths and higher 3GPP introduced efficient solutions to connect classical objects.
frequency bands that LTE. Depending on the application, the user can select the most appropriate
The first definition of 5G NR in 3GPP was made in the context of cellular technology to connect objects, per application, as illustrated in
Release 15, completed in December 2017. For this release, the focus Figure 2. LTE-M and NB-IoT are officially part of 5G.
of standardization was on the eMBB use case, with some enablers for How can we ensure that all deployed objects using LTE-M, NB-IoT,
URLLC. 3GPP identified solutions for mMTC as LTE-M and NB-IoT, or even LTE Cat 1 have support going forward? In many applications,
which were defined in Release 13. This raises more general questions IoT connected objects are expected to live in the field for many years
about support of IoT in 5G. (utility meters) and some were originally designed to operate with a 4G
core network. The 5G core brings improvement, especially with respect
5G IOT SUPPORT to high-end quality of service, but does not bring any specific benefit to
4G LTE introduced MTC, which refers to two non-smartphone objects low-end IoT (and more problematic, some power optimization features

14 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com


5G & 4G IoT APPLICATIONS BY CATEGORY
NB-IoT | LTE-M | CAT 1 | CAT 4
Figure 2. Cellular IoT offers a solution for every use case.
were not supported in the Release 15 5G
core network). There are three options for this
problem:
• IoT devices can support both 4G and
5G core networks, which leads to
additional cost and complexity, thus
wiping out the low-cost advantages.
• Upgrade the devices over the air
with new firmware when switching
from a 4G to a 5G core, assuming an
immediate transition on the network
and the possibility to upload a
complete firmware over the air despite
a thin pipe.
• Network operators can continue to
support 4G core functionalities within
the 5G core, allowing easy support of
legacy LTE devices.
Option three is the most realistic.
5G: CRITICAL AND INDUSTRIAL IOT
5G NR brings significant improvements in
latency and data rate compared to 4G, and
these improvements are key in meeting the
strict requirements in vertical markets such as
factory automation (industry 4.0), transport,
energy, or entertainment, including augmented
and virtual reality. Most of these improvements
are defined within the context of the URLLC
side of the 5G triangle.
URLLC services are enabled by the
flexible frame structure (allowing a very short
TTI), preemptive scheduling, and anticipated
retransmission for fast turn-around, grant free
transmission, etc.
Cellular connectivity, especially in harsh
industrial environments, has an inherent
advantage over Wi-Fi and even wired
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
technologies. Wi-Fi is less secure and more
susceptible to interference than cellular by
design and wired technologies are less flexible
and more difficult to update or change in a
factory layout. Thus, 5G will be a key technology
for industrial applications, especially when
deployed as a private network where the
network owner has full network control.
In Release 16, 3GPP introduced a
dedicated working group to address Industrial
IoT. The work item introduced improved
reliability thanks to enhanced packet data
convergence protocol (PDCP, an upper layer
of the protocol stack) duplication, mechanisms
to prioritize traffic between UEs and within
a UE, and a means to support time sensitive
networking (TSN) [Ref. 5, 6].
TSN is a technique introduced by IEEE
802.1 group for an Ethernet wired network
that provides deterministic transmissions
by synchronizing various equipment
components to a single master clock [Ref. 7].
Mechanisms to ensure deterministic delays
and synchronization were defined by IEEE
and the objective of 3GPP was to adapt these
mechanisms to the wireless and 5G world.
Industrial IoT and its subsequent ongoing
work item in release 17 called in 3GPP Enhanced
IIoT complements URLLC and is expected to
fully support the most stringent requirements of
critical and industrial connected objects [Ref. 8].
5G will not replace 4G. Both will coexist
for a long time, especially for the LPWA
side of IoT for which LTE-M and NB-IoT will
remain the solution of choice. With 4G LTE
and 5G NR, 3GPP defined a unified toolbox
to support professional IoT and a wide range
of applications from very simple, low data
rate types of connected objects to high
performance industrial and critical IoT.
5 • 2021
5G VS. LTE
REFERENCES
1. Michelle Effros and H. Vincent Poor,
“Claude Shannon: His Work and Its Legacy,”
EMS Newsletter, March 2017, p.20.
https://www.itsoc.org/resources/Shannon-
Centenary/shannon-work-legacy-paper.
2. Bob Witte, “The basics of 5G’s
modulation, OFDM,” 5G Technology
World, April 16, 2020. https://
www.5gtechnologyworld.com/the-basics-
of-5gs-modulation-ofdm/
3. Bob Witte, “OFDMA improves spectrum
use in Wi-Fi 6,” 5G Technology
World, June 4, 2020. https://
www.5gtechnologyworld.com/ofdma-
improves-spectrum-use-in-wi-fi-6/
4. Bob Witte, “More antennas, faster data
transfer,” 5G Technology World, July 7,
2020. https://www.5gtechnologyworld.
com/more-antennas-faster-data-transfer/
5. See RP-200797.zip available at: https://
www.3gpp.org/ftp/TSG_RAN/TSG_RAN/
TSGR_88e/Docs/RP-200797.zip
6. Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)
specification (3GPP TS 38.323 version
15.2.0 Release 15), https://www.etsi.org/
deliver/etsi_ts/138300_138399/138323/15
.02.00_60/ts_138323v150200p.pdf.
7. Dave Cavalcanti, “Five reasons why TSN
over 5G promises timely deliveries,” 5G
Technology World, February 2, 2021.
https://www.5gtechnologyworld.com/
five-reasons-why-tsn-over-5g-promises-
timely-deliveries/
8. See RP-201310 available at https://
www.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_ran/TSG_RAN/
TSGR_88e/Docs/RP-201310.zip
Dr. Guillaume Vivier graduated from Telecom
Paris Tech and received his PhD degree
from Sorbonne University. After various
positions in Alcatel and Motorola, he joined
Sequans Communications to drive innovation
into products. Early 2014 he initiated 5G
activity to anticipate the ongoing development
of Sequans 5G products. As CTO, he is
constantly identifying new technological
trends and opportunities to support Sequans
future growth.
DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 15
 5G HANDBOOK
SIZE, WEIGHT, POWER, AND HEAT
AFFECT 5G BASE STATION DESIGNS
Figure 2. Streetlights support
small cells but provide little
space for radios and cables.
16 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
Dib Nath, Advanced Energy
Engineers designing 5G base stations must contend
with energy use, weight, size, and heat, which
impact design decisions.
5G New Radio (NR) uses Multi-User massive-MIMO
(MU-MIMO), Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB), and
beamforming with millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum up
to 71 GHz. These capabilities provide massive connectivity,
multi-gigabit speeds, and single-digit-millisecond latencies
that help distinguish 5G from 4G and older generation wireless
technologies. Unfortunately, they present design challenges
focused on power, heat, size, and weight.
5G NR brings fundamental changes to the gNodeB’s power
amplifier (PA) and power-supply unit (PSU). These changes
directly affect operators’ capital expenditures (capex),
operational expenditures (opex), and their ability to provide the
coverage and quality that customers demand.
In 2G, 3G and 4G, the PA and PSU were separate
components, each with its own heatsink (Figure 1). For a variety of
reasons, many infrastructure OEMs are considering integrating the PSU
into the gNodeB, where it will share a heatsink with the remote radio unit
(RU) PA in so-called active antenna units (AAU). This change creates a host of
design considerations and challenges.
REDUCE ELECTRICITY USE
Power consumption is one major reason for these changes. Electricity currently
is 5% to 6% of a mobile operator’s opex, according to MTN Consulting [Ref. 1].
5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

Energy use will increase dramatically with 5G because a typical gNodeB
uses at least twice as much electricity as its 4G counterpart, MTN says.
Higher opex makes it difficult for operators to price their 5G
services competitively and profitably. Some operators have tried to rein
in their 5G electricity opex by using 8T8R and 32T32R MIMO systems
rather than 64T64R — a compromise that can undermine performance.
Even so, the additional PAs and additional signal processing needed
in these MIMO AAUs drive up the power requirements, yet additional
space and cooling aren’t provided.
These challenges might come as a surprise because 5G is promoted
as being more energy efficient than 4G. This comparison, however, is
based on the number of bits of data delivered for a given unit of energy
consumed. Using mmWave will require multiple small cells, which will
result in higher overall energy consumption even though it’s more efficient
in transmitting data than previous generation wireless technologies.
Equipment manufacturers have been looking at ways to reduce this
energy consumption to help operators lower their carbon footprint.
For example, 4G radios are always on (e.g., transmitting reference
signals to detect users), even when traffic levels don’t warrant it, such as
in the middle of the night. 5G base stations can analyze traffic patterns
and determine periods of low data-traffic, when it may be suitable to
shut down into a “sleep mode.” An example being considered during
this time is to power down the radio in the range of 5 msec to 100 msec,
and then enable it to see if there are any active devices within range,
ensuring that the network is always available for 911 calls and time-
sensitive IoT transmissions.
Known as “pulse power,” this technique reduces opex by minimizing
energy consumption as only the essentials of the cell site remain powered
during the sleep mode. This technique will result in lower average energy
consumption and result in lower operating costs for the operators.
Infrastructure OEMs focus on two aspects of pulse power. First, they
want to understand how these power cycles affect the overall life of the
PSU. The typical expected life of an RU is in the range of 7 to 10 years.
A failure of an antenna results in network downtime, compromise in
network reliability, and could result in revenue loss.
Second, they want to know how low power consumption can drop
when the PSU is in quiescent mode. For example, when the PSU stops
powering the PA, which is the main power draw, but still needs to power
other electronics. The current target for low-load efficiency is about
30%. Some OEMs would like to see it closer to, for example, 10%.
Equipment providers must find the minimum power required to
support radio functions during the quiescent period. PSU manufacturers
must minimize power consumption during this quiescent period. The
PSU must immediately power-up and provide the necessary power
for the radio to resume normal operation and provide this power with
minimum voltage transient effects. Plus, it must survive being repeatedly
switched from quiescent and normal-power modes and still maintain
reliability and life specifications.
During quiescent periods, the PSU must minimize all load
power. It must keep basic antenna functions ready, then then go to
full power when the antenna checks for active users within range,
typically from 5 msec to 100 msec.
DON’T GET TOO HEAVY
Siting is another major reason for the PA and PSU changes. For example,
in dense urban areas, 5G networks will rely heavily on mmWave
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
5G BASE STATIONS
spectrum in massive MIMO antennas to deliver gigabit speeds. The
higher the frequency, the shorter the signals travel, which means
mmWave 5G will require a much higher density of small cells. Many of
them also will need to be close to street level and thus close to people.
Small cells are being deployed on utility poles and streetlights, which
have limited space for radios and cables (Figure 2). Meanwhile, similar
constraints on macro sites operating at traditional sub-6 GHz frequencies
play a role. For example, many towers are already jammed with cables,
whose weight affects their wind load and thus antenna capacity.
An operator’s gNodeB product choice directly affects its ability to
get the sites it needs to provide seamless coverage, which in turn affects
its competitiveness. OEMs also want to limit the weight of the AAU
(e.g., to less than 50 lbs/23 kg.) to ensure a single person can install it.
This situation creates opportunities for engineers to design gNodeB
products that minimize radio size, reduce weight, and reduce accessory
weights such as those from power cables.
Multiple pairs of low-gauge cables are used to distribute -48 V
power to the RUs on the tops of cell tower antenna masts; they’re also
used to minimize voltage drops (Figure 3). These cables are expensive,
heavy, and must be supported by the cell tower in addition to the
multiple antennas and other equipment. Technicians must place 5G
radios supporting mmWave higher than other antennas to minimize
attenuation from obstacles. Using higher voltages to distribute the
power to these antennas could reduce cable weight. Higher gauge
cables could distribute 120 VAC or 240 VAC, or even 400 VDC, thereby
lessening the load on the antenna masts and minimizing voltage drops.
Higher gauge wires lower both purchase and installation costs.
As with pulse power, making this change requires understanding
how the higher voltages would affect PSU designs and component life.
Server OEMs perform similar research, much as the data center world
considers a shift to higher voltages to lower their current consumption
and opex. Mobile OEMs may be able to learn from their IT counterparts
— albeit with a few caveats. For example, mobile operators typically
want PSUs to be designed to last about 10 years, whereas a data center
server usually is retired after about four years.
Personnel safety is another consideration. Cell site installers work
Figure 1. A power-supply
unit suitable for 5G gNodeB
installations requires a heatsink.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 17
 5G HANDBOOK

with -48V DC, so they’ll need training to
safely work with higher voltages. Operators’
drive for lower opex costs coupled with
meeting their climate change goals may
hasten this transition.
SIZE AND HEAT
Another design under consideration looks
to integrate the PSU within the RU, which
reduces weight and shrinks the size of
the RU (AAU). In this architecture, the
PSU will share the heatsink with the PA.
This combination creates several design
challenges, starting with heat. PAs have
much lower efficiency than PSUs. That
heat dissipates into the shared heatsink,
raising its temperature and resulting in less
available cooling capability for the PSU.
PSUs that traditionally operated at 85°C
will now need to endure temperatures of
95°C to 100°C, an increase that could affect
component life and performance.
Integration also increases the risk of
signal interference, which results in poor
network quality. That raises two issues with
integrated PSUs:
and in electric vehicles. Power FETs designed
with these technologies may allow for Dib Nath is a senior director of technical marketing,
operation in higher baseplate temperatures telecom and networking with Advanced Energy. He
and higher frequency operation, resulting in has more than 20 years’ experience in product
smaller designs. line management and strategic marketing, as
PSUs often get sandwiched with well as applications engineering for power
other components inside an AAU. Thus, conversion products and power systems used in
engineers need low-profile components, telecommunications
typically under 22 mm. and the data-
The challenges and opportunities
networking market
surrounding embedded PSUs highlight
space. He has
how 5G NR compares to previous wireless
technologies. OEMs that help their
both technical
customers overcome these challenges
and marketing
will position themselves for success in the
background and holds
burgeoning 5G market.
two U.S. patents.
Dib has a bachelor’s
REFERENCES and master’s
1. Matt Walker, “Operators facing power degree in electrical
cost crunch,” MTN Consulting, https://www. engineering, as well
mtnconsulting.biz/product/operators-facing- as an MBA.
power-cost-crunch/

• Being close to the PA means the

PSU will must be immune to the
E-fields that the PA generates. The Figure 3. Low gauge cables
PSU also generates E-fields. These distribute -48 V power to cell
fields must fall within limits and tower antenna masts.
not interfere with PA and other RU
electronics.
• Integration must not cause passive
intermodulation (PIM) interference
with the radio frequencies.

