C

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards

eBook
INTRODUCTION

A Primer on 5G Standards and Conformance

5G New Radio (NR) is very different from the previous generations Engineers working in 5G face pressure from accelerated timelines and
of wireless standards. It introduces a new end-to-end network ambitious targets for 5G mobile network deployments. Mobile network
architecture that promises high data throughput and ultra-reliable low operators strive to shorten the product and service life cycle from the
latency connections that will create new usage and business models. laboratory to the field and to create new monetization opportunities.
This pressure has a ripple effect, cascading down through device makers,

Delivering the kind of wireless speed, responsivity, and reliability network equipment manufacturers, and chipset vendors. The growth

promised by 5G requires a series of technical advancements, as well of 5G requires an entire ecosystem equipped to develop, refine, and

as a significant overhaul of the entire cellular network. These factors will deploy the necessary technologies rapidly.

drive a disruptive shift in design, test, and measurement techniques.

Some are visible, like the move from conducted test methods to over-
the-air (OTA) testing with the advent of mmWave. There is a demand for
testing much higher network speeds in fiber-optic systems and higher This eBook outlines the 5G vision, the steps completed
digital data speeds to support faster mobile and base station designs. 5G to date, and the next steps needed to fully realize the
also requires the use of complex coverage and capacity improvement vision of 5G.
concepts like massive multiple-input/multiple-output (massive MIMO)
and beamforming that drives new test requirements for the industry.

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 2

CONTENTS

The ABCs of 5G
New Radio Standards

A A New Era of Wireless Communications

B The Basics of 5G NR Standards

C Conformance and Acceptance Tests

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 3

A

A New Era
of Wireless
Communications

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 4

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
A New Era of Wireless Communication
The 5G vision defines an advanced mobile broadband communication
system that can support a connected society. The International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) worked with operators, network
equipment manufacturers, and standards organizations to define the
IMT-2020 vision to deliver these three usage scenarios:
Enhanced
mobile broadband

• enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)

• ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) Gigabytes

in a second

• massive machine-type communications (mMTC)

3D video,
UHD screens

Approved in June 2018, the 5G NR Release 15 marked the beginning of a Smart home
Work and play
in the cloud
new era that will bring opportunities across the industry. New applications building
Augmented
and business models will generate new revenue streams as market reality
Voice
leaders move quickly to introduce new 5G products and services. Industry
automation

Smart Mission critical

city applications

Two years ago, 5G was seen as a vision or even just a hype — Self-driving
cars
with the closing of Rel-15 3GPP has made 5G a reality within a Massive machine-type
communications
Ultra-reliable low-latency
communications
very short time. The outcome is an amazing set of standards
that will not only provide higher data rates and bandwidth
to end customers but which is open and flexible enough to
satisfy the communication needs of different industries — 5G
will be the integration platform for heterogeneous businesses.
ITU: International Telecommunications Union
Georg Mayer, Chairman of 3GPP TSG CT IMT: International Mobile Telecommunications

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A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
5G new features and technologies enable new use cases

The following new features and technologies are key to 5G

implementation:

• Millimeter-wave (mmWave) operating bands up to 52.6 GHz with

wider channel bandwidths up to 400 MHz enable higher data Ultra-Reliable Massive
Enhanced Mobile
throughput for streaming of UHD videos and movies. Low-Latency Machine-Type
Broadband
Communications Communications
(eMBB)
• Scalable numerology enables support for a variety of use cases (URLLC) (mMTC)
where data rates could range from kilobits/sec (kbps) for IoT
devices to gigabits/sec (Gbps) for enhanced mobile broadband.
All data, all the time 30 billion “things”
• Mini-slots enable low latency response time for applications like Ultra-high reliability
connected
autonomous driving and factory automation. 2 billion people
Ultra-responsive
on social media Low cost, low energy
• Flexible assignment of resources through dynamic time division
duplex (TDD) and bandwidth parts offer better use of the spectrum
to support various use cases. <1 ms air interface latency
1 million devices per km2
500 km/h mobility
5 ms end-to-end latency
1-100 kbps per device
10-20 Gbps peak
99.9999% reliable
data rates
10-year battery life
50 kbps – 10 Mbps

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A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
5G NR to coexist with 4G networks

For mobility, devices must maintain a connection as they travel through with connection to the evolved packet core (EPC) for control plane
the network. The expectation is that 5G NR is a new air interface that to support 5G NR communication. In standalone (SA) mode, the 5G
coexists alongside 4G LTE. The 5G radio access network (RAN) will network can operate independently of the 4G core network. There
operate with both NR (gNB) and LTE (eNB) base stations. The new RAN are connectivity options defined in the 5G NR specifications, allowing
are interconnected through the Xn interfaces and connected to the 5G network equipment manufacturers to plan upgrade paths to the next-
core through the NG interfaces. 5G NR can operate in non-standalone generation core network.
mode (NSA), where the user equipment (UE) requires a legacy eNB

Next-Gen Next-Gen
5G-Core Core Core

NG NG

NG NG

NG-RAN
NG NG

gNB Xn gNB

Xn Xn

eNB Xn eNB

gNB: Next Generation Node B

eNB: Evolved Node B

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 7

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Aggressive timeline

Study items are followed by work items, followed by the release Phase 2. 5G NR continues with optimization and introduces new use
of a specification. ITU and 3GPP use a phased approach to enable cases with 5G NR Release 16 planned for 2020. 3GPP has taken steps to
extensive commercialization in 2020. Commercial networks have ensure that Release 15 is forward-compatible with future releases. 3GPP
already rolled out in many regions. Fixed wireless access in mmWave also continues to define enhancements to LTE-Advanced Pro in Release
frequencies was one of the first use cases addressed by 5G. 15 and Release 16.

