5G Essential and Architecture/HW

1 <Document ID: change ID in footer or remove> <Change information classification in footer>

 5G Essential

5G Introduction and 3GPP standard

5G New Radio and Physical Channel

5G Network Architecture

5G HW and Product
 5G Essential

5G Introduction and 3GPP standard

Introduction eMBB(enhanced Mobile Broadband)
What 5G is
100 Mbps
whenever needed
The biggest difference between 4G >10 Gbps
and 5G design requirements is the peak data rates
diversity of use-cases that 5G
networks must support as Extreme 10 000
Mobile x more
compared to 4G networks that traffic
were primarily designed for the 1,000,000 Broadband

single use-case of delivering high devices per km2 <1 ms

radio latency
speed mobile broadband.
Ultra low Massive Critical
Ultra
“5G is the new generation of radio cost machine
communication
machine
communication reliability
systems and network architecture for massive
delivering extreme broadband, ultra machine coms. < 10-5 E2E outage
robust, low latency connectivity, and
massive networking for the Internet of 10 years Zero
Things to enable the programmable mobility
on battery interruption
world, which will transform our
individual lives, economy and society.” URLLC
Massive MTC
(massive Machine Type Communication) (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication)

4
 Introduction
5G key technologies
#1 New spectrum options #2 Beamforming & massive MIMO #4 Multi-connectivity

Spectrum
90 GHz 5G Standalone and
3 mm non-Standalone
LTE
5G operation
39 GHz Up to 16 transmission LTE Dual connectivity
30 GHz layers with LTE
1 cm 28 GHz 5G

10 GHz

4.5 GHz #3 flexible frame design & slicing #5 Distributed flexible architecture
3.5 GHz In-built Virtualization
3 GHz Flexible size,
time
Dt
& CloudRAN, Edge
10 cm Df
control, TDD, FDD,
User #3
Computing
scalable bandwidth,
frequency

User #4 User #5

minislots,
User #2
300 MHz User #2

numerologies
User #1
User #1

User #3 User #5
1m
One tile corresponds to the smallest user allocation
Gateway

5
 5G in 3GPP specifications
• 38.80x/38.91x Study items
3G/HSPA LTE 5G • 38.1xx UE and BTS requirements
• 38.2xx Physical layer
25.xxx 36.xxx 38.xxx • 38.3xx Protocols
• 38.4xx Interfaces

3GPP 5G 5G study ready, Full 5G ready, 2nd phase High bands

workshop start radio specs Stand alone, new Core enhancements …

5G radio study L1/L2 ready +

started Non-standalone

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Release 15 contains intermediate ASN.1 freeze Release 15 Release 16 Release 17 Release 18

for Non-standalone in March 2018
Full6 ASN.1 freeze September 2018 for full 5G
feature
6 set
3GPP Release 15 & 16 highlights
5G standardization timeline

7
3GPP Release 15 & 16 highlights
5G expansion and efficiency

Interference Mitigation
5G Vehicle to X (V2X)
5G SON and Big Data
5G Industrial IoT 5G MIMO enhancements

5G Location and positioning enhancements

5G URLLC enhancements
5G Power Consumption improvements
5G for Unlicensed spectrum operation Dual Connectivity enhancements

Device capabilities exchange

5G for Satellite
Mobility enhancements
5G above 52.6GHz Non-orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA)

5G expansion 5G efficiency

8
3GPP Release 15 highlights
Non-Standalone Architecture (NSA)
3GPP Release 15 introduces the concept of
Non-Standalone Architecture (NSA) as one of
the options for deploying 5G network.
In NSA deployment two radio access network
technologies operate together, served by
common core network.
One of the technologies (Master) provides its
own Control and User Plane, and also serves
as an anchor for Control Plane procedures of
the other technology (Secondary)
The 5G can also be deployed as 5G
Standalone Architecture, with just 5G radio
and 5G core (5GC)
9
S1 interface
(control and user plane)
LTE RAN
LTE EPC
User plane
Non-Standalone Architecture
5G NR option 3x – uses LTE RAN, LTE
RAN EPC and 5G RAN. The 5G gNB is
connected to the LTE EPC, with
LTE eNodeB acting as anchor for
the Control Plane.
NSA 3x capitalizes on the LTE installed base, and offers
fast time-to-market - 5G services without needing to
deploy 5G core network (5GC).
3GPP Release 15 highlights
5G NR frequency bands

The 5G New Radio design is radio- Different numerologies have been defined,
frequency agnostic, allowing 5G NR to to provide flexibility in terms of subcarrier
be deployed on almost any radio spacing and slot duration (cell range and
frequency band (considered bands coherence in the frequency band)
cover 600 MHz to 70 GHz span).