PIM can occur when two or more

signals pass through junctions of
dissimilar materials — such as loose cable
connections, contaminated surfaces, poor
performance duplexers, or aged antennas
— and mix to produce sum and difference
signals within the same band, causing
interference. Engineers must make careful
design and manufacturing considerations
to ensure the PSU will not cause PIM
interference during its useful life.
To reduce weight, OEMs want physically
small PSUs. Meeting this goal will require
the use of new switching technologies, such
as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide
(SiC), widely used in solar system inverters

18 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com

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 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:
THE 2021
R&D 100 AWARDS
What is the R&D 100 awards program? SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY
Deadline for submissions
Established in 1962, the R&D 100 Awards is the only S&T (science and
May 7, 2021
technology) awards competition that recognizes new commercial products,
technologies and materials for their technological significance that are Late deadline for submissions
available for sale or license.
June 21, 2021
There are six categories in the R&D 100, listed below. There are also five To be eligible for R&D 100 Awards
special recognition categories, which follow. A given innovation can be consideration, your product or service must
entered in both a regular category and any of the special recognition have been made available to the marketplace
categories — but please note that a separate entry fee is required for each between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
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 5G HANDBOOK

DSS LETS 5G AND LTE

SHARE SPECTRUM
Dynamic spectrum sharing of 5G and LTE networks addresses the need for
Andreas Roessler, Rohde & Schwarz
spectrum, particularly at mid-band frequencies. Here’s how it works.

3 of 40 10x4=40

}
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2
SF #0 SF #1 SF #2 SF #3 SF #4 SF #5 SF #6 SF #7 SF #8 SF #9 4
3

1 2

Figure 1. MBSFN subframe

Initial 5G network deployments took advantage of underutilized below 1 GHz. To date, this is still non-
configuration in SIB Type 2. The
unpaired spectrum that use time-division duplex (TDD) at mid- standalone (NSA) mode and requires
first three subframes (blue)
the combination with an LTE anchor,
band frequency ranges such as 3.5 GHz. Unfortunately, most of the
typically mid-band 1 GHz to 3 GHz.
of the upper 40 subframes are
spectrum below 6 GHz is paired spectrum using frequency-division For DSS to work properly, 5G
MBSFN subframes.
duplex (FDD) that network operators use for their 4G LTE-Advanced radios must yield a frequency to LTE
radios because LTE radios in service today were not designed for
networks. Because LTE’s FDD-based spectrum assets must remain in
sharing. Therefore, it’s up to the smarter 5G radio to get out of the way
place, network operators must choose between acquiring new spec- when LTE radios need the spectrum.
trum or re-farming spectrum already in use. Both options are costly.
THE MBSFN AWAKENING
The 5G NR standard lets radios adapt to existing LTE deployments and As in every wireless communication standard, receivers need to
share the spectrum originally dedicated for LTE. The enabling feature, synchronize to downlink signals. 5G NR is no different and uses
dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS), is part of the overall mechanism that synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) for that purpose. When sharing the
lets 5G NR and LTE coexist while in the same frequency band. spectrum with LTE, the 5G NR needs a “gap” in time to transmit these
Short-term DSS enables network operators to deploy 5G NR SSBs. LTE configures Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network
using their lower frequency bands, typically targeting frequencies (MBSFN) subframes to periodically allow 5G NR’s SSBs.

20 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

 DYNAMIC SPECTRUM SHARING

The network can configure six out of ten

subframes forming the LTE radio frame to
become MBSFN subframes. Based on the 3GPP
standard, this could be subframes #1, #2, #3,
#6, #7, and #8 within one radio frame. The LTE
network broadcasts the applied configuration
with system information in block Type 2 (SIB2).
A standard LTE terminal reads in the MBSFN
configuration from SIB2 and ignores the
subframes configured for broadcast. Figure 2. 5G NR transmission in
Figure 1 shows an example of the MBSFN
LTE MBSFN subframes includes a
configuration in a commercially deployed
non-MBSFN region defined at the
LTE network that uses DSS. The LTE network
beginning of each subframe.
configures the allocation mode to be four radio
frames, which means the given configuration
repeats across a total of 40 subframes.
Three of these 40 subframes are MBSFN,
which reduce the LTE system capacity by
7.5%; the LTE network can no longer use these
subframes for standard data transmissions.
These subframes can now be used to carry 5G
signals and channels.
DSS initially aims at low-band
deployments with carrier frequencies below 3
GHz, which results in a maximum of four SSB
indices transmitted. The general guideline
conveys the transmission of these four SSBs
to the first half-frame (5 msec) of a radio
frame. The mapping principle depends on the
physical layer numerology.
For initial DSS deployments, 5G NR
operates at the same 15 kHz subcarrier spacing band spectrum. This means creating several Resource Set (CORESET), and the initial symbol
as LTE. For a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz coverage beams, where each beam carries an l0 for the first transmission of the demodulation
and carrier frequency below 3 GHz, the start SSB index directed to a specific area of the reference signal for the data channel (PDSCH
symbols for mapping the four possible SSB serving cell, is not feasible at all. DMRS) is the fourth symbol (symbol #3). The
indices are symbols #2, #8, #16, and #22. The support of mobility requires the transmission
first subframe within an LTE radio frame that is THE NEED FOR MBSFN SUBFRAMES of an additional symbol for the demodulation
an MBSFN subframe candidate is subframe #1. In Figure 2, the transmitted SSB index is #2 and signal. Based on the definitions in the standard,
Due to the SSB mapping principles for 15 the diagram further gives a detailed overview this is the twelfth symbol (symbol #11).
kHz subcarrier spacing, known as Case A, SSB of 5G NR signals and channels mapped within Figure 2 also shows the position of SSB
indices #0 and #1 cannot be transmitted, as an MBSFN subframe. index #2 and #3, but again only index #2 is
their mapping occurs in LTE subframe #0. That Figure 2 shows a non-MBSFN region transmitted. That has to do with the second
leaves SSB indices #2 and #3 as their mapping defined at the beginning of each subframe, signal component, which requires the availability
occurs in symbols 16 and 22. The default that can be one or two OFDM symbols long, of MBSFN subframes: tracking reference signals
transmission periodicity for SSBs is 20 ms. depending on the overall available signal (TRS). Index #3 would collide with the mapping
Thus, an MBSFN subframe is required every 20 bandwidth. This region carries the required of these 5G signal components. As there are no
msec, which is fulfilled in Figure 1. control channels for LTE, such as physical hybrid cell-specific reference signals in 5G as there are in
In a real deployment scenario, the ARQ channel (PHICH), physical control format LTE, the device maintains synchronization based
network sends only one SSB index. The reason indicator channel (PCFICH), and the physical on channel state information reference signals
is hardware-related. Leading infrastructure downlink control channel (PDCCH), including (CSI-RS) configured for time-frequency tracking.
providers claim to enable DSS by a simple LTE’s cell-specific reference signals (LTE CRS).
software update. The antenna configuration Therefore, any 5G NR transmission can Enabling 5G NR in standard LTE subframes
of already deployed hardware does ,however, only start at OFDM symbols #1 or #2 within an The 5G NR standard requires the transmission of
necessarily support beamforming; it is even MBSFN subframe. The second OFDM symbol channel state information reference signals (CSI-
more unlikely for equipment that uses low- (symbol #1) in the slot carries the Control RS) over two consecutive slots, when configured

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 21

 5G HANDBOOK
as tracking reference signals (TRS). This corresponds to two consecutive
subframes when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz. The second requirement
is that two resources (= symbols) within the slot are available to transmit
this CSI-RS configuration. These two resources per slot could be symbols
{4, 8}, {5, 9} or {6, 10}, where the latter is the mapping that avoids collision
with SSB transmission if SSB index #2 is transmitted. The periodicity for
TRS as CSI-RS is flexible. However, 40 ms provides adequate accuracy
and results in the requirement of having two MBSFN subframes available
every 40 ms, which the network enables with the MBSFN configuration
shown in Fig. 1.
RATE MATCHING FOR LTE CELL-SPECIFIC REFERENCE SIGNALS
Transmitting 5G NR in three out of 40 subframes (see Fig. 1) does
not provide any substantial capacity for any 5G NR deployment. To
overcome this situation, DSS enables the transmission of 5G NR in
standard LTE subframes not configured for MBSFN. In standard LTE
subframes, there are still signal components that need to be avoided by
any 5G NR transmission, even if the scheduler in the LTE base station
does not intend to use this subframe for data transmission.
Besides the control channels at the beginning of every LTE
subframe, cell-specific reference signals are always present in each
subframe. Their mapping in the time-frequency resource grid depends
on the physical cell identity and the MIMO mode (2x2 or 4x4). Figure 3
gives an overview of these signals’ mapping up to four antenna ports.
The 5G NR base station scheduler uses a rate-matching algorithm
to puncture these resource elements, thereby avoiding any transmission
on the resource elements carrying LTE CRS. The network signals the
required information of frequency, bandwidth, and the number of
antenna ports to the device.
Besides this necessary information, the system indicates further
the MBSFN configuration and a frequency shift parameter vshift. The
shifting parameter depends on the physical cell identity and follows
a modulo-6 operation. The MBSFN configuration is required, as the
scheduler does not need to avoid any LTE CRS in MBSFN subframes, as
there aren’t any transmitted. The Abstract Notification Syntax 1 (ASN.1)
in Figure 4 gives a summary of the transmitted parameters.
ALTERNATIVE POSITION OF ADDITIONAL PDSCH DMRS SIGNAL
The second required feature is the support of an additional position
for the mapping of 5G NR’s Physical Downlink Shared Channel
22 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021
(PDSCH) Demodulation Reference
Figure 3. LTE cell-specific
Signal (DMRS). Based on a standard
reference signals map to antenna
LTE subframe, with the LTE control
channel and CRS present, assuming
ports, four in this instance.
the scheduler does not schedule any
PDSCH, the remainder of the subframe is available to 5G NR.
Therefore, the CORESET and the 5G NR PDSCH with rate matching
active, including its DMRS, are mapped on the LTE subframes’ available
resource element. As explained earlier, a second PDSCH DMRS is
required to enable mobility. The symbol position depends on the
number of available symbols for the 5G NR transmission.
If we assume that the LTE control channels occupy only the first
symbol of the slot, then 13 OFDM symbols are left for transmission with
symbol #11 carrying the additional PDSCH DMRS. The PDSCH DMRS
transmission would, however, collide with LTE CRS already occupying
certain resource elements within that OFDM symbol; see Figure 5.
In this case, the solution is to move the transmission of the
additional DMRS position by one symbol to symbol #12. This change
only applies if the 5G terminal has indicated its support of this feature
when transmitting its UE capabilities towards the network, and the
network configuration itself meets two specific settings:
• The position of the initial PDSCH DMRS transmission is l0 = 3.
The devices decode this information from the Master Information
Block (MIB) transmitted via the Physical Broadcast Channel
(PBCH) as part of the SSB transmission.
• The network has configured the device via dedicated RRC
signaling with the LTE-CRS rate matching algorithm that we
discussed earlier.
Figure 4. This syntax describes an LTE CRS rate matching algorithm.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
 DYNAMIC SPECTRUM SHARING

Figure 5. An alternative
position for 5G NR’s
additional PDSCH DMRS
(symbol 12 instead 11)
avoids a collision.

WHERE IS THE “DYNAMIC” IN DSS?

So far, we have discussed a semi-static
configuration of both LTE and 5G NR to
enable the use of specific subframes for
5G NR when LTE is not present at all, or
mechanisms that allow 5G NR to transmit in
LTE subframes that are not used by LTE. The
question remains, is there a way for LTE and
5G NR to share a subframe, and for both to
transmit control information and data? The
answer is yes, of course, but it very much
depends on the infrastructure vendor.
To put the dynamic to DSS, the
infrastructure vendor typically requires the
network operator to co-locate 4G LTE and
5G NR radios and connect them to the
baseband processing unit that controls a cell
and thus its frequency band. In that case, the
scheduler — while monitoring the cell load,
type of services requested by the terminals,
and ultimately knowing how many LTE and Andreas Roessler is a technology manager for
5G devices connect to this cell - can use this Rohde & Schwarz. He focuses on 3GPP’s 5G New
information to assign resources towards LTE Radio (NR) standard and advancing 6G research
or 5G dynamically.
topics. His responsibilities include strategic
According to public announcements
marketing and product portfolio development for
of infrastructure vendors, this situation
Rohde & Schwarz test and measurement division.
is assessed on a 1 ms basis and can,
therefore, change rapidly depending on
Andreas has more than 15 years of experience
the load situation in the cell. Nonetheless,
in the mobile industry and wireless technologies.
the dynamic aspect of spectrum sharing
He holds an MSc in electrical engineering with a
is a proprietary characteristic of the used focus on wireless communication.
infrastructure vendor.

