5G Afficando

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A first of its kind 5G related Technical Interview Preparation
eBook which consists of 500+ Questions with Answers.
This eBook Consists of:

250+ Paragraph type Questions with Answers and
250 Multiple Choice Questions with Answers.
Written by:
Pavithra Nagaraj
Independent 5G Researcher, R&D Consultant, EdTech Entrepreneur
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All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Pavithra Nagaraj, July 2021.

No part of this eBook may be reproduced or redistributed by any form or any means without express written
permission of the author.
PART-I
Paragraph type Questions with Answers
1. What is 5G NR?
5G NR stands for fifth Generation New Radio. 5G NR was first introduced in Release 15 3GPP
specifications and the requirement set by ITU's IMT-2016 and also in the revised documents of
ITU's IMT-2020.
2. What is another name of 5G?

IMT 2020 is the official name for 5G as decided by International Telecommunication Union
(ITU). IMT stands for ‘International Mobile Telecommunications’ and 2020 refers to the roadmap
that’s also been agreed by the union, as it aimed for the 5G standard to be finished by 2020. Many
people confuse that NR is another name for 5G but in reality, it is a best suited marketing name
for 5G.
3. What is ITU?
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a United Nations specialized agency responsible
for all matters related to Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). The ITU
formerly called the International Telegraph Union is the oldest global international organization,
established in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communication networks.
ITU allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develop the technical standards to
seamlessly interconnect networks and technologies, and strives continuously to improve ICT
access to under-served communities worldwide. Every time you pick up a call, access the internet
or send an e-mail using your mobile phone, it means that you are being benefitting from the work
of ITU.
ITU created the standard that sets forth the requirements for 5G networks, devices, and services
known as IMT-2020.
4. What is IMT-2020?
International Mobile Telecommunications 2020 (IMT-2020) is a standard and sets of requirements
issued by Radio Communication Sector of International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R) in
2015 for 5G networks, devices, and services. The standard was scheduled to be completed by
2020.
5. What are the 3 sectors of ITU that cover specific areas of ICT activity?
The 3 sectors of ITU that cover specific areas of ICT activity are:
➢ Radio Communication Sector (ITU-R)
➢ Telecommunication Standards Sector (ITU-T) and
➢ Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D)
6. What is 3GPP?
3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is mobile communications industry collaboration
between several groups that work on setting telecom standards internationally. This project unites
seven telecommunications standard development organizations (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, TSDSI,
#MATLABAficionado – 5G Related Technical Interview Preparation Cookbook
ETSI, TTA and TTC), known as organizational partners. 3GPP provides their members with a
stable environment to produce the reports and specifications that define 3GPP Standards.
3GPP was established in 1998 with the goal of setting the standard for 3G. Since its establishment,
it has evolved to encompass 4G and is now working on defining the 5G standards.
7. How the communication technology has evolved from 1G to 5G?

1G – Launched in 1980s - Analog technology - Supports Voice only calls - The phones using it
had poor battery life and voice quality, little security, and were prone to dropped calls.
2G – Launched in 1990s - Digital technology - Introduced call and text encryption along with data
services such as SMS, picture messages, and MMS.
3G – Launched in 2000s - Real game-changer technology, which took mobile networks and data
use to a new level - The term "mobile broadband" was first applied to 3G cellular technology.
4G – Launched in early 2010s - 4G supports amended mobile web access, online gaming services,
video conferencing, 3D Television and other features that demand high speeds.
5G – First launched in late 2010s in a few countries and is expected to launch all over the world
in early 2020s – 5G is new generation wireless mobile network technology that is designed to
increase speed, reduce latency, increase capacity and improve the flexibility of wireless services
compared to its predecessor 4G.
8. Why 5G is required?
Unlike in the past, when mobile networks only needed to support cell phones that were just for
browsing the web or for text messaging, we now have all sorts of bandwidth demanding devices
like HD Video streaming smartphones, smartwatches with data plans, always-on security cameras,
self-driving and internet connected cars, and other promising devices like health sensors and
untethered AR and VR hardware.
As billions of devices continue to connect to the web every year, there is a need for a brand-new
infrastructure to accommodate the traffic to not only support faster connections but also better
handle simultaneous ones and provide broader coverage for these devices with high reliability and
less latency. To fulfil all these requirements, 5G is required.
9. What are the 5G Requirements?

The 5G Networks must
➢ Support new use cases
➢ Support increased connection density
➢ Have enhanced Bandwidth Efficiency
➢ Have enhanced Energy Efficiency
➢ Support high speed data transmission
➢ Provide much lower latency
➢ Be more Reliable
➢ Be Scalable and Customizable
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10. What are the 3 major use cases of 5G?

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has grouped a wide variety of 5G use cases
in three broad categories:
➢ enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)
- Delivers gigabytes of bandwidth on demand.
➢ massive machine-type communication (mMTC)
- Connects billions of machines, and
➢ ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (uRLLC)
- Allows immediate feedback with high reliability for critical services.
11. What is eMBB?

Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) is one of the three primary use cases defined in the IMT-
2020 Vision. In simple terms, eMBB is an extension of services first enabled by 4G LTE networks
that promises a better and seamless user experience by delivering faster data speeds and greater
coverage.
12. List a few eMBB based 5G Applications.

eMBB based applications are data intensive use cases which require high bandwidth. Some of the
5G applications which come under this use case are,
➢ Streaming Ultra HD Video (4K, 8K), 3D/360° Video
➢ Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Experience
➢ Lighting fast Browsing
➢ Immersive gaming services without any lag
➢ Real-time Simulation
➢ Real-time Training and Translation
➢ High Speed Video Conferencing without dreaded buffering
➢ Seamless Screen mirroring
13. What is mMTC?

Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) is one of the three primary use cases defined in
IMT-2020 Vision which supports extremely high connection density of online devices. mMTC
focuses on IoT applications which requires mass deployment of billions of low-cost, low-powered
devices and sensors. This particular use case is characterized by low bandwidth and infrequent
bursts of data, requiring long-life batteries.
14. List a few mMTC based 5G Applications.

mMTC based applications are the use cases where low energy devices with low-data volume
connect on a massive scale. Some of the 5G applications which come under this use case are,
➢ Smart Cities, Smart Homes and Smart Buildings
➢ Intelligent Agriculture Systems
➢ Patient Monitoring Systems
➢ Traffic Management Systems
15. What is URLLC?

Ultra-reliable low latency communication (uRLLC) is one of the three primary use cases defined
in IMT-2020 Vision. uRLLC supports ultra-reliable secure connection with extremely low
latency. Here the data rates are not important. uRLLC focuses on mission critical applications.
16. List a few uRLLC based 5G Applications.

uRLLC applications are the use cases which require extremely low latency with high reliability,
availability and security. Some of the 5G applications which come under this use case are:
➢ Remote Surgery
➢ V2X Communication, Autonomous Vehicles, Self-driving Cars
➢ Intelligent Transportation Systems
➢ Industrial Automation
➢ Lifeline Communications
17. What is a KPI?

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that displays how effectively a network
is serving a user. In simple words, KPI indicate the fitness level of the network.
18. List all the 5G KPIs.

➢ Speed/Data rate- 5G is 100x faster than 4G. It will support high data rates upto 10Gbps.
➢ Latency- 5G Latency will be much lesser than or equal to 1ms.
➢ Bandwidth- 5G supports 1000x Bandwidth compared to 4G.
➢ Connection density- 5G supports upto 100x number of devices per unit area compared to
4G.
➢ Availability- Uptime of 5G Networks is 99.999%.
➢ Network Coverage- 5G Networks are expected to provide 100% coverage.
➢ Energy Efficiency – The network energy usage in 5G is reduced by 90% compared to 4G.
➢ Battery life – Low power 5G enabled IoT Devices have extended battery life of upto
10years.
19. Is 5G replacing 4G?

The answer is definitely a big “No”. 5G isn't replacing 4G any time soon. In fact, 5G will coexist
with 4G and work together for few more years. 5G capable phones can actually use both 4G and
5G technology.
20. What is Data Rate/Speed?

The term data rate is used to denote the transmission speed, or the number of bits transferred
during a specific time period over a network. It is a common practice to express the data rate in
bits per second (bits/s).
5G is expected to support data rates upto 10Gbps.
21. What is Latency?

Latency is the time it takes for data from your device to be uploaded and reach its target. It
measures the time taken for data to go from source to destination. It is usually expressed in terms
of milliseconds (ms).
5G is expected to reduce latency to 1 milli second or even less. Low latency is an essential
requirement for business use cases that require communications which are instantaneous and ultra-
reliable, such as remote surgical procedures and self-automated driving.
22. What is Network Availability?

Network availability (also known as uptime), measures whether the network is currently
operational or not. No network can guarantee 100% availability. Network monitoring tools are
used to measure the network up-time and downtime. 5G networks uptime is expected to be
99.999%.
23. What is Network Coverage?

The Network Coverage is the geographical area within which the user equipment (UE) and base
station can communicate with each other. Within this area, the user will be able to make a call
using the carrier’s network or a partner network.
5G is expected to provide 100% Network Coverage.
24. What is Connection Density?

Connection density can be defined as the network’s ability to support the successful delivery of a
message of a certain size within a certain time to a device, even in space-constrained locations
like a cricket stadium or as the measure of total number of connected devices which can be
connected to the network at once per unit area.
5G networks can support upto a million connections per square kilometre (supporting a large
number of concurrent connections to the network) compared with 4G which has a typical
connection density of 2,000 connections per square kilometre. The high connection density of 5G
is a vital capability that will enable mMTC use cases and satisfy the demands of a digital society.
25. What is Quality of Experience?

Quality of Experience is a measure of the overall level of customer satisfaction with the network
as measured by various success factors including ease of use, reliability, security, and cost.
26. What is Quality of Service?

Quality of Service is a measure of the network’s ability to achieve specific performance thresholds
for latency, error rate, and uptime.
27. List a few applications of 5G w.r.t different domains or industries.

There are wide range of 5G applications. Some of them are:
Media and Entertainment – 5G promises to bring even richer media experiences to any screen,
anywhere. End users will be able to enjoy smooth video streaming in 4K and 8K, immersive
virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences, and highly responsive gameplay on
devices connected to a 5G network.
Manufacturing - The convergence of 5G with AI will revolutionize the factory floor. Supply chain,
inventory management, and quality assurance processes augmented by IoT and edge computing
will increase automation levels and reduce unit costs.
Retail - With 5G, retailers of the future will power new omnichannel customer experiences. One
such way is by taking the cash register out of retail transactions. By using AI-enabled cameras
with low latency, retailers will be able to create an automatic checkout experience as simple as
walking out of the store with a full cart.
Healthcare - For doctors and patients, 5G represents a new frontier of care. Remote patient
monitoring, Tele-surgery, Virtual Surgery etc will become a reality with 5G.
Smart Home - If you end up using 5G at home or in a building to replace your cable, you’ll find
that you can connect more of your devices to the internet at the same time without having any
bandwidth issues.
Transportation - 5G Networks will open up exciting possibilities like V2X communication,
Autonomous vehicles and Self-driving cars. It helps in enhancing the traffic safety, traffic
management and congestion control to decrease commute time.
28. Which frequency bands can be used in 5G?

5G wireless networks can be built in different ways using 3 different bands of frequency spectrum:
Low-band, Mid-band and High-band.
➢ Low-band refers to the already licensed cellular bands below 2 GHz. This spectrum is used by
many mobile networks and is rapidly becoming depleted.
➢ Mid-band refers to bands ranging from 2 GHz to 6 GHz. Currently, a part of this spectrum is
already used in mobile networks and other wireless technologies.
➢ High-band refers to bands in 24 GHz to 300 GHz range. When we start looking for large chunks
of unused bandwidth this frequency range comes into the picture.
29. Why there is a need for using higher frequencies in 5G?

Today wireless networks have run into a problem: More people and devices are consuming
increased amount of data like never before, but it remains crammed on the same bands of RF
spectrum that the mobile networks have always used. This means less bandwidth is available for
the users, causing slower data service or dropped connections.
One way to get around this problem is to consider transmitting signals on a whole new swath of
spectrum, one that’s never been used for mobile service before. When we start looking for large
chunks of unused bandwidth, higher frequencies like mmwaves (millimeter waves) come into the
picture.
30. What will be effect of different frequency bands on coverage and speed?
High-band frequencies have greater bandwidth available to carry more data in dense urban areas
but require cell sites to be in close proximity. This high frequency band is prone to high penetration
and propagation loss. This spectrum can accelerate speeds upto 10Gbps while ensuring low
latency.
Mid-band balances speed and range, providing broader coverage than high-band. This frequency
band is less impacted by buildings, trees or any other obstructions compared to high band
frequencies. The peak speeds are capped at 1Gbps.
Low-band, like 600MHz spectrum, travels farther than other bands- over hundreds of square miles
and can pass through more obstacles, providing a better, more reliable signal both indoors and
out. However, much of its bandwidth is already in use, so there’s not a lot available for 5G growth.
The major con is peak data speeds are maxed out at 100Mbps.
31. Which frequency ranges are designated for usage in 5G from 3GPP?
Two different frequency ranges are available for the 5G NR and the ranges are designated as
Frequency range 1 (FR1) and Frequency range 2 (FR2).
➢ FR1- Low band and Mid band- Below 7.125GHz – From 410MHz to 7.125GHz
➢ FR2- High band (millimeter waves) - Above 24.25GHz – From 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz
32. What are millimeter waves?

The millimeter waves (also known as mmwaves) corresponds to band of frequencies between
30GHz to 300GHz.This spectrum is wedged between the super high frequency band and the far
infrared band. It is also known as extremely high frequency band.
33. Why the name millimeter waves or mmwaves?
Wavelength (𝜆) can be calculated using the frequency (f) and speed of light in vacuum (c).
𝑐
𝜆=
𝑓
When,
f=30GHz, Wavelength will be approximately 10mm since the speed of light is 3.8 × 108 m/sec.
f=300GHz, Wavelength will be approximately 1mm since the speed of light is 3.8 × 108 m/sec.
As shown above, high frequencies mean narrow wavelengths.

The wavelength of mmwaves range between 1 millimeter to 10 millimetres whereas the
wavelengths of radio waves currently used are mostly several dozen centi-meters in length. Hence
the name ‘millimetre Waves’.
34. What are the unique characteristics of millimeter waves?

The unique characteristics of millimeter waves are:
➢ High Penetration Loss- Millimeter waves do not pass-through buildings, ceilings or any
other infrastructure. Even if the wave passes through the such obstructions, the attenuation
will be very high. This restriction dictates the use of small cells.
➢ High Propagation Loss due to rain, fog, cloud and atmospheric gases.
35. What are the advantages of using mmwaves in 5G Networks?

The advantages of using mmwaves in 5G Networks are:
1. Large Bandwidth
The large bandwidth available in mmwaves translate to better data transfer rates, attaining speeds
of about 10Gbps or more compared to the 1Gbit/s limit when using the microwave frequencies.
This makes high-quality video streaming, real-time gaming, and other bandwidth intensive
applications a reality.
2. Low interference (High immunity to cramming)
The narrow beam width and short range can be a benefit since there is less interference from
nearby radios.
3. Small components sizes
The components and antennas for the higher millimeter waves are usually very small compared
to those for lower frequencies. This makes it possible to design physically smaller circuitry and
equipment. Higher the frequency, Smaller is the antenna size (Large no. of antennas can be packed
in small area).
4. Increased security - It is much harder to intercept the signals and there is also increased security
since the signal is only restricted to a small area.
5. Cost efficient
The mmwave spectrum is a new spectrum which is being used in mobile networks. The whole
spectrum is available and hence the spectrum cost will be very less compared to that of low band
and mid-band frequencies.
36. What are the disadvantages of using mmwaves?

The disadvantages of using mmwaves in 5G Networks are:
1. High manufacturing costs - Manufacturing the small components require high precision and
care, hence increased costs.
2. Limited range - Due to the short wavelength, mmwaves have a short transmission range.
However, the range is extended by using high transmit power and antenna gains, and receivers
with high sensitivity.
3. Requires Line of Sight (LOS) - Physical objects such as trees, buildings, even humans will
block the waves, leading to weak wave signals and a reduced range.
4. Vulnerability to atmosphere and meteorological conditions
The short wavelengths between 1 to 10mm suffer high atmospheric attenuation; with fog, rain and
moisture attenuating the waves the highest, and shortening the transmission distances. All these
factors reduce the possible range to about one kilometre. Use of high-gain antenna arrays can
boost the effective radiated power and increase the transmission range.
37. What is meant by NR-U?