3,5 – 4,5 GHz 28 GHz 39 GHz

400 MHz 3 GHz 6 GHz 10 GHz 30 GHz 90 GHz

cmWave mmWave
 continuous coverage, high mobility and reliability, interferene limitation higher capacity and massive throughput, noise limitation →

Carrier BW n* n * 100 MHz 1-2GHz

Duplexing
Cell size

10
3GPP Release 15 & 16 highlights
Rel. 16 study items and work items

3GPP Release 15 focuses on early 5G usecase – extreme mobile Broadband

Release 16 Work Items and Study Items boraden the scope of 5G with additional
usecases and technology aspects
Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Study on non-orthogonal
Communication for mission- multiple access (RSMA) –
critical services grant-free, for IoT world
V2X type communication 5G NR operation on unlicensed bands,
(Vehicle to everything) integration with other radio access
technologies
5G NR integrated self-backhaul Use of 5G for non-terrestrial
(focus on small cells networks (satellite, airborne,
deployments) maritime)
Other areas of interest: Multimedia Priority Service, Local Area Network support in 5G,, terminal positioning and location, network automation, security,
codecs and streaming services, network slicing, the IoT….
11
WCDMA Radio vs. LTE Radio vs. 5G NR

3G 4G 5G <6 GHz 5G >6 GHz

Downlink waveform CDMA OFDM OFDM OFDM, SCFDMA
OFDMA,
Uplink waveform CDMA SCFDMA OFDM (SCFDMA)
SCFDMA
Channel coding Turbo Turbo LDPC(data) & Polar(control)
Beamforming No Only data Full support also control
Spectrum 0.8 – 2.1 GHz 0.4 – 6 GHz 0.4 – 90 GHz
Bandwidth 5 MHz 1.4 – 20 MHz Up to 100 MHz Up to 400 MHz

Network slicing No No Yes Yes

QoS Bearer based Bearer based Flow based Flow based
Small packet support No No Connectionless Connectionless

In-built cloud support No No Yes Yes

12
 5G Essential

5G New Radio and Physical Channel

Nokia Internal Use

5G New Radio
Overview
frequency Resource grid
Duplex scheme: TDD
Large areas of unpaired Multiple slot types,
spectrum easier to be multiple uplink-to-
found (carrier bandwidth downlink slot ratios.
100 MHz) Flexible adaptation to LTE PRB case
DL/UL throughput
requirements
12 subcarriers
Both uplink and downlink Possibility to have control
use OFDM signals in every slot for
• Simplified RF design low latency scheduling.
• Eases self- Support for self- Resource
backhauling and contained slots* and Element (RE)
device-to-device pipeline processing**.
communication Resource Block
(RB):
12 subcarriers x 1 14 OFDM symbols time
5G19 5GC000836
introduces FDD symbol
1 slot (basic scheduling unit)
*grant,data and ack all within one slot
**control symbols at the begining, each symbol can be independently decoded
14 © Nokia 2018
 Resource Element (RE)
5G New Radio frequency Resource Block (RB)
Physical layer (multiple numerologies)

• 5G introduces the support of multiple numerologies – multiple subcarrier

12 subcarriers
spacings
• Subcarrier spacing (SCS) is based on common 15kHz base.
• Subcarrier spacing: Δf = 2µ * 15kHz where µ defines the numerology.
• Nokia 5G product supports following numerologies: time
14 OFDM symbols
- TDD, FR1 (below 6GHz):
1 slot (basic scheduling unit)
• µ = 1 → Δf = 30kHz → 1PRB = 360kHz