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 23

 5G HANDBOOK
HOW TO IMPROVE 5G COVERAGE
AND CAPACITY
Reza Rofougaran, Movandi
5G provides data rates greater than 2 Gb/sec, mmWave BANDS
latency below 5 msec, high capacity, and
network slicing. These advances bring new
opportunities to further improve spectrum
efficiency, RF coverage, and access net-
works. How?
To reach high capacity, 5G will need to use
existing C-band spectrum and mmWave
frequency bands. The mmWave signals impose
challenging propagation conditions that large
antenna arrays can alleviate. Antenna array need
RF circuits behind each radiating element.
5G systems will deploy a mix of access
points and even smart relays to reach users. The
architecture of these access points should scale
with coverage area. For example, a nanocell
may use a 2x2 antenna array, while a macrocell
may use a 16x16 array. Under ideal conditions,
both the nanocell and macrocell access points
would use identical RF components behind each
antenna element. Such a design would require a
novel RF architecture.
24 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
The laws of physics work against RF engineers, forcing design
tradeoffs in mmWave systems. Beam steering, frequency reuse,
and greater spectral efficiency can help.
Most cellular frequency bands operate from 700
MHz to 3.5 GHz. The bandwidth allocated in
these frequency bands is typically no wider than
20 MHz, which can support data transmission
rates of 100 Mb/sec. The tradeoff comes with
greater range from lower frequencies.
To achieve wider bandwidth and higher
data rates, network operators use mmWave
frequencies at 24 GHz to 30 GHz, 37 GHz to 40
GHz, and 60 GHz. These mmWave frequencies
are often called frequency range 2 (FR2).
mmWave bands offer two advantages:
• Higher bandwidth: The 28 GHz band
offers 400 MHz of bandwidth, which
supports 2 Gb/sec transmission data
rates. This data rate is 10 to 20 times
offered by 4G systems.
• Lower cost: Many mmWave bands
cost the operator less to acquire.
These bands can cost two orders
of magnitude less per hertz when
compared to the cost for licenses in
the sub-1 GHz bands.
Figure 1. A narrow beam can miss
possible blockages, letting its full
power reach the receiver.
5 • 2021
Although mmWave bands offer terrific
bandwidth, they suffer from severely limited
propagation distance. Thus, operators use
a mix of lower and higher frequency bands
to get coverage and capacity. They can, for
example, service a campus, sports arena, or
similar hot spot with mmWave base stations
and offload their lower band frequencies that
cover wider areas.
As a radio wave’s wavelength shortens,
it becomes more susceptible to blockage by
objects, foliage, and even heavy rainfall. A
signal’s ability to penetrate an object depends
on its wavelength. As a rule of thumb, an
object that has the width of a wavelength can
block that radio frequency wave. For example,
at 700 MHz the wavelength is around 42 cm
whereas at 30 GHz the wavelength is 10 mm.
A tree leaf’s dimension is closer to 10 mm than
42 cm. Thus, trees block millimeter waves.
Radio waves travel from transmitter to
receiver through four modes: they propagate
in a straight line (line of sight), get reflected
from a building, get diffracted or bend
around obstacles, and get scattered from
rough surfaces. When a transmitted signal
propagates, the received signal varies
in amplitude, a condition called fading.
Measurements show that millimeter waves, on
the other hand, get blocked and experience
far less diffraction, reflection, and scattering.
Therefore, mmWave RF waves are restricted to
line-of-sight (LOS) travel. They don’t fade but
undergo severe path loss.
As mmWave signals travel along a line-
of-sight path, they lose power with distance,
called path loss. For example, at 900 MHz, the
path loss is around 91 dB/km but can reach
121 dB/km at 28 GHz. That 30 dB difference
1000 times more loss than at 900 MHz.
Additionally, these millimeter waves further
attenuate from foliage, windows, and rain.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

A tree can attenuate a signal by 6 dB/km, and a tinted glass window
can attenuate a transmitted signal by 40 dB. Fortunately, antenna
technology mitigates loss at these frequencies.
Antenna arrays adjust amplitude and phase to radiate power in a
narrow beam, called beamforming or beam steering. Narrow beams
maximize line-of-sight travel and eliminate diffraction, scattering, or
reflections from objects. With wide beams, the radiated power has a
higher probability of hitting a building and getting blocked, as shown
symbolically by the yellow beam in Figure 1.
The concentration of an antenna’s radiated power in a direction is
called its directivity, defined by its half-power beamwidth (HPBW). This
value is the beamwidth measured where the power is half the peak power
(3 dB down from the peak). The HPBW of an MxN element antenna array
is inversely proportional to the number of elements and the element
spacing. Hence, by controlling the number of antenna elements and their
spacing, you can control the beam width and directivity.
Each phased array antenna element needs electronics such as a
beamformer, power amplifier (PA), and low noise amplifier (LNA), etc.
Hence, as the number of antenna elements increases, the cost of the
system increases.
CAPACITY AND SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY
Capacity can be defined as Data Rate/MHz/Unit Area
Therefore, to secure higher capacity, the reuse factor must be
reduced, and the spectral efficiency must increase.
Figure 2 illustrates the concept of frequency reuse. The sectors or
cells marked by the red “>” shape and the yellow arrow illustrate how
far away the same frequency can be reused.
The capacity of cellular communication is limited by interference
on the downlink (communication from base stations to mobile devices).
Separating frequencies by distance avoids interference. Mitigating or
canceling interference increases capacity by reusing frequencies at closer
separation distances. Massive MIMO, using multiple antennas and signal
processing, allows tighter reuse of the same channels to increase capacity.
An increase in spectral efficiency — measured as bits/second/Hz —
also increases capacity. In GSM (2G) the spectral efficiency is 1.36 bits/
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
mmWAVE DESIGN TRADEOFFS
Figure 2. Frequency reuse patterns have changed
with each generation with wireless technology.
sec/Hz, which means GSM allows transmission of 272 kb/sec in a 200 kHz
channel. 3G using 16QAM modulation with, say, a rate of ¾ coding gives
a spectral efficiency of 3 bits/sec/Hz. 5G uses 64QAM, and a coding rate
of approximately 9/10 coding gives around 5.5 bits/sec/Hz. Therefore,
with 400 MHz bandwidth, you can achieve 2.2 Gbps.
Spectral efficiency determines the data rate in a channel while
frequency reuse determines how often a network can reuse the channel
to accommodate users.
MIXED CELLS OR ACCESS POINTS?
To optimize coverage and capacity, operators will use mixed cells. For
wide coverage, network operators will use gNodeBs (gNBs, base stations)
to serve many users over an area. gNBs radiate higher power than small
cells. To cover a hotspot with many users such as a campus or sports
arena, however, a network could use smaller cells, each with lower power.
The large coverage area could use C-band spectrum while the hotspot
could use mmWave spectrum. This offers the operator the flexibility of
using hotspots to offload the large cells. Hence, by using different size
cells operating on different frequency bands, the operator could optimize
coverage and capacity.
Figure 3 illustrates the point. A cell’s antenna pattern covers an
area. Each cell can be successively split, using lower height antennas
and lower power so that cells don’t overlap in frequency. If they do
Figure 3. Cell splitting and nested cells
results in higher capacity than with a
macro cell alone.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 25
 5G HANDBOOK
overlap, they are differentiated in power and
interference cancellation. By splitting a cell,
the operator can reuse the same frequency,
resulting in frequency reuse gains. Splitting
the frequencies between bands reduces
interference.
Assume the system supports 100 users
in a 5 MHz channel in the macrocell. This
macrocell is split successively into smaller cells
using less power with each split. If the microcell
supports 40 users, the picocell supports 10
users, and the femtocell supports five users,
the network now supports 135 users versus the
original 100. These users do interfere with each
other but using antenna arrays (massive MIMO)
and advanced signal processing, the user
signals can be separated.
For 5G to achieve the best coverage,
operators use an increasing mix of gNBs,
small cells, and smart repeaters. Each of these
access points use antenna arrays, resulting
in an increased opportunity for RF chips
and products. Furthermore, 5G mmWave
technology offers an opportunity to provide
cost-effective broadband to residences without
the need to lay fiber. An exterior 5G repeater
or small cell can beam data at 2 Gbps to
customer premises equipment (CPE) that can
receive and redistribute the signal throughout
the house. Such systems provide data rates
that rival current fiber offerings but also
provide very low latency.
26 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
Figure 4. A scalable RF architecture can
support a variety of antenna array sizes.
RF ARCHITECTURE
RF front ends for 5G mmWave should address:
• Large antenna arrays to overcome
the propagation losses and handle
interference mitigation.
• Support for scalable mixed-size cells
along with wide operating frequencies
and interference cancellation.
Figure 4 shows an example of an RF
architecture that supports any size antenna
array as a tiled tree of three IC building blocks.
The first is a beamformer that contains phase
shifters, switches, a power amplifier (PA), and
a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to drive, say, a 4
x 4 or 8 x 8 dual-polarized antenna array. A
number of these devices combine to drive
multiple antenna elements as needed. This
device is connected to a second IC comprising
mixers for up-and-down conversion. A single
mixer chip can drive four beamformer chips.
The final IC is the multiband synthesizer,
which provides a precise reference frequency
reference for the mixers.
The critical RF parameters that determine
performance are the output power levels
of the PAs, noise figure of the LNA, phase
noise (jitter), and distortion measured by
error vector magnitude (EVM). Optimizing
these parameters across the three chips
creates a high-performance system resulting
5 • 2021
in reductions in power and cost. For example,
the synthesizer must have low phase noise
to minimize jitter. As the frequency increases,
however, the power required to keep the phase
noise low also increases. If the synthesizer uses
a lower frequency to generate the reference and
the mixers had on-chip frequency multipliers,
you can save power and generate an accurate
reference signal with low jitter.
SUMMARY
mmWave bands will find increasing use to meet
the requirements of higher capacity through
their wider bandwidth. mmWave spectrum in
many countries is also much more affordable
than lower band spectrum. These bands are,
however, challenged by their propagation
conditions. To solve this large issue, antenna
arrays can be used to enhance coverage as well
as mitigate interference. This technique helps
increase capacity by using mixed cells (gNBs,
small cells, and even smart repeaters) for both
capacity and coverage.
Reza Rofougaran is CTO and co-founder
of Movandi and is a leading pioneer,
engineering executive, and entrepreneur
in wireless system design. He co-founded
Innovent Systems in 1998 and is one of
the top ten patent holders in U.S. and
top twenty patent holders in the world.
While at Broadcom, Reza was influential in
starting and building the wireless business
unit that shipped over 1.5 billion radios per
year. Reza holds over 800 issued patents.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
 OPEN RAN FUNCTIONAL SPLIT

FUNCTIONAL SPLITS, THE

FOUNDATION OF AN OPEN 5G RAN
The open standards for radio access networks offer options for locating network functions. Olli Andersson, Benetel
These functional split options depend on network services and available transport links.

Disaggregation of the 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) opens C-RAN ARCHITECTURE

Backhaul Fronthaul
the door to new entrants into the ecosystem. For disaggregation
to work, the telecom industry defined transport interfaces between
three logical nodes of the RAN. Prior to Open RAN, networks need-
ed one transport technology: backhaul. Open RAN adds fronthaul
and mid-haul transport. This openness adds flexibility, which brings
on new options and decisions in network architecture.

Open RAN distributes baseband processing across the logical nodes,

thereby setting the characteristics of these links, particularly for the
fronthaul. 3GPP defines several options called functional splits between
the nodes. Each split describes how the logical nodes interrelate to one
another, and what specific activities each undertakes.
When rolling out a network, operators must choose the best functional
split based on the services they provide and the economics of the available
transport networks. Telecom equipment manufacturers must decide which
option is best for the markets they target. No single functional split will suit
all scenarios. Knowing which option to choose isn’t always straightforward.
We will now review the functional split options and cover their respective
merits and drawbacks, with particular emphasis on the lower level (option
7.x) splits, which are gaining most traction within the industry.
THE 3GPP 5G NR ARCHITECTURE MODEL
In Release 15, 3GPP, defined a new, flexible architecture for the 5G RAN,
where the base station or gNodeB (gNB) is split into three logical nodes:
the Central Unit, (CU), the Distributed Unit, (DU) and the Radio Unit,
(RU), each capable of hosting different functions of the 5G NR stack.
Figure 1 shows the Baseband Unit (BBU) – a proprietary box – dividing
into the three units.
This architecture recognizes that transport networking availability,
along with specific 5G use cases, will dictate the optimum network
configuration. 3GPP specifies eight options for distributing the functionality
of the 5G NR RAN stack across the fronthaul network − the functional splits.
In parallel to 3GPP’s work, several standardization bodies have been
looking at the definition of the new transport interfaces − fronthaul, mid-
haul, and backhaul − with the latter two particularly impacted by the
choice of functional split.
The fronthaul network is key to flexible RAN deployment. The
enhanced CPRI (eCPRI) standard has emerged as a successor to
CPRI, which was defined for the original Centralized RAN, (C-RAN)
Backhaul Midhaul Fronthaul
configuration. Developed Figure 1. 3GPP’s 5G RAN architecture distributes
by the eCPRI Forum, this the stack functions across three logical nodes.
protocol makes more Source: https://www.nctatechnicalpapers.
efficient use of bandwidth com/Paper/2019/2019-5g-backhaul-fronthaul-
than its predecessor and opportunities-and-challenges
is packet-based, meaning
that it can be framed within Ethernet. This brings enormous advantages
to the fronthaul network which, depending on the functional split, can
now use Ethernet connectivity instead of relying on the availability of fiber.
eCPRI is also an open interface, enabling operators to mix and match
vendor equipment.
FUNCTIONAL SPLITS
When describing the functional split options, operators consider the
CU and DU as a single logical unit because the splits apply to the
fronthaul network. They can distribute higher Level functions of the
stack between CU and DU over the midhaul network. Bit rates and
latency requirements between higher layer stack functions provide more
flexibility on choice of midhaul transport. In practice, the industry has
settled on a split between CU and DU where CU hosts the network layer
functionality (RRC) and the PDCP functionality from the Data Link Layer.
Within the eight main functional split options that 3GPP defines,
option 7 further divides into sub-options 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3, discussed in
more detail later.
Figure 2 shows the eight major splits, with each one offering a
different trade-off between centralization benefits and fronthaul network
requirements. In Option 8, all stack functionality is centralized, and
this split corresponds to the original C-RAN configuration. Option 8
maximizes the benefits of centralized baseband processing enabling

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 27

 5G HANDBOOK

FUNCTIONAL SPLIT OPTIONS FOR 5G

RU DU
load-balancing and sharing of the processing
RF LOW- HIGH- LOW- HIGH-
capability across the RUs. PHY PHY MAC MAC
Centralization of the baseband functionality
also enables virtualization of many network
functions, with the software hosted on COTS OPTION 8 OPTION 7 OPTION 6 OPTION 5 OPTION 4
servers. The result: a simplified RU because only
the RF functions remain at the remote site. This
small RU costs less, uses less power, and more
RF LOW- HIGH- LOW- HIGH-
easily fits on a tower. Operators can perform PHY PHY MAC MAC
most network upgrades at the CU, requiring Split 7.2X RU
fewer site visits. The simplified RU can handle
multiple Radio Access Technologies (RAT) further
reducing the footprint of the remote mast, which LAYER 1 FUNCTIONS LAYER 2 FUNCTIONS
must support multiple cellular generations.
By fully centralizing the functionality of
the 5G RAN stack, Option 8 places the highest is economically justifiable, e.g., in urban areas
demands on the fronthaul network, with high bit or where operators already own it.
rates and strict latency requirements. Information At the other end, an Option 1 split places
flows at the higher levels of the stack are less all baseband processing within the RU, which
data intensive than those at the lowest, PHY, becomes large, complex, and requires more
layer, which essentially converts digital bits into power than the simplified RU of Option 8. The
radio waves in the Downlink (DL) direction and fronthaul network demands of functional split 8
vice-versa in the Uplink (UL) direction. Functions are, however, much simpler because the entire
in the PHY layer such as Cyclic Redundancy protocol stack resides in the RU. That means
Checking (CRC), modulation, and mapping more processing must occur before data can
and encoding add information to the data travel between RU and CU, leading to much
blocks received from the higher MAC layer. lower bit rates and higher latency tolerances
Thus, progressively higher bit rates occur as the on the fronthaul network. The remaining
information flows towards the RF functionality. functional split options, from 2 to 7, vary in the
Additionally, the time-sensitive nature of level of baseband processing left in the RU as
communications between PHY functionality opposed to being hosted in the DU/CU, as
and certain higher-level processes such as illustrated in Fig. 2.
Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) require round-trip delays The higher the split level, the lower
as low as 5 ms. the demands on the fronthaul link,
The fronthaul requirements of Option 8 balanced against diminishing benefits from
effectively limit its use to scenarios where fiber centralization. Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP),
CU
LOW- HIGH- PDCP RRC
RLC RLC
Data
OPTION 3 OPTION 2 OPTION 1
LOW- HIGH- PDCP RRC
RLC RLC
Data
LAYER 3 FUNCTIONS
Figure 2. Eight Functional Splits define how the
5G NR Stack is allocated to the logical nodes.
for example, is a key technology in the 5G
RAN, improving service at the cell edge by
allowing connections to several gNBs at the
same time. Split level 5 affects the CoMP’s
performance. By split level 2, this capability is
effectively lost.
Figure 3 shows the results of calculations
of fronthaul bit rates for each functional split.
Although the calculations were done on an LTE
network, the findings are relevant for 5G NR.
This chart shows that fronthaul bit rates are
highest for the low-level split options, 7 and 8,
dropping significantly for higher level splits and
being fairly consistent across options 1 to 5.
Fig. 3 clearly illustrates why there is so
much industry interest in the Option 7, or PHY-
level functional splits. Option 7 offers a good
balance between RU complexity, fronthaul
bandwidth, and inter-cell cooperation.

