5G New Radio Network

Use Cases, Spectrum, Technologies and Architecture

White paper

Launched commercially in early 2019, 5G is promising very high-performance figures,

including data rates up to 20 Gbps, 1,000-fold increase in capacity and ultra-low latency
down to one millisecond. Achieving these targets will take a range of new technologies,
new approaches to spectrum use and new use cases. This paper explains the new
capabilities and how they can be achieved.
 Contents

Executive Summary 3
Mobile Broadband Use Case 5
Technology Components 6
Spectrum 7
Beamforming 8
Network Slicing 10
System Architecture Options 10
Radio Network Architecture Options 11
Chipset Solutions 12
5G Overlay Solution 13
Summary 14
Abbreviations 14

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Executive summary
A number of ambitious targets have been set for 5G, including data rates up to 20 Gbps and a 1,000-
fold increase in capacity. 5G is also intended as a flexible platform for new services such as massive IoT
and critical machine communication, for which it offers low latency and ultra-high reliability. Several new
technologies are required to achieve these targets, including 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 required to achieve them.
The first version of 5G specifications was completed in 3GPP in Release 15 in December 2017, with
backwards compatibility established in September 2018. A few important corrections were required in the
December 2018 version, which allows Non-standalone (NSA) 5G deployment together with LTE. The first full
radio and core Standalone (SA) release was completed in June 2018, with backwards compatibility achieved
in December 2018 - major corrections were finalized in March 2019. The first commercial networks were
opened in Korea and the USA in April 2019. The standardization work in 3GPP continues in Release 16
on ultra-reliable low latency communication for Industry 4.0 use cases and several further efficiency
enhancements.
Most of the spectrum for 5G deployments will be in the range of 2.5-5.0 GHz, which looks set to become
the most widespread licensed spectrum for mobile communication. Using low bands below 1 GHz provides
wider coverage, particularly outdoors to indoors. 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 different spectrum bands to be used together.
Massive MIMO beamforming with an active antenna array will be common in 5G base stations operating in
the mid bands. Beamforming is initially needed to provide coverage to match the cell range of LTE at 1.8
GHz band. 5G at 3.5 GHz will be deployed on the existing base station sites to boost the capacity of the
existing LTE network while providing approximately the same coverage.
The target latency for 5G is one millisecond, which requires a new radio frame design, new device and base
station hardware as well as 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.
True ultra-reliable low latency services will be enabled first in smaller well-defined areas where network
conditions can be tightly controlled.
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 also required
and Nokia Reefshark chipsets are designed to meet these demands.
As well as new radio, architecture and core, 5G is also about several new use cases. It is expected that 5G
will affect our whole society, improving efficiency, productivity and safety. 4G LTE networks were designed
and developed 10 years ago mainly by telecom operators and vendors to support smartphones. Today,
many other parties, including different industries and cities, are interested in 5G networks and they want
to understand its capabilities and increase its availability. Overall, 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
whenever 10 000
needed x more traffic

Extreme
Mobile
Internet of Things (IoT) Broadband
Ultra low cost
Ultra
reliability

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

Low latency
10 years <1 ms
on battery

1 Figure 2. 5G standardization schedule in 3GPP

Standalone

Non-standalone Release 16

3GPP Release 15 Release 16 Release 17

2018 2019 2020 2021

Deployments Commercial launches

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 Mobile Broadband Use Case
Enhanced data rates and boosted capacity for mobile broadband application will be the first use case for
5G. Using wideband carrier and multi-antenna transmissions, 5G enables very high data rates. The typical
maximum bandwidth below 1 GHz is 10-20 MHz Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), which enables 100-200
Mbps peak rate at 2x2 MIMO. The mid-band deployment with 100 MHz of bandwidth Time Division Duplex
(TDD) and 4x4 MIMO allows peak rate up to 2 Gbps, while millimeter waves at 24-30 GHz allow up to 6 Gbps
using 800 MHz of bandwidth and 2x2 MIMO.

Figure 3. 5G peak data rates

Spectrum Bandwidth MIMO Peak rate

24-39 GHz 800 MHz 2x2 6 Gbps

TDD 64QAM

2.5-5.0 GHz 100 MHz 4x4 2 Gbps

TDD 256QAM

<1 GHz 10-20 MHz 2x2 0.1-0.2 Gbps

FDD 256QAM

With wideband carrier and massive MIMO, 5G brings substantially more capacity on top of existing LTE
networks. An LTE cell with 20 MHz bandwidth shows a 40 Mbps average busy hour throughput in live
networks. A 5G cell with 100 MHz bandwidth enables 20 times more capacity by using four times more
spectrum and up to five times higher efficiency with massive MIMO.
LTE and 5G data rates can be combined using dual connectivity (EN-DC).