NR-U (New Radio-Unlicensed) is a feature introduced by 3GPP Release 16 to use 5G in
unlicensed spectrum. Unlicensed spectrum means a spectrum that MNOs can use without paying
for it.
38. What is VoNR?

VoNR (Voice over New Radio) is the name representing the introduction of voice services in 5G
system similar to that of VoLTE which is used in 4G networks. Subscribers can use the voice
service while being connected to the 5G network, as the 5G core is connected to the IMS which
will provide the voice service.
39. What is FCC?

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a federal agency of the United States government
which regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite
and cable across all the US states. FCC is responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s
Communication law and regulations. FCC maintains the jurisdiction over the areas of broadband
access, fair competition, radio frequency spectrum allocation, media responsibility, public safety
and homeland security.
40. What is TRAI?

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the statutory body set up by government of
India. It was founded in 1977. TRAI regulates telecommunications sector, adjudicate disputes,
dispose appeals and protect the interest of the service providers as well as the consumers.
41. What are the 3 main components of a cellular access network?

The 3 main components of a cellular access network as shown in below figure are:
➢ User Equipment (UE)
➢ Radio Access Network (RAN)
➢ Mobile Core Network
42. What is User Equipment?

User Equipment is the subscriber’s mobile device, such as a cell phone, tablet, or modem.
43. What is RAN?

Radio Access Network (RAN) is a part of the telecommunications network that connects user
equipment to other parts of a mobile network via a radio connection. RAN corresponds to a
distributed collection of base stations. It is responsible for connecting the user equipment (UE)
to the core network.
44. What is Mobile Core Network?

The part of the network that provides services to mobile subscribers through the radio access
network (RAN). It acts as a gateway to other external networks, for instance to the internet, public
data networks, servers, clouds etc.
45. What are the 3 main components in 4G/LTE network architecture?

The 3 main components of 4G/LTE Architecture (as shown in below figure) are:
➢ 4G Radio Access Network - E-UTRAN
➢ 4G Mobile Core - EPC/4G-Core
46. What is EUTRAN?

In simple terms, EUTRAN (Evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network) can be called as 4G
RAN. It handles the radio communications between the User Equipment (UE) and the Evolved
Packet Core (EPC) and just has a single component i.e., the evolved base stations,
called eNodeB or eNB.
E-UTRAN separates the user data traffic and network management control traffic and feeds them
separately into EPC.
The E-UTRAN architecture is shown below,
47. Which Interface is used to inter-connect eNBs in E-UTRAN?

The eNBs are interconnected with each other by means of the “X2 interface”. It is assumed that
there always exist an X2 interface between the eNBs that need to communicate with each other.
48. Which interface is used to connect the eNB to the EPC in E-UTRAN?
The eNBs are also connected by means of the “S1 interface” to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core),
more specifically to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) by means of the “S1-MME
interface” and to the Serving Gateway (S-GW) by means of the “S1-U interface”.
49. What is EPC or 4G Mobile Core?

The core network in 4G LTE is called the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). If you look at the 4G
Architecture figure added in Question 45, EPC is composed of 5 network elements: S-GW, P-
GW, MME, HSS and PCRF. Each network element serves different purposes. The first two of the
above-mentioned network elements run in the User Plane (UP) and the other three elements run
in the Control Plane (CP).
50. What is MME?

MME Stands for Mobility Management Entity. MME tracks and manages the movement of UEs
throughout the RAN. This includes recording when the UE is not active, by the means of signalling
messages and HSS.
51. What is HSS?

HSS Stands for Home Subscriber Server. It is a Central database that contains all subscriber-
related information.
52. What is PCRF?

PCRF Stands for Policy & Charging Rules Function. It tracks and manages policy control decision
making rules and records billing data on subscriber traffic.
53. What is S-GW?

S-GW Stands for Serving Gateway. The main function of S-GW is routing and forwarding of user
data packets. It is also responsible for inter-eNB handovers in user plane and provides mobility
between 4G/LTE and other types of networks, such as between 2G/3G and P-GW.
54. What is P-GW?

P-GW Stands for Packet Data Network Gateway. The PDN Gateway is the point of interconnect
between EPC and External Networks (PDNs). In order to access multiple PDNs, UEs can connect
to several P-GWs at the same time. The main functions of P-GW are policy enforcement, packet
filtering, charging support, lawful interception and packet screening. Another essential function
of P-GW is to provide mobility between 3GPP and Non-3GPP Networks.
55. Which Interface is used to connect the S-GW and P-GW?

S-GW and P-GW are connected using interface known as S5/S8 Interface. S5 Interface is used
when two devices are in the same network. S8 Interface is used when two devices are in different
networks.
56. Which Interface is used to connect the P-GW and External Networks?
The Interface used to connect P-GW and External Data Networks is known as SGi Interface.
57. What are the 3 main components in 5G network architecture?

The 3 main components of 5G Architecture are:
➢ 5G Radio Access Network - 5G-RAN or NG-RAN
➢ Core Network – 5GC (5G-Core) or NGC (NG-Core)
58. What is 5G-RAN?

5G-RAN is also known as NG-RAN. It handles the radio communications between the User
Equipment (UE) and the Next Generation 5G Core (5GC) and just has a single component, i.e.,
the next generation base stations, called gNodeB or gNB. 5G-RAN separates the user data traffic
and control signals, and feeds them separately to the 5GC.
59. Which Interface is used to inter-connect gNBs?

The gNBs are interconnected with each other by means of the “Xn interface”. Xn can also be used
as the interface between gNB & ng-eNB and between ng-eNB & ng-eNB.
Xn-U Stands for Xn User Plane Interface and Xn-C Stands for Xn Control Plane Interface.
60. Which Interface is used to connect 5GRAN to 5GC?

The gNBs are connected by means of the “NG interface” to the 5GC.
NG-C is the Control Plane Interface between 5GRAN and 5GC. NG-U is the User Plane Interface
between 5GRAN and 5GC.
61. What is 5G Core?

The core network in 5G is called the 5G Core (5GC) or Next Generation Core (NGC). NGC is the
part of the network that provides services to mobile subscribers through the radio access network
(RAN). It is also the gateway to external networks, for instance to the public switched telephone
or to public clouds. NGC has two different planes- Control and User Plane. The 5G Core has
several network functions like AMF, SMF, PCF, AUSF, UPF, NEF, NRF, NSSF, UDM etc.
62. What is User Plane?

User Plane is part of a core network through which user packets are transmitted. It is often included
in diagrams and illustrations as a solid line to give a visual representation of user traffic. User
Plane is also known as the data plane, forwarding plane, or carrier plane.
63. What is Control Plane?

Control Plane is part of a core network that carries information that establishes and controls the
network. It is often included in diagrams and illustrations as a dotted line to give a visual
representation of control signals.
64. List all the 5G Control Plane Network Functions.

The 5G-Core Control Plane Network Functions can be organized into 2 groups as follows:
- The first group of NFs run in the Control plane of 5GC and has a counterpart in EPC
World.
➢ AMF, SMF, PCF, UDM and AUSF
- The second group of NFs run in the control plane of 5GC and do not have a direct
counterpart in the EPC world.
➢ SDSF, UDSF, NEF, NRF and NSSF
65. List all the 5G User Plane Network Functions.

There is only one 5G-Core User Plane Network Function. It is UPF.
66. What is Service based Architecture?

Service Based Architecture (SBA) is an architectural framework in which the control plane
functionality and common data repositories of a 5G Network are delivered in terms of a set of
interconnected Network Functions (NFs), each with authorization to access other NF’s Services.
In 5G Architecture as shown in question 57, the upper part of the figure i.e., 5GC control plane
has a “bus” - a service-based interface. All the CP network functions communicate to each other
via the common interface. This creates a service-based architecture in which one CP network
function (like AMF or SMF) can allow other authorized network functions to access its services.
5G Core CP network functions are self-contained, completely software-based and designed as
cloud-native, meaning that they’re agnostic to the underlying cloud infrastructure, allowing higher
deployment agility, independence and flexibility.
Each NF is formed by a combination of small pieces of software code called as microservices.
Some microservices can even be re-used for different NFs, making implementation more effective
and facilitating independent life-cycle management– which allows upgrades and new
functionalities to be deployed with zero impact on running services.
67. What does AMF stands for?

AMF is a component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for Access and Mobility
Management Function. It manages user equipment registration, authentication, identification, and
mobility. AMF also terminates non-access stratum signalling. AMF has part of MME
functionality from EPC world.
68. List some other functions of AMF.

The AMF functionalities are:
➢ Termination of RAN Control Plane interface (N2).
➢ Termination of NAS (N1)
➢ NAS ciphering and integrity protection.
➢ Registration management.
➢ Connection management.
➢ Reachability management.
➢ Mobility Management.
➢ Access Authentication.
➢ Access Authorization.
➢ Security context management
➢ Provides location-based services
69. What is SMF?

SMF is a key component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for Session Management
Function. It establishes and manages sessions. It also selects and controls the user plane function
and handles paging. SMF has part of MME and PGW functionality from EPC world.
70. List some other functions of SMF.

The SMF functionalities are:
➢ Session Management (Session Establishment, session modification and session release),

including tunnel maintain between UPF and AN node.
➢ UE IP address allocation & management (including optional Authorization).
➢ Supports Traffic Steering and other control aspects related to QoS.
71. What is AUSF? List its functions.

AUSF is a component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for Authentication Server
Function. It is used to facilitate security processes. AUSF acts as an authentication server. It
authenticates UEs and stores authentication keys. AUSF has part of HSS functionality from EPC
world.
72. What is UPF?

UPF is a key component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for User Plane Function.
UPF includes features to support packet routing and forwarding, interconnection to other data
networks, and policy enforcement. UPF has part of SGW and PGW functionality from EPC world.
73. List some functions of UPF.

The SMF functionalities are:
➢ Anchor point for Intra-/Inter-RAT mobility (when applicable)
➢ External PDU Session point of interconnect to Data Network
➢ Packet routing & forwarding, Packet inspection
➢ User Plane part of policy rule enforcement (Ex- Gating, Redirection, Traffic steering)
➢ Lawful intercept (UP collection)
➢ Traffic usage reporting
➢ Uplink Traffic verification (SDF to QoS Flow mapping)
➢ QoS handling for user plane
➢ Transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink.
➢ Downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering.
74. What is PCF? List its functions.

PCF is a key component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for Policy Control Function.
It provides policy rules to control plane functions. PCF has part of PCRF functionality from EPC
world.
75. What is NEF?

NEF is a key component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for Network Exposure
Function. It acts as a means to expose select capabilities to third-party services. NEF has no
counterpart in EPC World.
76. List some functions of NEF.

The functionalities of NEF are:
➢ Exposure of capabilities and events to third parties.
➢ Secure provision of information from external application to 3GPP network.
➢ Translation of internal-external information: NEF translates between information
exchanged with the AF and information exchanged with the internal network function. In
particular, NEF handles masking of network and user sensitive information to external
AF's according to the network policy.
➢ The Network Exposure Function receives information from other network functions
(based on exposed capabilities of other network functions). NEF stores the received
information as structured data. The stored information can be accessed and "re-exposed"
by the NEF to other network functions and Application Functions, and used for other
purposes such as analytics.
77. What is NRF?

NRF is a key component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for Network Repository
Function. NRF provides service discovery between individual network functions. This function
has no counterpart in EPC World.
78. List some functions of NRF?

The functions of NRF are:
➢ Supports service discovery function. Receives NF Discovery Request from NF instance,
and provides the information of the discovered NF instances (be discovered) to the NF
instance.
➢ Maintains the NF profile of available NF instances and their supported services.
79. What is NSSF?

NSSF is a key component of 5G Core network architecture that stands for Network Slicing
Selector Function. This particular function selects the set of network slice instances serving the
user equipment and determines which access and mobility management function to use. This
function has no counterpart in EPC World.
80. What is UDM?

UDM is a significant component of the 5G core network that stands for Unified Data Management.
It stores subscriber data and profiles. UDM has part of HSS functionality from EPC world.
81. List some functions of UDM.

The functions of UDM are:
➢ Generation of 3GPP AKA Authentication Credentials, User Identification Handling
➢ Support of de-concealment of privacy-protected subscription identifier
➢ Access authorization based on subscription data

➢ Support to service/session continuity
➢ Subscription management, SMS Management
82. What is SDSF?

SDSF is a 5G Core Network Function which stands for Structured Data Storage Network
Function. It is a “helper” service used to store structured data. It can be implemented by an “SQL
Database” in a microservices-based system. This function has no counterpart in EPC world.
83. What is UDSF?

UDSF is a 5G Core Network Function which stands for Unstructured Data Storage Network
Function. It is a “helper” service used to store unstructured dynamic state data. It can be
implemented by a “Key/Value Store” in a microservices-based system. This function has no
counterpart in EPC world.
84. What is UDR?

United Data Repository (UDR) is a central repository which stores Structured Data. The 5G
System architecture allows the UDM, PCF and NEF to store data in the UDR, including
subscription data by UDM, policy data by PCF, structured data for exposure and application data
by the NEF.
The Nudr interface is defined for the network functions, such as UDM, PCF and NEF, to access
a particular set of the data stored and to read, update (including add, modify), delete, and subscribe
to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. This authorisation shall be performed by the
UDR on a per data set and NF service consumer basis and potentially on a per UE, subscription
granularity.
85. What is NWDAF?

Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) is a network function that is responsible for
providing network analysis information upon request from network functions. For example, a NF
may request specific analysis information on the load level of a particular network slice.
Alternatively, the NF can use the subscribe service to ensure that it is notified by the NWDAF if
the load of a network slice changes or reaches a specific threshold.
86. What is EIR?

EIR stands for Equipment Identity Register. 5G-EIR is an optional network function that supports
the following functionality- Checking the status of Permanent Equipment Identifier PEI
(Example- To check that it has not been blacklisted).
87. Draw the block diagram of non-Roaming 5G System Architecture in Reference Point
Representation with Service Based Interfaces in Control Plane.
The above figure depicts the 5G System architecture in the non-roaming case, using the reference
point representation showing how various network functions interact with each other. Service-
based interfaces are used within the Control Plane.
88. Draw the block diagram of non-Roaming 5G System Architecture in Reference Point
Representation.
The above depicts the 5G System architecture in the non-roaming case, using the reference point
representation showing how various network functions interact with each other.
89. What is SEPP?

Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) is a non-transparent proxy that enables secure
interconnect between 5G networks. All signalling traffic across operator networks is expected to
transit through this security proxy. SEPP ensures end-to-end confidentiality and/or integrity
between the source and destination network for all 5G interconnect roaming messages. It also
supports the following functionalities: Message filtering & policing on inter-PLMN control plane
interfaces and topology hiding.
90. List all the service-based interfaces present in 5G System Architecture.

The service-based interfaces present in 5G System Architecture are:
Service Based Interface Functional Description

Namf Service-based interface exhibited by AMF.
Nsmf Service-based interface exhibited by SMF.
Nnef Service-based interface exhibited by NEF.
Npcf Service-based interface exhibited by PCF
Nudm Service-based interface exhibited by UDM
Naf Service-based interface exhibited by AF
Nnrf Service-based interface exhibited by NRF.
Nnssf Service-based interface exhibited by NSSF.
Nausf Service-based interface exhibited by AUSF.
Nudr Service-based interface exhibited by UDR.
Nudsf Service-based interface exhibited by UDSF
N5g-eir Service-based interface exhibited by 5G-EIR.
Nnwdaf Service-based interface exhibited by NWDAF.
91. List all the Reference Points present in 5G Reference Architecture along with its
functional description.
The 5G System Architecture contains the following reference points:
Reference
Functional Description
Point
N1 Between UE and AMF
N2 Between RAN or gNB (5G base station) and AMF
N3 Between RAN or gNB (5G base station) and UPF
N4 Between SMF and UPF
N5 Between PCF and AF (Application Function).
N6 Between UPF and DN (Data Network)
N7 Between SMF and PCF.
N8 Between UDM and AMF
N9 Between two core UPFs

N10 Between UDM and SMF
N11 Between AMF and SMF
N12 Between AMF and AUSF
N13 Between UDM and AUSF
N14 Between two AMFs
Between PCF and AMF (in Non-roaming scenario) and Between V-PCF and
N15
AMF (in Roaming scenario)
N16 Between two SMFs (Roaming between V-SMF and H-SMF)
N17 Between AMF and 5G-EIR.
N18 Between any NF and UDSF.
N22 Between AMF and NSSF.
N23 Between PCF and NWDAF
N24 Between two PCFs (one in home network and another in visited Network)
N27 Between two NRFs (one in home network and another in visited Network)
N31 Between two NSSFs (one in home network and another in visited Network)
N32 Between two SEPPs (one in home network and another in visited Network)
N33 Between NEF and AF
N34 Between NSSF and NWDAF
N35 Between UDM and UDR
N36 Between PCF and UDR
N37 Between NEF and UDR
92. What is CUPS in 5G?

