WHITE PAPER

5G
TECHNOLOGY
PRIMER
By Vladan Jevremovic, PhD
and Ali Jemmali, PhD

Siete factores clave a tener en cuenta al diseñar redes Wi-Fi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 3
2 FREQUENCY RANGES......................................................................................................... 3
3 KEY 5G FEATURES .............................................................................................................. 4
3.1 NUMEROLOGY ........................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 BANDWIDTH PARTITIONING..................................................................................................... 6
3.3 SLOT FORMATS ......................................................................................................................... 7
4 5G SIGNALS .......................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 REFERENCE SIGNALS .............................................................................................................. 8
4.1.1 CSI-RS (CHANNEL STATE INFORMATION REFERENCE SIGNAL) ............................................... 8
4.1.2 PDSCH DM-RS ................................................................................................................................... 9
4.1.3 PT-RS .................................................................................................................................................. 9
4.2 SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNALS.................................................................................................. 9
4.3 CORESET .................................................................................................................................. 10
5 PHYSICAL LAYER MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES ....................................................... 11
5.1 SS REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED POWER (SS-RSRP).................................................... 11
5.2 CSI REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED POWER (CSI-RSRP) ................................................. 11
5.3 SS REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED QUALITY (SS-RSRQ) ................................................. 11
5.4 CSI REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED QUALITY (CSI-RSRQ)............................................... 12
5.5 SS SIGNAL TO NOISE AND INTERFERENCE RATIO (SS-SINR) .......................................... 12
5.6 CSI SIGNAL TO NOISE AND INTERFERENCE RATIO ........................................................... 12
6 ANTENNA BEAM FORMING TECHNIQUES ...................................................................... 12
6.1 BASIC BEAMFORMING PRINCIPLES ..................................................................................... 13
6.2 ANALOG BEAMFORMING ....................................................................................................... 13
6.3 DIGITAL BEAMFORMING......................................................................................................... 14
6.4 HYBRID BEAMFORMING ......................................................................................................... 14
6.5 THEORETICAL DESIGN OF BEAMFORMING ANTENNAS .................................................... 15
7 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 22
8 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 22
9 APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................... 23
About iBwave ............................................................................................................................ 25

5G TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 2
1 INTRODUCTION

5G Networks, also known as 3GPP Release 16 (Phase 1) and Release 17 (Phase 2), promise to bring
many technical innovations to the field of cellular technologies. The new networks will be able to provide a
wide range of diverse applications, from asynchronous, low data rate applications targeting machine to
machine communications (M2M) and Internet of Things, to low latency very high data rate applications
such as video gaming, and everything in between. 5G networks, unlike their predecessors, will be deployed
over a wide range of frequency bands. Sub-6 GHz will be used for blanket, citywide coverage for mobile
coverage, while millimeter wave frequencies (24 GHz and above) are suitable for opportunistic stationary
high capacity coverage targeting residential areas, stadiums, convention centers, and indoor hotspots. In
this paper we focus on key 5G features, 5G signals, Layer 1 measurement capabilities, and antenna
beamforming techniques.

2 FREQUENCY RANGES

As per [1], there are two frequency ranges:

Table 1: Frequency ranges for 5G

FR1 is also known as sub-6GHz; the portion of that band under 3 GHz is also called low band, and the
portion between 3 and 6 GHz is known as mid-band. Sub 6 GHz band will be used for city wide coverage,
as propagation characteristics at this frequency range are favorable for blanket cellular coverage.

FR2 is also known as millimeter wave band. This band will be used for opportunistic deployment, to provide
coverage in stadiums, public parks, sports arenas and other areas where user density is high, and mobility
is low. FR2 will also be used as fixed wireless alternative to fiber, both as internet access and backhaul
connectivity.

