5G new radio network

Uses cases, spectrum, technologies and architecture

White paper

Previous generations of mobile technology were all about connecting people using
smartphones. With much more emphasis on IoT and autonomous and low latency
systems, 5G is about connecting everything. To meet this vision, developers and
operators have set ambitious targets, with data rates up to 20 Gbps and capacity
increased by 1,000 times.

The new technologies needed to achieve all these targets include new spectrum, new
antenna technologies known as massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), network
slicing and new network architecture. This white paper illustrates 5G capabilities and
explains the main technologies needed in 5G.
 Contents

Executive summary 3
Mobile broadband use case 5
Technology components 6
Spectrum 7
Beamforming 8
Slicing 9
Architecture options 10
Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) architecture 11
Chipset solutions 12
5G network launch 13
Abbreviations 14

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Executive summary
Ambitious targets have been set for 5G, with data rates up to 20 Gbps and capacity increased by 1,000
times. The technology also needs to provide a flexible platform for new services such as massive Internet
of Things (IoT) and critical machine communication with low latency and ultra-high reliability. 5G targets are
shown in Figure 1.
The new technologies needed to achieve all these targets include new spectrum, new antenna
technologies known as massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), network slicing and new network
architecture. This white paper illustrates 5G capabilities and explains the main technologies needed in 5G.
The first version of 5G specifications was completed in 3GPP Release 15 in December 2017, enabling
full blown commercial networks by 2019. 5G is deployed initially alongside LTE. The specifications for
standalone 5G networks will be completed in June 2018. The timing is shown in Figure 2. The industry is
currently conducting the 5G trialing and development phase and rapidly progressing towards commercial
deployments.
The main spectrum for 5G deployment globally is between 3.3 – 4.9 GHz, which could become the most
widely licensed spectrum ever for mobile communication. Low bands below 1 GHz are used to provide
coverage and outdoor-to-indoor penetration. Millimeter waves at various frequencies (24-28 GHz and 39
GHz) are used for local hot spot capacity for both outdoor and indoor deployments. 5G radio is designed
to be flexible, allowing all different spectrum options to be used together.
Massive MIMO beamforming with active antenna arrays will be commonly used for 5G base station at mid
bands. Beamforming is initially needed mainly for coverage, to match the cell range of LTE at 1.8 GHz band.
5G at 3.5 GHz will be deployed on existing base station sites to bring a major capacity boost on top of LTE
networks, while providing approximately the same coverage.
A 5G radio network includes open interfaces between the radio unit and the edge cloud. Open Radio
Access Network (ORAN) enables flexible deployment and brings cloud benefits to radio networks. Part of
the baseband processing is located in the edge cloud, making possible fast capacity upgrades. Nokia is a
member of the ORAN alliance together with major mobile operators.
Among 5G’s characteristics is that it can provide low latency combined with high reliability. The target
latency for 5G is 1 millisecond, which requires new radio frame design, new device and base station
hardware and, in practice, local content or break out with Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) and local
cloud. Low latency is typically combined with ultra-high reliability for new use cases such as robot control.
5G also sets new requirements for the radio network hardware: low latency baseband, wideband Radio
Frequency (RF) and integrated massive MIMO implementation. Powerful chipset solutions are required to
make 5G happen. Nokia Reefshark chipsets are designed to meet these 5G targets.
The technology is not only about new radio or new architecture or new core but about a number of
new uses cases. It is expected that 5G will have a fundamental effect on our whole society, dramatically
improving efficiency, productivity and safety. 3G/4G networks were designed and developed 10 years
ago mainly by the telecom operators and vendors for use by smartphones. By contrast, there is a lot
more interest in 5G networks by other parties, including different industries and cities, to understand 5G
capabilities and push 5G availability. 5G is about connecting everything in the future.

