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Introduction: Significant changes can be seen in the revolution of mobile networks in

the past 40 years. Voice and text were the primary data which is supported by the initial two

generations. With the advent of 3G technology, data is transmitted in the range of hundreds

of kbps. The current technology which popular in the World is 4G, which transmitted the data

in hundreds of Mbps. The World is quickly transitioning to 5G with the promise of a

multifold increase in data rates. Increased bandwidth is not only an interesting aspect of 5G

but also a new chapter from the perspective of rearchitecting the access network which

enables the feasibility to easily update with new innovations. Previous generations were

designed to optimize the services like text, voice. The major promise of 5G network is about

the transition from a single access service to a richer collection of edge services. With a

promising speed in Gbps, applications involving Augmented reality/Virtual reality will be

seamless to operate. 5G will also play a critical role in public safety (autonomous vehicles,

which require taking immediate decisions by interacting with a central server an expected

latency is low), Internet of Things(IOT). The AI-capable devices which are wearable [2].

Data Transmission: The uniqueness of a wireless cellular network is its ability to share
the available radio spectrum among its users. The advantage of the cellular network is, the

user can still connect to the network when the user is traveling. The schedular plays a key

role in sharing the bandwidth among the users. The major difference between 5G and

old(3G,2G) technologies is the multiplexing mechanism. 2G using Time Division Multiple

Access(TDMA), 3G used Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA). 5G uses Orthogonal

Frequency-Division Multiplexing(OFDM). This is an approach where the data is multiplexed

over multiple orthogonal subcarrier frequencies. OFDM is able to avoid interference when it

selects subcarrier frequencies. In 5G, unlike older generations, it works on multiple

waveforms. Mobile services and IOT services use bands with carrier frequencies below 1
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GHz. For mission-critical applications, bands with carrier frequencies between 1GHz-6GHz

are used. For line-of-sight coverage, bands with carrier frequencies about 24GHz are used.

Basic Architecture and Main Components: The advantage of a cellular

network is, the devices can be connected even they move from one place to another.

Previously this was an important feature of cell phones, tablets. Now, it also become an

important feature of vehicles, industrial and agricultural machines, robots, medical devices,

and so on. Radio Access Network and Mobile Core are basic components of 5G cellular

network. RAN takes care of the bandwidth, such that the resources are used efficiently and

satisfy the requirement of every user. Mobile Core does a lot of functions like, it ensures

both data and voice services have internet connectivity without compromising on the quality

of the service. To provide uninterrupted services, Mobile Core tracks devices. It is also

responsible to track the amount of data being utilized and accordingly cost is calculated

which will be used for billing.

Radio Access Network: The functionality of RAN can be described as a router. The

role of RAN is to establish connections between the individual devices and the network[3].

The main functions which are performed by RAN are, processing the signal for using

multiple antennas, the chance of errors in the signal that is being transmitted may contain

errors. RAN plays a crucial role in detecting and correcting those errors. Security, which is a

prime concern in wireless transmission, RAN plays a major role in security [4]. RAN also

ensures that the information which is converted from digital to signal is whether transmitted

in the right frequency band. Efficient utilization of available resources. RAN stays in between

user equipment like laptop, mobile and establishes a connection with the core network.

Depending on the availability a single device can be connected to multiple RANs, the devices

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are called dual-mode handsets. A base station, antennas are the basic components of RAN

depending on the capacity they can cover a certain amount of region. The data messages sent

by the user are exchanged by using an RAN controller one software-defined networking

(SDN) switch and the other through a control-based interface[3].

5G Mobile Core: 5G Mobile Core is built on cloud-native, microservices-based

technology. It provides a multi-access and cloud-native platform that supports 5G, this

technology also supports previous generations. It’s possible to deploy on the cloud. 5G

Mobile Core implements a network architecture that was recently proposed by 3GPP. The

new network architecture will unleash the full power of 5G. With the full power of 5G in the

sense of faster data transfer, with minimal latency, which is a huge benefit for critical

applications, the reliability of 5G is higher compared to the previous generations with higher

bit rates. To increase the quality of customer experience, a built-in network data analytics

function (NWDAF) is installed which learns and improves the customer’s experience.