Available sub-6GHz bands are listed in Appendix A, while available bands in the millimeter wave band are
given in Table 2:

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Table 2: Operating bands in FR2 [1], Table 5.2-1

3 KEY 5G FEATURES

3.1 NUMEROLOGY

5G Physical Layer, much like its predecessor LTE, is built upon OFDMA technology. In a nutshell, OFDMA
technology relies on a time-frequency grid, also known as Resource Block, where the shortest time unit is
called “OFDMA Symbol”, and the smallest frequency unit is called “subcarrier spacing”. A Resource Block
consists of 14 OFDMA Symbols and 12 subcarriers. We can consider LTE as a “special case” of 5G when
it comes to OFDMA, so it stands to reason to start by recollecting how OFDMA in LTE works. In LTE,
subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 15 kHz, so an LTE RB is 180 kHz wide. 14 OFDMA symbols constitute a time
slot, which has a duration of 1 ms. There are 10 time slots in one LTE frame. This is depicted in Figure 1:

Figure 1: LTE Resource block (a) and LTE Frame (b)

In 5G, the concept of “numerology” is introduced, whereby an operator may select among various SCS
options: 15, 30, 60, 120, 240 or 480 kHz. The relationship between SCS and OFDM Symbol duration is
inversely proportional; the larger the subcarrier spacing, the shorter the OFDM Symbol duration.
Consequently, a numerology with wider SCS has Resource Blocks wider in frequency, but shorter in time.
It also means that a higher numbered numerology has more time slots in a frame than a lower numbered
numerology. This is illustrated in Figure 2, where a Resource Block with SCS = 30 kHz (µ = 1) is shown,

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as well as the corresponding time slot count (20) in a 10 ms frame:

Figure 2: Resource block with numerology µ=1 (a) and 5G Frame (b)

By comparing Figures 1 and 2, we see that when subcarrier spacing is doubled, the number of slots in
frame doubles as well. This is a well-known feature of OFDMA technology and is summarized in Table 1
for all six numerology options:

Numerology µ Subcarrier Slot duration Number of slots

spacing (kHz) (µs) per frame
0 15 1000 10
1 30 500 20
2 60 250 40
3 120 125 80
4 240 62.5 160
5 480 31.25 320

Table 1: 5G Numerology options

As larger subcarrier spacing takes up bandwidth, there are fewer Resource Blocks per RF channel for
higher numerology options. In frequency range 1 (FR1), which is below 6 GHz, SCS of 15, 30 and 60 kHz
are allowed. The number of RB per RF channel are shown in Table 2:

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Table 2: Number of RB per RF channel for FR1 [2] Table 5.3.2-1

For FR2, which is in millimeter wave frequency range, the current SCS options are as follows:

Table 3: Number of RB per RF channel for FR2 [1] Table 5.3.2-1

.
3.2 BANDWIDTH PARTITIONING

There are many options when it comes to choosing an SCS, which gives mobile network operators
flexibility when it comes to configuring their 5G mobile networks. This flexibility is important, because a
variety of applications have diverse requirements. IoT requires large user density per square kilometer,
video gaming requires low latency, and UHD video streaming requires large throughput. To manage these,
a new feature was introduced called Bandwidth Partitioning. Bandwidth Partitioning (BP) allows us to
assign different numerologies within the same RF channel. To do so, for each partition within an RF
channel we must specify the number of RB within the partition, SCS for that partition and CORESET.

Figure 3 gives an example of partitioning of a 20 MHz FDD RF channel into 3 Bandwidth Parts. Bandwidth
Part 1 has SCS = 15 kHz and 40 Resource Blocks (7.2 MHz), Bandwidth Part 2 has SCS = 30 kHz and 10
Resource Blocks (3.6 MHz), and Bandwidth Part 3 has SCS = 60 kHz and 10 Resource Blocks (7.2 MHz).

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Figure 3: An example of RF channel partitioning into Bandwidth Parts

Bandwidth Parts do not need to be transmitted sequentially, nor do they need to have the same duration.
When defining individual bandwidth parts, the numbering of Resource Blocks within each BP always starts
with zero. For example, in BWP2 above RB are numbered starting with 0, i.e. the first RB in BWP2 is RB0,
and the last is RB9, as BWP2 has 10 RB.

The bandwidth of each BWP should be equal or greater than Synchronization Signal (SS) Block bandwidth,
but it may or may not contain SS block. In downlink, only one Bandwidth Part can be active at a given time.
The UE is not expected to receive PDSCH, PDCCH, CSI-RS on the downlink, and PUSCH or PUCCH on
the uplink outside an active Bandwidth Part. Each Bandwidth Part includes at least one CORESET with
UE specific search space (USS).