- TDD, FR2 (above 6GHz): 1 subframe (1ms) = 2 slots = 28 OFDM symbols

• µ = 3 → Δf = 120kHz → 1PRB = 1.44MHz (for PDSCH, PUSCH and PRACH) Δf = 30kHz
• µ = 4 → Δf = 240kHz → 1PRB = 2.88MHz (for PSS, SSS and PBCH – SS Blocks) 1 subframe (1ms) = 8 slots = 112 OFDM symbols
- FDD (below 3GHz):
Δf = 120kHz
• µ = 0 → Δf = 15kHz → 1PRB = 180kHz
1 subframe (1ms) = 16 slots = 224 OFDM symbols
1 frame (10ms) = 10 subframes

Δf = 240kHz
15 © Nokia 2018
5G New Radio
Supported system bandwiths

Within the scope of 5G18A and 5G19 the Nokia 5G product supports the following system bandwidths:
• TDD:
- FR1
• 20 MHz (51 PRBs), 40 MHz (106 PRBs), 50 MHz (133 PRBs), 60 MHz (162 PRBs), 80 MHz (217 PRBs),
100 MHz (273 PRBs)
- FR2
• 100 MHz (66 PRBs) All with the same SCS (30kHz)

All with the same SCS (15kHz)

• FDD (<3 GHz):
- 5 MHz (25 PRBs) ,10 MHz (52 PRBs), 15 MHz (79 PRBs), 20 MHz (106 PRBs)

16 © Nokia 2018
5G New Radio
Beamforming
time The transmission of data &
control information)to any
individual UE is done using
narrowband beams (narrowband
in terms of antenna beamwidth).
Each beam covers only a section
of the cell area.

Each individual beam is a signal limited in space (narrowband antenna), that is intended to reach only the
user (or users) placed in the physical coverage zone of that specific beam. The transmission done using a
single beam is not visible to other users (those that are physically present in other areas of the cell
coverage).

In the next scheduling interval a different beam can be used, reaching other users of that cell.

17 © Nokia 2018
5G New Radio
Beamforming - common channels coverage
The beamforming allows for reaching all the users
situated anywhere within the cell coverage area,
but not simultaneously (lack of full coverage
continuous in time).
The problem is: how to provide common control
channels. These channels need to be heard by all
UEs in the coverage area of the given cell.

The answer is: sweeping. At predefined amounts

of time, the same information is being sent
sequentially across al beams (e.g. MIB) – think
about a lighthouse for a real-world reference.

Sweeping applies only for control channels, for data

channels the beam selection is done by the scheduler.
18 © Nokia 2018 Nokia Internal Use
5G New Radio
Beamforming – Downlink and uplink
time

Beamforming applies
for downlink and uplink.
For uplink the RX
antenna beamforming
is done at the gNB, the
UE is supposed to use
omnidirectional
antenna)

The TDD transmission mode means that there could be uplink and downlink symbols in the same slot.
For data transmission it is the role of the scheduler (separate schedulers for downlink and uplink, and for
data and control channels) to select the beam for each scheduling period.

In the current Nokia product the beam selection for uplink and downlink data channels is done per slot (all data symbols in
each slot are using the same beam). Within one slot the beam can be changed for the control channels (so control channel
can be sent elsewhere using different beam).
19 © Nokia 2018
Technical Details Digital
Definition of basic sets of SSB Beamforming

Basic beam set #3#3#2 from different perspectives basic beam set #3#3#2

20 © Nokia 2018
Technical Details Analog
Definition of basic sets of SSB Beamforming

Basic beam set beamSetAbf_32A from different

perspectives

21 © Nokia 2018
5G New Radio
Physical channels
The physical channels defined in the downlink are:
• Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)
• Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)
• Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)
The physical channels defined in the uplink are:
• Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)
• Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)
• Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)
The supported modulation schemes:
• Downlink: QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM
• Uplink: QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM
22 © Nokia 2018 Nokia Internal Use
The following downlink physical signals are defined:
• Demodulation reference signals, DM-RS, for PDSCH and
PBCH
• Phase-tracking reference signals, PTRS
• Channel-state information reference signal, CSI-RS
• Primary synchronization signal, PSS
• Secondary synchronization signal, SSS
The following uplink physical signals are defined:
• Demodulation reference signals, DM-RS
• Phase-tracking reference signals, PTRS
• Sounding reference signal, SRS
PTRS is a new type of physical symbol. It is used to help combat with phase noise,
especially problematic at high frequency ranges (not used in LTE). Note that cell-
specific Reference Symbols known from LTE are no more present
5G New Radio
PBCH & Synchronization Signal - beams