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 Figure 1. 5G enables new capabilities beyond mobile broadband
>10 Gbps
peak data rates

100 Mbps 10 000

whenever needed x more traffic

Extreme
Mobile
Broadband

Internet of Things
(IoT) ultra low cost Ultra
reliability

Massive Critical
10-100 machine machine
x more devices communication communication

Low latency
10 years <1 ms
on battery

Figure 2. 5G standardization schedule in 3GPP

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Standalone

Non- Enhance-
standalone ments

3GPP Release 15 Release 16 Release 17

2017 2018 2019 2020

Deployments Commercial launches

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 Mobile broadband use case
The first use case of 5G is enhanced data rates and boosted capacity for mobile broadband applications.
5G enables very high data rates through using wideband carrier and multiantenna transmissions. The
typical maximum bandwidth below 1 GHz is 20 MHz FDD, which enables 200 Mbps peak rate with 2x2MIMO.
The mid-band deployment with 100 MHz TDD and 4x4MIMO allows peak rates up to 2 Gbps and millimeter
waves at 24-28 GHz up to 10-20 Gbps by using 1 GHz of bandwidth and 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO. 5G peak rates
are shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. 5G peak data rates

Spectrum Bandwidth MIMO Peak rate

24-28 GHz 1 GHz 2x2 / 4x4 10 / 20 Gbps

3.3-4.9 GHz 100 MHz 4x4 2 Gbps

<1 GHz 20 MHz 2x2 0.2 Gbps

Used on top of existing LTE networks, 5G brings substantially more capacity with wideband carrier and
massive MIMO. An LTE cell with 20 MHz bandwidth shows 40 Mbps average busy hour throughput in live
networks. A 5G cell with 100 MHz bandwidth enables 20 times more capacity by using five times more
3
spectrum and achieving at least four times more efficiency with massive MIMO. 5G at mid bands is the
biggest ever capacity boost on macro cells. The capacity benefit is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Capacity boost by 5G at 3.5 GHz and massive MIMO

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1.8 GHz 3.5 GHz

20 MHz 100 MHz

10-20 x
2 bps / Hz 4-8 bps / Hz

LTE1800 with
2x2 MIMO 40 Mbps 400-800 Mbps 5G 3500 with
cell throughput cell throughput massive MIMO
beamforming

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Technology components
The ambitious targets of 5G networks require a number of new technologies. The main new technology
components are shown in Figure 5.
1) New spectrum. The very high data rates of up to 20 Gbps require bandwidth up to 1-2 GHz which is
available at higher frequency bands. Therefore, 5G must use millimeter wave spectrum above 20 GHz.
The low bands are needed for coverage and the high bands for high data rates and capacity.
2) Massive MIMO beamforming can increase spectral efficiency and network coverage substantially.
Beamforming comes more practical at higher frequencies because the antenna size is relative to the
wavelength. In practice, massive MIMO can be used at frequencies above 2 GHz in the base stations
and at millimeter waves even in the devices.
3) Network slicing creates virtual network segments for the different use cases within the same 5G
network. The 5G core network is designed to support multiple slices for each device. Physical layers
and protocol layers in 5G need to support different vertical segments, different frequency bands and
maximize energy and spectral efficiency.
4) 5G can be deployed as a standalone system but in the initial phase, it will be deployed together with
LTE. 5G devices can simultaneously connect to both 5G and LTE. Dual-connectivity can increase the
user data rate and enables the use of LTE protocols for rapid introduction of 5G.
5) 5G has in-built support for cloud implementation with open radio access network and edge computing.
Low latency requires bringing the content close to the radio, which leads to local break out and MEC,
while the need for scalability requires bringing the benefits of the cloud to the radio networks. 5G radio
and core is also designed for native cloud implementation, including new interfaces inside the radio
network.