3.3 SLOT FORMATS

An LTE mobile network operator that owns unpaired (TDD) spectrum has 7 predetermined options when
it comes to assigning LTE slots to uplink and downlink traffic. The number of downlink slots is at least 2
and at most 7, while the number of uplink slots is at least one and at most 6. Buffer slots are between UL
and DL slots, and, among other things, provide guard period between the opposing transmissions.

5G gives even more flexibility when it comes to specifying UL and DL transmission. An operator can specify
the transmission periodicity, which can take values of 0.5ms, 0.625 ms, 2.5 ms, 5 ms and 10 ms. Within
the specified periodicity, there is only one change of transmission direction, from DL to UL; therefore, there
is only one buffer slot. The number of consecutive DL slots and the number of consecutive UL slots within
the transmitting period is also specified. The buffer slot configuration is also specified, via the number of
consecutive DL Symbols, consecutive UL Symbols, and blank OFDM Symbols in between. The
configuration options for slots are shown in Table 2 in the Appendix.

Let’s give an example on how to configure TDD 5G spectrum. Let’s assume BWP with SCS = 30 kHz and
transmission periodicity of 5ms. Since SCS = 30 kHz numerology has 20 slots in a 10 ms frame, so it
follows there are 10 slots within the transmission periodicity of 5 ms. Let’s assign 6 slots to DL. Those DL
slots have Format 0 configuration from the Appendix Table 2. Let’s assign 3 slots to UL. Those slots have
Format 1 configuration from the same table. For the buffer slot in the middle, let’s choose Format 27, where
the first three Symbols in that slot are DL, the last three are UL, and the Flexible Symbols are assigned to
be Blank Symbols, to serve as a guard between DL and UL. This is shown in Figure 4.

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Figure 4: An example of TDD UL/DL Configuration

Each periodicity begins with DL slots and ends with UL slots.

4 5G SIGNALS

In this section, we will discuss Reference Signals, Synchronization Signals, and CORESET signals.

4.1 REFERENCE SIGNALS

Many types of reference signals are used in 5G. However, 5G does not have Cell Specific Reference
Signal. Instead, demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is used for demodulation of PDSCH, PDCCH and
PBCH signals. The reference signals used in 5G are as follows:

• CSI-RS, used for CSI acquisition and beam management

• PDSCH DMRS used for PDSCH demodulation
• PDCCH DMRS used for PDCCH demodulation
• PBCH DMRS used for PBCH demodulation
• PT-RS used for phase tracking for PDSCH
• Tracking reference signal used for time tracking

4.1.1 CSI-RS (CHANNEL STATE INFORMATION REFERENCE SIGNAL)

CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal) is new signal in 5G. The transmit power of this signal
must be defined separately from transmit power for DM-RS.

CSI-RS Resource Elements are transmitted within the same OFDM Symbols where PDSCH is transmitted.
CSI-RS is specified as follows:

• In frequency domain, CSI-RS can either have two or four RE per one OFDM symbol
• In time domain, CSI-RS can be sent over 1, 2 or 4 OFDM Symbols.
• CSI-RS can be sent over one or two slots in a frame.
• CSI repetition, which is defined by slot periodicity of 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 and 640 slots. [2]
Table 7.4.1.5.2-6

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 • CSI-RS location within a slot is shown in [2] Table 7.4.1.5.2-1

4.1.2 PDSCH DM-RS

DM-RS in PDSCH is defined according to

• DM-RS maximum length, Single or Double Symbol.

• Configuration type, Type 1 or Type 2.
• PDSCH mapping, type A or B

For each PDSCH mapping type, the number and symbol positions of DM-RS in a resource grid of 12
subcarriers and 14 symbols is further configured by a parameter DL-DMRS-add-pos.