In simple terms, CUPS (Control and User Plane Separation) means the separation of the user plane
(UP) and control plane (CP), so each one is served by a separate entity. For example, in 5G UP
functions are done using UPF (User Plane Function) while the 5G CP has some other entities and
each entity is responsible for a certain function such as SMF (Session Management Function)
which allocates the IP address for UEs and AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function)
which handles UE mobility in idle state.
93. What is the use of CUPS in 5G?

CUPS allows independent scaling of the two functions. For example, MNOs can add more UP
resources without having to add more CP resources. Also, it allows different deployment strategies
to be adopted for the UP and CP. For example, UP functions could be distributed while CP
functions could be centralized. Distributing the UP functions helps to keep them located
geographically close to the access network and so helps to minimize latency.
94. Draw the block diagram of Roaming 5G System Architecture in case of home-based
scenario with Service Based Interfaces in Control Plane.
The above figure depicts the 5G System architecture in the roaming case-home based scenario,
with service-based interfaces within the Control Plane. It is a roaming architecture, hence there
are two public land mobile networks- VPLMN (Virtual Mobile Network) and HPLMN (Home
Mobile Network).
95. Draw the block diagram of Roaming 5G System Architecture (Home Based Scenario)
in Reference Point Representation.
The above figure depicts the 5G System architecture in the roaming case-home based scenario,
using the reference point representation showing how various network functions interact with each
other.
It is a roaming architecture, hence there are two public land mobile networks (PLMNs)- VPLMN
(Virtual Mobile Network) and HPLMN (Home Mobile Network). The functionalities of all the
network functions and reference points are explained in earlier questions.
96. What are the different terminologies used to name the 2G’s Base station equivalent in
3G, 4G and 5G?
The below terminologies are used to name the Base Stations,
In 2G, the Base Station is called as Base Transceiver Station (BTS).
In 3G, the Base Station is called as NodeB.
In 4G, the Base Station is called as eNodeB (eNB).
In 5G, the Base Station is called as gNodeB (gNB).
97. What is eNB?

The eNB’s represent the 4G wireless base stations connected to the 4G Core (EPC). These base
stations serve 4G UE over 4G Radio E-UTRAN.
98. What is gNB?

The gNB’s represent 5G wireless base stations connected to the 5G Core (5GC). These base
stations serve 5G UE over 5G New Radio.
99. What is ng-eNB?

ng-eNB represents the 4G/LTE wireless base stations that connects UE to 5G Core (5GC). These
base stations serve a 5G UE over 4G radio. "ng" refers to Next Generation.
100. What is en-gNB?

en-gNB represents the 5G wireless base stations that connects UE to 4G Core (EPC). "en" refers
to E-UTRA New Radio.
101. List the 5G NR deployment modes.

The two 5GNR deployment modes are:
➢ Stand-Alone (SA) mode and
➢ Non-Stand-Alone (NSA) mode.
102. What is 5G NSA?

If the radio part is 5G New Radio (NR) and the core part is 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC); it is
called Non-Stand Alone (5G Radio + 4G Core = NSA).
103. What is 5G SA?

If the radio part is 5G NR and the core part is 5G core; then it is called Stand Alone (5G Radio +
5G Core = 5G SA).
If the radio part is 4G/LTE E-UTRAN and the core part is 4G core (EPC); then it is called Stand
Alone (4G Radio + 4G Core = 4G SA).
104. How does Non-Stand-Alone 5GNR work?

The Non-Stand-Alone version of 5G NR (NSA), uses the 4G network for some parts of the overall
5G service. In the NSA model, the end-user side of the service where higher data is required
utilises the 5G radio network capabilities. However, the control functions such as signalling still
use the existing 4G core network EPC. NSA requires installing 5G NR base stations on the radio
network side while utilising EPC with 5G specific updates for both 4G and 5G core network
functions. It means that the radio network works in such a way that the user-level functions, e.g.,
mobile data, QoS etc. utilise the 5G radio network node gNB, and the 4G radio base station eNB
manages the control functions for 5G through a concept called dual-connectivity.
NSA can be seen as an early version of the 5G NR network, using lower frequency bands to
provide high data rates with good network coverage. It mainly allows mobile operators to offer
Enhanced Mobile Broadband(eMBB) services to their customers. The average 5G data speeds
offered by NSA will be considerably higher than the average 4G speeds and good enough for
streaming 4k and even 8k videos. The other more futuristic use cases of 5G like uRLLC and
mMTC need ultra-high reliability, ultra-low latency and high connection density. 5G NSA will
not support uRLLC and mMTC applications.
105. How does Stand-Alone 5GNR work?

In Stand-Alone 5G NR (SA), the mobile network functions including the control plane as well as
the user plane are both 5G specific. The RAN and mobile core network are both 5G specific. From
an architectural perspective, the 5G NR base stations form part of radio network that works
alongside a cloud-native 5G Core network.
With cloud-native 5G Core, the connectivity for any 5G devices uses the gNB node to connect
with both user and control planes. If any 4G devices require access to the LTE network through
the 5GC, they connect to ng-eNB instead of the regular eNB to be able to communicate via the
5G Core network.
5G NR SA makes use of the mid and high range frequency bands to enable advanced use cases
that require ultra-low latency. It allows mobile operators to do a lot more than just offering high-
speed services. With 5GNR SA, mobile operators can support use cases like uRLLC and mMTC.
106. What is the difference between 5G SA and 5G NSA Architectures?

The main difference of NSA (Non-Standalone Architecture) and SA (Standalone Architecture) is
that NSA anchors the control signalling of 5G Radio Networks to the 4G Core, while the SA
scheme connects the 5G Radio directly to the 5G core network, and the control signalling does
not depend on the 4G network at all.
In other words- NSA, as the name suggests, is a 5G service that does not ‘Standalone’ but is built
over an existing 4G network. SA, on the other hand, allows completely independent operation of
a 5G service without any interaction with an existing 4G core.
107. What are the benefits of NSA over SA?

The benefits of NSA deployment mode over SA mode are:
➢ NSA is extremely low in cost compared to SA.
➢ NSA eases 5G network deployments as it reuses existing 4G facilities.
➢ With NSA, the deployment is faster and time-to-market is lower, as 4G locations can
be used to install 5G radios. SA requires building 5G base stations and SBA based 5G
core network for providing scalability and flexibility to deliver a super-fast speeds with
ultra-low latency for advanced 5G use cases.
➢ MNOs who use NSA will be the first to launch 5G. They gain technology and market
leadership.
108. What are the different deployment options which are available under 5G SA mode?
Stand-Alone (SA): Uses only one radio access technology, either LTE radio or 5G NR.
Both control and user planes go through the same RAN element.
Deployment options which come under 5G SA mode are option 1 (EPC + 4G eNB), option 2
(5GC + 5G gNB), and option 5 (5GC + 4G ng-eNB).
109. What are the different deployment options which are available under 5G NSA mode?
Non-Stand-Alone (NSA): Multiple radio access technologies are combined.
Control plane goes through what's called the master node whereas data plane is split across the
master node and a secondary node. There's tight interworking between 4G RAN and 5G NR.
Deployment options which come under 5G NSA mode are option 3 (EPC + 4G eNB master + 5G
en-gNB secondary), option 4 (5GC + 5G gNB master + 4G ng-eNB secondary), and option 7
(5GC + 4g ng-eNB master + 5g gNB secondary).
110. What is Option 1?

Option 1 is a Standalone (SA) deployment option. It represents the current 4G (LTE+EPC)
deployment. In other words, we can say this is the legacy deployment of 4G/LTE radio connected
to the EPC and has no relation with 5G. Most of the operators around the world are currently
running their 4G networks in this mode of deployment option.
111. What is option 2?

Option 2 is a Standalone (SA) option. It represents a 5G NR deployed in the network and is
connected to the 5GC. This option is most suitable for a new entrant into the communication
service provider (CSP) business, where the operator does not have a legacy LTE system deployed.
Or even for an existing operator, if it wants to offer 5G only service without 4G inter-working this
is a good option to consider for full-fledged 5G deployment.
This type of deployment option allows operator to implement all types of use cases like mMTC,
eMBB and URLLC provided it has the necessary spectrum allocated of each type of service.

Option 3 represents a Non-Standalone (NSA) deployment where both LTE and 5G NR radio
access networks are present but controlled only by the EPC core connected to the LTE access.
In this option, LTE access is used as the control plane signalling anchor for the 5G NR where the
user data traffic (User Plane) to the UE can be delivered through both LTE and 5G NR.
113. What is the difference between Option 3, 3a and 3x?

The difference between option 3 and Option 3a is that, in option 3 the user plane data is sent to
the 5G NR via the LTE RAN, where as in option 3a the user plane data comes to 5G NR directly
from the EPC.
Option 3x is a combination of options 3 and 3a, where some user plane data traffic flows directly
from the EPC to the 5G NR and from there to the UE. Whereas it is also possible to forward part
of the data from the EPC to 5G NR via the LTE RAN before it reaches the UE.

Option 4 is also a Non-Standalone (NSA) deployment option, where both LTE and 5G NR radio
access technologies are deployed and controlled through only 5GC. In this deployment option the
control signalling from LTE RAN will be routed to the 5GC via the 5G NR.
115. What is the difference between Option 4 and 4a?

The only difference between option 4 and 4a is that, in option 4 the user plane traffic goes via the
5GNR where as in option 4a the user plane traffic is directly sent from the 5GC to the LTE RAN.

Option 5 is a Standalone (SA) deployment where we have a standalone LTE RAN connected to
5GC. In this case, the LTE must be an evolved LTE RAN that understands the new 5GC
signalling.

Option 6 is also a Standalone (SA) deployment and is relevant in scenarios where the radio
network has completely migrated to 5G NR, but it retains the EPC as the core network. Here the
5G NR must support the legacy core network signalling.
This is a very unlikely option to be adopted by the operators as any operator who has an EPC will
most definitely also have an LTE radio and they will not phase out LTE radio immediately and
migrate the complete radio to 5G NR only. Also, while the operators will gradually move to 5G
NR, they will at the same time also migrate their core to 5GC making this deployment option
highly unlikely to be used. This option was removed by 3GPP, as it is no more part of 5G
deployment options.

Option 7 represents Non-Stand-Alone deployment (NSA), where 5GC will be used with a mixture
of LTE and 5G NR radio. The interface between the 5GC and the radio network infrastructure
will be the next gen signalling (i.e. NG-U, NG-C).
119. What is the difference between option 7, 7a and 7x?

The difference between Option 7 and 7a is only in how the user data traffic is delivered to the UE.
In Option 7 it comes to the 5G NR via the LTE RAN where as in option 7a the user data goes
directly from the 5GC to 5G NR and then to the UE through the new radio interface.
Option 7x is a combination of options 7 and 7a where part of the user data can be delivered directly
via the 5G NR and part of the user data via the LTE RAN to the 5G NR and then to the UE. Option
7, 7a, 7x requires e-LTE upgrade of the existing LTE network as a pre-requisite as the LTE RAN
must understand the new 5GC signalling (i.e. NG-C, NG-U).
120. What is Network Slicing?

5G network slicing is a network architecture that enables the multiplexing of virtualized and
independent logical networks called as network slices on the same physical network infrastructure.
Each network slice is an independent end-to-end network tailored to fulfil diverse requirements
requested by a particular application. This network separation and independence enable us to add
new slices without impacting the rest of the network.
5G networks, in combination with network slicing, permit business customers to enjoy
connectivity and data processing tailored to the specific business requirements that adhere to a
Service Level Agreement (SLA) agreed with the mobile operator. The customisable network
capabilities include data speed, quality, latency, reliability, security, and services.
The greater elasticity brought by network slicing will help to address the cost, efficiency, and
flexibility requirements imposed by future wireless networks.
121. What is Dual Connectivity?

Dual Connectivity is a technique which allows a UE to simultaneously transmit and receive data
on multiple components carriers from two serving nodes or cell groups (Master Node and
Secondary Node).
122. What is MR-DC?

Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) is a general term given to range of different dual
connectivity configuration options, largely associated with 5G. With MR-DC, the master RAN
node functions as the controlling entity, utilizing secondary RAN for additional data capacity.
123. What are the different types of MR-DC?

MR-DC types are mainly divided into two categories based on the core network. The 2 types are,
1. MR-DC with EPC - Common EN-DC setup used all over the world now.
2. MR-DC with 5G core - This is further divided into three parts as below.
➢ NGEN-DC – Here UE is connected to one ng-eNB that acts as a MN and one gNB (5G
BTS) that acts as a SN.
➢ NE-DC - Here UE is connected to one gNB that acts as a MN and one ng-eNB that acts
as a SN.
➢ NR-DC - Here UE is connected to one gNB that acts as a MN and another gNB that acts
as a SN
124. What is EN-DC?

E-UTRA New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) is a dual connectivity configuration using the
EPC, where by the master node is eNB and the secondary node is 5G en-gNB.
Deployment option 3 represents a network which has EN-DC.
125. What is NR-DC?

New Radio Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) is a dual connectivity configuration using the 5GC, where
by the master and secondary nodes are 5G gNBs.
126. What is NGEN-DC?

New Generation E-UTRA New Radio Dual Connectivity (NGEN-DC) is a dual connectivity
configuration using the 5GC, where by the master node is ng-eNB and secondary node is gNB.
Deployment option 7 represents a network which has NGEN-DC.
127. What is NE-DC?

New Radio-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC) is a dual connectivity configuration using the
5GC, where by the master node is gNB and secondary node is ng-eNB.
Deployment option 4 represents a network which has NGEN-DC.
128. What is Uplink?

Uplink is the path of transmission from the UE to the base station.
129. What is Downlink?

Downlink is the path of transmission from the base station to the user equipment (UE).
130. Which multiple access schemes are used in 4G/LTE?

4G/LTE uses SC-FDMA and OFDMA as access schemes for uplink and downlink transmissions
respectively.
131. What is OFDMA? Give a brief Introduction.

OFDMA is a multi-user version of the popular OFDM modulation scheme. In this multi-carrier
technology, the multiple access is achieved by subdividing the total available bandwidth into a
multitude of mutually orthogonal narrowband subcarriers and assigning each one of them to
individual users. The OFDMA solution leads to high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR)
requiring expensive power amplifiers with high requirements on linearity, increasing the power
consumption for the sender. Due to this high PAPR feature, OFDMA is not the best suitable
solution for uplink as it drains out the UE battery faster and reduces the battery life. Hence,
OFDMA is used as a multiple access scheme in 4G/LTE downlink.
132. What is SC-FDMA? Give a brief Introduction.

Single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) is a single carrier frequency-division multiple access scheme.
SCFDMA deals with the assignment of multiple users to a shared communication resource. SC-
FDMA can be interpreted as a linearly precoded OFDMA scheme, in the sense that it has an
additional DFT processing step preceding the conventional OFDMA processing.
SCFDMA has lower peak to average power ratio (PAPR). SC-FDMA has drawn great attention
as an attractive alternative to OFDMA, especially in the uplink communications where lower
peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) greatly benefits the mobile terminal in terms of transmit
power efficiency and reduced cost of the power amplifier. It has been adopted as the uplink
multiple access scheme in 4G/LTE.
133. Which multiple access schemes are used in 5G?

In 4G/LTE, CP-OFDM is used for both uplink and downlink transmission. In addition to CP-
OFDM, DFT-S-OFDM (usually called as SC-FDMA) is also used as an access scheme for uplink
transmission.
134. What is CP-OFDM?