Figure 5. Key technology components in 5G networks

#1 New spectrum #2 Beamforming #4 Dual connectivity

90 GHz 5G
3 mm
LTE
30 GHz
1 cm
10 GHz
#3 Slicing and flexibility #5 Edge computing
3 GHz time
Δt

10 cm User #3
Δf •  Lean carrier
•  Flexible size,
frequency

User #4 User #5

User #2 control, TDD,

300 MHz User #2
bandwidth etc
User #1
User #1

1m
User #3 User #5

Gateway
One tile corresponds to the smallest user allocation

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Spectrum
5G is the first radio system designed to support any spectrum between 400 MHz and 90 GHz. This
wide range of spectrum options is needed to provide the combination of high capacity, high data rates,
ubiquitous coverage and ultra-high reliability. Low bands below 6 GHz are useful for wide area coverage
and data rates up to a few Gbps. Reliable coverage is an important factor in providing connectivity for IoT
devices and for critical communication such as remote control or automotive communication.
The main global spectrum options for 5G in the initial phase are at 3.3 – 4.9 GHz and millimeter waves at
24-28 GHz and 39 GHz with Time Division Duplex (TDD) technology. 5G can also use sub-1 GHz Frequency
Division Duplex (FDD) bands to provide wide area coverage, including deep indoor penetration. Low band
spectrum can be 700 MHz or 600 MHz or 850/900 MHz refarming by minimizing the use of legacy 2G/3G
spectrum. The aggregation of the different spectrum bands from sub-1 GHz to millimeter waves will give
the optimal combination of coverage, capacity and user data rates.
5G can also be deployed on shared spectrum, such as the 3.5 GHz band in the USA and in unlicensed
spectrum, like 5 GHz. This approach opens new possibilities for enterprises and industries to benefit from
5G technology without the need for licensed spectrum.
The main 5G spectrum options are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Main 5G spectrum options in different markets globally

<1GHz 3GHz 4GHz 5GHz 24-28GHz 37-40GHz 64-71GHz

2.5GHz 3.5GHz (150MHz) 37-37.6GHz

600MHz (2x35MHz) 5.9–7.1GHz 27.5-28.35GHz 37.6-40GHz 64-71GHz
(LTE B41)
37-37.6GHz
600MHz (2x35MHz) 3.5GHz (150MHz) 5.9–7.1GHz 27.5-28.35GHz 37.6-40GHz 64-71GHz

700MHz 3.4–3.8GHz 5.9–6.4GHz 24.5-27.5GHz

3.4–3.8GHz 26GHz, 28GHz

3.4–3.7GHz 26GHz, 28GHz

3.46 –3.8GHz 26GHz

3.6–3.8GHz

3.3 –3.6GHz 4.8 –5GHz 24.5-27.5GHz 37.5-42.5GHz

3.4–3.7GHz 26.5-29.5GHz

3.6–4.2GHz 4.4–4.9GHz 27.5-29.5GHz

3.4–3.7GHz 28GHz 39GHz

0.2 Gbps 2 Gbps 20 Gbps New 5G band

• Full coverage • 10x capacity boost • 100x capacity boost Licensed

• IoT • High capacity macros • Hot spot Unlicensed/shared
• Critical communications • Fixed wireless Existing band

6 © 2018 Nokia Confidential

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 5G at mid-bands around 3.5 GHz can use existing base station sites for rapid deployment, while providing
similar coverage to the existing LTE network at 1.8 GHz. 5G beamforming gives higher antenna gain,
helping compensate for the higher path loss at 3.5 GHz compared to 1.8 GHz. 5G also needs low band
below 1 GHz for extensive coverage, particularly for low latency critical applications and for reliable IoT
communications. Millimeter waves are optimized for extremely high data rates for local hot spots or for
fixed wireless connections. The 5G coverage footprint is illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 7. 5G coverage footprint

5G mm-
Extreme local capacity 20 Gbps / 1000 MHz
waves

5G 3500
mMIMO 10x capacity with LTE
2 Gbps / 100 MHz
grid with massive MIMO
LTE1800

LTE800 IoT and critical

200 Mbps
communication with
/ 10 MHz
5G700 full coverage

7 Beamforming
Massive MIMO beamforming is an attractive solution for boosting mobile network capacity and coverage.
Massive MIMO has become an important technology because higher spectral efficiency is required, active
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higher frequencies allow massive MIMO antennas in a small enough form factor. Figure 8 illustrates the
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concept of beamforming in vertical and horizontal domains using a massive MIMO antenna.
Massive MIMO has already been deployed commercially in LTE networks, mainly in TD-LTE, although the
number of massive MIMO sites is very low. It is expected that massive MIMO will be used in LTE mainly at
congested sites for increasing capacity. Massive MIMO will be a mainstream solution in 5G at 3.3-4.9 GHz
frequencies for increasing coverage in terms of the link budget [dB] and for capacity in terms of spectral
efficiency [bps/Hz/cell]. Mid-bands at around 3.5 GHz are well suited for massive MIMO deployment
because a high antenna gain of 24 dBi can be obtained with similar size antennas to those giving 15-18 dBi
at low bands. The typical antenna sizes are shown in Figure 9.
Massive MIMO can increase coverage by 6-9 dB with higher antenna gain. It can also increase spectral
efficiency fourfold beyond 10 bps/Hz/cell with beamforming and peak cell throughput even up to 80 bps/
Hz. The exact gain depends on the antenna configuration: the number of antenna elements, number of
transceivers and output power.