THE LOW-LEVEL SPLITS

Figure 3. The Fronthaul bit rates vary
significantly across the functional splits.
Source: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/
document/8479363
The telecom industry effectively considers
functional split Options 6, 7 and 8 as the
low-level splits (even though they use higher
numbers), with each option supporting network
centralization benefits while generating
different bit rates on the fronthaul network.
Option 6 splits the baseband functionality
at the boundary of the MAC and PHY layers,
leaving all PHY functions in the RU. This split
results in a significant reduction in the fronthaul
bit rate as the payload of the link consists of the
transport blocks transmitted between the MAC
and PHY layers. This bandwidth reduction forces
a tradeoff: a reduction in the benefits achievable
by a centralized pooling of baseband
functionality. Option 6 limits pooling to the

28 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

 OPEN RAN FUNCTIONAL SPLIT

RRC
LOW- HIGH- Figure 4. The 7.X splits differ in how they allocate
RF MAC RLC PDCP
PHY PHY the PHY functionality between RU and DU. Source:
IP
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8479363

8 7-1 7-2 7-3 (DL only)

PHY

Coding
1Q Add 1Q Sub- Beamform Sub- RE Antenna N Layer N Layer Coded Coded Transport CRC Transport
iFFT Precoding Symbols Modulation Scrambling Block
symbols Cyclic symbols carriers Port. exp. carriers Mapper symbols symbols mapper words block Blocks attach Blocks
Segment
Prefix

functions in the Data Link and Network layers, giving only 20% of the total consumption supports network densification and enables sharing by
pooling potential − the remaining 80% based on PHY layer functions. multiple operators, facilitating the developing neutral host market. The
The three Option 7 functional splits, 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 vary in the ability of eCPRI to run on Ethernet is a significant advantage in urban
way that they divide the PHY layer of the stack, between the DU and areas and in indoor environments such as factories and office blocks
the RU, Figure 4. where 5G coverage will be required.
The level 7 splits all support the key centralization benefits,
including carrier aggregation, MIMO and CoMP, the main difference CONCLUSION
between them being the data-rates on the fronthaul network. The success of 5G depends upon the current industry drive towards
All three options leave the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) an open RAN, supported by a transformed supply chain, where
functionality in the RU, significantly reducing the fronthaul bit rate. By new entrants bring innovation and drive “cloud-level” economies.
allocating slightly more functionality (pre-coding and resource element Disaggregation of the RAN brings more flexibility to network
mapping) to the RU, Option 7.2 further reduces the fronthaul bit rate, deployment and, potentially, enables vendor specialization, breaking the
when compared to Option 7.1. Because the resource element mapping traditional, vertically integrated supply chain.
detects unused subcarriers from the RF link, locating this function in This is only possible, however, if the interfaces within the
the RU leads to a variable bit rate on the fronthaul network -- Option disaggregated RAN are truly open and 3GPP’s functional split
7.1 gives a constant bit rate. Option 7.3 is a downlink-only option and definitions are a key step towards the open RAN. 3GPP’s work has
achieves further fronthaul bit rate reduction by allocating even more been consolidated by the efforts of key industry bodies working to gain
functionality to the RU, which becomes more complex. consensus on the best subset of options for practical deployment.
All three splits provide a good compromise between centralization With this level of standardization and industry support, new
and fronthaul requirements, allowing relatively simple RU configurations. entrants to the 5G eco-system can make better informed decisions when
These options become candidates for high-capacity networks in dense developing their products.
urban areas. Option 7.2, however, has increasingly gained traction
within the industry with its lower and variable fronthaul bit rate being
compatible with the eCPRI protocol.
There is no single, ideal functional split because different options Olli Andersson is Senior Vice President Americas at Benetel. Andersson
will suit different applications. It is, however, unlikely that the industry headed up Nokia and Nokia Bell Lab’s Innovation Centre in Sunnyvale,
could practically supported all eight options. To ensure scale and Calif. During his career, Andersson has led laboratories and teams
openness, various industry alliances are working to gain consensus on of managers and engineers across
the best options to be adopted. 3GPP has recommended Option 2 the globe on a wide range of advanced
for highly centralised applications such as fixed wireless access, (FWA),
telecommunications projects. Prior to
where cell-site coordination is not required and latency and bandwidth
joining Nokia, Andersson spent three years
requirements on the transport network are relatively relaxed.
At the same time, Option 6 is being pushed by the Small
in South Korea heading Nokia Siemens
Cell Forum (SCF) as the optimal split for low-cost, low-capacity
Networks’ Smart Lab and CTO team. He
deployments). SCF, whose membership includes leading players in both
holds an MBA in Strategic Management
the operator and equipment manufacturer communities, has developed
from the Helsinki University of Technology
specifications for this split known as nFAPI, (network Functional API). and a B.Eng in Telecommunications from
Meanwhile, the equally influential O-RAN Alliance supports option the Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences.
7.2 for networks with high-capacity and high-reliability requirements.
This functional split enables a relatively simple RU whose size and power

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 29

 5G HANDBOOK
Figure 1. Traditional RAN Deployment Interfaces have
remained proprietary and fundamentally unchanged.
DEPLOYING AND MAINTAINING
AN OPEN RAN NETWORK
Open radio access networks offer Open radio access networks (Open RAN)
advantages in locating network significantly enhance how mobile
functions of proprietary RANs. networks operate. The telecom industry,
Automation and orchestration let and especially the RAN segment, is
telecom networks do what computing several years behind the innovation curve
networks have dome for years. due to tightly integrated hardware and
software from just a few vendors. Open
André Silva Biscoto, Altiostar RAN can change that.
The IT industry has long benefited from a
software-centric approach and transitioned
to an open model where software
companies compete and innovate. Now
the telecom industry is going through the
same transformation in many aspects of
the network, but especially in the RAN.
This change began with the deployment of
networks such as Rakuten Mobile in Japan
and the DISH Open RAN 5G network in
the US. Mobile network operators (MNOs)
30 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021
throughout the world, including many
brownfield networks, are now trialing and
deploying Open RAN.
Open RAN is part of a shift in
deploying and maintaining software
defined networks (SDNs) and automation.
SDN approaches associated with
virtualization and vendor neutrality offer
new ways to manage the mobile network.
Orchestration and automation play an
important role in demonstrating the
potential of Open RAN by reducing human
intervention in maintaining the network.
Long-term transformations are also
occurring in the RAN, including how Open
RAN will enable new 5G use cases and the
overall deployment of 5G networks.
DEPLOYING OPEN RAN HARDWARE
Traditional RAN deployments had
all intelligence located inside an
environmentally conditioned cabinet
designed for an ASIC server appliance
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

called a baseband unit (BBU). BBUs process
Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 IP protocol stack
functions before sending the processed signals
over the backhaul interface to the operators’
4G evolved packet core (EPC). As Figure
1 shows, such transport uses conventional
network methods such as multiprotocol label
switching (MPLS). This method has been in
place since the advent of 1G and 2G networks.
Today, two trends allow virtualization in
Open RAN networks. One comes from wide
availability of low-latency transport options
with higher bandwidth from fiber-optic
transport networks. The second is a concept
that was widely adopted in IT platforms but
made few strides into RAN until now: network
functions virtualization (NFV). With NFV,
key processing elements and intelligence
previously managed by the BBU can now
disaggregate and move to an edge cloud data
center away from the cell site. Cloud-native
containerization followed NFV as another
virtualization tool.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
OPEN RAN TELECOM NETWORKS
ENTER OPEN RAN
Open RAN is a set of standards that specify
interoperability between RAN hardware and
software elements from different vendors.
While enabling this interoperability, Open
RAN has incorporated virtualization, using
NFV and containers that let RAN workloads
operate as virtual network functions (VNFs)
and containerized network functions (CNFs),
which run on commercial off the shelf (COTS)
servers. This development eliminates ASIC-
based appliances, enabling BBUs to run on
conventional servers that meet the memory
and processing requirements demanded by
RAN functions.
In traditional RAN deployments, software
and hardware of a single vendor are tightly
coupled using proprietary interfaces, as shown
in Figure 2. Any mix of components of different
companies risks incompatibility, although radio
and basebands served the same purpose.
The radios connect to the baseband over
proprietary interfaces using the Common
5 • 2021
Figure 2. Traditional RAN interoperability limitations
result from proprietary interfaces.
Public Radio Interface (CPRI) standard.
Each manufacturer implemented its own
CPRI interface version, thus making radios
and basebands of different companies
incompatible. When 3GPP standardized 4G
LTE, the overall network architecture became
flatter. An expectation arose that, to enable
optimal subscriber experience, base stations
would use the X2 interface to communicate
with each other to handle resource allocation.
This initiative didn’t gain traction.
Traditional RAN companies created lock-in
by implementing their own flavors of the X2
interface, creating difficulty for operators to
use more than one RAN company’s products in
a given location.
Operators became locked into deploying
equipment from a single RAN company
per geographic area. Assume company A’s
products were deployed in the north of a city
or state, whereas company B’s was deployed
in the south. Here are some of the hurdles that
exist even with geographical diversity:
DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 31
 5G HANDBOOK
• Spares rationalization was impossible: the
operator had to keep a pool of spare BBUs
for both company A and company B, and
similarly a pool of radio spares for all bands
for both company A and company B.
• Border Performance between two RAN
companies: because the handovers should
use the X2 interface, which were not
interoperable, operators instead had to use
the S1 interface. This increased signaling,
adding delay and ultimately negatively
affecting the performance. Operators
mitigated this limitation by planning the
RAN borders so that they would overlap
in areas of low traffic and reduced mobility
such as natural geographical borders, such
as a mountain, river or forest. It would
affect fewer people if the borders crossed
in a forest rather than a densely populated
city, for example.
• Operations: supporting two networks
increases the number of people
needed to operate the networks.
Mobile operators needed a technician
specialized and trained for company A’s
RAN software and hardware. This same
person sometimes lacked the skill and
knowledge to troubleshoot the same
issues on company B’s equipment. Hence
the operator needed to have specialized
pools of resources trained to operate
both networks.
• Support: operators pay an annual fee to
each RAN vendor to support its hardware
and software. This fee is set partly on
the number of cells, radios, and nodes
deployed in its geographic area. Often
times, the benefits of scale did not apply
to support fees as the infrastructure was
divided into multiple vendors.
• Swap: should the operator decide to
modernize or swap its network and
change from one vendor to another in
a given geographical area, the operator
must rip and replace the existing
hardware. That requires a truck roll
and a tower climb to remove existing
radios and install new hardware to
do essentially the same thing. While
costly, this effort would not yield new
functionality or benefits.
32 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
OPEN SPECIFICATIONS
The O-RAN Alliance designed
its specifications to solve these
hurdles and let operators benefit
from best-of-breed hardware and
software that are interoperable as
illustrated in Figure 3.
The operator can now
choose a radio based on its own
technical and or procurement
criteria. Open RAN also opens
the door to custom radio
hardware adapted to the
operator’s needs. For example,
assume that an operator had
spectrum assets in 3GPP band
3 (1800 MHz FDD), band 7 (2600 MHz FDD)
and band 1 (2100 MHz FDD). They could
design each cell site with three remote radio
units (RRUs) one for each band multiplied
by the number of sectors, typically three
per site. So, a total of nine radios would be
required.
With Open RAN, the operator could ask
an Open RAN radio manufacturer to design
and build a radio with all three bands as shown
in Figure 4. This can dramatically reduce the
costs operators pay for tower rental space and
power consumption while reducing load on
tower structures.
This practice also lets the operator
have hardware tailored to its engineering
principles. For example if vendor A only had
in its portfolio a radio that can transmit 120 W,
but the operator would like a radio capable
of transmitting 160 W, the operator can now
search for other vendors who support their
preferred power levels. Open RAN introduces
competition that pushes companies to better
support network operator needs.
This competitive scenario is also available
for baseband hardware, where an operator
can choose a hardware server platform that
fits its individual needs. Because these are
COTS systems, there may also be synergy
with hardware that its IT department uses
reducing the number of spares and the tapping
into a trained pool of management and
troubleshooting experts.
For the software, an operator can choose
from an array of different vendors, but there
is no limitation, as O-RAN standards have
provisions for software of different providers
to interoperate and all interfaces are open
and standardized.
5 • 2021
Figure 3. Open RAN achieves interoperability
through standardized interface.
TRANSPORT
3GPP standardized BBU disaggregation with
a central unit (CU)-distributed unit (DU) split.
The non-real time functions of the CU can be
virtualized in a cloud or central data center,
while the real-time functions provided by the
DU reside in an edge cloud server or installed
at the cell site. So, the functions inside the IP
stack that before resided within the BBU and
hence had very little delay from the RU to the
BBU now will now be flexibly and more cost
effectively deployed in the edge cloud data
center using a low latency transport medium.
Real-time functions such as forward error
correction (FEC) that now reside in the DU
need to work properly and without additional
delay or quality of service. The initial solution
to this delay involves replacing the BBU with
DU on site. See Figure 5.
Because DUs run on COTS servers in cell
sites, they connect through a new interface
called midhaul. Midhaul interfaces operate
with a relaxed latency requirement (compared
to fronthaul but more strict than backhaul),
typically in the order of 50 ms round-trip time
(RTT). Many DUs on the cell sites can connect
to a CU using COTS servers and also reside in
a centralized data center. The CU will connect
to the mobile core over a backhaul link.
Open RAN can expand to deployments
that use low-latency fiber in densely populated
cities and cover small site-to-site distances.
The DUs can operate in an edge cloud data
center that typically manages a small number
of cell sites covering an area where latency
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
 OPEN RAN TELECOM NETWORKS