The SS Blocks are sent sequentially over all beams using beam sweeping. Each SSB will occupy 4 symbols.
The SSB sent using different beams convey the same information (PSS, SSS, PBCH), except the beam ID
that is different for each beam. The sweeping is repeated periodically (every 20 ms *)

Each SS block delivers

sync and minimum System
Information to a different
cell coverage area section

Each UE will be able to

identify whcich beam is
the best one, and then use
SS block N SS block N+1 this beam for uplink and
downlink
*) 5G19 5GC000701 introduces support for variable SSB
23 © Nokia 2018
periodicity: 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 ms
 5G Architecture / HW

5G Network Architecture
5G Network architecture options: NSA and SA

25 © Nokia 2018
5G Network architecture options: NSA and SA
3GPP: 5G Stand-Alone (SA) and Non-Standalone (NSA) (1/2)

In Standalone (SA)
architecture, each eNB or
gNB has both control plane
and user plane direct
connections to the Core
Network

In Non-Standalone (NSA)
architecture, only one node
has control plane and user
plane to the CN, the other
one being controlled by the
first one through X2/Xn

26 © Nokia 2018
5G Network architecture options: NSA and SA
Non-Standalone NSA 3x vs Standalone SA 2

gNB
SgNB gNB-CU
gNB-DU
gNB-CU
gNB-DU 5G UE
NR
NR F1
F1 NG-U
NG-C

S1-U Xn
X2-C LTE DC UE
X2-U
UPF AMF
S1-U F1
MeNB
S1-C NG-U gNB-CU gNB-DU
EPC 5GC NG-C gNB

NSA 3x SA 2
27 © Nokia 2018
Introduction to 5G NR
gNB functional split

gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU)

LTE EPC
• hosts RRC, SDAP and PDCP protocols of the gNB
• controls the operation of one or more gNB-DUs
S1-U S1-U
gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) S1-C gNB
• Hosts RLC, MAC and PHY layers of the gNB
eNB
• its operation is partly controlled by gNB-CU gNB-CU
• One gNB-DU supports one or multiple cells. One cell is
supported by only one gNB-DU F1 F1
X2
F1 interface is a High Layer Fronthaul interface being
gNB-
DU
… gNB-
DU
between PDCP (handled in gNB-CU) and RLC (handled in RU
gNB-DU). It has been standardized by 3GPP to allow for
multi-vendor CU/DU deployments.
NSA deployment option 3x
28 © Nokia 2018
5G Standalone
Architecture overview 5GC
5G standalone Architecture Option 2 AMF
UPF

5G Core:
AMF Access and Mobility Management Function
UPF User Plane Function
NG-U
NG-C
NG interface: NG-C, NG-U gNB
(specified in 3GPP TS38.410-414) gNB Xn-U
gNB-CU
gNB-CU Xn-C
F1
F1 F1
Xn interface (specified in 3GPP F1
TS38.420-425) gNB-DU
gNB-DU
gNB-CU, gNB-DU (classical or
cloud deployment)

F1 interface, Uu/Radio interface Radio Unit

Radio Unit
29 © Nokia 2018
Introduction
5G Non-Standalone Architecture
5G deployment in the Non-Standalone
Architecture (NSA) requires LTE overlay.

SgNB An additional requirement is that the UE supports

Dual Connectivity (DC) – which essentially mean
the necessity to have two separate RX radios.

The 5G gNB is a Secondary node (SgNB), while

S1-U
X2
DC UE the LTE eNB assumes a Master role (MeNB).
Master role means that the Control Plane data will
be handled by the LTE layer.
S1-U MeNB
S1-C
EPC The LTE core (EPC) is used – no 5G core at all.

30 © Nokia 2018
 Introduction
5G Non-Standalone Architecture
The Dual Connectivity and the split
PDCP layer bearer work together in the 5G-LTE
splitting
SgNB interworking.
point The Control Plane will always go over
DC UE
the LTE layer *.
The data bearers to the DC-enabled
S1-U UE can go over LTE or over 5G.
X2
The data bearer that goes over 5G
S1-U MeNB radio can be split and sent partially
S1-C over 5G radio and partially over LTE
EPC radio (with data packets relayed over
Split bearer – Control Plane X2 connection).
Split bearer – User Plane
* The 5G19 5GC000578 introduces the NR SRB3 (Signaling Radio Bearer) to reduce the RRC
signalling latency between gNB and UE in NSA 3x. The supported messages are RRC
Reconfiguration, RRC Reconfiguration Complete and Measurement Report.