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 Figure 8. Beamforming with massive MIMO antenna enhances radio capacity and coverage
Vertical
beamforming
Massive MIMO
antenna

Horizontal
beamforming

Figure 9. Benchmarking of antenna sizes and antenna gains

<1 GHz 2 GHz 3.5 GHz

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1.5m 1.3m 1.0m

38 cm 32 cm 40 cm

15 dBi 18 dBi 24 dBi

0.57 m2 0.42 m2 0.40 m2
Passive 4-port antenna Massive MIMO

9
Slicing
A 5G network is designed to support diverse and extreme requirements for latency, throughput, capacity
and availability. Network slicing offers a solution to meet the requirements of all use cases in a common
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virtual reality connections, personal health devices, critical remote control or automotive connectivity.
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5G network slicing can be used to ensure that end-to-end performance meets customer expectations,
as well as service and application requirements. To make use of network slicing properly, the individual
segments including radio, transport, metro, core, edge cloud and central cloud, which were formerly
treated separately, must be examined as a whole. Performance optimization must also be adapted and
coordinated across the entire network.

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A 5G network requires tools for network slicing. LTE supports Quality of Service (QoS) differentiation but
more is needed in 5G, namely dynamic application based Quality of Experience (QoE). An LTE bearer based
solution is fine for operator provided services where the packet filters are easy to define and application
sessions are long lived. 5G QoE architecture must detect and differentiate short-lived sub service flows.
The control plane signaling of packet filter attributes and related policies is not necessary when both the
radio and the core are application aware and both can make rapid decisions on actions to achieve the QoE
targets.

Architecture options
5G can be deployed as a standalone solution without LTE. This approach is called Option 2 in 3GPP. 5G can
also use a non-standalone solution with dual connectivity to LTE, an approach known as Option 3. The very
first 5G networks will need to use Option 3 because it is available in 3GPP a full six months before Option
2. Dual connectivity also has other benefits - it allows combining LTE and 5G data rates together as well
as the reuse of an existing Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Option 2 with 5G core network enables new end-to-
end services including low latency and allows lower latency and faster setup time than a dual connectivity
solution where LTE protocols are used. Later 3GPP releases will likely also bring the option to connect LTE
eNodeB to 5G core network with Options 7 and 4. Network architecture options are shown in 10.

Figure 10. Network architecture options in 3GPP Release 15

Non-standalone Standalone Non-standalone Non-standalone

Option 3X Option 2 Option 7X Option 4

EPC 5G-CN EPC 5G-CN EPC 5G-CN EPC 5G-CN

LTE 5G LTE 5G LTE 5G LTE 5G

EPCE= Evolved Packet Core = LTE Core Network = Control plane only
5G-CN = 5G Core Network = User + control plane
= User plane only

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Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) architecture
A 5G radio network includes new interfaces between the radio unit and baseband unit or edge cloud unit,
with the aim of bringing more flexibility to the radio network deployment. The functionality split options
are illustrated in Figure 11. The most typical solution in LTE is a distributed approach where all the radio
network processing is done close to the antenna and RF. Another alternative in LTE is baseband hoteling,
where all the baseband processing is performed in the centralized location with a Common Public Radio
Interface (CPRI) connection to RF. The distributed approach can also be used in 5G. Baseband hoteling is
challenging in 5G because the required CPRI data rate gets very high – even up to 1 Tbps – with wideband
radio and multiantenna RF. Therefore, 5G includes other options for splitting the functionality - low layer
split and high layer split.
The solution is to include low layer delay critical functionalities in the RF unit and less delay critical
functionalities in the edge cloud unit. Such a solution can minimize transport requirements. The low layer
split has part of Layer in the RF site, while the high layer split has all of layer 1 and part of layer 2 in the RF
site. The low layer split has lower requirements for transport compared to the baseband hotel, while the
high layer split is even less stringent.