will not exceed 150 µs to 200 µs RTT from

air interface (or input port of radio) to the
edge cloud data center. These low-latency
figures can be obtained by typically using
dark fiber but any Layer 2 (LLS Ethernet/
eCPRI) connection that fulfills the latency
budget between the nodes could allow
full virtualization. This configuration is
commonly called split 7.2x.
The fully virtualized deployment
model, shown in Figure 6, provides
rationalization and pooling of processing
resources in a data center. It also expands
the use of edge computing, improving
scalability and enables slicing for a
service-oriented 5G network. In rural/
suburban sites where latency is higher
and fiber isn’t available to support a less
dense population, the operator may
consider co-located deployment of RU/
DU or an integrated CU/DU into the same
form factor.
These extra fiber fronthaul/backhaul
requirements, depending upon fiber
availability, could offset Open RAN cost
savings. More standardized hardware for Figure 4. Open RAN radios can
both the edge cloud server (DU) and standardized data center hardware centers, clouds, and applications support multiple frequency bands.
(CU) can lead to operational benefits overall for operators. Furthermore, with complex dependencies, we
there are clear operational cost savings including energy savings and can orchestrate processes ensuring that single tasks occur in proper
cell site space savings when compared to a legacy RAN approach. order and eliminate human intervention.
Manually intensive legacy RAN functions include:
OPEN RAN NETWORK AUTOMATION
Through automation, Open RAN can reduce human intervention in • Lifecycle management of baseband hardware and software:
network operations. A traditional nationwide wireless network might upgrading, applying patches, monitoring and cleanup.
require several thousand people to run while a fully virtualized network • Auto integration: configuring and commissioning of new
could require just hundreds. Network orchestration can reduce this effort. hardware added to the network. Orchestration can provision
Automation and orchestration are different, but related concepts. In or deploy servers, assign storage capacity, create virtual
general, automation refers to automating a single task. Examples include: machines and manage networking, among other tasks.
• Self-healing: locating faults and executing troubleshooting
• Automatically restarting a software procedure or hardware card routines to bring a service back to working state.
when a fault or exception occurs • Capacity optimization: scaling capacity dynamically by
• Automatically sending via FTP a new software instance that spawning new CU/DU instances as capacity demands shift.
needs to be loaded into a baseband processor This can be achieved by deploying spare servers located in a
data center pool, assigning storage, creating virtual machines
Open RAN brings to the telecom concepts already ingrained in the when capacity scales up and then decommissioning these
IT industry. Open RAN introduced orchestration to the RAN. logical entities when capacity recedes, freeing up server
Orchestration is gaining momentum. In MPLS networks, for resources for other tasks.
example, orchestration lets routers coordinate to direct traffic more
efficiently along a hub and spoke framework, minimizing congestion Automation also reduces human error. Orchestration supports a
and bottlenecks. Orchestration in the IT world is the automated DevOps approach helping operations teams deploy applications more
configuration, management, coordination of computer systems, quickly, securely and accurately.
applications, and services.
These are only some examples of automation that still require ACCELERATING 5G USE CASES
different levels of human supervision and intervention. By aggregating The foundation of many 5G use cases is a concept called network slicing,
multiple automation routines across clustered applications, multiple data where the user plane operates separately from the control plane traffic in

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 33

 5G HANDBOOK
Figure 5. A partially virtualized RAN
deployment places non-real-time
functions in a central location.

relevant network domains (i.e., RAN, core, transport) to offer multiple virtual
services with different latency, performance and other characteristics.
This de-coupling of user and control plane also happens to be one
of the fundamental tenets in SDN and NFV. This has led to a natural
adoption of end-to-end network slices based on data paths being
already separated in a virtualized environment.
It is possible to partition the same physical network to support
different access types and service-level agreements in support of
different use cases and this ability has existed for a long time. Network
slicing is, however, required to meet all the demands placed on 5G
networks, such as very low latency and drastically increased bandwidth.
Network slicing must be designed on fully virtualized networks to
accelerate and facilitate the adoption of innovative 5G use cases.
Examples of software defined Network (SDN) concepts accelerating
5G use case adoption include:
• The application of SDN in wireless networks, and associated
cost savings, could accelerate applications for 5G technology
in industrial internet of things (IIoT) given that industrial IoT use
cases (e.g., factory automation) do not have a pre-existing large
number of consumers to provide an economic underpinning for
data provision. Cost effective deployment through virtualized
networks may help drive uptake.
• At Altiostar, we believe that harnessing virtualization could
improve the viability of IIoT. This use case, in a factory/automated
driving setting, typically leverages 5G fast connectivity, allied to
the collection of extremely large quantities of data from sensors
and real-time data analysis. Given the proximity of the data to the
processing location, applications reside in the same data center
as the CU. For example, we believe this will improve latency/
speed required for use case quality of service.

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 OPEN RAN TELECOM NETWORKS

Figure 6. A fully Virtualized RAN

deployment disaggregates the radio
access network into radio units,
distributed units, and centralized units.

• For use cases such as autonomous vehicles, where the volume of data
collected and sent over the network could potentially be extremely large,
the capability to scale capacity up or down dynamically via orchestration is
advantageous.

The task of identifying and applying use cases and network slicing belongs
to the whole industry. Open RAN provides the foundation that will allow the strict
latency and capacity targets to be achieved by providing a virtualized and scalable
network via orchestration framework.

CONCLUSION
Virtualization in enterprise data centers perfected the technology and demonstrated
the value of a software-centric and cloud-native approach to networks. Now the
mobile telecom industry is realizing the potential of this industry shift, taking an open
and virtualized approach to the RAN. Incorporating SDN as an approach, Open RAN
has reinvented how operators deploy and maintain their networks. This approach,
which is associated with virtualization and open interfaces, offers new and more
efficient ways to manage the mobile network. This in turn leads to reduced human
intervention in maintaining the network, while enabling increased orchestration and
automation, accelerating new 5G use cases.

André Biscoto is a Network Consultant for

Altiostar’s Product Go-To-Market team. He has
over 20 years of experience in mobile network
engineering in the US and Latin America, being
responsible for 5G and LTE systems engineering,
product management, legacy network design and
optimization, consulting and sales support. He
assists operators in adoption of open virtualized
radio access network (Open vRAN) networks.

m 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 35

 5G HANDBOOK
THE CHALLENGES OF BUILDING
A 5G BASE STATION
To meet 3GPP specifications, a 5G New Radio (NR) implementation must meet
demanding processing requirements and RF capabilities. Compared to LTE, this
results in a need for higher performing, more flexible 5G NR hardware.
Looking at 5G’s technical challenges, we
see the frequencies and spectrum support-
ed now include a sub-6 GHz range, FR1,
with bandwidths up to 100 MHz as well as
a mmWave band, FR2, with bandwidths up
to 400 MHz. This requires high bandwidth
transceivers, resulting in interfaces such as
JESD204 becoming faster and more expen-
sive in power [Ref. 1]. A more integrated
platform becomes preferable.
36 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
Paul A Moakes, CommAgility
To meet the higher RF power demands and
increased crest factor of 5G, IC designers are
turning to more efficient technologies such as
Gallium Arsenide for the RF power amplifiers
(PAs). This amplifier class has highly non-linear
characteristics with a memory effect, meaning
that digital pre-distortion (DPD) techniques are
required to maintain signal integrity. At higher
bandwidths, the digital front end (DFE) that
handles DPD requires a proportionate increase
in processing performance.
5G NR introduces the cyclic-prefix
orthogonal frequency-division
multiplexing (CP-OFDM) and
direct Fourier transform spread
OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveforms
[Ref. 2]. These are important for
increasing the spectral efficiency
of 5G, but a consequence is
that the physical-layer baseband
processing is more complex than
with LTE’s OFDM. Additionally,
the forward error correction (FEC)
standards of low-density parity-
check (LPDC) and polar codes for
improving throughput on noisy
5 • 2021
channels mean that there is a need for hardened
processor accelerators to offload calculation.
5G also introduces disaggregated models
to the network architecture. These enable
such features as network virtualization in the
core and low latency at the network edge.
Architectures such as the O-RAN model,
however, require flexibility to split the PHY
and support of a high bandwidth fronthaul
connection over time-synchronous Ethernet.
COMPONENTS OF A 5G BASE STATION
Which components of a 5G base station can
meet these technical challenges? How do we
build a system with the software flexibility to
enable vertical markets to address the features
they require, while keeping up to date with
specification enhancements?
Figure 1 shows the basic functional
components required to build an integrated
gNodeB base station.
Layer 2 and Layer 3 of the OSI model are
responsible for the packet processing elements
and have less strict timing requirements than
the Layer 1 PHY. These can run on general-
purpose processors (GPPs), usually comprising
multiple Arm or Intel cores — the number of
cores scaling with the cell throughput
required. Packet accelerators for
connectivity and security on
Figure 1. An integrated gNodeB
includes a 5G Core, PHY, DFE and
RF front end, as well as Layer 2
and Layer 3 packet processing.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

the backhaul help processor offload to reduce power and improve
throughput.
The baseband PHY (Layer 1) requires a time-deterministic
architecture where the multiple signal-processing blocks are better
suited to dedicated digital signal processor (DSP) units, which also
improves efficiency. Again, throughput, bandwidth, carrier count, and
number of antennas determine the number of DSP units required. In the
high-PHY, offloading the Forward-Error Correction (FEC) significantly
reduces the DSP resources required by the PHY.
At the DFE, more DSP resources are required for digital filtering,
up/down conversion, and RF transmit power improvement techniques
such as Crest Factor Reduction (CFR) and Digital pre-distortion (DPD).
Tight integration with the digital transceivers (ADCs and DACs) is
Figure 3. An Open RAN network architecture
disaggregates the functions within a gNodeB.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
5G BASE STATION DESIGN
Figure 2. Software components
of an integrated gNodeB perform
functions that can be distributed
in different locations.
required, which can be on-chip or connected externally over an interface
such as JESD.
The RF analog front end comprises an RF transceiver to convert
the analog baseband signal to the required over-the-air band, a power
amplifier (PA) to provide the required gain for the cell coverage, a
low-noise amplifier (LNA) to recover the mobile signal, and associated
filtering to ensure emission mask compliance and prevent blocking signals
affecting reception. Time-Division Duplex (TDD) requires a transmit/
receive switch activated on frame boundaries under the control of PHY
software. The PAs and filters are band-specific, and it is common for
equipment to have a personality module to address specific 3GPP bands.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 37
 5G HANDBOOK
SOFTWARE COMPONENTS
Figure 2 shows in more detail the algorithms
and functionality performed by the software
components identified in the previous section.
This architecture lends itself to various
partitions across the dedicated processing
elements, GPP and baseband SoC, to maximize
efficiency and scalability. The stack and the PHY
use the 5G Femto Application Platform Interface
(5G FAPI) defined by the Small Cell Forum,
which can also run over Ethernet. 5G FAPI
physically separates the GPP and baseband SoC
functionality. This lets integrators mix and match
PHY and stack solutions or add baseband SoCs
to increase the number of MIMO layers.
Beyond the integrated small cell, a
disaggregation model such as O-RAN, shown
in Figure 3, lets network architects physically
locate 5G network equipment in appropriate
environments. For example, a centralized
unit (CU) can perform Layer 3 processing with
a general-purpose processor (GPP) can run
closer to the core network, deployed in server
type equipment.
The CU can support multiple distributed
units (DUs) that run Layer 2 on a GPP and
high-PHY on a dedicated baseband SoC
with FEC accelerators. These units can be
deployed either centrally or close to the radio
sites, which in turn determines whether the
38 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
equipment is based on plug-in cards to server
equipment or is a custom outdoor cabinet unit.
A DU can support multiple radio units
(RUs) comprising only the RF and low-PHY
elements, which run on baseband SoCs or
FPGAs. RUs minimize size and power, which
supports installation at sites with limited
access or reduces cell site rental costs.
This allows more units to be deployed for
densification, at reduced cost, while also
supporting a mix of operating bands and
throughput at different sites.
PICK THE PROCESSORS
5G requires higher processing performance than
LTE. At CommAgility, we looked at the differing
requirements for processors in a gNodeB.
Doing so helps us to decide which tasks can run
on a GPP and which need dedicated DSPs.
Physically compact hardware meets the
requirements of private networks, which have
space and weight limitations. Minimizing power
consumption avoids excessive heat dissipation.
All such decisions come with cost constraints.
What do these requirements mean for
hardware designers? In practice, the best answer
may well be a System on Chip (SoC), that offers
GPP cores from Arm or Intel, specialized DSP
capabilities, off-load accelerators, and on-chip
memory and peripherals.
5 • 2021
Figure 4. NXP’s LX2160A SoC includes 16
Arm Cortex-A72 cores, 8 MB L2 cache,
and multiple interfaces.
We chose processors with Arm cores.
Our gNodeB development platform uses
NXP’s LX2160A Layerscape communications
processor, which includes sixteen Arm
Cortex-A72 cores optimized for L2/L3 packet
processing. The LX2160A also provides 8 MB
L2 cache, and high-performance data path
accelerators and peripheral bus interfaces
including PCIe Gen3 and Ethernet up to 100
Gb/sec. (see Figure 4).
The development platform also includes
an NXP LA1200 Layerscape Access baseband
processor, which provides high performance
from its vector-signal processing architecture
(VSPA) vector engines, delivering more than 1
TFLOP. The LA1200 is specifically optimized
for 5G NR, providing the DSP and hardware
acceleration needed for compact, power-
efficient designs.
Working with such highly-integrated SoCs
can make you feel that you’re introducing
excessive complexity. To overcome this,
choose a silicon manufacturer who provides
suitable software tools, such as real-time
monitoring and debug, virtualization, and
software management. Such tools can help
developers cut time to market and make sure
they can take full advantage of the flexibility
offered by the SoCs.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