31 © Nokia 2018
 Introduction
LTE - 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) Architecture Option 3x interworking

EPC
P-GW The Non-Standalone Architecture uses
MCG Bearer SCG Bearer Split
(reuses) the concept of split bearer.
S5 The split bearer is a data bearer that is
MME S11
S-GW NR PDCP NR PDCP NR PDCP set up between two nodes (here:
between LTE S-GW and 5G SgNB), but
RLC RLC NR RLC NR RLC
at the PDCP level the actual data can
be split and sent over two different
S1-C S1-U MAC NR MAC NR MAC
channels (here: 5G radio and LTE radio
S1-U
via X2 relay).
MeNB
The PDCP layer at the UE will take care
X2-C SgNB
MeNB SgNB of reordering the received packets.

X2-U

Uu

UE

32 © Nokia 2018
 5G Architecture / HW

5G HW and Product
Introduction
5G architecture
NSA option 3x
• In 5G18A release, option 3.X of Non-Standalone Architecture (dual
connectivity LTE/5G) is supported EPC

• Standalone (SA) architecture, where each gNB has both control S1-C S1-U
plane and user plane direct connections to the CN is supported from 5G19,
• In the 3.X architecture, the gNB has only S1-U link to the EPC, and no direct
S1-C connection,
SA option 2
• It is controlled by an eNB that is responsible for signaling with the EPC, and
establishment of 5G bearers between the S-GW and the gNB, NGC

• Legacy X2 link (X2-C and X2-U) is used between the eNB and the gNB, NG-C NG-U

• gNB is divided into 2 logical elements i.e. gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU)
and gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) which are connected via F1 interface.
eLTE eNB Control plane

5G gNB User plane

34 © Nokia 2019
Nokia 5G Product Architecture
NetAct 18A CBAM 18.5
SP1812

3.7 GHz RU
(band 43)
3GPP AEQD gNB CU
gNB DU
AirFrame
3.5 GHz RU S1-U
(band 42) SGW (CMR R.10)
NCIR
3GPP AEQA

K IL 5G
39 GHz RU ABIL ABIL VNF S1-U
3GPP AEWA ABIL ABIL
ASIK ASIK MME (CMM 18.5)

Rel-15 X2
28 GHz RU S1-C
3GPP AEUA LTE eNB
FD-LTE18A/19 LTE4088 “LTE-NR Dual Connectivity Option 3X”
TD-LTE18A/19 LTE4193 “Dynamic trigger for LTE-NR DC Option 3X”
CPRI 9.8Gbps LTE4087 “X2 Interface with NR gNB”
LTE4080 „3GPP ASN.1 Rel15”
35 © Nokia 2018
Nokia 5G Product Architecture
AirScale 5G modules in 5G18A

• AirScale SM Indoor consist of

• 1 AirScale Subrack AMIA ABIL AMIA
• Common with 2G/3G/4G
• 8 Slots
• 1…4 AirScale Capacity ABIL
• Capacity Unit
• 8x 100MHz MIMO layers depending on configurations
ASIK
• 2x QSFP+: 8x9.8 Gbps for CPRI fronthaul
• 1…2 AirScale Common ASIK
• Common Unit
• 2x SFP10: for Backhaul interface
• Sync IN and OUT, External Alarms and Controls, LMT
• DC 48 V input
• Installation options: 19 inch, pole and wall, outdoor cabinet
• Dimensions 19” 3 U : H 128 x W 447 x D 400 [mm]
• Weight: 10.1 kg minimum 23.5 kg maximum