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing with Cyclic prefix (CP-OFDM) is a 5G NR uplink
and downlink multiple access scheme. Within CP OFDM, the last part of data of OFDM frame is
appended at the beginning of the OFDM frame. The addition of the cyclic prefix adds robustness
to the OFDM signal. The length of cyclic prefix is chosen to be greater than channel delay
spread. The guard band introduced by CP overcomes the inter-symbol interference that can result
from delays and reflections. In addition to this, the channel delay spread is frequency dependent
with the cyclic prefix length chosen to be long enough to account for both interferences. For this
reason, the CP length is adaptive according to the link conditions.
135. What is DFT-s-OFDM?

Direct Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) is a single carrier transmission scheme.
It is commonly known as SC-FDMA.
The transmission processing of SC-FDMA is very similar to that of OFDMA. For each user, the
sequence of bits transmitted is mapped to a complex constellation of symbols (BPSK, QPSK or
M-Quadrature amplitude modulation). Then different transmitters (users) are assigned different
Fourier coefficients. This assignment is carried out in the mapping and de-mapping blocks. The
receiver side includes one de-mapping block, one IDFT block, and one detection block for each
user signal to be received. Just like in OFDM, guard intervals (called cyclic prefixes) with cyclic
repetition are introduced between blocks of symbols in view to efficiently eliminate inter-symbol
interference from time spreading (caused by multi-path propagation) among the blocks.
136. What is Numerology?

Numerology is a term which represents the Sub-Carrier Spacing (SCS) Value. Numerology is
labelled as the parameter μ (mu in Greek).
The numerology (μ = 0) represents 15 kHz which is same as LTE. In the second row, the subcarrier
spacing of numerology (μ =1) is derived from the previous numerology (μ =0) by scaling it up by
the power of 2.
Sub-Carrier Spacing
Numerology(μ)
∆f = 𝟐𝝁 .15KHz
0 15
1 30
2 60
3 120
4 240
137. How different is 5G Numerology compared to 4G Numerology?

In 4G/LTE, Numerology is fixed. It supports only one type of subcarrier spacing, 15 KHz.
In 5G, Numerology is flexible and scalable. 5GNR supports different types of sub-carrier spacing.
138. Explain the 5GNR Radio Structure.

In 5G NR, regardless of numerology both downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into
radio frames of duration 10ms each. Each frame is further divided into 10 subframes. So, the
duration of each subframe is 1ms.
Each subframe is further divided into slots, each with multiple OFDM symbols. Number of slots
in one subframe is variable and it depends on selected numerology.
139. How to calculate the frame and subframe durations?

The formula used to calculate the frame duration is,
Frame Duration, Tf = ((∆fmax ∗ Nf )/100) ∗ Tc
The formula used to calculate the subframe duration is,
SubFrame Duration, Tsf = ((∆fmax ∗ Nf )/1000) ∗ Tc = Tf /10

Where,
∆𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥 = Maximum Sub-Carrier Spacing = 480KHz
𝑁𝑓 = FFT Size = 4096
𝑇𝑐 = 0.509ns
If we substitute all the values in above mentioned formulas, 𝑇𝑓 will be equal to 10ms and 𝑇𝑠𝑓 will
be equal to 1ms.
140. How to calculate 4G/LTE Physical Layer Sampling time?

The formula used to calculate the 4G/LTE Physical Layer Sampling time unit is,
𝐿𝑇𝐸 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡, 𝑇𝑆 = (1/(∆𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥 ∗ 𝑁𝑓 ))
In LTE, the maximum Sub-Carrier Spacing ∆𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 15KHz and 𝑁𝑓 (FFT Size) = 2048.
If we substitute these two values in above mentioned formula, 𝑇𝑆 will be equal to 32.552ns.
141. How to calculate 5G NR Physical Layer Sampling time unit?

The formula used to calculate the 5G NR Physical Layer Sampling time unit is,
5𝐺 𝑁𝑅 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡, 𝑇𝐶 = (1/(∆𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥 ∗ 𝑁𝑓 ))
In 5G NR, the maximum Sub-Carrier Spacing ∆𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 480KHz and 𝑁𝑓 (FFT Size) = 4096.
If we substitute these two values in above mentioned formula, 𝑇𝐶 will be equal to 0.509ns.
142. What is the relation between LTE and 5GNR Physical Layer Sampling time units?
The relation between LTE and 5GNR Physical Layer Sampling time units is,
𝑇𝑆 32.552𝑛𝑠
k= = = 64
𝑇𝐶 0.509𝑛𝑠
143. List the different slot configurations available in 5GNR.

There are two different slot configurations in 5GNR,
➢ In slot configuration 0, the number of symbols in a slot are always 14
➢ In slot configuration 1, the number of symbols in a slot are always 7.
144. What are the two types of CPs specified by 3GPP?

The two types of CPs are Normal CP and Extended CP.
145. What is Normal CP?

Normal CP is specified for all sub-carrier spacings. The slot duration is 14 OFDM Symbols with
Normal CP.
146. What is Extended CP?

Extended CP (ECP) refers to the usage of longer guard period between symbols than normal CP
(NCP). The NCP is specified for all SCS whereas the ECP is currently only specified for the 60
kHz SCS. The ECP increases the duration of each symbol because the duration of the CP increases
while duration of the payload remains constant which decreases the number of symbols in each
slot from 14 symbols to 12 symbols.
147. What is the Minimum Scheduling Unit in 5G?

The minimum transmission scheduling unit in 5G is called the mini-slot. Mini-Slot is a newly
introduced sub-slot concept in 5G which was not available in 4G. NR allows the data transfer to
start at any OFDM symbol and to last only as many symbols as required for communication. This
is known as “mini-slot” transmission. It carries 2, 4 or 7 OFDM symbols (regardless of
numerology), so a user can be allocated a mini-slot which is less than the slot (14 symbols or 12
Symbols). It is suitable for low latency communication.
148. What is the difference between Slot and Mini-Slot?

A slot usually occupies either 14 (Normal CP) or 12 (Extended CP) OFDM symbols. It enables
slot-based scheduling. One slot is the possible scheduling unit and slot aggregation is also allowed.
Slot length decreases as the subcarrier spacing increases.
A Mini-slot occupies 2, 4 or 7 OFDM symbols. It enables non-slot-based scheduling. It is
minimum scheduling unit used in 5G NR. As mentioned earlier, mini-slots can occupy as little as
2 OFDM symbols and hence they are variable in length. Mini-slots can be positioned
asynchronously with respect to the beginning of a standard slot.
149. What is the 5GNR Radio Structure for numerology 0 and slot configuration 0 with
Normal CP? Explain how the Slot duration is calculated.
𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆
Numerology(μ) ∆f = 𝟐𝝁 .15KHz 𝑵𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒕
𝑺𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍 𝑵𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝑵𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒕
0 15 14 10 1
1 30 14 20 2
2 60 14 40 4
3 120 14 80 8
4 240 14 160 16
Here the slot duration, number of slots per subframe and the number of slots per frame are
calculated as shown below.
Number of slots per subframe = 2Numerology = 20 = 1.

Number of slots per frame = Number of slots per subframe x 10 = 10 slots.
Slot Duration = Subframe duration /number of slots per subframe = 1ms/1 = 1ms.
150. What is the 5GNR Radio Structure for numerology 1 and slot configuration 0? Explain
how the Slot duration is calculated.
𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆
Numerology(μ) ∆f = 𝟐𝝁 .15KHz 𝑵𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒕
0 15 14 10 1
1 30 14 20 2
2 60 14 40 4
3 120 14 80 8
4 240 14 160 16

Number of slots per frame = Number of slots per subframe x 10 = 2 x 10 = slots.
Slot Duration = Subframe duration /number of slots per subframe = 1ms/2 = 0.5ms.
151. What is the 5GNR Radio Structure for numerology 2 and slot configuration 0? Explain
how the Slot duration is calculated.
Numerology 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆
∆f = 𝟐𝝁 .15KHz 𝑵𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒕
(μ)
0 15 14 10 1
1 30 14 20 2
2 60 14 40 4
3 120 14 80 8
4 240 14 160 16

Number of slots per frame = Number of slots per subframe x 10 = 4 x 10 = 40 slots.
152. What is the 5GNR Radio Structure for numerology 3 and slot configuration 0? How
Slot duration is calculated?
(μ)
0 15 14 10 1
1 30 14 20 2
2 60 14 40 4
3 120 14 80 8
4 240 14 160 16

Number of slots per frame = Number of slots per subframe x 10 = 8 x 10 = 80 slots.
153. What is the 5GNR Radio Structure for numerology 4 and slot configuration 0? How
Slot duration is calculated?
(μ)
0 15 14 10 1
1 30 14 20 2
2 60 14 40 4
3 120 14 80 8
4 240 14 160 16
Number of slots per frame = Number of slots per subframe x 10 = 16 x10 = 160 slots.
154. What is the 5GNR Radio Structure for numerology 2 and slot configuration, when there
is an extended CP? Explain how the Slot duration is calculated.
(μ)
0 15 14 10 1
1 30 14 20 2
2 60 12 40 4
3 120 14 80 8
4 240 14 160 16

Number of slots per frame = Number of slots per subframe x 10 = 4 x10 = 40 slots.
155. How the numerology can be selected based on the frequency ranges?
Not all numerologies are relevant for different frequency bands.
For mmwaves, cell size will be smaller and hence wider SCS would be more beneficial. Similarly,
for lower carrier frequencies, the cell size will be large and hence narrow SCS would be preferred.
For sub-1GHz, cell size will be relatively larger. Therefore, smaller SCS is desirable.
Frequency Range SCS Options
FR1 (below 1GHz) 15KHz, 30KHz
FR1 (Above 1GHz) 15KHz, 30KHz, 60KHz
FR2 60KHz, 120KHz
156. How to Calculate OFDM Symbol Duration for different numerologies?

Numerology(μ) SCS ∆f = 𝟐𝝁 .15KHz OFDM Symbol Duration (μs) = 1/SCS
0 15 66.67
1 30 33.33
2 60 16.67
3 120 8.33
4 240 4.17
μ = 5, 6, 7… 2𝜇 .15KHz 66.67/2𝜇
157. Which formula is used to calculate the CP Length and CP Duration?

The CP Length for different sub-carrier spacing values can be calculated using the below
mentioned formula,
(512 ∗ k ∗ 2−μ ) For Extended CP

𝜇
𝑁𝐶𝑃.𝑙 = {(144 ∗ k ∗ 2−μ + 16k) For Normal CP, l = 0 or l = 7 ∗ 2μ
(144 ∗ k ∗ 2−μ ) For Normal CP, l ≠ 0 or l ≠ 7 ∗ 2μ
Where μ is numerology, k=64 and l is the symbol index.
CP Duration = CP Length ∗ 𝑇𝑐 .
Where 𝑇𝑐 is the 5G NR Basic time unit.
158. How to Calculate the Normal CP Overhead Duration for numerology 0?
When μ = 0, Normal CP Duration = (144 ∗ k ∗ 2−μ ) ∗ 𝑇𝑐 = 144 ∗ 64 ∗ 2−0 ∗ 0.509𝑛𝑠 = 4.69μs
161. How to Calculate the Extended CP Overhead Duration for numerology 2?
When μ = 2, Extended CP Duration = (512 ∗ k ∗ 2−μ) ∗ 𝑇𝑐 = 512 ∗ 64 ∗ 2−2 ∗ 0.509𝑛𝑠 = 4.17μs
164. How to calculate the total OFDM Symbol Duration including CP for each numerology?
The OFDM Symbol Duration including CP is addition of OFDM symbol duration & CP duration.
Numerology Sub-Carrier OFDM Symbol Cyclic Prefix OFDM Symbol
(μ) Spacing Duration Overhead Duration Duration including
∆f = 𝟐𝝁 .15KHz (in μs) (in μs) CP (in μs)
0 15 66.67 4.69 71.35
1 30 33.33 2.34 35.68
2 60 16.67 1.17(NCP),4.17(ECP) 17.84
3 120 8.33 0.57 8.92
μ = 4, 5, 6... 2𝜇 .15KHz 66.67/2𝜇 4.69/2𝜇 71.35/2𝜇
165. What is a Resource Grid?
A resource grid is characterized by one subframe in time domain and full carrier bandwidth in the
frequency domain.
5G NR supports multiple numerologies as a consequence of which, there are a multiple resource
grids i.e., there is one resource grid for each numerology and carrier.
166. What is a Physical Resource Block (PRB)?

Physical Resource Block (PRB) is the resource defined by 12 Consecutive sub-carriers in
frequency domain and one symbol in time domain.
167. What is a Resource Element?

Resource defined by one sub-carrier in frequency domain and one symbol in time domain is called
as Resource Element (RE). It is the smallest physical resource in 5G NR.
168. What is the minimum and maximum number of PRBs that can exist in 5GNR?
As specified by 3GPP, the minimum number of PRBs in 5GNR are 24 and maximum number of
PRBs are 275.
169. What is CORESET in 5G?

In 5G NR, CORESET is known as Control Resource Set. It is a set of physical resources within a
specific area in Downlink Resource Grid and used to carry PDCCH (DCI). NR PDCCHs are
specifically designed to transmit in a configurable control resource set (CORESET).
CORESET Parameters are:
➢ Resource Element (RE): RE is the smallest unit within the 5G NR resource grid consist of
one subcarrier in frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in time domain
➢ Resource Element Group (REG): One REG is one resource block i.e. 12 REs in frequency
domain and one OFDM symbol in time domain
➢ REG Bundles: One REG bundle is made up of multiple REGs. The bundle size is specified
by the parameter ‘L’ indicated with RRC signal parameter reg-bundle-size
➢ Control Channel Element (CCE): A CCE is a combination of multiple REGs. The number
REG bundles within a CCE varies
➢ Aggregation Level: Aggregation Level indicates the number of CCEs allocated for a
PDCCH.
170. What is Bandwidth part?

The bandwidth part concept is newly introduced in the 5G NR in order to reduce power
consumption of 5G NR devices. A bandwidth part (BWP) is subset of contiguous Physical
Resource Blocks.
In 4G/LTE, UEs support the maximum possible bandwidth of 20MHz. In 5G, transmission can
go up to 400MHz per carrier. It's impractical to expect every UE to support such a high bandwidth.
It is possible for a 5G UE to be active on a wide channel bandwidth in heavy traffic conditions for
a short time period and be active on a narrow bandwidth for rest of the time duration. This concept
is known as Dynamic Bandwidth Adaptation. BWP supports Dynamic Bandwidth Adaptation.
A UE can be configured with upto four downlink bandwidth parts per carrier and upto four
uplink Bandwidth parts per carrier. However, at a given time only one bandwidth part can be
active per transmission direction (either UL or DL).
171. What is Carrier Aggregation?

Carrier Aggregation (CA) is a major feature introduced with LTE-Advanced, enabling mobile
network operators to combine multiple carriers in fragmented spectrum bands to increase peak
user data rates and overall capacity of the network.
In wireless communication, bands are known as spectrum of specific frequencies which are used
for communicating between devices. If there is only one band to send and receive data then it will
take more time to complete the operation. However, if you are able to put various frequencies
together then you can simultaneously communicate and transmit data in a fast and efficient
manner.
In Carrier Aggregation, multiple frequency bands are assigned to one device. They are called
component carriers. If you aggregate two component carriers then it will be called 2CA; if there
are three component carriers then 3CA, and so on. The more the component carriers, the better
will be the data speed.
172. List the three types of Carrier Aggregation.

Based on the positions of the component carriers, Carrier Aggregation is classified into three
types:
➢ Intra-band Contiguous CA
➢ Intra-band non-contiguous CA
➢ Inter-band non-contiguous CA
173. What is Intra-band Contiguous Carrier Aggregation?

When two or more component carriers belong to the same frequency band then they are placed
together or close to each other. This arrangement is called Intra-band contiguous carrier
aggregation. It’s the simple, flexible and most common one in wireless communication.
174. What is Intra-band Non-Contiguous Carrier Aggregation?

When the component carriers are from the same frequency band but are separated by a spectrum
gap then it’s called Intra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation. This arrangement is a bit
complex compared to Intra-band contiguous Carrier Aggregation.
175. What is Inter-band Non-Contiguous Carrier Aggregation?

When the component carriers belong to different frequency bands then they are placed in separate
frequency blocks. It’s called Inter-band carrier aggregation and this arrangement is the most
complex one but yields much better data speed. Inter-band CA is the most-costlier type of CA.
176. List the types of Component Carriers.