SYSTEM-LEVEL OPTIONS
When looking at how to build your small cell, consider these starting
points at various levels of integration: small cell suppliers, 5G
modem suppliers, and 5G SoC suppliers. Each have advantages and
disadvantages, as Figure 5 shows.
The approach which works best will depend on the volumes
of sales involved, and the nature of any specialization required. For
example, small cell suppliers are unlikely to support all the features of
every 3GPP release of the 5G specification. Ruggedization, to meet the
demands of harsh environments, may also be impossible or limited.
Alternatively, beginning with an SoC supplier allows designers
to achieve a bespoke product with a high degree of specialization,
but means that trusted third-parties must be found for specific
components, particularly when supporting uncommon RF bands. This
can be complicated and add risk and development time to a project.
For many applications, the middle ground of 5G modem suppliers
is a good compromise. However, this does mean that the features
remain constrained by the modem manufacturer –- it’s only at high
volumes that these can be modified.
To minimize costs, risk, and development time, you can start with an
off-the-shelf reference platform. Once a system has been fully specified
and proven, you can optimize the hardware design before production.
5G REQUIREMENTS
5G NR, established in 3GPP Release 15 and expanded in Release
16, introduces key improvements over LTE, including more efficient
modulation, waveform optimization and scalable numerology – thus
offering advantages such as low latency, faster speeds, and high
reliability. This means there is a wide range of end use cases for which
5G will be attractive.
3GPP standards address specialized application areas such as
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
5G BASE STATION DESIGN
mission-critical applications. Support began in 3GPP Release 13,
LTE, in 2016 with Mission Critical Push-to-Talk, continued through
Release 14 in 2017 with Mission Critical Video and Data. This trend
continues to evolve in 5G, with Release 15 supporting legacy system
interworking, and Release 16 supporting Public Warning.
Each application area, however, involves tens to hundreds
of engineer-years of development effort, with varying degrees of
complexity and commercial attractiveness. Not all equipment and
integrated devices can or will support all features of every release.
For many applications, engineers need to migrate products from 4G
to 5G, and then to customize them beyond the 3GPP 5G specifications.
Private networks and specialized applications are predicted by many
to potentially overtake operator networks in the market —
for example, analyst ABI Research predicts that the private wireless
networking market could reach US$16.3 billion by 2025 [Ref. 3].
Systems, therefore, must facilitate the migration to 5G, ideally by
software upgrade or at least re-use. They also need sufficient flexibility
to enable vertical markets to cherry-pick appropriate specification
features. All equipment doesn’t need to be a superset of features, which
would require more expensive approaches than are strictly needed.
Private networks or specialized applications may use only some
parts of the standards or may require algorithmic and protocol
adaptations to deal with issues such as higher latency, longer range,
higher Doppler shift, specific interference, or multiple parallel
channels. For example, connecting from an aircraft traveling at typical
cruising speeds of over 900 km/h and altitudes above 10,000 meters,
creates a specific set of technical
challenges. In particular, the network Figure 5. Each of these three
must support high speeds and large approaches to building a gNodeB
cell sizes as well as flight certification has pros and cons, depending on
for airborne equipment. the application requirements.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 39
 5G HANDBOOK
CONCLUSION
Engineers designing and building a 5G gNodeB
have several options. Picking the right design
depends on your application — in particular, the
functionality required, the financial constraints,
and the expected volume.
A gNodeB will typically need higher
processing performance than for previous LTE
systems, but without excessive cost, size, or power
consumption. In many cases, applications may
also require a customized gNodeB, which goes
beyond the capabilities of the 5G 3GPP standard,
and a system that is flexible enough to meet
evolving requirements.
To meet these needs, SoCs such as those
with multiple Arm cores provide the necessary
performance and capabilities. On the software
side, the development effort required to build a
customized implementation from the ground up
is impractical and customizing an existing PHY
and protocol stack is likely to deliver the optimum
system in a reasonable timescale.
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REFERENCES
1. Lars-Peter Clausen, “Understanding JESD204B
High-speed inter-device data transfers for SDR,”
https://archive.fosdem.org/2017/schedule/event/
jesd204b/attachments/slides/1549/export/events/
attachments/jesd204b/slides/1549/jesd204_
fosdem2017_lpc.pdf
2. Bob Witte, “The basics of 5G’s modulation,
OFDM,” https://www.5gtechnologyworld.com/
the-basics-of-5gs-modulation-ofdm/
Paul Moakes, PhD CEng MIET, is Chief
3. Press release, “Nokia, Elisa join forces in Finnish Technology Officer at CommAgility. He has
private mobile networks push,” https://www. previously held positions at Motorola and
nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2021/02/17/ Blue Wave Systems. He is co-inventor of
nokia-elisa-join-forces-in-finnish-private-mobile- two patents in the field of MicroTCA and
networks-push/ AdvancedMC. He holds a PhD in Electrical
and Electronic Engineering from Sheffield
University and a 1st Class Honours
degree in Electronic Communications
and Computer Systems Engineering from
Bradford University.
Follow-up Q&As w/ presenters

5 TIPS FOR DESIGNING WITH
EMBEDDED ANTENNAS
Designing an antenna into a wireless embedded or IoT device
requires special care to maximize performance.
When designing a wireless device, pay attention
to the antenna placement on a PCB. Space on
the PCB, position, clearance, the ground plane,
and correct connection to other components
all affect antenna performance. Getting these
aspects correct from the initial design concept
will help to achieve a successful launch with
reliable wireless performance.
An antenna that performs well in free space as
outlined in the manufacturer’s datasheet may
perform differently when installed in a device.
In the worst case, an antenna squeezed into
a space towards the end of the design phase
without consideration of the manufacturer’s
intended layout guidance will probably function
poorly. The design will need a revision, which
adds cost and lengthens time to market. Follow
these five basic principles of designing an
embedded antenna into an electronic device
and get a design right the first time.
ANTENNA PLACEMENT
Because an antenna is sensitive to its
surroundings, the general position of the
antenna within the device can help or hinder
a design. Place the antenna in a location that
protects it from objects that might cause
electrical interference with the antenna.
The human body absorbs RF energy. If
you are designing a wearable device that will
be used on or close to the body, you may need
to place the antenna on the side of the device
facing away from the body. This is one reason
why RF design companies conduct tests with
phantom heads, bodies, and hands in anechoic
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
ANTENNA PLACEMENT
Geoff Schulteis, Antenova
chambers [Ref. 1]. Such tests reveal how well
the device operates close to a person or in a
person’s hand (Figure 1).
Similarly, metal objects close to an
antenna can affect its performance. Take the
case of a tracking device for bicycles. The
tracker will probably be fixed to the bike’s
metal frame. When a device is used against a
metal object, you should place the antenna as
far away from the metal structure as possible.
Doing so lets the antenna radiate without
interference from the metal object.
A device’s outer casing can play a role in Figure 1. A phantom head in an anechoic
how the antenna performs. If the case is made chamber lets you test antenna performance
of metal or glass-filled plastics, it can also in a controlled environment.
inhibit the antenna’s radiated energy. Consider
making the case from non-glass-filled plastic
unless you use a special antenna.
An antenna’s position on a PCB can affect
RF performance. Antennas need to radiate in
six directions. Figure 2 shows how placing an
antenna can radiate energy in more directions
when placed correctly on a PCB. Fig. 2 also
shows how a position on the corner of the PCB
is better because fewer of the antenna’s fields
Figure 2. For best performance, place the antenna
on the end of the PCB, not along the side edge.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 41
 5G HANDBOOK
will be obstructed, and the antenna’s performance improves compared to
other locations.
Antennas are often designed to operate in a corner position,
but some antennas work best on a PCB’s long or short edge. Some
antennas have right and left variants. You have options and thus you
can select an antenna that best suits the PCB’s design and layout. You
may have some freedom to vary the exact position of the antenna
but study the manufacturer’s datasheet and position the antenna as
recommended. This lets the antenna radiate correctly and achieve
optimum performance.
POSITION THE ANTENNA IN RELATION TO OTHER COMPONENTS
Even a high-performing antenna with good efficiency will not operate
properly when close to another component that causes interference.
Such interference might come from something on the PCB or another
object close to the antenna.
Some components cause interference in the radiated signal coming
from an antenna. Batteries, LCDs, motors, and other metal objects can
create noise or reflections that interfere with the antenna’s performance.
Thus, you should keep the antenna as far away from these objects as
possible. Figure 3 shows the antenna’s footprint and clearance through
all the layers of the PCB.
Other nearby antennas can cause problems, especially if they
operate at similar frequencies or harmonic resonances of the primary
wavelengths. They may cause an antenna to detune. Ideally, antennas
should be isolated from each other, say up to -10 dB at 1 GHz and -20
dB at 2 GHz.
The antenna may also need clearance. In this area, only the
antenna pads and connections to the feed are present, letting it function
correctly in free space. Check the datasheet for manufacturer’s clearance
specifications and measurements. The area of clearance may be a little
larger than the actual antenna. You may need to maintain clearance
through all PCB layers. Design the PCB for the recommended antenna
footprint and clearance space.
CHECK GROUND PLANE LENGTH REQUIREMENTS
Surface-mount device (SMD) antennas usually need a ground plane to
radiate energy. The ground plane is a flat surface that works a little like a
mirror to balance the antenna for reciprocity.
The ground plane is typically longer than the antenna. The lowest
frequency of operation will dictate its length. Datasheets will specify
requirements for the ground plane, but it also means that you will need
42 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021
Figure 3. When designing a PCB for an
antenna, remember to allow for clearance.
a keep-out area below the antenna. If space is tight, we recommend
choosing an antenna that requires a very small ground plane to meet the
efficiency requirements to pass carrier radiated specs. Figure 4 shows how
the ground plane can be adjacent to, or below the antenna or both.
The distance between the antenna and its ground is also important
and should meet specifications published in manufacturer datasheets.
Every antenna is different, and the ground plane requirement is likely a
deciding factor in your antenna choice.
HOW TO DESIGN THE RF FEED TRACE LINE
The trace line connects the antenna to the radio. A poorly designed
transmission line could degrade the performance of an antenna by as
much as 50%. This part of the design needs specific care.
Keep in mind two important principles. First, keep the RF circuits
close to the antenna to minimize losses during transmission. A well-
designed transmission line with vias spaced evenly along its edges will
help to minimize the noise and signal losses, which can affect antenna
performance. Second, remember to consider the layers in the PCB stack-
up; do not place wires or traces directly above or below the antenna.
Design all transmission lines for a 50 Ω characteristic impedance.
Commercial software packages help you design a co-planar
transmission line, and the easiest way to design the transmission line will
be to use one. The program will calculate the appropriate transmission
line width and
gaps on either side
of the trace, so Figure 4. Ground planes under or adjacent to antennas
the characteristic enhance their ability to radiate and balance the antenna.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

impedance of the co-planar transmission line
is 50 Ω. We offer a similar free tool.
CONSIDER AN ALTERNATIVE ANTENNA
Surface mount device (SMD) antennas are
useful in a design because they only take
up a small amount of space, but there are
alternatives. Antennas are available in flexible
printed circuit (FPC) form, and these offer a
useful design alternative for certain situations.
Figure 5 shows both SMD and FPC antennas.
The FPC antenna connects to the
circuit by its own RF coax cable with various
connection options. You can use it in a different
position within the device and it will not take
up any of the valuable space on the PCB. An
FPC antenna can be bent or folded, which
introduces many options for placing it. For
example, it might be fixed to the inside of the
device’s outer case.
Another important advantage to
the FPC: it does not require a ground
plane, which eases integration. The coax
cable, however, of the FPC becomes part
of the antenna. Thus, the routing of the
cable should be designed with care. We
recommend keeping this part of the antenna
away from other components that might
create noise and interference.
FPCs offer some useful benefits, but
ultimately the decision between the FPC and
the SMD antenna will depend upon the nature
of the device, the manufacturing process
for the device, and the quantity produced.
The FPC antennas are fixed to a surface with
adhesive, and each FPC antenna needs to
be placed by hand. This makes FPCs suitable
for smaller production runs with shorter
timescales and hand assembly. SMD antennas
can be placed on the PCB by a pick-and-
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
ANTENNA PLACEMENT
Figure 5. FPC and SMD antennas give designers
options for mobile and IoT device designs.
place machine. These antennas are the better
choice for devices that will be manufactured at
larger volumes to reduce labor costs.
CONCLUSION
Generally, you will find designing easier if
you use a low profile, high performance
antenna. RF design is, however, complex
and we recommend that you obtain
advice from an RF specialist — from inside
or outside your company — before the
finalizing a design. In most cases, the design
will be tested in an anechoic chamber
to check for performance and spurious
emissions. This is the first step towards
gaining certification in your design.
REFERENCES
1. Keyvan Yasami, “5G radios increase
emphasis on compliance testing,” 5G
Technology World, March 12, 2021. https://
www.5gtechnologyworld.com/5g-radios-
increase-emphasis-on-compliance-testing/
2. Free Calculator for GCPW Transmission
Lines, Antenova, https://blog.antenova.com/
rf-transmission-line-calculator (registration
required).
Geoff Schulteis leads technical support for Antenova’s
North American customer designs. He has over 20 years’
experience designing, integrating, and testing antenna
systems for consumer products from R&D through
manufacturing & commercial deployment. Geoff has designed
antennas for various IoT applications ranging from 2G
through 5G, earning him multiple patents.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 43
 5G HANDBOOK

5G RADIOS INCREASE EMPHASIS

ON COMPLIANCE TESTING
Compared to 4G and previous generations, 5G’s mmWave frequencies and tight integration
increase the complexity of both performance and regulatory compliance testing.
Keyvan Yasami, Anritsu
Many 5G test processes parallel those of 4G
LTE, but 5G’s specifications and need for
time and cost efficiencies are much more
stringent. Designers of user equipment (UE),
systems, and networks must account for com-
pliance testing to ensure 5G products meet
established guidance. Critical compliance
tests include RF exposure, radio testing, and
electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).
Testing requirements vary by country and
region. Table 1 lists government and industry
associations standards that establish regulatory
specifications for 5G devices in relation to
testing of the transmitter and receiver.
These tests differ from established RF
exposure measurements that gauge the
unintentional generation, propagation, and
reception of electromagnetic energy from 5G
devices and systems into human tissue. All
UE manufacturers and mobile carriers must
guarantee product operation that falls within
safe parameters for both RF exposure and EMC.
ANSI and IEEE have passed a series of
test standards for regulatory compliance. To
verify regulatory compliance for EMC and
RF exposure, 5G UE manufacturers, system
manufacturers, and mobile operators must
meet these standards.
RF EXPOSURE MEASUREMENTS
RF exposure testing includes absorption and
power density. Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)
measurements cover UE that utilizes Frequency
Range 1 (FR1) sub-6 GHz frequencies. SAR is
defined in watts per kilogram of human tissue
Figure 1. A robotic arm system performs SAR
and measures the rate of RF energy absorbed
by the body from the source of RF energy. SAR
measurements at numerous locations on a
is a straightforward means to measure the RF
device under test. courtesy of SPEAG.
exposure characteristics of devices to ensure
Schmid & Partner Engineering AG)