Detailed PDSCH DM-RS specifications are listed in [3], Section 7.4.1.1

4.1.3 PT-RS

PT-RS is sent in the same RB with DM-RS in PDSCH. PT-RS user defined parameters are:

• Time density, L_PTRS (1, 2 or 4)

• DM-DMRS-add-pos (0, 1, 2, 3)
• Frequency density, K_PTRS (2, 4)

Detailed PT-RS specifications are listed in [3], Section 7.4.1.2

4.2 SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNALS

In NR, the Synchronization Signals (SS) and the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) are a grouped as a
block, and they are mapped to the NR Resource Grid as SS Block. The components of the Synchronization
Signal Block are as follows:

Synchronization Signals
• Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)
• Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS)

Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)

• PBCH DMRS
• PBCH Data

In the frequency domain, the SS/PBCH Block occupies 240 contiguous subcarriers (RE), which is
equivalent to 20 RBs. In the time domain, the SS/PBCH Block resides in 4 consecutive OFDM Symbols.
The following figure illustrates the time frequency domain allocation of the SS/PBCH Block:

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Figure 5: SS/PBCH block

The pattern or the repetition of the SS/PBCH block transmission in the time domain can be specified as
once every 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 or 160 ms. In the time domain [4] -Section 4.1 specifies the number and first
symbol indexes for SS/PBCH block and five different cases were defined and numbered as Case A through
C for FR1 and D and E for FR2.

4.3 CORESET

CORESET is a new name for PDCCH Resource Elements. Unlike in LTE, PDCCH is not transmitted over
the whole frequency band; instead, a smaller portion of the band, in frequency and time, is defined for
PDCCH signal. The rest of the Resource Elements in the same Symbols where PDCCH is transmitted,
can be used for PDSCH Resource Elements. This reduces overhead.

The user defined parameters for CORESET are:

• The number of consecutive OFDM Symbols, CORESET time duration, m (m=1, 2 or 3)

• The Number of times CORESET is transmitted in a slot (must be less than m/14)
• Number of CORESET slots per frame (must be less than the maximum number of slots per frame)
• Number of REGs allocated per one CORESET symbol. REG is 12 Resource Elements in one
Symbol, and the number of REG must be a multiple of 6.

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5 PHYSICAL LAYER MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES

In LTE, there are only 4 major physical layer measurements reported to the higher later: RSRP, RSRQ,
RS-SINR and RSSI. The first three are related to reference signal (RS) and its received strength, signal
quality and Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio measured in an LTE channel.

In 5G, we apply the same concept of signal strength, signal quality and SINR to two signals:
Synchronization Signal (SS) and Channel State Information (CSI), as both carry their own Reference
Signals. We list those here, with associated definition as per [5].

5.1 SS REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED POWER (SS-RSRP)

SS reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) is defined as the linear average over the power
contributions (in W) of the resource elements that carry secondary synchronization signals (SS). The
measurement time resources for SS-RSRP are confined within SS/PBCH Block. SS-RSRP shall be
measured only among the reference signals corresponding to SS/PBCH blocks with the same SS/PBCH
block index and the same physical-layer cell identity.

For the frequency range 1, the reference point for the SS-RSRP shall be the antenna connector of the UE.
For the frequency range 2, SS-RSRP shall be measured based on the combined signal from antenna
elements corresponding to a given receiver branch. If receiver diversity is in use by the UE for either
frequency range, the reported SS-RSRP value shall not be lower than the corresponding SS-RSRP of any
individual receiver branches.

5.2 CSI REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED POWER (CSI-RSRP)

CSI reference signal received power (CSI-RSRP) is defined as the linear average of the power
contributions (in W) of the resource elements that carry CSI reference signals configured for RSRP
measurements within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth in the configured CSI-RS
occasions.

For frequency range 1, the reference point for the CSI-RSRP shall be the antenna connector of the UE.
For the frequency range 2, CSI-RSRP shall be measured based on the combined signal from antenna
elements corresponding to a given receiver branch. If receiver diversity is in use by the UE for either
frequency range, the reported CSI-RSRP value shall not be lower than the corresponding CSI-RSRP of
any individual receiver branches.

5.3 SS REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED QUALITY (SS-RSRQ)

Secondary synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ) is defined as the ratio of
N times SS-RSRQ to NR carrier RSSI, where N is the number of resource blocks in the NR carrier RSSI
measurement bandwidth. The measurements in the numerator and denominator shall be made over the
same set of resource blocks.