Figure 4. 5G capacity boost with wideband carrier and massive MIMO

1.8 GHz 1.8 GHz 3.5 GHz3.5 GHz

1.8 GHz 3.5 GHz
20 MHz 20 MHz 100
100 MHz1 MHz 1

20 MHz 100 MHz1

2 bps / Hz
2 bps / Hz 10 bps10 bps / Hz
/ Hz
2 bps / Hz 10 bps / Hz
40 Mbps 800 Mbps cell 5G
5G3500
3500with
with
LTE1800 with 40LTE1800
Mbps with cell throughput 20 x800 Mbps massive
2x2 MIMO 40cell
Mbpsthroughput
20 x
800 Mbps cell cell5G
throughput
throughput
3500 with massiveMIMO
MIMO
2x2 MIMO 20 x beamforming
LTE1800 with cell throughput throughput massive MIMO beamforming
2x2 MIMO 180% downlink
beamforming
1 80% downlink
180% downlink

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Technology Components
The ambitious targets of 5G networks require several new technologies.
1) New spectrum. The very high data rates up to 10 Gbps require a bandwidth up to 1-2 GHz, which is
available at higher frequency bands. To achieve such extremely high data rates, 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 becomes more practical at higher frequencies because the antenna size is relative to the
wavelength. In practice, massive MIMO can be used at frequencies above 1 GHz in the base stations and at
millimeter waves even in user devices.
3) Network slicing creates virtual network segments for different use cases within the same 5G network. The
5G core network is designed to support multiple slices for each UE. Physical layers and protocol layers in 5G
need the flexibility to support different use cases, vertical segments and different frequency bands, and to
maximize the energy and spectral efficiency. Lower latency for the air interface is achieved through scalable
numerologies with shorter symbol duration and with mini-slot transmission. Reliability is improved through
new Quality of Service classes and duplication of data transmission on different layers.
4) 5G can be deployed as a standalone system but is being deployed alongside LTE. 5G devices can connect
simultaneously to both 5G and LTE. This dual connectivity increases the user data rate and allows a rapid
introduction of 5G using LTE protocols and LTE core network.
5) 5G enables cloud implementation with an open radio access network and edge computing. The content
needs to be brought close to the radio to achieve low latency , which leads to local break out and MEC. The
need for scalability requires radio networks with edge cloud and local cloud architecture. 5G radio and core
are also designed to be cloud native, including new interfaces inside the radio network.

Figure 5. Key technology components in 5G networks

#1 New spectrum #2 Beamforming #4 Dual connectivity and

LTE-5G co-existence
90 GHz
3 mm
5G

30 GHz LTE
1 cm
10 GHz

3 GHz #3 Slicing, ultra reliable and #5 Edge computing

10 cm low latency design
• Scalable numerology
300 MHz • Mini-slot and grant-free
1m • Packet duplication

Gateway

5
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Spectrum
5G is the first radio system designed to support any spectrum between 400 MHz and 100 GHz . This wide
range of spectrum options provides the best combination of high capacity, high data rates, ubiquitous
coverage and ultra-high reliability. Wide area coverage and data rates up to a few Gbps can be achieved
using low bands below 6 GHz. Internet of Things (IoT) devices and critical communication like remote control
or automotive communication require reliable coverage.
The main globally available spectrum options for the early phases of 5G are at 2.5-5.0 GHz and millimeter
waves at 24-28 GHz and 39 GHz with TDD technology. 5G can also use sub-1 GHz FDD bands to provide
wide area coverage, including deep indoor penetration. Low band spectrum can be 700 MHz or 600 MHz
or refarmed 850/900 MHz to minimize the use of legacy 2G/3G spectrum. The optimal combination of
coverage, capacity and user data rates is achieved by aggregating the different spectrum bands from sub-1
GHz to millimeter waves.
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 allows enterprises and industries to benefit from 5G technology without the need
to use licensed spectrum.

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

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

37-37.6GHz
600MHz (2x35MHz) 2.5GHz 3.5GHz (150MHz) 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 capacit y boost • 100x capacit y boost Licensed

• IoT • High capacit y macros • Hot spot Unlicensed / shared
• Crit ical communicat ions • Fixed wireless Exist ing band

By making use of mid bands, around 3.5 GHz, 5G can use existing base station sites, providing similar
coverage as the existing LTE network at 1.8 GHz. 5G beamforming gives higher antenna gain, helping to
compensate for the higher path loss at 3.5 GHz compared to 1.8 GHz. Reusing existing sites allows rapid
5G deployment. 5G also needs low bands below 1 GHz for extensive coverage, particularly for low latency
critical applications and for reliable Internet of Things (IoT) communications. Millimeter waves are optimized
for extremely high data rates for local hot spots or for fixed wireless connections.