Security, which is the main concern of any network, 5G given high priority for security. A

firewall is integrated to secure the devices and the user’s private information from malicious

attacks. To increase and explore new business opportunities for service providers, network

exposure features are allowed with embedded Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)

management module which allows network programmability. Some 5G Mobile Core

designers provide dual mode 5G Core, which has additional advantages. Protecting the

existing services for a user 5G services can be easily provided. Depending on the business

requirements easy and smooth migration of a network to 5G. Flexibility in introducing and

solving new features/segments. Designing the module based on cloud technologies will

reduce the cost with an increase in performance. It is very easy compared to other generations

to make quick updates and introduce new features. Virtualization of some functionality is
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possible in RAN. Some RAN functions can be deployed on the same cloud infrastructure

already in 4G, this will now be considered for 5G deployments. Network slicing is one of the

key features of 5G systems, like multiple lanes of road to control traffic. As specific lanes are

characterized for different types of automobiles (bus lane, high-speed lane). On one physical

network, different virtual networks with different characteristics can run using network

slicing. For each slice, 5G RAN can monitor the traffic.

5G Antenna: 5G antennas unlike 4G and the lower generations are integrated with the

radios. Additionally. significant parts of HW (hardware) and SW (software) are integrated

with the antenna. To efficiently use the high 5G frequencies, implementations of beam

tracking, forming and massive MIMO are required. In traditional antennas, this feature was

not implemented. Most of the 5G antennas include billions of transistors and are integrated

with radios pack high computational capability. With the use of modern 5G antennas, in

lower and classic radios we can see improvement in the performance. The advantage of this

feature is, low latency capabilities with low-cost deployment. To achieve optimal

performance, AI is being increasingly used across the network. At the central network, a

well-trained Machine learning model deployed will take of load balancing and also optimize

the traffic of data that is being transmitted across the network.

Security and Mobility: For a cellular network, security and mobility are the key

features, which are different from Wi-Fi. Three aspects [4] of security need to be considered.

First, confidentiality: When there is communication established between two parties, it is not

allowed for an unauthorized entity to read the communication. Confidentiality of the

communication can be secured by encryption, which is done hop-by-hop in the network. The

unencrypted data is available at RAN and Central Network. Second, Integrity, the

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communication cannot be modified by an unauthorised entity and it must be ensured. Like

encryption and decryption of the information, integrity is also implemented hop-by-hop in the

network. So, the information is available at both RAN and Central networks to be tampered

with. Third, availability ensures that the communication which is established is

uninterruptable available to the user. This also has to be ensured at both the RAN and

Central network levels, as both can contribute to service discontinuity. Now, we will discuss

the architecture of the security system which is the primary feature of any communication

device. The architecture of security is defined based on two assumptions. First, through a

secured private network, it is trusted that the Base station and mobile cores are connected. A

GTP.UDP/IP tunnel is established to the Core’s user plane and an SCTP/IP is established to

Core’s Control plane. For uniquely identifying a user, the operator of the user provides the

user a SIM card, which can be identified uniquely. The SIM card also has the information to

establish the radio parameters which are required to communicate with stations [1]. When

the user device becomes active, it sends a signal. On the existing tunnel, the Base Station

forwards the request to the Core-CP. The Core-CP then initiates an authentication protocol.

3GPP searches for the set of options for authentication, encryption and identifies the required

one. Once the authentication is cleared between the user and the base station an encrypted

channel is established between the user and the base station. The base station assigns a

temporary IP address to the user device. Then the transmission of data is initiated. The

mobility feature involves, first allows the user device to establish an unauthenticated link to

all the local base stations. Based on the signals measure the base station communicates

among and makes a handover decision. Then the information transfer is allowed. To avoid

dropping communication packets, Mobiles core buffers the data during the handover session.

In other words, the cellular network maintains the link during the mobility phase [1].

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[1]https://5g.systemsapproach.org/

[2]https://www.ijert.org/research/network-architecture-for-5g-mobile-technology-

IJERTCONV3IS25006.pdf

[3]https://www.cablefree.net/wirelesstechnology/4glte/lte-4g-5g-radio-access-network-ran/

[4]https://www.ericsson.com/en/public-policy-and-government-affairs/5-key-facts-about-5g-

radio-access-networks

[5]https://www.ericsson.com/en/core-network/5g-core