When carriers are aggregated, each one is mentioned as a component carrier. There are two types:
➢ Primary Component Carrier
➢ Secondary Component Carrier
177. What is the difference between Primary and Secondary Component Carriers?
Primary Component Carrier is the major carrier of the Carrier aggregation. It is associated with a
principal downlink and uplink component carrier. Other than the primary carrier component, all
other aggregated carriers are the secondary component carriers.
The primary component carrier is numbered zero, and the secondary component carriers are
assigned a unique number. This enables the base station to differentiate component carrier during
reconfiguration.
178. What is the difference between BWP and Carrier Aggregation?

Bandwidth Parts (BWP) contains contiguous physical resource blocks.
Carrier Aggregation (CA) can have contiguous and non-contiguous physical resource blocks.
179. What is the minimum and maximum bandwidth supported in 5G FR1 range?
In FR1, the minimum bandwidth supported by 5G is 5MHz and the maximum bandwidth
supported by 5G is 100MHz.
180. What is the minimum and maximum bandwidth supported in 5G FR2 range?
In FR2, the minimum bandwidth supported by 5G is 50MHz and the maximum bandwidth
supported by 5G is 400MHz.
181. What is Dynamic Spectrum Sharing?

Dynamic Spectrum sharing is a new technology that enables the parallel deployment of both
4G/LTE and 5G NR in the same frequency band and dynamically allocating the spectrum
resources between the two technologies based on the user demand.
182. What is TDD in 5G?

TDD is one of the spectrum usage techniques used in mobile communication networks. In TDD
mode, both uplink and downlink use the same spectrum frequencies but at different times.
TDD version is used where both uplink and downlink data rates are asymmetrical. TDD is usually
preferable for higher frequency bands usually above 10 GHz.
183. What is FDD in 5G?

FDD is one of the spectrum usage techniques used in mobile communication networks. In FDD
mode, both uplink and downlink can transmit at the same time at different spectrum frequencies.
FDD version is used where both uplink and downlink data rates are symmetrical. It is usually
preferable for lower frequency bands.
184. List the 5G FR1 FDD Frequency Bands.
5G NR Band Uplink Frequency Downlink Frequency Bandwidth

n1 1920 -1989 MHz 2110 - 2170 MHz 60 MHz
n2 1850 - 1910 MHz 1930 - 1990 MHz 60 MHz
n3 1710 - 1785 MHz 1805 - 1880 MHz 75 MHz
n5 824 - 849 MHz 869 - 894 MHz 25 MHz
n7 2500 - 2670 MHz 2620 - 2690 MHz 70 MHz
n8 880 - 915 MHz 925 - 960 MHz 35 MHz
n12 699 - 716 MHz 729 - 746 MHz 17 MHz
n14 788 - 798 MHz 758 - 768 MHz 20 MHz
n18 815 - 830 MHz 860 - 875 MHz 15 MHz
n20 832 - 862 MHz 791 - 821 MHz 30 MHz
n25 1850 - 1915 MHz 1930 - 1995 MHz 65 MHz
n28 703 - 748 MHz 758 - 803 MHz 45 MHz
n30 2305 - 2315 MHz 2350 - 2360 MHz 10 MHz
n65 1920 - 2010 MHz 2110 - 2200 MHz 90 MHz
n66 1710 - 1780 MHz 2110 - 2200 MHz 90 MHz
n70 1695 - 1710 MHz 1995 - 2020 MHz 15/25 MHz
n71 663 - 698 MHz 617 - 652 MHz 35 MHz
n74 1427 - 1470 MHz 1475 - 1518 MHz 43 MHz
n91 832 - 862 MHz 1427 - 1432 MHz -
n92 832 - 862 MHz 1432 - 1517 MHz -
n93 880 - 915 MHz 1427 - 1432 MHz -
n94 880 - 915 MHz 1432 - 1517 MHz -
185. List the 5G FR1 TDD Frequency Bands.
5G NR Band Uplink / Downlink Frequency Bandwidth

n34 2010 - 2025 MHz 15 MHz
n38 2570 - 2620 MHz 50 MHz
n39 1880 - 1920 MHz 40 MHz
n40 2300 - 2400 MHz 100 MHz
n41 2469 - 2690 MHz 194 MHz
n48 3550 - 3700 MHz 150 MHz
n50 1431 - 1517 MHz 85 MHz
n51 1427 - 1432 MHz 5 MHz
n77 3300 - 4200 MHz 900 MHz
n78 3300 - 3800 MHz 500 MHz
n79 4400 - 5000 MHz 600 MHz
n90 2496 - 2690 MHz 194 MHz
186. List the 5G FR1 Supplementary Downlink Bands (SDL) & Supplementary Uplink
Bands (SUL).
5G NR Band Uplink Downlink Bandwidth Type

Frequency Frequency
n29 - 717 - 728 MHz 11 MHz SDL
n75 - 1432 - 1517 MHz 85 MHz SDL
n76 - 1427 - 1432 MHz 5 MHz SDL
n80 1710 - 1785 MHz - 75 MHz SUL
n81 880 - 915 MHz - 35 MHz SUL
n82 832 - 862 MHz - 30 MHz SUL
n83 703 - 748 MHz - 45 MHz SUL
n84 1920 - 1980 MHz - 60 MHz SUL
n86 1710 - 1780 MHz - 70 MHz SUL
n89 824 - 849 MHz - 25 MHz SUL
n95 2010 - 2025 MHz - 15 MHz SUL
187. List the 5G FR2 Frequency Bands.
5G NR Band Band Alias Uplink / Downlink Bandwidth Type

Band
n257 28 GHz 26.5 - 29.5 GHz 3 GHz TDD
n258 26 GHz 24.250 - 27.5 GHz 3.250 GHz TDD
n259 - 39.5 - 43.5 GHz 4 GHz TDD
n260 39 GHz 37 - 40 GHz 3 GHz TDD
n261 28 GHz 27.5 - 28.35 GHz 850 MHz TDD
188. List all the 4G/LTE uplink Physical Channels.

The 3 uplink physical channels of 4G are:
➢ Physical random-access channel, PRACH
➢ Physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH and
➢ Physical uplink control channel, PUCCH.
189. List all the 4G/LTE downlink Physical Channels.

The 3 downlink physical channels of 4G are:
➢ Physical Broadcast channel, PBCH
➢ Physical Control Format Indicator Channel, PCFICH
➢ Physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH
➢ Physical downlink control channel, PDCCH and
➢ Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel, PHICH
190. List all the 4G Downlink Transport Channels.

There are six 4G transport channels. Out of 6, 4 are downlink channels. They are,
➢ Broadcast Channel, BCH
➢ Downlink Shared Channel, DL-SCH
➢ Paging Channel, PCH
➢ Multicast Channel, MCH
191. List all the 4G Uplink Transport Channels.

There are six 4G transport channels. Out of 6, 2 are uplink channels. They are,
➢ Uplink Shared Channel, UL-SCH
➢ Random Access Channel, RACH
192. List all the 4G Logical Channels.

There are seven 4G logical channels. Out of which, 5 are Control Channels and other 2 are
traffic channels.
The Control Channels which carry the control plane information are,
➢ Broadcast Control Channel, BCCH
➢ Paging Control Channel, PCCH
➢ Common Control Channel, CCCH
➢ Multicast Control Channel, MCCH
➢ Dedicated Control Channel, DCCH
The Traffic channels which carry the user-plane data are,
➢ Dedicated Traffic Channel, DTCH
➢ Multicast Traffic Channel, MTCH
193. Explain 5GNR Control Plane Protocol Structure.

The below figure represents the 5GNR Control plane Protocol Structure. It contains PHY, MAC,
RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS Layers.
PHY Layer sits at the bottom of 5G Control Plane protocol structure. This layer involves aspects
relevant for the communication taking place between the user equipment and the core network as
well as other aspects like modulation and demodulation of physical channels, beamforming, RF
processing etc. PHY Layer is called as Layer 1.
MAC sublayer sits above PHY Layer. MAC layer is responsible for scheduling information
reporting, Error Correction through HARQ etc.
RLC sublayer sits above MAC Layer. RLC Layer is responsible for data organization – Here the
data is segmented, reassembled, concatenated.
PDCP sublayer sits above RLC Layer. PDCP Layer is responsible for transfer of control plane
data, ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection etc.
MAC, RLC and PDCP sublayer combine and form Layer 2.
RRC Layer sits above PDCP sublayer. It is called as Layer 3. RRC Layer is responsible for
establishment, maintenance and release of RRC Connection between UE and 5GC.
194. What is 5GNR User Plane Protocol Structure?

The below figure represents the 5GNR User plane Protocol Structure. It contains PHY, MAC,
RLC, PDCP and SDAP Layers.
PHY Layer sits at the bottom of User Plane protocol structure. PHY Layer is called as Layer 1.
MAC sublayer sits above PHY Layer.
RLC sublayer sits above MAC Layer.
PDCP sublayer sits above RLC Layer. PDCP Layer is responsible for transfer of control plane
data, ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection etc.
MAC, RLC and PDCP sublayer combine and form Layer 2.
SDAP Layer sits above PDCP sublayer. This is a new layer introduced in 5G. SDAP is used for
QoS Management.
195. What are the functions of PHY Layer?

The main services and functions of the PHY layer include:
➢ Error detection on the transport channel and indication to higher layers
➢ FEC encoding/decoding of the transport channel
➢ HARQ soft combining
➢ Rate matching of the coded transport channel to physical channels
➢ Power weighing of physical channels
➢ Modulation and de-modulation of physical channels
➢ Frequency and time synchronization
➢ Radio resource measurements and indication to higher layers
➢ MIMO antenna processing
➢ RF processing
196. What are the functions of MAC sublayer?

The main services and functions of the MAC sublayer include:
➢ Mapping between logical channels and transport channels
➢ Multiplexing/demultiplexing of MAC SDUs belonging to one or different logical channels
into/from transport blocks (TB) delivered to/from the physical layer on transport channels
➢ Scheduling information reporting
➢ Error correction through HARQ
➢ Priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling
➢ Priority handling between logical channels of one UE
➢ Padding
197. What are the functions of RLC sublayer?

The main services and functions of the RLC sublayer include:
➢ Transfer of upper layer PDUs, according to transmission modes AM, UM and TM
➢ Sequence numbering independent of the one in PDCP
➢ Error Correction through ARQ (only for AM data transfer)
➢ Segmentation and re-segmentation
➢ Reassembly of SDU
➢ RLC SDU discard (only for UM and AM data transfer)
➢ RLC re-establishment.
198. What are the functions of PDCP sublayer in Control Plane?

The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer in the control plane include:
➢ Ciphering, deciphering and Integrity Protection
➢ Transfer of control plane data
➢ Duplication of PDCP PDU in case of multi-connectivity and CA.
199. What are the functions of PDCP Layer in User Plane?

The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer in the user plane include:
➢ Sequence Numbering
➢ Header compression and decompression: ROHC only
➢ Transfer of user data
➢ Reordering and duplicate detection (if in order delivery to layers above PDCP is required)
➢ PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers)
➢ Retransmission of PDCP SDUs
➢ Ciphering and deciphering
➢ PDCP SDU discard.
➢ PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM
➢ Duplication of PDCP PDU in case of multi-connectivity and CA.
200. What are the functions of RRC Layer?

The main services and functions of the RRC layer include:
➢ Broadcast of System Information related to SDAP and NAS
➢ Paging initiated by CN or RAN
➢ Establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and NR
RAN including addition, modification and release of carrier aggregation and dual
connectivity in NR or between LTE and NR.
➢ Security functions including key management
➢ Establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signalling & data radio bearers.
➢ Mobility functions including Handover, UE cell selection and reselection, control of cell
selection and reselection, Context transfer at handover, QoS management functions.
➢ UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting;
➢ NAS message transfer to/from NAS from/to UE.
201. What are the functions of SDAP Layer?

The functions of SDAP layer are:
➢ Mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer
➢ Marking QoS flow ID in both DL and UL packets.
202. List the different types of channels available in 5G.

Data flows between the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers of the 5G protocol stack through different
channels. There are three types of channels:
➢ Logical Channels
➢ Transport Channels
➢ Physical Channels
203. What are Logical Channels?

Logical Channels lie between MAC and RLC. These channels are defined by the type of data they
carry and they are generally differentiated into two groups based on the type of information
carried– Control channels and traffic channels.
➢ Control channels are used for transfer of data from the control plane, carry CP packets.
➢ Traffic channels are used for transfer of data from the user plane; hence they
carry UP packets.
204. What are Transport Channels?

Transport Channels: Lie between PHY and MAC. MAC layer multiplexes one or more logical
channels to a transport channel. As mentioned earlier, logical channels are defined based on what
information is carried, whereas transport channels are defined by how and with what
characteristics the information is carried.
205. What are Physical Channels?

Physical Channels: The physical channels are those which are closest to the actual transmission
of the data over the radio access network. These are the channels that carry information on the air
interface. Transport channels map to physical channels.
Physical channels correspond to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmission of
particular transport channel data, control information or indicator data. Each transport channel
data, control information and indicator information are mapped to its corresponding physical
channel to provide a specific service.
206. Why different channels are required?

In order to be able to carry the data across the 5G radio access network, the data has to be organised
in a very logical and manageable way into a number of data channels.
By organising the data into various channels, the 5G communications system will be able to
manage the data transfers in an orderly fashion and the system will be able to understand what
data is arriving and hence it is able to process it in the required fashion.
As there are many different types of data that need to be transferred - user data obviously needs
to be transferred, but so does control information to manage the radio communications link, as
well as data to provide synchronisation, access etc. Therefore, different channels are essential to
transfer the different data over the radio access network.
207. List all the 5G uplink Physical channels.

The 3 uplink physical channels are:
➢ Physical random-access channel, PRACH
➢ Physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH and
➢ Physical uplink control channel, PUCCH.
208. What is the function of PRACH?

The physical random-access channel, PRACH, is used for channel access. It transmits random
access preamble consisting of sequences to initiate the random-access procedures.
The preambles can be of two different lengths:
➢ A long sequence is 839 which is applied to the subcarrier spacings of 1.25kHz and 5
kHz
➢ Short sequence lengths of 139 are applied to subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz and 30 kHz
(FR1 bands) and 60 kHz and 120 kHz (FR2 bands).
This is the only non-synchronised transmission that the UE can make within gNB. The downlink
and uplink propagation delays are unknown when PRACH is used and therefore it cannot be
synchronised.
209. What is the function of PUSCH?

The physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, is the counterpart of the PDSCH. It is used to carry
user data. PUSCH also has a very flexible format with a flexible modulation and coding scheme
dependent upon the link signal to noise ratio.
210. What is the function of PUCCH?

The physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, carries the uplink control data. Depending on the
resource allocation the uplink control information or data may also be sent on the PUSCH, even
though in the downlink direction.
211. List all the 5G downlink physical channels.

The 3 downlink physical channels are:
➢ Physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH
➢ Physical downlink control channel, PDCCH and
➢ Physical broadcast channel, PBCH.
212. What is the function of PDSCH?

The 5G NR physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH carries the encoded user data and paging
information to the UE.
Similar to PUSCH, PDSCH also uses an adaptive modulation format dependent upon the link
conditions i.e., signal to noise ratio. It also uses a flexible coding scheme. The combination of
these means that there is a flexible coding and data rate.
213. What is the function of PDCCH?

As the name implies, the 5G physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink
control data. PDCCH conveys encoded control information and scheduling decisions for PDSCH
reception. So, its primary function is scheduling the downlink transmissions on the PDSCH and
also the uplink data transmissions on the PUSCH.
The PDCCH uses QPSK as its modulation format.
214. What is the function of PBCH?

PBCH is the third component of the synchronization signal block used for synchronizing user
equipment with a base station. Its function is to provide UEs with the Master Information Block,
MIB to access the network.
The PBCH uses QPSK modulation format.
215. List all the Logical Channels.

There are 5 logical channels. Some are control channels and some are traffic channels. Some are
used on the downlink, and some can be used on both uplink and downlink.
➢ Broadcast Control Channel, BCCH
➢ Paging Control Channel, PCCH
➢ Common Control Channel, CCCH
➢ Dedicated Control Channel, DCCH
➢ Dedicated Traffic Channel, DTCH
216. What is the function of BCCH?

Broadcast Control Channel, BCCH is used for downlink transmission, and it is used for sending
broadcast style information to the user equipment within that cell.
The system information transmitted by the 5G NR BCCH is divided into different blocks:
1. Master Information Block, MIB: There is one MIB and this is mapped onto the BCH transport
channel and then to the PBCH physical channel.
2. System Information Block, SIB: There are several system information blocks, SIBs. These are
mapped onto the DL-SCH transport channel and then onto the PDSCH physical channel.
217. What is the function of PCCH?