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 Figure 7. 5G coverage footprint

5G mm-waves Extreme local capacity 6 Gbps / 800 MHz

5G 3500 mMIMO 10x capacity with

LTE grid with 2 Gbps / 100 MHz
massive MIMO
LTE1800

IoT and critical

LTE800
communication 200 Mbps / 10 MHz
with full coverage
5G700

7 Figure 8. Dynamic spectrum sharing

Starting point 5G refarming

Dedicated band for

5G only
5G

Frequency domain
refarming LTE + 5G LTE 5G
LTE

Dynamic spectrum
sharing LTE LTE+5G

Beamforming
Massive MIMO beamforming is an attractive solution to boost mobile network capacity and coverage.
This has become an important technology because higher spectral efficiency is required, active antenna
implementation has become practical, the latest 3GPP specifications support beamforming and higher
frequencies allow massive yet compact MIMO antennas.
Massive MIMO has already been deployed commercially in LTE networks, mainly in TD-LTE. Its main use in
LTE is increasing capacity at congested sites. Massive MIMO will be a mainstream solution in 5G at 2.5-5.0
GHz frequencies, used for increasing coverage by improving the link budget [dB] and building capacity by

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 increasing 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. Similar size antennas at low bands
can only achieve 15-18 dBi. Massive MIMO can increase coverage by 6-9 dB with higher antenna gain and
increase spectral efficiency three-fold beyond 10 bps/Hz/cell with beamforming, with peak cell throughput
as high as 80 bps/Hz. The exact gain depends on the antenna configuration, the number of antenna
elements, the number of transceivers and the output power.

Vertical
Figure 9. Beamforming with massive MIMO antenna enhances radio capacity and coverage

beamforming
Vertical
beamforming

Massive
Massive
MIMO
MIMO
antenna
antenna

Horizontal
beamforming
Horizontal
beamforming

Figure 10. Benchmarking of antenna sizes and antenna gains

<1 GHz 2 GHz 3.5 GHz

6-9 dB gain

1.5m 1.3m <1m

38 cm 32 cm <50 cm

15 dBi 18 dBi 24 dBi

0.6 m2 0.4 m2 <0.5 m2

Passive 4-port antenna Massive MIMO antenna

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5G New Radio Network
Network 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
network infrastructure. The same network infrastructure can support, for example, smartphones, tablets,
virtual reality connections, personal health devices, critical remote control or automotive connectivity.
Network slicing can be used to ensure that end-to-end performance meets customer expectations, as well
as the needs of services and applications. Individual segments, including radio, transport, metro, core, edge
cloud, central cloud, which were formerly treated separately, must be examined as a whole if network slicing
is to be used properly. The optimization of performance must also be adapted and coordinated across the
entire network.
Network slicing also requires more tools. While LTE supports Quality of Service (QoS) differentiation, 5G
requires dynamic, application-based Quality of Experience (QoE). Although 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. When both the
radio and the core are application aware and can decide on actions to achieve the QoE targets, control plane
signaling of packet filter attributes and related policies is not necessary.

Figure 11. Network slicing concept

s
k slice
w or
Smartphones
re Net
Home
Co
Orchestrator

Applications
mable
Program Platforms
ud
Telco Clo
Health

Infrastructure

Critical
Auto

System Architecture Options

5G can be deployed as a standalone solution without LTE, an approach known as Option 2 in 3GPP. 5G can
11

also use a non-standalone solution with dual connectivity to LTE, known as Option 3. The very first 5G
networks are using Option 3, as it is available in 3GPP six months before Option 2.
Dual connectivity also has other benefits - it allows LTE and 5G data rates to be combined and the reuse of
the existing Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Option 2 with a 5G core network enables new end-to-end services
including low latency. Option 2 allows lower latency and faster setup time than a dual connectivity solution
where LTE protocols are used.

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Figure 12. Network architecture options in 3GPP Release 15

Non-standalone Standalone
Option 3X Option 2

EPC 5G-CN EPC 5G-CN

= Control plane only

LTE 5G LTE 5G
= User + control plane
= User plane only

EPC = Evolved Packet Cpre = LTE Core Network

5G-CN = 5G core network

12

Radio Network Architecture Options

A characteristic of the 5G radio network is that it includes new interfaces between the radio unit and
the baseband unit or edge cloud unit. The aim is to bring more flexibility to the deployment of the radio
network.
The most typical solution in LTE is a distributed approach, where all the radio network processing is done
close to the antenna and RF. An alternative is baseband hoteling, where all the baseband processing is in the
centralized location with Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) connection to RF.
The distributed approach can also be used in 5G, however baseband hoteling is challenging because it
requires a very high CPRI data rate – even up to 1 Tbps (terabits per second) – with wideband radio and
multi-antenna RF. Therefore, 5G includes other options for splitting the functionality, namely low layer split
and high layer split. The solution places low layer, delay critical functionalities in the RF unit and less delay-
critical functions in the edge cloud unit. Such a solution can minimize transport requirements. The low layer
split has part of the layer in the RF site, while a high layer split has all of layer 1 and part of layer 2 in the RF
site.
The low layer split has 10 times more relaxed requirements for the transport compared to a baseband
hotel, and the high layer split further relaxes the transport requirements.