Figure 11. Radio functionality split between radio site and edge cloud site

CPRI eCPRI High layer split Classical

Baseband hotel Low layer split distributed
Edge cloud
Layer 3 Layer 3 Layer 3

Layer 2 Layer 2 Layer 2 high

1-10 Gbps
Layer 1 high Layer 1 high >5 ms
10 Gbps
Layer 1 low 5 ms Layer 3
100 Gbps
<1 ms Layer 2 high
1 Tbps
<0.1 ms Layer 2 low Layer 2 low
Layer 1 low Layer 1 Layer 1
Radio site RF RF RF RF

11
Open interfaces in the radio network are supported by the ORAN Alliance, which includes number of major
mobile operators as well as Nokia. A large portion of the underlying interface definition has been done by
Nokia. ORAN Alliance is the combination of earlier xRAN Forum and C-RAN Alliance. The aim is to lead the
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Chipset solutions
Nokia unveiled ReefShark chipsets in February 2018, which make use of the company’s in-house silicon
expertise to dramatically reduce the size, cost and power consumption of operators’ networks and meet
the massive compute and radio requirements of 5G. Incorporating Nokia Bell Labs’ artificial intelligence (AI)
innovations, as well as Nokia’s extensive capabilities in antenna development for mobile devices and base
stations, ReefShark chipsets use silicon developed by Nokia in Oulu, Espoo and Tampere, Finland as well as
Sunnyvale, California.
ReefShark chipsets for RF units, such as the radio used in antennas, significantly improve their
performance. This results in halving the size of massive MIMO antennas. ReefShark chipsets also reduce
power consumption in baseband units by 64 percent, compared to such units in use today.
The ReefShark chipsets for computing capacity are delivered as plug-in units for the commercially available
Nokia AirScale baseband module. AirScale is software upgradeable to full 5G functionality and these plug-
in units triple throughput from Nokia’s already market-leading 28 Gbps, to up to 84 Gbps per module.
Additionally, AirScale baseband module chaining supports base station throughputs of up to six terabits
per second, which will allow operators to meet the huge growth in densification demands and support the
massively enhanced mobile broadband needs of people and devices in megacities.
AI in 5G networks enables real-time radio monitoring and optimization and the ability to apply techniques
such as network slicing to meet the service level demands of new business cases. Nokia is developing
technology with common interfaces and toolkits, allowing service providers to implement machine learning
applications in their networks.

Figure 12. Reefshark chipsets

Nokia RFIC mMIMO Nokia Digital Front End SoCs Nokia Baseband SoCs
Baseband
x Digital SoC
9.5 mm

Front
End SoC AirScale Baseband
x
32.0 cm Exponential performance /
(Dual-Polarized, 8 X 2X 4X capability improvement
8.5 mm x 8 x 2 = 128

•  50% smaller mMIMO antennas •  High bandwidth 5G/LTE •  Fully integrated 5G/LTE
•  > 40% lower cost •  Power and cost optimization - Baseband
•  High capacity, compact size, integrated beamforming, high •  L1/L2/L3/Transmission
lower weight = easy to install speed ethernet •  Beamforming
•  Reduced energy consumption •  10 nm node •  16 nm node

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5G network launch
A 5G network may look complex to launch but it can be achieved quickly and simply. An initial 5G launch
can be simplified by focusing on mobile broadband, by re-using existing architecture, by re-using an
existing network grid and sites, by re-using an existing packet core and by re-using existing AirScale base
stations. The first phase of 5G brings higher data rates and a lot more capacity. Further evolution of 5G
can then gradually enhance the network capability with new low latency and IoT use cases, with new cloud
architecture, with small cells, with higher millimeter bands and with a new 5G core network. A quick and
simple 5G launch is illustrated in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Fast and simple 5G launch with further evolution options

Fast 5G launch (2019) Motivation Evolution (2020+)

Simple use case 10x more capacity
Simple architecture No new architecture
Simple deployment No new sites
Simple baseband upgrade AirScale for everything
AirScale RF ready for 5G at
Simple RF upgrade
low bands
Simple core upgrade No new core
Low latency, critical
communication and IoT
Cloud optimized radio
Self powered, self optimized,
self backhauled small cells
Small cells at mmW
mmW for extreme capacity
and data rates
5G core for new use cases

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Abbreviations
AI Artificial Intelligence
CPRI Common Public Radio Interface
eCPRI Evolved CPRI
EPC Evolved Packet Core
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
IoT Internet of Things
LTE Long Term Evolution
MEC Multi-Access Edge Computing
MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
ORAN Open Radio Access Network
QoE Quality of Experience
QoS Quality of Service
RF Radio Frequency
TDD Time Division Duplex
TTI Transmission Time Interval
UE User Equipment
URLLC Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication

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© 2018 Nokia

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Document code: SR1803023634EN (April)