TABLE 1. GLOBAL 5G COMPLIANCE STANDARDS

Region Organization Specifications Time line
FCC: Federal Code of Federal Regulations(CFR) Available
Communications Commission Title 47 Part 2, Part 22, Part24, Part27 (FR1)
Title 47 Part 2, Part30 (FR2)
ARIB: Association of Radio Industries Technical Regulations Conformity Available
and Businesses Certification(TRCC)
Article 2-1-11-30 (FR1)
Article 2-1-11-32 (FR2)
ETSI: European Telecommunications Radio Equipment Directive(RED) Publication
Standards Institute ETSI EN 301 908-25 (FR1, FR2) Target Feb.
(Publication Target Feb. 2021) 2021
CTA: China Type Approval Network Test requirements follow 3GPP TS 38.521-1/3GPP Under approval
Access License TS 38.521-3, but test with specific channel. Focus (*1)
on “Transmitter” and Receiver” part.
RRA: National Radio Research Agency KS X 3270:2019) (FR1) Available (*1)
KS X 3270:2019) (FR2)

44 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com


they fall within the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) and other global safety
guidelines.
The FCC’s RF exposure standard sets
maximum SAR levels well below those used in
laboratory testing. SAR levels are also lower
than what medical and biological experts say
can cause adverse health effects. The FCC
regulates SAR under 47 CFR Part 2, section
2.1093 [Ref. 1]. Products intended for general
use must meet a SAR limit of 1.6 mW/g
averaged over one gram of tissue in any part of
the head or body, and 4 mW/g averaged over
10 grams for hands, wrists, feet, and ankles.
Table 2 lists the main parameters that can
affect SAR.
TABLE 2. PARAMETERS THAT MAY AFFECT SAR
Radio service types (i.e. cellular, PCS, LMR, WLAN)
Modulation types (CDMA, GMSK, TDMA, AMPS, etc.)
Physical orientation to person (held-to-ear, held-to-face,
belt-clip, lap-held, etc.)
RF power level (in Watts or milliWatts)
Changes to transmitter, antenna (extracted/retracted)
or accessories (i.e. clips, batteries)
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE TESTS
SAR tests use standardized models of the human
head and body filled with liquids that simulate
the RF absorption characteristics of different
human tissues. Precisely positioned probes
measure the RF energy penetrating the models.
To determine compliance, engineers
measure emissions from each device while
it operates at its highest power level in all
operational frequency bands. The established
procedure outlined in IEEE C95.1 and IEEE
1528 utilizes a robotic arm system (Figure 1)
that performs a series of measurements of
the electric field at specific pinpoint locations
[Ref. 2, 3]. It can be a tedious process, due
to the robotic movements and multiple
measurement points.
An alternative method for these tests
gaining adoption is outlined in Technical
Standard IEC 62209-3 2019 [Ref. 4].
This approach (Figure 2) utilizes a vector
measurement-based system with an array of
probes to create a 3D field reconstruction of
the wave pattern. This test process takes less
time than the robotic method. The method is
currently under consideration by the FCC in
the United States.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
5G COMPLIANCE TESTS
POWER DENSITY FOR MMWAVE
For UEs that use millimeter wave (mmWave)
frequencies — Frequency Range 2 (FR
2) — power-density measurements are
the accepted practice. Power density is
the amount of power (time rate of energy
transfer) per unit volume.
For 5G devices, the dosimetric quantity
of the electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure is
the incident power density (IPD). To prevent
excessive temperature elevation at the
body surface, IPD specifies the restrictions
on human exposure to EMF at frequencies
above 10 GHz. Power density of a transmitting
antenna can only be accurately measured in
the far-field — farther than two wavelengths
from the source.
MMWAVE TEST CHALLENGES
In a 4G device, you can connect the device
to the test instrument using a coaxial cable.
Thus, you can evaluate the transceiver and
antenna separately. 5G radios, however,
use tightly integrated transceivers and
antennas due to the introduction of mmWave Figure 2. IEC 62209-3 2019 testing makes RF
frequencies and Massive MIMO. Over-the-air energy measurements using a phantom head.
(OTA) testing is necessary with the device in
an anechoic chamber.
OTA tests include:
• Equivalent, Isotropically Radiated
Power (EIRP): tests taken spherically
around the device under test (DUT)
to gauge the antenna’s effect on
radiated power. Isotropic antennas
may be used for FR1, but FR2 links
require specialized antennas that have
additional measurement requirements,
adding complexity to the test process.
• Total Radiated Power (TRP): the
sum of all radiated power over a 3D
sphere surrounding the antenna must
be taken.
• Effective Isotropic Sensitivity (EIS): A
measurement of sensitivity in a given
direction.
• Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS): the
total available receive performance
of a UE is determined by the average
sensitivity of an antenna/receiver over
a 3D sphere.
OTA testing uses Direct Far Field (DFF)
and Indirect Far Field (IFF) measurements. With
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 45
 5G HANDBOOK

DFF, the distance between the UE and the antenna approximates the
plane wave. The OTA equipment configuration is relatively simple. You
can simulate the arrival of signals from certain directions using multiple
antennas. Use DFF with known UE antenna sizes.
Use IFF for unknown UE antenna sizes. With IFF, a reflective mirror
generates the plane wave, which lets it generate the wave in a shorter
distance than DFF. Because the compact antenna test range (CATR)
needs a reflector, the configuration is more complex and the equipment
more cumbersome than DFF. It’s also impossible to simulate arrival of
signals from certain directions/angles.
SMART TRANSMIT CONSIDERATIONS
An emerging 5G test requirement focuses on Smart Transmit technology
now being implemented into chipsets, which gives devices the
intelligence to calculate the power required while avoiding high RF
exposure. Sometimes referred to as Dynamic Power Control, it also
factors the average transmit time, which is an important consideration.
Smart Transmit utilizes time-averaging technology and spatial-
averaging of power to monitor and control RF transmit power across
multiple antennas. It is especially important due to the number of
antennas in a 5G device, as well their frequencies, which include mmWave
and high, mid-, and low sub-6 GHz bands.
New regulatory testing will address this type of dynamic power
control. Corresponding standards will also establish testing requirements
for legacy technologies used by the UE to confirm conformity.
EMC AND REGULATORY TEST SYSTEMS
Given the evolving standards by multiple regulatory bodies, engineers need
flexible test systems. Flexibility controls cost-of-test because it allows for an
efficient upgrade path. Overall, test systems need the following features:
• Advanced, intuitive, and graphical/numerical user interface (UI):
Various test parameters and test cases are implemented easily
and efficiently with an advanced UI.
• 2D/3D graphing: Antenna characteristics for 5G NR FR2 need
to be displayed in 2D/3D graphs. Such views allow results to be
intuitively understood.
• Automation test software: a simple GUI to set test conditions
and automated Pass/Fail measurement results improve
measurement efficiency, while giving engineers greater
confidence that the products are in compliance.
• RF test support: test systems must measure key items, such as
those in Table 3.
RF exposure test processes need to be enacted by UE, system, and
network designers, as well as mobile operators to ensure they meet
stringent guidelines set forth by industry and government agencies.
EMC compliance, while always a test consideration in wireless
designs, has become more in focus with 5G’s commercialization. Test
environments need to meet current test parameters while still providing
a clear and efficient upgrade path as 5G evolves.
REFERENCES
1. FCC Policy on Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic
Fields, https://www.fcc.gov/general/fcc-policy-human-exposure
2. IEEE C95.1-2019 - IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to
Human Exposure to Electric, Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields, 0 Hz
to 300 GHz, https://standards.ieee.org/standard/C95_1-2019.html
3. IEEE 1528-2013 - IEEE Recommended Practice for Determining the
Peak Spatial-Average Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) in the Human Head
from Wireless Communications Devices: Measurement Techniques,
https://standards.ieee.org/standard/1528-2013.html
4. IEC/IEEE 62209-3:2019
Measurement procedure for the assessment of specific absorption rate
of human exposure to radio frequency fields from hand-held and body-
mounted wireless communication devices - Part 3: Vector measurement-
based systems (Frequency range of 600 MHz to 6 GHz), https://
webstore.iec.ch/publication/30773
Keyvan Yasami is Market Development
Manager for Anritsu. Keyvan has 10+
years in the wireless market and holds
a Master of Science Degree in Electrical
Engineering from the University of Maine.

TABLE 3. TYPICAL RF MEASUREMENTS FOR COMPLIANCE TESTING

RF output power (peak power, Frequency stability
conducted, and radiated)

Peak and average power Tx adjacent channel leakage power ratio

spectral density – PAPR limits

Occupied Bandwidth (OBW) Rx reference sensitivity level

Tx/Rx spurious emissions Rx adjacent channel selectivity (ACS)

Tx spectrum emission mask Rx blocking & intermodulation

Characteristics
CONCLUSION

46 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com


MEET TIMING REQUIREMENTS
IN 5G NETWORKS
Jim Olsen, Microchip Technology
5G New Radio (NR) networks pose a variety of engineering
challenges. They bring significant changes to every part of the
network, from the core clocking function to the Radio Unit (RU)
air interface. System designers will need to engineer 5G NR
units to meet new timing and cost requirements. That includes
re-engineering 5G advanced network and radio services,
synchronization architectures, and both fronthaul and core
transport. Meeting these and other challenges requires a new set
of best practices for selecting RU components, and a thorough
understanding of how these decisions will affect the entire network.
ENGINEERING THE 5G RADIO UNIT
Mobile networks depend on synchronization between radios.
Specifically, the time alignment error (TAE) between different
frequencies at the transceiver array boundary (TAB) determines the
synchronization, transport engineering, and components required
for adjacent radios to connect to user equipment (UE) and operate
without co-channel interference. This applies to both frequency
division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). NR will primarily
operate on the latter, which is a new operating mode for most network
operators. TDDs will imply re-engineering the timing network to meet
the 5G requirements at the RU.
NR has stringent TAE engineering requirements that carried over
from LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), creating additional challenges for RU
engineers. NR introduces, for example, a new power-management
schema. LTE Evolved Node B (eNB) remains active in idle state, with
continual transmission of idle mode signals such as Synchronization Signal
Block (SSB) and Cell-Specific Reference (CSR). The longer idle periods in
NR reduce the NR network’s heat, power consumption
and UE paging while improving overall performance
with lower energy consumption than LTE [Ref. 1].
5G RU design engineers, therefore, need
components with fast start-up, high-frequency on/
off cycles, and high MTBF that integrate hardened
Digital Front End (DFE) application-specific
blocks for maximum power saving and high
performance-per-watt. These components also
need to scale from small cells to macrocells while
delivering carrier aggregation and multi-band 400
MHz, multimode, and instantaneous bandwidth
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
NETWORK TIMING
5G needs tighter timing requirements than do 4G
networks. The timing must perpetuate from the
radio throughout the telecom network core.
allocation over Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and FR2. In addition, they must
support existing/emerging Gallium Nitride (GaN) power amplifiers (PAs)
to future-proof the RU. mmWave (FR2) has well-known power challenges
aggregating Multi-User-Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO)
interfaces while managing beamforming, etc.
Maintaining RF timing stable enough to meet the network time error
(TE) requirement also impacts the on-board oscillator used to provide
timing to the radio’s transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and PA DFE blocks.
This timing must ensure a stable TAE at the RU. Traditionally, oscillators on
the Baseband Unit (BBU) ensured clock holdover should the radio lose its
timing signal. This is no longer feasible for two reasons. First, the BBU is
no longer a timing interface or demarcation point in 5G networks because
it’s disaggregated into the Centralized Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU)
functional blocks in an Open RAN architecture. Second, oscillator choice
is also constrained by cost, heat, and power considerations, which is why
Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillator (TCXO) or Micro-Electro-
Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology are replacing high-performance
oscillators built with other technologies.
When choosing oscillators, you should understand that 5G fronthaul
transport cannot use Common Public Radio Interface/Open Base Station
Architecture Initiative (CPRI/OBSAI) over fiber with proprietary timing and
high-frequency timing pulses. Instead, 3GPP mandates IEEE 1588 Precision
Time Protocol (PTP) over Ethernet (Figure 1). PTP has implications for the
behavior of the selected oscillators. Low-cost MEMS oscillators introduce
severe constraints, react poorly to physical-layer rearrangement, and typically
cannot sustain the bandwidth used in PTP G.8275.2 profile [Ref. 2]. The
result: they must be engineered with the lower-bandwidth G.8275.1 PTP
Figure 1. 5G fronthaul transport must use PTP over Ethernet,
which impacts both the fronthaul and backhaul networks.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 47
 5G HANDBOOK
profile on the fronthaul network. This has a
concomitant impact on engineering both the
fronthaul (DU to RU) and the backhaul network.
FRONTHAUL ENGINEERING
In 4G LTE, CPRI fronthaul transport impacted
the network’s capacity, synchronization, and
cost. NR introduces the new Enhanced CPRI
(eCPRI) over Ethernet fronthaul, which must
be engineered such that time-sensitive radio
control services operate effectively. 5G NR
requires adjacent radios to adhere to both
absolute and relative TE specifications [Ref.
3], which implies either Primary Reference
Time Clock (PRTC), ITU standard G.8272,
or Telecom Boundary Clock (T-BC) within
260 (nsec) of the RU. The removal of
protocol constraints in NR compared to LTE,
combined with moving timing to Ethernet,
has added considerable flexibility to fronthaul
engineering, with some caveats. The lack
of operationally viable clock holdover on
the BBU or RU requires the use of a high-
performance T-BC on the fronthaul network’s
switches. Component choices of RU design
engineers drive the timing architecture on
the 5G fronthaul network. Table 1, from
the Telecom Boundary Clock ITU standard
G.8273.2, shows the maximum cTE allocated
to the various BC classifications.
As we have seen, the combination of
tight TAE at the RF interface, the use of
48 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
zero-holdover oscillators and the mandatory
use of G.8275.1 for synchronization impact
fronthaul engineering considerations. As in
LTE (TS.36.104), 5G NR mandates the use
of ±1.5 µsec absolute TE at the air interface
(TS 38.104). To let operators meet these
TE requirements on the transport network,
the T-BC (G.8273.2) recommendation has
changed four times, taking the industry from
Class A – constant TE (cTE) ±50 nsec to Class
D cTE @ ±5 nsec. These rapid changes have
forced T-BC component redesign in core
switches and a succession of onerous network
upgrades for mobile operators. In other
words, the increasingly tight TE requirements
at the edge of the network, along with the
way the RU is being engineered, continues to
impact the overall switch/router fabric of the
transport network.
SMALL CELLS AND THE RETURN OF G.8275.2
While the development of power-efficient high-
bandwidth small RUs has created challenging
network upgrades, it also facilitates highly
distributed small cell Open RAN service
architectures. These architectures will enable
small cell-based 3GPP Release 17 applications
such as integrated access and backhaul (IAB),
cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), IoT, and
new private networks with local PRTC (source
clocks). These applications use 5G Core
5 • 2021
Figure 2. Option 6/Option 8 small cells with
the DU integrated in the RU with the TAA and
DFE can more easily support both G.8275.1
and/or G.8275.2.networks.
(5GC) or 5G-U unlicensed or leased spectrum,
operator network slicing, and the UK Joint
Operator Technical Specification (JOTS), [Ref.
4, 5] for a neutral host “gateway.” Small cell
infrastructures of this type will rapidly replace
proprietary distributed antenna system (DAS)
which can’t compete with the TDD based sub
6 GHz C-band, or mmWave RU. 5G small cells
will also allow deployment of IAB systems.
IAB can be fixed or ephemeral, line of sight
or meshed, and use FR1 or FR2 for both
mobile termination (MT) and backhaul with
configurable radio clusters.
Moreover, small cells will have a more
flexible deployment profile than Option 7.2
(Open RAN macro cells), which is tied to
G.8275.1. Option 6/Option 8 small cells with
the DU integrated in the RU with the TAA
Permissible range of
T-TSC Class constant phase/time
error — cTE(nsec)
A ±50
B ±20
C ±10
D ±5
Table 1. Telecom Boundary Clock ITU standard
G.8273.2 specifies the maximum cTE allocated
to the various BC classifications.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com