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Figure 13. Radio functionality split between radio site and edge cloud site

CPRI eCPRI High layer Classical

CPRI eCPRI High layer Classical
Baseband
Baseband hotel Low layer split split split
hotel Low layer split distributed
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 >1 ms Layer 3
10-100 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

Chipset Solutions
Nokia unveiled new ReefShark chipsets in 2018, which use in-house silicon expertise to dramatically reduce
the size, cost and power consumption of operators’ networks and meet the massive computing and radio
requirements of 5G. These chipsets incorporate Nokia Bell Labs’ artificial intelligence (AI) innovations, as well
as Nokia’s extensive capabilities in antenna development for mobile devices and base stations.
Using ReefShark chipsets for RF units, such as the radio used in antennas, improves their performance
significantly. This results in smaller massive MIMO antennas, while also reducing power consumption in
baseband units.
The ReefShark chipsets for computing capacity are delivered as plug-in units for the commercially available
Nokia AirScale baseband module. AirScale can be upgraded through software 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 6 Tbps,
allowing operators to meet rapidly growing densification demands as well as support the massively
enhanced mobile broadband needs of people and devices in megacities.

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Figure 14. Reefshark chipsets

In-house SoC (System on Chip) Baseband

ReefShark IP
development

blocks
Digital ReefShark
Front End chipsets
Ensures fast development track, access to
latest available technology RF

Operators benefit from time-to-market

leadership and optimized TCO
Products in 2019:
• Next generation baseband cards
• mMIMO adaptive antenna products
with integrated beamforming
• Remote FR heads

5G Overlay Solution <Change information classification in footer>

The first phase of 5G will be deployed with NSA architecture, which couples together the LTE and 5G
radio layers. The two layers are logically joined via an X2 connection, which allows for simultaneous dual
connectivity between LTE and 5G radios. While this X2 connection is specified by 3GPP, LTE and 5G-NR
interworking between two different vendors is challenging due to the prevalence of vendor-specific
implementations. This requires vendor specific algorithms to be exchanged, as well as the carrying out of
regular release testing to ensure the desired performance. We present a simple solution that circumvents
the NSA constraints outlined above – one that does not require X2 interworking between an incumbent and
new vendor but facilitates a new vendor overlay with minimal support from an incumbent vendor.
The solution relies on creating a thin layer of LTE (in the current 700 MHz, 1800 MHz or 2100 MHz bands,
for example) that can be deployed together with a new mid-band 5G-NR carrier. This thin layer provides
the anchor point for the LTE coverage network and ensures that many of the benefits of NSA architectures
can be realized by new 5G-enabled mobile devices, without compromising the user experience of legacy
LTE devices. In effect, intelligent mobile redirection can ensure that legacy LTE mobiles are attached to the
LTE multi-band layer, while 5G-capable mobiles attach to the thin layer of LTE enabled in the NSA-based
network.

Figure 15. Two options for 5G overlay from a new vendor (Nokia) on top of LTE network from an existing
incumbent vendor

Nokia 5G + another vendor LTE Multiband

Full Nokia 5G + Nokia Lite
Nokia 5G + Nokia LTE layer Nokia 5G + Open X2

5G3500 5G3500 5G3500

Nokia Open
X2 Nokia X2
LTE Multiband
LTE Multi-band X2 LTE Multiband
LTE

= Nokia = Another vendor

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Summary
5G started commercially during the first half of 2019 by providing enhanced mobile broadband services
with higher data rates and more capacity compared to those offered by LTE networks. The key technologies
in the early phase are new spectrum and new massive MIMO beamforming antennas. The smooth
introduction of 5G services was enabled by non-standalone architecture that uses existing LTE core
networks and LTE protocols. The Nokia 5G radio network can also be introduced as a 5G overlay on top of
another vendor’s LTE network.
The next phase of 5G enables low latency ultra-reliable services. The key technologies will be the 5G core
network, standalone architecture, low band FDD spectrum, distributed edge for low latency architecture and
end-to-end slicing capability.
Powerful chipset solutions are needed in the devices and in the base stations to deliver the high data rates
and low latency expected of 5G.

Abbreviations
5G-CN 5G Core Network
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
NSA Non-standalone
QoE Quality of Experience
QoS Quality of Service
TDD Time Division Duplex
TTI Transmission Time Interval
UE User Equipment
URLLC Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication

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About Nokia
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From the enabling infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things, to emerging applications in digital health, we are shaping the future of technology to transform
the human experience. networks.nokia.com

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© 2019 Nokia

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Document code: SR1910038722EN (October) CID205407