36 © Nokia 2018
Radio Access Unit: AirScale System Module
Applicable to Cloud gNB DU and to Classical gNB DU
• In 5G18A RAU is deployed using AirScale System Module
AMIA
ABIL
ASIK
• 5GC000623 AirScale Subrack AMIA. prodCode: 473098A
• 5GC000275 AirScale Common ASIK. prodCode: 474021A
• 5GC000276 AirScale Capacity ABIL. prodCode: 474020A
• See AirScale SM HW items compatibility matrix in Deployment
Aspects chapter
37 © Nokia 2018
• AirScale SM Indoor consist of
• 1x AirScale Subrack AMIA (the same AMIA as in 2G/3G/4G)
• Casing
• 8 slots for plug-in units (5G18A: max 6 slots are used)
• Backplane for high bandwidth inter-connect between AirScale Common
and AirScale Capacity plug-in units
• Fans with changeable airflow direction
• AirScale Common ASIK (1…2 per AMIA)
• AirScale Capacity ABIL (in 5G18A: 1…2 per ASIK)
• Multiple installation options:
• 19 inch rack, pole and wall, inside Outdoor Enclosure
• Dimensions:
• 19” 3U: H 128 x W 447 x D 400 [mm]
• Weight:
• 10.1 kg minimum 23.5 kg maximum
• Ingress protection
• IP20
• Operational temperature range
• -5 °C to 55 °C
RAU in 5G18A:
• Minimal configuration: 1x ASIK + 1 ABIL
• Maximal configuration: 1x ASIK + 2 ABIL
 ANALOG
DIGITAL
Introduction Beamforming
Beamforming

5G18A Radio Units 5GC000515 5GC000514

AEUA 28GHz Radio Unit AEWA 39GHz Radio Unit
5GC001269 5GC001267
AEUF 28 GHz Radio Units AEWF 39 GHz Radio Unit
5GC000562 5GC000664
AEQA 3.5GHz Radio Unit AEQD 3.7GHz Radio Unit • UL/DL 2x2 SU-MIMO

• UL/DL 2x2 SU-MIMO

• DL: 4x4 SU-MIMO / UL: 2x2 SU-MIMO
• 16UL/16DL MU-MIMO

3.5 GHz 3.7 GHz 28 GHz 39 GHz

400 MHz 3 GHz 6 GHz 10 GHz 30 GHz 90 GHz

cmWave mmWave
 continuous coverage, high mobility and reliability, interference limitation higher capacity and massive throughput, noise limitation →

Carrier BW n* n * 100 MHz 1-2GHz

Duplexing * TDD
Cell size Macro Small Ultra small

* - not supported in 5G18A

38 © Nokia 2018
39 © Nokia 2018
Introduction
Next generation NodeB (gNB)

• 3GPP defines gNB functionality: gNB

• gNB →
• A logical NG-RAN node providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards gNB-CU
the UE (source 3GPP TS 38.300), gNB is divided into following logical entities:
• gNB-CU (CU – Central Unit) →
• A logical node hosting RRC, SDAP and PDCP protocols, and which controls the operation of one 1
or more gNB-DUs
F1
• The gNB-CU also terminates F1 interface connected with the gNB-DU (source 3GPP TS 38.401)
1 .. n
• gNB-DU (DU – Distributed Unit) →
gNB-DU
• A logical node hosting RLC, MAC and PHY layers, and its operation, that is partly controlled by
gNB-CU
• One gNB-DU supports one or multiple cells. One cell is supported by only one gNB-DU
• The gNB-DU terminates F1 interface connected with the gNB-CU (source 3GPP TS 38.401)

F1→ 3GPP based interface for gNB-DU<->gNB-CU connection

NG-RAN → Next Generation Radio Access Network
40 © Nokia 2016 NR → New Radio
 Note:
Introduction • (*) RAU contains the gNB-DU except the RF functions
Deployment Entities • (**) in 5G18A gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) maps 1:1 to RAC

Logical Physical • Radio Access Cloud (RAC)** – deployment entity hosting

cloudified functions of one or more gNBs (baseband
entities entities
processing (L2-nRT functions) OAM, C-Plane
gNB RAC • Radio Access Unit (RAU)* – deployment entity hosting non-
cloudified baseband functions of a gNB (baseband
gNB-CU
processing (L1, L2-RT functions))
RAU • Radio Unit (RU) – deployment entity hosting the Radio
Frequency (RF) functionality of a gNB
gNB-DU
• RU and RAU together are also commonly referred as RAP
(Radio Access Point)
RU

RAP

41 © Nokia 2016
Introduction
HW building blocks

Logical Physical Product Name

Entities Entities
gNB RAC
NCIR
gNB-CU

RAU
gNB-DU
AirScale System Module
RU

RAP AirScale MAA*

(*) AirScale MAA → AirScale Massive MIMO Adaptive Antenna

42 © Nokia 2016