Paging Control Channel, PCCH is a downlink logical channel. It is used to page the UEs whose
location at cell level is not known to the network. As a result, the paging message needs to be
transmitted in multiple cells.
The PCCH is mapped to the PCH transport channel and then to the PDSCH physical channel.
218. What is the function of CCCH?

Common Control Channel, CCCH is a logical channel used on both downlink and uplink for
transmitting control information to and from the user equipment or mobiles.
This channel is used for initial access, i.e., those mobiles that do not have a RRC connection.
219. What is the function of DCCH?

Dedicated Control Channel, DCCH is a logical channel used in both uplink and downlink to carry
dedicated control information between the UE and the network.
It is used by the UE and the network after a radio resource control, RRC connection has been
established.
220. What is the function of DTCH?

Dedicated Traffic Channel, DTCH is a logical channel is present in both the uplink and downlink.
It is dedicated to one UE and is used for carrying user information to and from a specific UE and
the network.
221. List all the Transport Channels.

There are 5 different transport channels. Some are used on the uplink, others on the downlink,
and some can be used on both.
➢ Broadcast Channel, BCH
➢ Paging Channel, PCH
➢ Downlink Shared Channel, DL-SCH
➢ Uplink Shared Channel, UL-SCH
➢ Random-Access Channel, RACH
222. What is the function of BCH?

Broadcast Channel, BCH is a transport channel used in the downlink only for transmitting the
BCCH system information and specifically the Master Information Block (MIB) information.
223. What is the function of PCH?

Paging Channel, PCH is a downlink channel. PCH is used for carrying paging information from
the PCCH logical channel. The PCH channel supports discontinuous reception to enable the UE
to save battery power by waking up at a specific time to receive the PCH.
In order for the PCH to be received by all mobiles / UEs in the cell, the PCH must be broadcast
over the entire cell as a single message.
224. What is the function of DL-SCH?

As the name indicates Downlink Shared Channel, DL-SCH is a downlink only channel. It is the
main transport channel used for transmitting downlink data and it supports all the key 5G NR
features.
The DL-SCH is also used for transmitting some parts of the BCCH system information,
specifically the SIB. Each UE has a DL-SCH for each cell it is connected to.
225. What is the function of UL-SCH?

Uplink Shared Channel, UL-SCH is the uplink counterpart to the DL-SCH that is, the uplink
transport channel used for transmission of uplink data.
226. What is the function of RACH?

Random-Access Channel, RACH is an uplink transport channel, which carries the random-access
preamble which is used to overcome the message collisions that can occur when UEs access the
system simultaneously.
227. Explain how the channel mapping happens in 5G uplink.

Uplink logical channels include Common Control Channel (CCCH), Dedicated Control Channel
(DCCH) and Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH).
Uplink transport channels include Random Access Channel (RACH) and Uplink Shared Channel
(UL-SCH).
Uplink physical channels include Physical Random-Access Channel (PRACH), Physical Uplink
Control Channel (PUCCH), and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).
In terms of mapping, we can note the following:

➢ PRACH carries RACH, which has no mapped logical channel. PRACH is used by UE for
initial access to the network. Random access preambles carried on RACH help overcome
message collisions due to multiple UEs transmitting at the same time.
➢ PUSCH carries UL-SCH, which carries CCCH, DCCH and DTCH logical channels. Like,
PDSCH in downlink, PUSCH has flexible configuration that can be adapted to link
conditions.
➢ PUCCH carries uplink control information although it could be sent on PUSCH.
➢ CCCH, DCCH and DTCH are present in the downlink. DTCH is the only one in the user
plane. As an example, we note that RRC signaling messages and NAS messages (that also
go through RRC) use DCCH. Application data use DTCH.
228. Explain how the channel mapping happens in 5G downlink.

Downlink logical channels include Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), Paging Control Channel
(PCCH), Common Control Channel (CCCH), Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) and Dedicated
Traffic Channel (DTCH).
Downlink transport channels include Broadcast Channel (BCH), Paging Channel (PCH) and
Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH).
Downlink physical channels include Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Downlink
Control Channel (PDCCH) and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).
In terms of mapping, we can note the following:

➢ BCCH for Master Information Blocks (MIBs) goes on BCH, which goes on PBCH. BCCH
for System Information Blocks (SIBs) goes on DL-SCH, which goes on PDSCH. PBCH
is used by UE for cell acquisition, selection and re-selection.
➢ PCCH goes on PCH, which goes on PDSCH. This is used to page a UE whose cell location
is unknown.
➢ CCCH is used by a UE during initial access when there's no RRC connection yet. Once a
connection is established, DCCH and DTCH become available to the UE.
➢ PDSCH carries a variety of transport channels. It can be adapted to current link conditions.
➢ PDCCH is used to schedule transmissions on PDSCH and PUSCH.
229. Why there is no PCFICH channel in 5G?

In 4G, PCFICH is used to define the size of PDCCH, as its size can change dynamically based on
cell load. In 5G, gNB transmits the PDCCH using resource elements which belong to a Control
Resource Set (CORESET).
The number of symbols allocated to the CORESET is specified using the duration information
element. A CORESET can be configured with a duration of 1, 2 or 3 symbols. The duration is
fixed once it has been configured, i.e., it is semi-static, which is in contrast to 4G. Hence, there is
no need of PCFICH in 5G.
230. Why there is no PHICH channel in 5G?

PHICH is used in LTE to send the ACK/NACK for the UL received data as synchronous HARQ
is used in LTE UL, so UE expects feedback about the data sent in specific time. In 5G,
asynchronous HARQ for UL is used, so there is no need for PHICH as we don’t have a specific
timing to send the feedback to the UE.
231. Which modulation techniques are supported by 5GNR?

5GNR supports ᴨ/2 BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM and 256QAM.
232. Which coding schemes are supported by 5GNR?

5GNR supports Polar (PDCCH and PUCCH) and LDPC (PDSCH and PUSCH) Coding schemes.
233. List the 5G synchronization signals.

The two 5G synchronization signals are PSS and SSS.
PSS is the first component of the synchronization signal block used for synchronizing user
equipment with a base station.
SSS is the second component of the synchronization signal block used for synchronizing user
equipment with a base station.
234. List the 5G reference signals.

To increase protocol efficiency, and to keep transmissions contained within a slot or beam without
having to depend on other slots and beams, NR has introduced the following reference signals.
➢ Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS)
➢ Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS)
➢ Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) – UL Physical Reference Signal
➢ Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) - DL Physical Reference Signal
DM-RS and PT-RS reference signals are used in both uplink and downlink.
SRS is an uplink only reference signal
CSI-RS is a downlink only reference signal.
235. What is the function of DM-RS?

Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) is a reference signal used to estimate the radio channel
for demodulation. DMRS is user specific, can be beamformed, confined in a scheduled resource
and transmitted only when its necessary, both in uplink and downlink. To support multi-layer
MIMO transmission, multiple orthogonal DMRS ports can be scheduled one for each layer. For
low-speed scenarios, DMRS uses low density in the time domain. For high-speed scenarios, the
time density of DMRS is increased to track fast changes in the radio channel.
236. What is the function of PT-RS?

PT-RS is introduced in 5G NR to enable compensation of oscillator phase noise. Typically, phase
noise increases as a function of oscillator carrier frequency. PTRS can be therefore be utilized at
high carrier frequencies (such as mmwaves) to mitigate phase noise. One of the main degradations
caused by phase noise in an OFDM signal is an identical phase rotation of all the sub-carriers,
known as common phase error (CPE). PT-RS is designed so that, it has low density in the
frequency domain and high density in the time domain. The phase rotation produced by CPE is
identical for all sub-carriers with an OFDM symbol, but there is low correlation of phase noise
across OFDM symbols.
PT-RS is a user specific, confined in a scheduled resource and can be beamformed. PT-RS is
configurable depending on the quality of oscillators, carrier frequency, OFDM sub-carrier
spacing, modulation and coding schemes used for transmission.
237. What is the function of SRS?

Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) is an uplink control signal that is transmitted by UE to help
Base Station gNB obtain the channel state information. Channel State Information describes how
the NR signal propagates from the UE to the gNB and represents the combined effect of multipath
fading, scattering, doppler effect and power loss of transmitted signal. The Base station estimates
the channel quality using the SRS and manages further resource allocation, beam management
and power control of signal. SRS is always configured a UE specific only.
238. What is the function of CSI-RS?

Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) is a downlink reference signal transmitted
by gNB to UE for multiple purposes such as CSI reporting. UE provides CSI reports to the gNB
based upon measurements from the CSI-RS. For example, UE derives Channel Quality Indicators
(CQI), Rank Indicators (RI) and Precoding Matrix Indicators (PMI) from CSI-RS measurements.
CSI-RS is configured specific to UE, but multiple users can also share the same resource.
239. What is CU and DU in 5G?

The 5G gNB can be divided into two physical entities named CU (Centralized Unit) and DU
(Distributed Unit). CU provides support for the higher layers of the protocol stack such as SDAP,
PDCP and RRC while DU provides support for the lower layers of the protocol stack such as
RLC, MAC and Physical layer. Also, note that SDAP layer will not be present if the CU is
connected to a 4G Core network as we should have 5G core network to support SDAP.
240. What is NR E1 Interface?

E1 Interface is the point-to-point interface between a gNB-CU-Control Plane and a gNB-CU-User
Plane.
241. What is NR F1 Interface?

F1 Interface is the interface which exists between gNB-CU and gNB-DU. This Interface is also
separated into F1-C and F1-U based on Control Plane and User Plane functionalities.
242. What is SISO?

In SISO, there is only one transmitting antenna at the transmitter end and one receiving antenna
at the receiver end. There is no diversity.
243. What is SIMO?

In SIMO, there is only one transmitting antenna at the transmitter end and multiple receiving
antennas at receiving end. This is also known as receive diversity.
244. What is MISO?

In MISO, there can be multiple transmitting antennas from which the signal can be sent, but there
will be only one receiving antenna to receive the signals coming from multiple transmitting
antennas. This means there are different sources available but there is only one destination
available. This is also known as transmit diversity.
245. What is MIMO?

In MIMO, there can be multiple transmitting antennas from which the signal can be sent, and also
there are multiple receiving antennas through which the signal can be received. This is called
Transmit-Receive Diversity.
MIMO takes advantage of multi-path propagation and improve the quality and reliability of
wireless communication.
246. What is the difference between SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO?

SU-MIMO is an application of multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) technology where the
base station communicates with only one UE during the allotted time slice.
MU-MIMO is an application of multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) technology where
the base station communicates with two or more UEs simultaneously.
In single-user MIMO, the knowledge of the channel is in the receiver; whereas in multi-user
MIMO the knowledge of the channel is in the transmitter.
247. Define Massive MIMO.

Definition 1: Massive MIMO is a scalable version of multi-user MIMO technology with N
antennas and K users per Base station. The system is characterized by N>>K and operates in TDD
mode using linear uplink and downlink processing. It can provide uniformly good service to all
wireless terminals in high mobility environments.
Definition 2: Massive MIMO is a multi-user MIMO system that serves multiple users through
spatial multiplexing over a channel with favourable propagation (when users being mutually
orthogonal) in time-division duplex, and relies on channel reciprocity & uplink pilots to obtain
channel state information.
248. How did the word Massive MIMO origin?

The Massive MIMO concept originates from the seminar paper “Non-Cooperative Cellular
Wireless with unlimited number of Base Station Antennas” published by Famous Academician
and Researcher Thomas Marzetta in 2010. The paper talks about “Multi-user system with very
large antenna arrays”. Later, Marzetta published several papers using the LSAS (large-scale
antenna systems) terminology before switching to call it as the ‘Massive MIMO’.
Over years, many papers have also been published and called it ‘Very large multiuser MIMO’ and
‘Large scale MIMO’.
In recent times Massive MIMO is used by almost everyone in the industry, because it is indeed a
catchy name compared to earlier ones.
249. What is Beamforming?

Beamforming is the method of applying relative phase and amplitude shifts to each antenna
element to shape and provide discrete control of the direction of a transmitted beam. Beamforming
requires communication channel feedback to implement real-time control of the beam.
250. Explain the principle of operation of Beamforming.

In general, Beamforming uses multiple antennas to control the direction of a signal wave-front by
appropriately weighting the magnitude and phase of individual antenna signals in an array of
multiple antennas. That is, the same signal is sent from multiple antennas that have sufficient
space between them (at least ½ wavelength). In any given location, the receiver will thus receive
multiple copies of the same signal. Depending on the location of the receiver, the signals may be
in opposite phases, destructively averaging each other out (it makes the signal weaker, or
undetectable), or constructively sum up (it makes the signal stronger) if the different copies are in
the same phase, or anything in between. If executed correctly, this beamforming process can focus
your signal where you want it to go.
251. What are the types of Beamforming?

There are 3 different types of Beamforming:
➢ Analog Beamforming
➢ Digital Beamforming
➢ Hybrid Beamforming
252. What is Analog Beamforming?

Analog Beamforming is a traditional approach which applies an antenna array combined with
phase shifters and power amplifiers to steer the beam into the desired direction, reducing the
sidelobes to a minimum and increasing the gain of main lobe to improve the coverage. The small
amount of hardware makes this a cost-effective method for building a beamforming array of a
certain complexity.
Typically, an analog beamforming array is connected to one RF chain generating only one beam
at a time, and the range of the phase shifters used limits the applicable frequency range.
The antenna gain boost provided by the analog beamforming overcomes partly the impact of high
pathloss in mmWave. Therefore, analog beamforming is considered mandatory for the mmWave
frequency range 5G NR.
253. What is Digital Beamforming?

In Digital Beamforming, the signal is pre-coded (amplitude and phase modifications) in baseband
processing before RF transmission. Multiple beams (one per each user) can be formed
simultaneously from the same set of antenna elements.
The more advanced architecture performs phase and amplitude weighting in the digital domain.
Each antenna has its own transceiver and data converters, allowing it to handle multiple data
streams and generate multiple beams simultaneously from one array. So, multiple TRX chains,
one per each simultaneous MU-MIMO user, are needed in the base station.
254. What is Hybrid Beamforming?

Hybrid beamforming combines the analog beamforming and digital beamforming.
It balances the advantages & disadvantages of analog and digital beamforming.
Targeting higher frequency ranges, such designs combine multiple antenna array elements into
subarray modules that are connected to a digital pre-processing stage.
System designers use hybrid beamforming to balance flexibility and cost trade-offs while still
meeting the required performance parameters such as number of simultaneous beams and
frequency range.
255. What are the advantages of Beamforming?

The advantages of Beamforming are,
1. Beamforming helps to reduce inter-cell interference by focusing transmissions in a specific
direction, i.e., the beam width is relatively narrow so the possibility for inter-cell interference
across a wide range of angles is reduced.
2. Beamforming increases the antenna gain and this is particularly advantageous for the mmwave
bands which experience higher path loss.
3. Beamforming provides support for Multi-User MIMO (MU-MlMO). Multiple users can be
simultaneously allocated the same resource blocks, if those users are spatially separated.
256. What is Beam-Acquisition?

Beam Acquisition is the process of discovering and connecting with UEs. This process is
substantially changing in 5G with the deployment of highly directional antenna arrays and
beamforming techniques.
257. What is Beam-Steering and Beam-Switching?

The set of techniques used to focus the direction and shape of a radiation pattern. In wireless
communications, beam steering changes the direction of the signal and narrows the width of the
transmitted signal, typically by manipulating relative phase and amplitude shifts of the signal
through an array of multiple antenna elements. An antenna can employ radiating elements with a
common frequency to steer a single beam in a specific direction. Different frequency beams can
also be steered in different directions to serve different users. The direction a signal is sent in is
calculated dynamically by the base station as the endpoint moves, effectively tracking the user.
If a beam cannot track a user, the endpoint may switch to a different beam. This process is called
as Beam Switching.
258. What is Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Non-Line-of-Sight?