Figure 3. These
calculations show an
example of available
time error (TE) in a
fronthaul network.
and DFE can more easily support both G.8275.1 and/or G.8275.2
(Figure 2). The latter profile will be crucial in a non-engineered
environment such as an existing LAN where the switches lack T-BC.
Simultaneous with the changes in the radio network to meet
phase requirements, planners and synchronization engineers have
been deploying high-availability clocks in the core network, replacing
time-division multiplexing (TDM)-based primary reference clocks (PRC)
and synchronization supply units (SSU) with Ethernet-based clocking
functions including Enhanced PRC (ePRC)/G.811.1, ePRTC /G.8272.1 @
±30 nsec maximum absolute time error (maxTE), and PRTC-A or PRTC-
B/G.8272 @±100 nsec or ± 40 nsec maxTE respectively, to provide PTP
and/or Synchronous Ethernet (syncE) timing. These functions must be
comprehensively engineered into the core transport and timing networks.
ENGINEERING THE CORE TRANSPORT
Two issues have forced a rethink about the most effective core transport
layer for PTP timing:
• The need to avoid being dependent on Global Navigation
Satellite System (GNSS) satellite-based timing by meshing
ePRTC to create “GNSS failure-resilient” networks using land-
based time transfer.
• The increasing need for stable high-performance extremely tight
timing to the 5G RU. Until recently, Ethernet G.8275.1 (On Path
Support) networks dominated timing deployments.
Operators, however, now deploy PTP engineered on the optical
layer. Carrying PTP on the lambda or optical timing channel using
boundary clocks designed for deployment with dense wavelength
division multiplexing (DWDM)/coarse wavelength division multiplexing
CWDM systems has brings extremely low TE of less than ±3 nsec
(better than G.8272.3 Class D) and extremely high stability. With this
implementation, a network can be engineered to PRTC-A (= ±100 nsec)
at all service points, also referred to as a “virtual PRTC.” vPRTC enables
synchronization engineers to push ±100 nsec TE to the edge of the
network, nearer to the DU where fronthaul begins.
Such low TE in the core, coupled with equally low TE on the
engineered fronthaul, provides the network timing and planning
tools needed for significantly greater elasticity in engineering the
synchronization network in the access/midhaul distribution network.
Consider this simple calculation for a vPRTC with a fast fronthaul and
a metropolitan area Ethernet network (Metro E) network between the
vPRTC dropoff and the DU pool (Figure 3).
The vPRTC could span several hundred kilometers over ten or more
DWDM hops with less than ±100 nsec TE to the aggregation router. The
metroE may have any Class T-BC. As both vPRTC and fronthaul have low
TE, there is a huge timing budget available to appropriately engineer
the access network (±1.24 µsec). This gives the network engineer
tremendous flexibility in how to engineer the end-to-end network.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
NETWORK TIMING
CONCLUSION
The logical and geo footprints of core LTE networks
will stay relatively stable as operators migrate
to 5G, but subtle engineering challenges and
the solutions applied in deploying 5G RUs will
have repercussions throughout the network. The
ability to reduce cost and form factor in the 5G
RU while maintaining TAE will require proper component selection
which, in turn, will impact the fronthaul network and core network
transport architectures. There also will be a corresponding evolution
of synchronization engineering with the development of high-
performance source clocks and optical-layer boundary clocks for the
next-generation transport network. In short, there will be growing
reliance on meeting timing requirements at the RU and the way this is
accomplished will have a significant impact on how the entire mobile
network is engineered.
REFERENCES
1. Pål Frenger and Richard Tano, More capacity and less power: How
5G NR can reduce network energy consumption, Ericsson, https://www.
ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/research-papers/how-5g-nr-can-
reduce-network-energy-consumption
2. Tim Frost, The PTP Telecom Profiles for Frequency, Phase and Time
Synchronization, May 2013. https://www.microsemi.com/document-
portal/doc_download/133481-ptp-telecom-profiles-for-frequency-phase-
and-time-synchronization
3. TS 38.104 Section 6.2
4. Neutral Hosts on JOTS NHIB, Small Call Forum document 250.01.01
https://www.smallcellforum.org/neutral-hosts-on-jots
5. Joint Operators Technical Specifications, Mobile UK, https://www.
mobileuk.org/jots
Jim Olsen is a solutions architect in
the frequency and time systems (FTS)
business unit at Microchip Technology. He
has extensive experience in designing and
implementing network synchronization
and timing architectures in more than 50
countries. He joined Microchip in 1984
and has since served in a wide range of
service, sales and marketing roles. In
2000, he transitioned to an advanced
technologies role, helping identify new
technologies and investment opportunities,
and is currently a solutions architect for
the North America region. Olsen speaks regularly at industry seminars and
events and his numerous articles and whitepapers on synchronization and
timing have appeared in books and trade publications.
5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 49
 5G HANDBOOK

HOW TIMING SOURCES SYNCHRONIZE

OPEN RAN NETWORKS IEEE 1588 PTP and SyncE protocols keep radio
units, switches, and distribution units in sync.
Jeff Gao, SiTime
Deployment of 5G networks in cities around the world marks one
of the largest and fastest evolutions in networking infrastructure.
To inspire competition and innovation, the open radio access
network, or Open RAN, is an industrywide initiative to enable
interoperability among hardware suppliers. The standardization of
Open RAN levels the playing field, driving lower costs with more
competition while letting operators mix and match components
for best performance. Network providers, and by extension
consumers, will welcome decreased costs from interoperability.
The growing number of components that need synchronization
brought on by the densification of the network makes careful
consideration of network timing functions critical. Figure 1. The 5G Open RAN architecture is split into three
base components: the RU, fronthaul switch, and DU.
The OPEN RAN architecture consists of three major components:
the remote radio unit (RU), the fronthaul switch, and the distribution
unit (DU), shown in Figure 1. The RU serves as the consumer’s
access point to the network. The DU acts as the connection to the

Figure 2. TCXOs, OCXOs,

MEMS oscillators, and network
synchronizers compose the clock
tree for RU and DU systems.

TCXO/OCXO/
MEMS

50 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021 5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com


centralized unit (CU) and the mobile core.
Finally, the fronthaul switch routes traffic
between the RU and DU. The standardized
interface that transmits information between
components of the radio access network is
known as enhanced Common Public Radio
Interface (eCPRI). These components need
precise synchronization to avoid data packet
loss and network interruptions.
Before we cover methods of
synchronization, you should understand
time division duplexing (TDD) and why it’s
becoming the dominant form of duplexing
for 5G OPEN RAN. Unlike frequency division
duplexing (FDD), TDD separates outbound
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
and inbound signals by transmission time
slots, not separate frequencies. TDD offers
more flexibility as the ratio of outbound to
inbound transmission can be adjusted based
on the demand at any one time, resulting
in a more efficient use of the channel. This
flexibility is necessary in 5G Open RAN
as upload and download demand change
constantly. Because TDD depends on an
understanding of timing, the network uses
IEEE 1588 Precision Timing Protocol (PTP)
to synchronize transmitted and received
signals. While time-based synchronization
is becoming more common in the network,
frequency-based synchronous Ethernet
TCXO/OCXO/
MEMS
5 • 2021
NETWORK TIMING
Figure 3. The frequency over temperature slope of
a TCXO is a critical factor in Open RAN timing and
independent of the frequency stability.
(SyncE) remains an underlying technology
critical to system synchronization. Additionally,
both PTP and SyncE are robust alternatives
to GPS synchronization. While accurate,
GPS reference timing can be affected by
poor weather and is vulnerable to jamming
or spoofing. Depending on the network
architecture, Open RAN networks can use
PTP, SyncE, or both for synchronization.
Not only is PTP critical because it’s the
gateway to nanosecond time error, it’s also an
intelligent system that can adapt to the loss of
a grandmaster and can selectively reassign the
“highest ranking” timing packet. The growing
amount of data passing through the network
at faster speeds makes the advantages of PTP
synchronization crucial for a reliable open RAN.
Therefore, oscillators and jitter cleaners that
enable the highest performance from the IEEE
1588 protocol are just as crucial.
Of the three main components in the
Open RAN architecture (Figure 2), the RU has
the least stringent timing requirements, but
it must be the most environmentally robust.
RUs are often installed in dense, uncontrolled
environments and must remain precisely
synchronized to the rest of the network while
subjected to heat, airflow, and vibration.
The densification of radios in 5G Open RAN
requires them to be placed in environmentally
Figure 4. The DU server usually requires the added
stability of an OCXO to maintain accurate timing
even without a reference clock.
DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 51
 5G HANDBOOK
Figure 5. Two similarly specified
TCXOs have dramatically different
ADEV under airflow.
Figure 6. System architects must ensure the
combination of the TCXO and network synchronizer
doesn’t exceed the SyncE TDEV mask.
52 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 5 • 2021
unforgiving locations: on rooftops, poles,
and near roads and highways. RUs generally
require the timing of high-performance
temperature-compensated oscillators (TCXO)
or MEMS oscillators. Similar in architecture to
the RU, the fronthaul switch uses a reference
oscillator and jitter cleaner to clock an FPGA
accelerator, which also performs the IEEE
1588 processing.
WHICH TIMING SOURCE?
Only the most precise TCXOs available today
can maintain the performance required by the
RU and fronthaul switch under environmental
stresses. Frequency slope is one of the
most critical oscillator parameters for Open
RAN. This specification describes how the
frequency will behave as ambient temperature
changes. Any sudden changes in frequency
can correlate to a high frequency slope. In
applications dependent on PTP, having a low
frequency-over-temperature slope, usually
considered ±1 ppb/°C or less (Figure 3), lets
the TCXO maintain an accurate reference
between timing packets, even under fast
temperature ramp. This enables a longer loop
bandwidth, giving the IEEE 1588 algorithm
more time to choose the packet from the
highest-ranking clock available.
The component of the 5G open RAN
with the most demanding timing specification
is the DU (Figure 4), usually requiring an
oven controlled oscillator (OCXO) for added
stability. As the gateway to the network core,
it must maintain a precisely synchronized time
reference which it passes down to the fronthaul
switch and RU. In some networks, the fronthaul
switch will also require an OCXO.
In Open RAN systems, the need for
an OCXO over a TCXO is generally driven
by a time holdover requirement, which
defines how long it can “free run” without
a reference before accumulating a certain
time error. If all timing references are lost,
the DU must maintain an accurate output
clock until connection to the reference is
restored. Most DUs currently being designed
will support four to six hours, and in some
cases up to 12 hours of holdover before
exceeding a 1.5 µsec time error. Increasing
time holdover in the DU improves reliability
across the system because accurate time
pass down to the fronthaul switch and RU
even when connection to the reference time
is interrupted.
5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com
 NETWORK TIMING

STABILITY COUNTS
In addition to providing sufficient time
holdover, the OCXO must remain stable under
environmental stressors such as airflow and
rapid temperature change. An OCXO must
retain its accuracy even when placed near a
fan or when the SoC emits heat under heavy
load. Additionally, the push to minimize latency
through edge computing is leading to more
DUs being placed at the tower where they are
exposed to similar stressors. Allan deviation
(ADEV), a measure of oscillator stability in the
time domain, is an important parameter for
OXCOs used within Open RAN.
Figure 5 demonstrates the difference in
ADEV performance under airflow between high
quality and low quality TCXOs. When the devices
are subjected to airflow, the TCXO 1 has 38 times
better ADEV at a 3 sec averaging time. A similar
difference can be seen when comparing high and
low quality OCXOs as well. When operating in a
pole mounted RU or in a DU next to a fan, time
error due to poor ADEV can cause delays in PTP
packets and ultimately lead to data errors and
loss of synchronization.
While environmental resilience is needed
to get the most out of a PTP synchronized
system, PTP can be combined with SyncE
for the best overall performance. To regulate
these incoming timing references and operate
the IEEE 1588 loop, an advanced type of PLL
called a network synchronizer is needed. The
ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector
(ITU-T) has defined the maximum time deviation
(TDEV) allowable for SyncE and for best system
performance, it is crucial to ensure the total
TDEV is below this mask with considerable
margin (Figure 6).
Both IEEE 1588 PTP and SyncE are Jeff Gao, Senior Director of Product Marketing
cornerstones of 5G OPEN RAN and using
at SiTime, has over 20 years of experience in the
them together is essential to achieve the best
semiconductor and networking/communications
system performance. As RUs are subjected
to harsh outdoor conditions, better dynamic
industries in wireless systems, VoIP, biometrics,
performance of the TCXO and OCXO under
semiconductor timing, and embedded software.
fluctuating temperature and airflow leads to less
Prior to SiTime, Jeff held various product
disruptions and service outages. The oscillators
marketing and engineering positions of increasing
frequency over temperature slope must also be responsibility with Atmel, Cisco, Vovida Networks
considered as lower a slope directly translates to and ArrayComm. His current technical interests
more accurate PTP time stamps. Finally, network include high precision timing and synchronization in
synchronizers are instrumental in managing 5G, data center, optical transports, and next-gen
the reference inputs, generating an array or industrial applications. Jeff earned his MBA from
clock outputs for various system, and functions the University of California, Berkeley and MSEE
facilitating the IEEE 1588 loop. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

5Gtechnologyworld.com | eeworldonline.com 5 • 2021 DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK 53

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