NR carrier received signal strength indicator (NR carrier RSSI), comprises the linear average of the total
received power (in W) observed only in certain OFDM symbols of measurement time resources, in the

5G TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 11
measurement bandwidth, over N number of resource blocks from all sources, including co-channel serving
and non-serving cells, adjacent channel interference, thermal noise, etc. The measurement time resources
are confined within SS/PBCH Block measurement time configuration window duration.

5.4 CSI REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED QUALITY (CSI-RSRQ)

CSI reference signal quality (CSI-RSRQ) is defined as the ratio of N times CSI-RSRP to CSI-RSSI, where
N is the number of resource blocks in the CSI-RSSI measurement bandwidth. The measurements in the
numerator and denominator shall be made over the same set of resource blocks.

CSI received signal strength indicator (CSI-RSSI), comprises the linear average of the total received power
(in W) observed only in OFDM symbols of measurement time resources. In the measurement bandwidth,
over N number of resource blocks from all sources, including co-channel serving and non-serving cells,
adjacent channel interference, thermal noise, etc. The measurement time resources for CSI-RSSI
corresponds to OFDM symbols containing CSI-RS occasions.

5.5 SS SIGNAL TO NOISE AND INTERFERENCE RATIO (SS-SINR)

SS signal to noise and interference ratio (SS-SINR) is defined as the linear average over the power
contribution of the resource elements carrying secondary synchronization signals divided by the linear
average of the noise and interference power contribution (in W) over the resource elements carrying
secondary synchronization signals within the same frequency bandwidth. The measurement time
resources for SS-SINR are confined within SS/PBCH block measurement time configuration window
duration.

For SS-SINR determination demodulation reference signals for physical broadcast channel (PBCH) in
addition to secondary synchronization signals may be used.

5.6 CSI SIGNAL TO NOISE AND INTERFERENCE RATIO

CSI signal to noise and interference ratio (CSI-SINR) is defined as the linear average over the power
contribution (in W) of the resource elements carrying CSI reference signals divided by the linear average
of the noise and interference power contribution (in W) over the resource elements carrying CSI reference
signals within the same frequency bandwidth.

6 ANTENNA BEAM FORMING TECHNIQUES

Traditional wireless communication systems used one antenna at the transmitter and one antenna at the
receiver. The evolution of information theory allowed the use of multiple antennas at the transmitter and
receiver to improve the spectral efficiency of the wireless communication system; this is well known as
MIMO wireless communication system. In MIMO systems, the number of antenna elements usually
depends on the number of spatial layers (streams). For example, a 4X2 MIMO scheme in LTE would
require 4 transmit antennas at the base stations and 2 receive antennas at the end user device.

In 5G wireless communication, beam forming and beam steering antenna arrays are used. Beam forming
refers to the basic formation of a beam from a set of antenna elements (antenna array). The shape and

5G TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 12
direction of the signal beam can be controlled based on antenna spacing and the phase and amplitude of
each antenna element. Beam steering takes the concept of beam forming a step further by allowing the
beam to change direction dynamically. This can be achieved by changing the phase and the amplitude of
each antenna element in real time, which is done by software.

6.1 BASIC BEAMFORMING PRINCIPLES

As mentioned above, the beam forming antenna consists of antenna elements. The basic configuration for
such antenna system is the well-known Uniform Linear Antenna Array (ULAA) where all elements are
positioned in a straight line with uniform antenna distance between the elements (See Figure).

Figure 6: Uniform Linear Antenna Array

Depending on the implementation, three different beamforming architectures are possible:

• Analog beamforming
• Digital beamforming
• Hybrid beamforming

6.2 ANALOG BEAMFORMING

In analog beamforming architecture, the baseband signal is first modulated and upconverted to RF
frequency, then amplified and split among antennas in the array. Each antenna has its own phase shifter
and amplitude attenuator. In this architecture, the process of phase shifters and amplitude attenuators is
applied in the analog domain of the RF signal. The analog architecture is simple and requires minimal
amount of hardware and is considered the most cost-effective solution to build a beamforming antenna
array. The drawback, however, is the fact that only one signal stream and one beam at a time can be
generated. The basic principle is shown in the following figure:

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Figure 7: Analog beamforming architecture

6.3 DIGITAL BEAMFORMING

The process of phase shifters and amplitude attenuators is applied in the digital domain of the transmitted
signal. The digital signal stream is split into multiple digital streams, one stream to one antenna. Then,
each individual digital stream gets assigned a unique phase shift and amplitude in the digital domain. An
individual power amplifier is then needed for each digital stream before feeding the antenna elements.