LOS refers to a RF Signal path in where the transmitter and receiver are in view of each other
without any obstruction.
N-LOS refers to a RF signal path that is obscured by obstacles. Common causes for non-line-of-
sight include obstacles such as buildings, trees, hills, and mountains or any other obstructions.
PART-II
Multiple Choice Questions with Answers
1. 5G is the fifth-generation wireless technology which supports high data rates, low latency
and high connection density.
a) True
b) False
2. NR stands for ___________.

a) New Range
b) New Radio
c) New Reliability
d) New RAN
3. The 3 major use cases of 5G are

a) eMBB
b) mMTC
c) URLLC
d) All of the above
4. eMBB stands for ______

a) Enhanced Mobile Broadband
b) Extended Mobile Bandwidth
c) Enhanced Mobility
d) Extended Mobile Broadband
5. URLLC stands for ________

a) Unlicensed range and Low Loss Communication
b) Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication
c) Unlimited Resource and Low Latency Communication
d) Ultra-Reliable and Life Line Communication
6. mMTC stands for _________

a) Massive MIMO Type Communications
b) Millimeter waves-based Communications
c) Massive Machine Type Communications
d) Machine to Machine Type Connection
7. Which of the following is incorrect statement?

a) mMTC is a use case of 5G that can support extremely high connection density of
devices
b) URLLC services are very strict in terms of latency and reliability
c) eMBB services focus on high data rates
d) Mission critical services are not latency sensitive
8. What is the frequency range of 5G NR FR1?

a) 410MHz to 7.125GHz
b) 410MHz to 6GHz
c) 410MHz to 12GHz
d) 410MHz to 4GHz
9. What is the frequency range of 5G NR FR2?

a) 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz
b) 30GHz to 100GHz
c) 30GHz to 300GHz
d) 2GHz to 28GHz
10. 5G can operate in ______ frequency ranges.

a) Low band
b) Mid band
c) High band
d) All of the above
11. mmwave spectrum ranges from ________

a) 30GHz to 300GHz
b) 3GHz to 30GHz
c) 300GHz to 100THz
d) None of the above
12. The wavelength of a signal with frequency 30GHz is ____.

a) 10mm
b) 1mm
c) 0.1mm
d) 10cm
13. Which of the following is not a correct statement?

a) 5G offers 100% network coverage
b) 5G latency will be less than 1ms
c) 5G networks cannot operate in low band frequencies
d) 5G promises to support high data rates

a) 5G promises to offer 99.999% uptime
b) 5G networks support Network Slicing
c) 5G Mobile Core is Called as Evolved Packet Core (EPC)
d) 5G can operate in low-band, mid-band and high-band frequencies
Redistribution, Repurposing or Replication of the data in this book is a punishable offence. All rights are reserved to the Author.
15. Key Performance Indicator is a metric that is used to measure how effectively a network is
serving its users.
a) True
b) False
16. Lower frequency bands are good for providing coverage while the higher frequency bands
are good for providing higher data rate/throughput.
a) True
b) False
17. Which of the following is a correct statement?

a) 5G supports upto 10x number of devices per unit area compared to 4G
b) The network energy usage in 5G is reduced by 50% compared to 4G.
c) Low power 5G enabled IoT Devices have extended battery life of upto 10years.
d) 5G is 10x faster than 4G.
18. As frequency increase, the component size also increases.

a) True
b) False
19. Mid-band frequencies balance to offer both speed and coverage covering a broader area
compared to high-band frequencies.
a) True
b) False
20. High-band frequencies have greater bandwidth available to carry more data.
a) True
b) False
21. IMT-2020 stands for ____________________

a) International Mobile Communications 2020
b) Indian Mobile Congress 2020
c) Indian Mobile Communications 2020
d) International Mobile Congress 2020
22. ITU stands for _____________.

a) International Telegraph Union
b) International Telecommunication Union
c) Indian Telecommunication Union
d) International Telegram Union
23. FSPL is the loss in signal strength of a signal as it travels through free space
a) True
b) False
24. As the frequency increases, wavelength becomes narrow.

a) True
b) False
25. Which of the following statement is not correct?

a) IMT 2020 means International Mobile Communications 2020
b) ITU Stands for International Telecommunication Union
c) 3GPP Stands for Third Generation Partnership Project
d) TRAI Stands for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
e) FCC Stands for Federal Communications Control Commission
26. Which of the following is not part of 4G/LTE Architecture.

a) User Equipment
b) EPC
c) E-UTRAN
d) 5G-RAN
27. Which of the following network element is not part of EPC.

a) PCRF
b) MME
c) HSS
d) UPF
28. Which of the following network element is a part of 4G Mobile Core.

a) P-GW
b) S-GW
c) Both a and b
d) NEF
29. What is the name of 2G's Base transceiver station (BTS) equivalent in 3G?
a) nodeB
b) eNodeB
c) gNB
d) ng-eNB
e) en-gNB
f) None of the above
a) nodeB
b) eNodeB
c) gNB
d) ng-eNB
e) en-gNB
a) nodeB
b) eNodeB
c) gNB
d) ng-eNB
e) en-gNB
32. Which of the following is not part of 5G Architecture.

a) User Equipment
b) 5GC
c) E-UTRAN
d) 5G-RAN
33. Service based interface in the 5G Architecture helps the network functions in _____ to
communicate with each other and access NF services.
a) Control plane
b) User plane
c) Both Control and User plane
d) None of the above
34. LTE means

a) Long Term Enhancement
b) Long Term Evolution
c) Long Time Evolution
d) Long Term Efficiency
35. Which of the following statement is incorrect?

a) gNB stands for Next Generation Node B
b) In 5G, the base station is called as gNB
c) In LTE, the basestation is called as NB
d) eNB stands for evolved NodeB
e) ng-eNB stands for Next Generation-evolved NodeB
f) NB stands for NodeB
36. Which of the following is not a 5G NR control plane network function?

a) NEF
b) SMF
c) UPF
d) UDM
37. Which of the following 5G network function has a direct counter-part in EPC world?
a) NEF
b) NRF
c) NSSF
d) AUSF

a) NSSF has no counter-part in EPC World
b) NRF has no counter-part in EPC World
c) UPF has no counter-part in EPC World
d) NEF has no counter-part in EPC World
39. HSS Stands for Home Subscriber Server.

a) True
b) False
40. In 4G, HSS is the main subscriber database which provides details of the subscribers to the
other entities within the 4G network.
a) True
b) False
41. MME Stands for Mobility Management Entity.

a) True
b) False
42. PCRF Stands for ____________________.

a) Publicity Control and Rule Making Function
b) Privacy and Communication Roadmap Function
c) Policy and Charging Rules Function
d) Policy and Communication Rules Forum
43. In 4G/LTE, PCRF tracks and manages policy control decision making rules and records
billing data on subscriber traffic.
a) True
b) False

a) S-GW Stands for Serving Gateway
b) P-GW Stands for Packet Data Network Gateway
c) MME tracks and manages the movement of UEs throughout the RAN.
d) EPC Consists of 6 Network Elements
45. The eNBs are interconnected with each other by means of ____ Interface.
a) Xn
b) X2
c) S1
d) Sgi
46. The eNBs are connected to the EPC by means of ____ Interface.
a) Xn
b) X2
c) S1
d) SGi
47. The gNBs are interconnected with each other by means of ____ Interface.
a) Xn
b) X2
c) S1
d) Sgi
48. The gNBs are connected to the 5GC by means of ____ Interface.
a) Xn
b) X2
c) S1
d) NG
49. NG-C is the Control Plane Interface between 4GRAN and 5GC, and NG-U is the User
Plane Interface between 4GRAN and 5GC.
a) True
b) False
50. The Interface between S-GW and P-GW is _____.

a) S1
b) S2
c) SGi
d) S5/S8
51. The Interface between P-GW and External Network is _____.

a) S1
b) S2
c) SGi
d) S5/S8
52. AMF Stands for ___________.

a) Access Management Function
b) Authentication Management Function
c) Access and Mobility Management Function
d) Authorization Management Function
53. SMF Stands for ___________.

a) Security Management Function
b) Session Management Function
c) Session Modification Function
d) Session and Mobility Function
54. In 5G Core Network, AUSF acts as an authentication server.

a) True
b) False
55. AUSF Stands for _______

a) Accessibility Server Function
b) Authorization Server Function
c) Authentication Server Function
d) Authority of Security Function

a) NEF Stands for Network Exposure Function
b) MRF Stands for Network Repository
c) NSSF Stands for Network Slice Select Function
d) PCF Stands for Privacy Control Function
57. The base Station separates the user data traffic from network management data traffic and
feeds both separately into the Mobile Core Network.
a) True
b) False
58. Which of the below Network Function acts as a means to expose select capabilities to third-
party services?
a) NRF
b) NEF
c) NSSF
d) NWDAF
e) UPF
59. Which of the below Network Function provides service discovery between individual
network functions?
a) NRF
b) NEF
c) NSSF
d) NWDAF
e) UPF
60. Which of the following Network Function is a “helper” service used to store unstructured
dynamic state data?
a) SDSF
b) NEF
c) NSSF
d) UDSF
e) NRF
61. Which of the following Network Function is a “helper” service used to store structured
dynamic state data?
a) SDSF
b) NEF
c) NSSF
d) UDSF
e) NRF
62. Which of the following 5GNR network function acts as a means to select a network slice
to serve the given user equipment.?
a) SDSF
b) NEF
c) NSSF
d) UDSF
63. Which of the following Statement is incorrect?

a) Namf is the service-based interface exhibited by AMF
b) Naf is the service-based interface exhibited by SMF
c) Nsmf is the service-based interface exhibited by SMF
d) Nnef is the service-based interface exhibited by NEF

a) Nnwdaf is the service-based interface exhibited by NWDAF
b) Npcf is the service-based interface exhibited by PCF
c) Nudm is the service-based interface exhibited by UDM
d) Nausf is the service-based interface exhibited by AMF

a) Nnrf is the service-based interface exhibited by NRF
b) Nnssf is the service-based interface exhibited by NSSF
c) Nausf is the service-based interface exhibited by AUSF
d) Nnrf is the service-based interface exhibited by NEF

a) PCF has part of PCRF functionality from EPC
b) UDM has part of HSS functionality from EPC
c) AMF has part of MME functionality from EPC
d) SMF has part of S-GW functionality from EPC
67. Network slicing allows us to have multiple logical 'slices' of functionality optimized for
specific use-cases, all operating on a single physical core within the 5G network infrastructure.
a) True
b) False
68. AMF has part of ____ functionality from the EPC world.
a) MME
b) PCRF
c) HSS
d) PGW
69. SMF has part of ____ functionality from the EPC world.
a) MME
b) PGW
c) HSS
d) Both a and b
70. PCF has part of ____ functionality from the EPC world.
a) MME
b) PCRF
c) HSS
d) PGW
71. UDM has part of ____ functionality from the EPC world.
a) MME
b) PCRF
c) HSS
d) UPF
72. Which of the below 5G NR network function has no counterpart in EPC world.
a) AMF
b) UPF
c) SMF
d) NSSF
73. Which of the below 5GNR control plane network function has a counterpart in EPC world.
a) NEF
b) UDM
c) NRF
d) UPF
74. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between two AMFs is ____.

a) N14
b) N1
c) N12
d) N2
75. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between two UPFs is ____.

a) N19
b) N6
c) N9
d) N14
76. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between UE and AMF is ____.

a) N2
b) N17
c) N22
d) N1
77. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between RAN and AMF is ____.
a) N3
b) N2
c) N14
d) N1
78. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between RAN and UPF is ____.
a) N3
b) N2
c) N4
d) N9
79. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between SMF and UPF is ____.
a) N11
b) N7
c) N9
d) N4
80. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between UPF and Data Network (DN) is ____.
a) N7
b) N6
c) N9
d) N4
81. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between SMF and PCF is ____.
a) N7
b) N6
c) N9
d) N4
82. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between AF and PCF is ____.

a) N7
b) N6
c) N5
d) N4
83. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between UDM and AMF is ____.
a) N5
b) N6
c) N7
d) N8
84. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between UDM and SMF is ____.
a) N10
b) N16
c) N7
d) N8
85. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between AMF and SMF is ____.
a) N10
b) N11
c) N12
d) N8
86. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between AMF and AUSF is ____.
a) N10
b) N11
c) N12
d) N8
87. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between UDM and AUSF is ____.
a) N14
b) N11
c) N12
d) N13
88. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between two SMFs is ____.

a) N16
b) N14
c) N9
d) N18
89. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between any NF and UDSF is ____.
a) N16
b) N18
c) N12
d) N19
90. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between AMF and NSSF is ____.
a) N22
b) N11
c) N1
d) N2
91. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between NEF and AF is ____.

a) N14
b) N5
c) N31
d) N33
92. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between 2 PCFs (One in Visited Network and
another in Home Network) is ____.
a) N24
b) N14
c) N9
d) N23
93. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between 2 NRFs (One in Visited Network and
a) N24
b) N27
c) N31
d) N23
94. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between 2 NSSFs (One in Visited Network and
a) N24
b) N27
c) N9
d) N31
95. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between 2 SEPPs (One in Visited Network and
a) N32
b) N27
c) N9
d) N31
e) N33
96. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between NSSF and NWDAF is ____.
a) N32
b) N34
c) N9
d) N31
97. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between PCF and AMF is ____.
a) N32
b) N1
c) N15
d) N31
e) N2
98. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between UDM and UDR is ____.
a) N34
b) N35
c) N36
d) N37
99. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between PCF and UDR is ____.
a) N34
b) N35
c) N36
d) N37
100. In 5G Architecture, the reference point between NEF and UDR is ____.
a) N34
b) N35
c) N36
d) N37
101. Which of the following statement is correct?

a) 5G Radio + 5GC = SA
b) 4G Radio + EPC = NSA
c) 5G Radio + EPC = SA
d) 4G Radio + 5GC = SA
102. Which of the following statement is correct?

a) 5G Radio + 5GC = NSA
b) 4G Radio + EPC = NSA
c) 5G Radio + EPC = NSA
d) 4G Radio + 5GC = SA
103. NSA eases 5G network deployments as it reuses existing 4G/LTE facilities.

a) True
b) False
104. Which of the following has a rapid or faster time-to-market?

a) 5G SA
b) 5G NSA
105. 5G NSA is a dependent Network.

a) True
b) False
106. Compared to SA network, NSA network is cheaper.

c) True
d) False
107. Which of the below deployment option does not come under stand-alone mode?
a) Option 1
b) Option 5
c) Option 3
d) Option 2
108. Which of the below deployment option does not come under NSA mode?
a) Option 3
b) Option 4
c) Option 7
d) Option 6

a) NSA anchors the control signalling of 5G Radio networks to the 4G core
b) SA scheme connects the 5G Radio directly to the 5G core, and the control signalling
does not depend on 4G network at all
c) SA and NSA are the 2 modes of deployment offered by 5G
d) 5G SA will be a dependent network
110. Which of the below option is Stand-Alone?

a) Option 2
b) Option 3
c) Option 7
d) Option 4
111. Which of the below option is Non-Stand-Alone?

a) Option 4
b) Option 1
c) Option 2
d) Option 5
112. The Interface between gNB CU and gNB DU is called _____.

a) E1
b) F1
c) Xn
d) Xx
e) X2
113. In which MR-DC version, we use EPC as a core?

a) NR-DC
b) NGEN-DC
c) EN-DC
d) NE-DC
114. In which version(s), we use 5GC as a core?

a) NR-DC
b) NGEN-DC
c) NE-DC
d) All of the above
115. Which deployment option supports NE-DC?

a) Option 4
b) Option 3
c) Option 5
d) Option 7
116. Which deployment option supports EN-DC?

a) Option 4
b) Option 3
c) Option 5
d) Option 7
117. Which deployment option supports NGEN-DC?

a) Option 4
b) Option 3
c) Option 5
d) Option 7
118. The Interface between 4G RAN and 5G RAN in MR-DC is _____.

a) E1
b) F1
c) S1
d) Xx
119. The Interface between 5G RAN and 5G UE is called as ______.

a) Uu
b) NG
c) Xn
d) Xx
120. The Interface between 5G RAN and 5GC User Plane is called as ______.
a) Uu
b) NG-U
c) NG-C
d) X2
121. The Interface between 5G RAN and 5GC Control Plane is called as ______.
a) Uu
b) NG-U
c) NG-C
d) X2
122. In Option 3 (EN-DC), the interface between eNB and en-gNB is called _______.
a) Uu
b) Xn
c) X2
d) F1
e) S1
123. In Option 4 (NE-DC), the interface between gNB and ng-gNB is called _______.
a) Uu
b) Xn
c) X2
d) F1
e) S1
124. Numerology is a term which represents the value of Sub-Carrier Spacing (SCS).
a) True
b) False
125. Numerology is usually labelled as ___.

a) ɛ
b) λ
c) μ
d) ∆f
126. The 5G NR Radio Frame Duration is always ____

a) 1ms
b) 10ms
c) 0.1ms
d) 0.5ms
127. How many subframes are present in a frame?

a) 12
b) 14
c) 8
d) 20
e) 10
128. Each subframe is further divided into slots, each with multiple OFDM symbols.
a) True
b) False
129. In 4G/LTE, Numerology is fixed.

a) True
b) False
130. In 5G, Numerology is flexible and scalable.

a) True
b) False
131. Flexible Numerology is required in 5G to support new 5G Use cases.

a) True
b) False
132. When the 5G numerology = 0, Sub-Carrier Spacing is _____.

a) 60KHz
b) 15KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 30KHz

a) 60KHz
b) 15KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 30KHz

a) 60KHz
b) 15KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 30KHz

a) 60KHz
b) 15KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 30KHz

a) 60KHz
b) 240KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 480KHz
137. When the sub-carrier spacing is 15KHz, the number of slots in a frame are ____
a) 14
b) 40
c) 20
d) 10
a) 80
b) 40
c) 20
d) 10
a) 80
b) 40
c) 20
d) 10
a) 10
b) 40
c) 60
d) 80
a) 10
b) 40
c) 160
d) 80
142. A subframe has only one slot, when the sub-carrier spacing is ____
a) 240KHz
b) 120KHz
c) 15KHz
d) 30KHz
143. A subframe has two slots, when the sub-carrier spacing is ____
a) 240KHz
b) 120KHz
c) 15KHz
d) 30KHz
144. A subframe has four slots, when the sub-carrier spacing is ____
a) 60KHz
b) 120KHz
c) 15KHz
d) 30KHz
145. A subframe has eight slots, when the sub-carrier spacing is ____
a) 240KHz
b) 120KHz
c) 15KHz
d) 30KHz
146. A subframe has sixteen slots, when the sub-carrier spacing is ____
a) 240KHz
b) 180KHz
c) 15KHz
d) 30KHz

a) Higher the SCS, higher will be the number of slots per subframe
b) Higher the SCS, shorter will become the slot length
c) The slot duration is 12 Symbols with NCP and 14 Symbols with Extended CP
d) A frame is divided into 10 subframes, duration of each subframe is 1ms
148. With Normal CP, one slot has ___ symbols.

a) 12
b) 10
c) 14
d) 20
149. With Extended CP, one slot has ___ symbols.

a) 12
b) 10
c) 14
d) 20
150. Which numerology supports both Normal and Extended CP?

a) 2
b) 3
c) 4
d) 1
151. Extended CP is currently specified only for ____ sub-carrier spacing.

a) 15KHz
b) 30KHz
c) 60KHz
d) 120KHz
152. One Resource Block has ____ Sub-Carriers.

a) 12
b) 13
c) 14
d) 10
153. One Resource Element has ____ Sub-Carriers.

a) 1
b) 2
c) 4
d) 3
154. When the numerology is 0, Bandwidth of one Resource Block is equal to ______
a) 120KHz
b) 140KHz
c) 180KHz
d) 96KHz
a) 720KHz
b) 1440KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 360KHz
a) 720KHz
b) 1440KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 96KHz
a) 720KHz
b) 1440KHz
c) 120KHz
d) 96KHz
a) 720KHz
b) 1440KHz
c) 1200KHz
d) 2880KHz
159. What is the duration of each slot in a subframe, when the numerology is 0?
a) 1 ms
b) 0.5 ms
c) 0.25 ms
d) 0.125 ms
a) 0.0325 ms
b) 0.5 ms
c) 0.125 ms
d) 0.25 ms
a) 0.75 ms
b) 0.5 ms
c) 0.125 ms
d) 0.25 ms
a) 0.25 ms
b) 0.125 ms
c) 0.325 ms
d) 0.5 ms
a) 0.0625 ms
b) 0.003125 ms
c) 0.3125 ms
d) 0.25 ms
164. What will the OFDM Symbol duration, when the Sub-Carrier spacing of 15KHz.
a) 66.67 micro seconds
b) 33.33 micro seconds
c) 16.67 micro seconds
d) 8.33 micro seconds
170. What will be the Normal CP Overhead duration, when the Sub-Carrier spacing of 15KHz.
173. What will be the Extended CP Overhead duration, when Sub-Carrier spacing of 60KHz.
e) None of the above
174. What will be the Normal CP Overhead duration, when Sub-Carrier spacing of 120KHz.
175. What will be the Normal CP Overhead duration, when Sub-Carrier spacing of 240KHz.
176. What is the minimum number of PRBs that can exist in 5GNR?
a) 24
b) 12
c) 50
d) 275
177. What is the maximum number of PRBs that can exist in 5GNR?
a) 256
b) 124
c) 450
d) 275
178. Which of the following statements is not correct?

a) High frequencies demand wider subcarrier spacing
b) Smaller Cell size demands wider SCS.
c) Low Carrier frequencies demand narrow subcarrier spacing
d) One numerology is suitable for all frequencies ranges
179. For Sub-1GHz frequency band, _______ is desirable

a) Narrow SCS
b) Wider SCS
c) Any SCS works
180. For higher frequency bands, _______ is desirable

a) Narrow SCS
b) Wider SCS
c) Any SCS works
181. Which of the below SCS is not used in FR1 range?

a) 30KHz
b) 120KHz
c) 60KHz
d) 15KHz

a) LTE supports only one numerology, with SCS of 15KHz
b) The maximum of PRB's in 5GNR are 275
c) NR is expected to work with upto 1GHz Channel Bandwidth at higher band
frequencies (FR2)
d) NR is expected to work with upto 100MHz Channel Bandwidth at lower band
frequencies (FR1)
183. Resource defined by one sub-carrier and one symbol is called as ________.
a) Resource Element
b) Resource Block
c) Resource Grid
d) Slot
184. Resource defined by 12 sub-carriers and one symbol is called as ________.

a) Resource Element
b) Resource Block
c) Resource Grid
d) Slot
185. Which of the following is a correct statement?

a) Logical Channels lie between MAC and RLC
b) Transport channels lie between PHY and MAC
c) Physical Channels carry information on the air-interface
d) All of the above
186. Which of the following is not a 5GNR uplink Physical Channel?

a) PRACH
b) PUSCH
c) PCCH
d) PUCCH
187. The number of 5GNR uplink physical channels are ____

a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 7
188. Which of the following is not a 5GNR downlink Physical Channel?

a) PDSCH
b) PBCH
c) PDCCH
d) PRACH
189. The number of 5GNR downlink physical channels are ____

a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 7
190. Which of the following is not a 5GNR Logical Channel?

a) BCCH
b) BCH
c) PCCH
d) CCCH
191. The number of 5GNR logical channels are ____

a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 7
192. Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) is a 5GNR downlink Logical Channel.

a) True
b) False
193. Paging Control Channel (PCCH) is a 5GNR ______ Logical Channel.

a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
194. Common Control Channel (CCCH) is a 5GNR Logical Channel used in ____.
a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
195. Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) is a 5GNR Logical Channel used in ____.
a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
196. Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) is a 5GNR Logical Channel used in ____.
a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
197. Which of the following logical channel carries user information.

a) BCCH
b) PCCH
c) DCCH
d) DTCH
198. Which of the following is not a 5G NR Transport Channel?

a) BCH
b) PCH
c) MCH
d) RACH
199. UL-SCH is a _____ Transport Channel.

a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
200. Random Access Channel is a ______ Transport Channel.

a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
201. DL-SCH is a ______ Transport Channel.

a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
202. Broadcast Channel (BCH) and Paging Channel (PCH) are both _____ Transport Channels.
a) Uplink
b) Downlink
c) Both a and b
203. The PDCCH uses ____ as its modulation format.

a) BPSK
b) 16-QAM
c) 256-QAM
d) QPSK
204. Which of the following 5GNR Physical Channel(s) uses an adaptive modulation format.
a) PDSCH
b) PDCCH
c) PUSCH
d) Both a and c
205. PBCH is part of the synchronization signal block.

a) True
b) False
206. A Synchronization Signal Block contains _____.

a) PSS
b) SSS
c) PBCH
d) All of the above
207. Which of the following is an uplink only Physical Reference signal?

a) SRS
b) CSI-RS
c) DM-RS
d) PT-RS
208. Which of the following is a downlink only Physical Reference signal?

a) SRS
b) CSI-RS
c) DM-RS
d) PT-RS
209. Which of the following Physical Reference signal(s) is used in both uplink and downlink?
a) SRS
b) CSI-RS
c) DM-RS
d) PT-RS
e) Both c and d
210. Which protocol layer in 5GNR user plane is used for QoS management?
a) PDCP
b) SDAP
c) NAS
d) MAC
e) RRC
211. Which protocol layer in 5GNR Control plane is used for Ciphering, De-ciphering and
Integrity Protection?
a) PDCP
b) SDAP
c) NAS
d) MAC
e) RLC
212. Which protocol layer in 5GNR Control plane is used for Establishment, Maintenance and
release of RRC Connection?
a) RLC
b) NAS
c) PDCP
d) RRC
e) SDAP
f) PHY
213. Which protocol layer in 5GNR Control plane is used for data Segmentation and Re-
Segmentation?
a) RLC
b) NAS
c) PDCP
d) RRC
214. Which protocol layer in 5GNR Control plane is used for mapping logical and transport
channels?
a) RLC
b) MAC
c) RRC
d) PDCP
215. Which of the following is an incorrect statement?

a) RLC Stands for Radio Link Control
b) PDCP Stands for Packet Data Convergence Protocol
c) MAC Stands for Medium Access Control
d) SDAP Stands for Service Data Access Protocol
216. PT-RS enables suppression of phase noise and common phase error specially at higher
frequencies.
a) True
b) False
217. SRS is transmitted by the UE to help the gNB obtain the channel state information (CSI)
for each user.
a) True
b) False
218. The Minimum Bandwidth Supported by 5GNR FR1 range is ____.

a) 50MHz
b) 5MHz
c) 10MHz
d) 100MHz
219. The Minimum Bandwidth Supported by 5GNR FR2 range is ____.

a) 50MHz
b) 5MHz
c) 10MHz
d) 100MHz
220. The Maximum Bandwidth Supported by 5GNR FR1 range is ____.

a) 50MHz
b) 5MHz
c) 10MHz
d) 100MHz
221. The Maximum Bandwidth Supported by 5GNR FR2 range is ____.

a) 250MHz
b) 400MHz
c) 100MHz
d) 1000MHz
222. Which multiple access scheme is used for uplink transmission in 5G?
a) CP-OFDM
b) DFT-s-OFDM
c) Both a and b
d) OFDMA
223. Which multiple access scheme is used for downlink transmission in 5G?
a) CP-OFDM
b) DFT-s-OFDM
c) W-OFDM
d) OFDMA
224. Multi-Carrier Waveforms suffer from high peak to average power ratio (PAPR).
a) True
b) False
225. Single-Carrier Waveforms have lower peak to average power ratio (PAPR) leading to
extended battery life.
a) True
b) False
226. SISO Stands for Single Input, Single Output.

a) True
b) False
227. In SISO, the number of transmitting antennas present in the transmitter end and the
number of receiving antennas present at the receiver end are ____.
a) Same
b) Different
228. SIMO Stands for Single Input, Multiple Output.

a) True
b) False
229. In SIMO, the number of transmitting antennas present in the transmitter end is _____ the
number of receiving antennas present at the receiver end.
a) Lesser than
b) Greater than
230. MISO Stands for Multiple Input, Single Output.

a) True
b) False
231. In MISO, the number of transmitting antennas present in the transmitter end is _____ the
number of receiving antennas present at the receiver end.
a) Lesser than
b) Greater than
232. MISO Stands for Multiple Input, Multiple Output.

a) True
b) False
233. Using which mode, both uplink and downlink can transmit at the same time at different
spectrum frequencies?
a) TDD
b) FDD
234. Using which mode, both uplink and downlink use the same spectrum frequencies but at
different times?
a) TDD
b) FDD
235. FDD version is used where both uplink and downlink data rates are symmetrical and is
usually preferable for lower frequency bands.
a) True
b) False
236. TDD version is used where both uplink and downlink data rates are asymmetrical and is
preferable for higher frequency bands usually above 10 GHz.
a) True
b) False
237. 5GNR has a single logical traffic channel to carry the user data.
a) True
b) False

a) 5GNR has 5 logical channels
b) 5G NR has 5 transport channels
c) 5GNR has 6 physical channels
d) 5GNR has 3 synchronization signals
e) 5GNR has 4 physical reference signals
239. 5G NR supports QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM and 256 QAM modulation.

a) True
b) False
240. What is the upper layer of PDCP in 5G Control Plane?

a) RRC
b) RLC
c) SDAP
d) MAC
e) PHY
241. What is the upper layer of PDCP in 5G User Plane?

a) RRC
b) RLC
c) SDAP
d) MAC
e) PHY
242. What is the upper layer of PHY in 5G Protocol Structure?

a) RRC
b) RLC
c) SDAP
d) MAC
243. What is the upper layer of MAC in 5G Protocol Structure?

a) RRC
b) RLC
c) SDAP
d) MAC
e) PHY
244. Which layer is called as Layer 1?

a) RRC
b) RLC
c) PHY
d) MAC
245. Layer 2 is composed of MAC, RLC and PDCP sublayers.

a) True
b) False
246. Massive MIMO is a scalable version of multi-user MIMO technology.

a) True
b) False

a) Beamforming helps to reduce inter-cell interference by focusing transmissions in a
specific direction.
b) Beamforming increases the antenna gain.
c) Beamforming provides support for Multi-User MIMO (MU-MlMO).
d) Digital Beamforming is considered mandatory for the mmWave frequency ranges.
248. In which type of Carrier aggregation, the component carriers belong to different frequency
bands and are placed in separate frequency blocks?
a) Inter-band carrier aggregation
b) Intra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation
c) Intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation
d) None of the above.
249. In which type of Carrier aggregation, two or more component carriers belong to the same
frequency band and are placed together or close to each other?
250. In which type of Carrier aggregation, the component carriers are from the same frequency
band but are separated by a spectrum gap?

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2. What is another name of 5G?

7. How the communication technology has evolved from 1G to 5G?

9. What are the 5G Requirements?

10. What are the 3 major use cases of 5G?

11. What is eMBB?

12. List a few eMBB based 5G Applications.

13. What is mMTC?

14. List a few mMTC based 5G Applications.

15. What is URLLC?

16. List a few uRLLC based 5G Applications.

17. What is a KPI?

18. List all the 5G KPIs.

19. Is 5G replacing 4G?

20. What is Data Rate/Speed?

21. What is Latency?

22. What is Network Availability?

23. What is Network Coverage?

24. What is Connection Density?

25. What is Quality of Experience?

26. What is Quality of Service?

27. List a few applications of 5G w.r.t different domains or industries.

28. Which frequency bands can be used in 5G?

29. Why there is a need for using higher frequencies in 5G?

32. What are millimeter waves?

33. Why the name millimeter waves or mmwaves?

As shown above, high frequencies mean narrow wavelengths.

34. What are the unique characteristics of millimeter waves?

35. What are the advantages of using mmwaves in 5G Networks?

36. What are the disadvantages of using mmwaves?

37. What is meant by NR-U?

38. What is VoNR?

39. What is FCC?

40. What is TRAI?

41. What are the 3 main components of a cellular access network?

42. What is User Equipment?

43. What is RAN?

44. What is Mobile Core Network?

45. What are the 3 main components in 4G/LTE network architecture?

46. What is EUTRAN?

The E-UTRAN architecture is shown below,

47. Which Interface is used to inter-connect eNBs in E-UTRAN?

49. What is EPC or 4G Mobile Core?

50. What is MME?

51. What is HSS?

52. What is PCRF?

53. What is S-GW?

54. What is P-GW?

55. Which Interface is used to connect the S-GW and P-GW?

57. What are the 3 main components in 5G network architecture?

58. What is 5G-RAN?

59. Which Interface is used to inter-connect gNBs?

60. Which Interface is used to connect 5GRAN to 5GC?

61. What is 5G Core?

62. What is User Plane?

63. What is Control Plane?

64. List all the 5G Control Plane Network Functions.

65. List all the 5G User Plane Network Functions.

66. What is Service based Architecture?

67. What does AMF stands for?

68. List some other functions of AMF.