The advantage of this architecture is that simultaneous narrow beams are generated, and each beam has
a unique signal. Thus, we can simultaneously serve as many users as there are antennas in digital antenna
array. The drawback, however, is its hardware complexity and the increased cost of implementation. The
basic principle of the digital beamforming architecture is shown in the following figure:

Figure 8: Digital beamforming architecture

6.4 HYBRID BEAMFORMING

Each of the two beamforming architectures has its own drawback and advantages. A third option that
combines both methods is widely used, and is known as hybrid beamforming. In this hybrid approach, a
limited number of digital streams feed multiple analog beamformers. This scheme provides a compromise
between implementation complexity, cost, and flexibility. The hybrid architecture is illustrated in the
following figure:

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Figure 9: Hybrid beamforming architecture

6.5 THEORETICAL DESIGN OF BEAMFORMING ANTENNAS

Based on antenna array theory, beamforming antennas can be simulated and designed. A very popular
antenna array configuration is the Uniform Rectangular Antenna Array where the antenna elements are
placed on an orthogonal axis forming a rectangular shape. This type of antenna geometry is characterized
by the number of elements in the horizontal and vertical axes. For example, an 8X8 antenna array would
have a total of 64 antenna elements and the 16X16 antenna array would have a total of 256 antenna
elements. The array geometry of the two antennas examples are shown in the following Figure.

Figure 10: Uniform Rectangular beamforming architecture

The theoretical radiation, both horizontal and vertical, depends on the antenna separation.

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 Figure 11: Radiation Pattern of an 8X8 Uniform Rectangular Antenna Array with spacing between
antennas Dx= D y= l/2 at 28GHz

Figure 12: Radiation Pattern of a 16X16 Uniform Rectangular Antenna Array with Dx= D y= l/2 at
28GHz

From the above, one can notice that as the number of antenna elements increases, the beam becomes
narrower, and the number of side lobes increases. With the 8X8 antenna array, the horizontal beam width
is 16° whereas for the 16X16 array the horizontal beam width is 8°. Vertical beam width is the same,
because both arrays have equal number of elements in the x and y direction. If one wants to design an
antenna with different beam width in the two planes, then number of antennas in x and y direction should
be different. For example, if we want to design an antenna with larger beam width in the horizontal plane
than in the vertical plane, the number of elements in the horizontal plane should be less than the number
of elements in the vertical plane.

In a traditional wireless network, the base station antennas are used to cover a specific area. This is called
“sectorization”. In general, the 360o coverage area is divided into 3 different sectors with 120o each. Using

5G TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 16
multiple antenna arrays, the 120o sector can be covered with different narrow beams. For example, the
120o sector could be covered by 7 narrow beams (16° each) as shown in the following figure:

Figure 13: A 120° sector with 7 narrow beam antennas (16° each)

These 7 beams cover 120° in horizontal plane. If 80° needs to be covered in the vertical plane, then five
rows of 16° beam antennas must be used. Therefore, to cover the 120o degrees in horizontal and 80° in
vertical plane, we need 7x5 = 35 beams. This is how a generic 8x8 Uniform Rectangular Antenna Array
looks in iBwave Design:

5G TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 17
 Figure 14: 8X8 Generic ULAA with 35 Beams

For the 16X16 array, the beam width is 8° and 13 beams are needed in the horizontal plane. For a 40o
vertical plane, we need 5 rows of beams. In total, one would need 5x13=65 beams to cover the sector with
120o horizontal plane and 40o vertical plane:

Figure 15: 16X16 Generic ULAA with 65 Beams

In an analog array, only one beam can be generated at a time. Thus, a coverage prediction shows one
beam at a time. For example, the prediction for the beam at 0o horizontal and 0o vertical plane, would look
as follows:

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Figure 16: Single beam coverage for generic 16x16 and 8x8 ULA
However, running prediction separately for each beam won’t allow us to see the overall prediction for all
beams. In order to see the overall coverage, the combined beam can be generated based on all available
beams, which gives us the combined sector coverage:

Figure 17: Combined sector coverage with all beams for 16x16 and 8x8 ULA

So far, the configuration presented is a SISO configuration as a single beam is formed at a sector. In 2X2
MIMO configuration, two signals are sent from the two MIMO antennas. There are two ways to design 2x2
MIMO antenna array: by collocating two antennas with different polarization (cross-polarized antennas), or
by separating linearly polarized antennas a certain distance from each other. The former solution is a
more practical one, as it saves space. An example of 8x8 antenna array with cross polarized antennas in
each location is shown below:

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 Figure 18: An 8x8x2 Cross Polarized Antenna Array

The advantage of using an antenna array is twofold. High gain improves signal range. Narrow beam helps
decrease interference from non-serving sectors, as the likelihood of the nearby sector transmitting at the
same time in the same direction as the serving sector is reduced compared to the classic sectorization
case with wide beam antennas. This is shown in the figure below:

Figure 19: Narrow 5G sector beams versus wide 4G sector beams

The support of beamforming in 5G requires the ability to distinguish between different beams. A UE should
be able to receive different beams and select the best beam for data transmission or for control channel
information. This kind of support is possible through the special design of SS/PBCH blocks physical

5G TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 20
resource. Because the pattern of the SSB in the time domain is made in a timed sequence, each SSB can
be sent with different beam. This is illustrated in the following Figure:

Figure 20: Different SSB sequences sent over different narrow beams

There are eight unique SSB sequences that can be sent over 8 beams that must cover the whole sector.
For a 120° by 60° sector, eight 30° by 30° beams may be used. These are the beams that transmit
continuously, even if there are no UEs registered to that sector. However, the actual data is sent over
narrower beams, carrying PDSCH. Thus, there are multiple narrower PDSCH beams covering the same
space as a single SSB beam. To further refine UE position within the sector and assign a proper PDSCH
beam to a UE connected to that sector, CSI-RS signals are used, as they are sent over narrower beams.

While analog beamforming improves SINR only, digital beamforming improves SINR and capacity. In
digital beamforming, several streams can be formed and superimposed before feeding the array elements.
This approach enables one antenna array to simultaneously generate multiple beams at the same time,
each beam serving a unique set of users. Serving multiple sets of users with the same PRB resources in
frequency and time domain improves the total cell throughput, i.e. cell capacity.

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7 CONCLUSION

In this paper we presented in depth 5G features: frequency of operation, numerology, bandwidth

partitioning, slot formats, and antenna beamforming techniques. We also talked about the changes in the
configuration of reference signals, synchronization signals and PDCCH signals. This change was
necessary to reduce overhead, as 5G has more reference signals than in LTE. For the same reason, the
number of PDCCH signals, now called CORESET signals, is also reduced. Physical layer measurement
capabilities, as defined by 3GPP are also presented, as they are the key performance indicators used to
design 5G networks. To make the transition to 5G efficient, a standardized platform for building surveys,
RF planning & design and file storage should be used. iBwave Solutions has simplified the design process
ensuring the optimization of in-building networks and to help eliminate redundancies and reduce project
completion times.

8 REFERENCES
[1] 3GPP TS 38.101-2 v15.3.0, September 2018
[2] 3GPP TS 38.101-1 V15.3.0, September 2018
[3] 3GPP TS 38.211 v15.0, December 2017
[4} 3GPP TS 38.213 V2.0.0 December 2017
[5] 3GPP TS 38. 215 V15.0, September 2018

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9 APPENDIX

Table A-1: Available sub-6 GHz bands for NR

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Table A-2: Slot formatting

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About iBwave

iBwave Solutions, the standard for converged indoor network planning is the power behind great in-building
wireless experience, enabling billions of end users and devices to connect inside a wide range of venues.
As the global industry reference, our software solutions allow for smarter planning, design and deployment
of any project regardless of size, complexity or technology. Along with innovative software, we are
recognized for world class support in 100 countries, industry’s most comprehensive components database
and a well established certification program. For more information visit: www.ibwave.com.

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