Phase 1. The focus is on 4G LTE, 5G NR Release 15, and the next-

generation system architecture. 5G NR Release 15 creates the
foundation for eMBB and URLLC use cases.

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

3GPP 3GPP 3GPP 3GPP Release 17

Release 14 Release 15 Release 16 and beyond

Early drop NR spec

Study item: Channel model Dec 2017
(Acceleration plan)
Study item: Scenarios Wide-spread
and requirements
commercialization
Study item: 5G new RAT
of Release-15

Work item: 5G new RAT (Phase 1)

Work item: 5G new RAT (Phase 2)

PHASE 1 PHASE 2

First 3GPP NR Spec Jun 2018

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A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Network considerations

With the introduction of 5G NR standards, networks will need to

support a diversity of 5G devices with many different usage scenarios.
Learn more about 5G NR challenges
5G NR Release 15 key features include:
The 5G NR specifications lay the foundation for the
flexible structure, but with the additional flexibility comes
• Operating bands extended into mmWave frequencies, up to
52.6 GHz initially (even higher frequencies in future releases). more complexity.

• Wider channel bandwidths up to 400 MHz in mmWave

(Frequency Range 2), which can be further enhanced via
Your 5G NR designs will need to operate in new spectrum,
channel aggregation.
with wider bandwidths, in standalone and non-standalone
• Scalable numerology with flexible allocation of resources to mode, and support new technologies including scalable
support many different use cases and services.
numerology, flexible TDD, and bandwidth parts.
• TDD and bandwidth parts, which deliver flexibility in resource
assignments and better spectrum utilization.

DOWNLOAD WHITE PAPER

First Steps in 5G: Overcoming New Radio Device

Challenges Series

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 9

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
B

The Basics of
5G NR Standards

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 10

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
The Basics of the Specifications
5G NR Release 15 is a significant milestone, enabling 5G radio access
technology that is flexible enough to support sub-6 GHz and mmWave
frequencies up to 52.6 GHz, as well as new use cases and applications.
Equally important, the 5G system architecture must evolve to keep
pace with the radio access changes.

3GPP is defining a new system architecture to support 5G requirements.

The network needs to support the variety of 5G services, numerous
types of devices, and varied traffic loads. The 5G core network must
be flexible and efficient. Many operators are moving to software-
defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV).
Distributed cloud, network slicing, and self-optimizing networks (SON)
are key enabling technologies. These technologies help virtualize
the network architecture and management plane to create enhanced
communication capabilities.

When we set out on this journey…there were really two things

that drove 3GPP activities in this schedule, one was to make
sure that we catered for those operators that want to deploy
5G early. The second is to make sure – content wise – that
we are making the right set of features to serve as the first
stepping stone towards the holistic 5G vision. With the content
that was frozen in Release 15... we achieved both of those goals.

Balazs Bertenyi, Chairman of 3GPP RAN

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A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
IMT-2020 Key Performance Indicators

The 3GPP divides specifications into multiple studies and work items To meet the vision set forth by IMT-2020, the following 5G KPIs have
as follows: been specified:

• RAN TR 38.912 study item covers new radio deployment scenarios, Peak data rate
20 Gbps in downlink
10 Gbps in uplink
physical layer, layer 2, architecture for next-generation RAN, radio
transmission / reception, higher layers, network procedures, Peak spectral
30 bps/Hz for downlink and 15 bps/Hz for uplink
and more. efficiency

• RAN TR 38.913 sets target key performance indicator (KPI) Latency 0.5 ms UL/DL (URLLC), 4 ms UL/DL (eMBB), 10 ms control plane
requirements for the different deployment scenarios (eMBB, URLLC,
Mobility
and mMTC) as well as vehicle-to-everything (V2X) requirements. 0 ms
interruption time
URLLC 1-10-5 for 32 bytes with a user plane latency of 1ms
Reliability
V2X 1-10-5, and user plane latency = 3-10 ms

Connection density 1,000,000 device/km2 in urban environments

UE battery life mMTC should be beyond 10 years, 15 years is desirable

Coverage 164 dB

Mobility (UE speed) 500 km/h

Network energy
100x better than IMT-Advanced
efficiency

Based on 3GPP TR 38.913 KPIs

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A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Communications stack layers

The radio interface between the UE and the network is described in • The physical layer is covered in the 3GPP TS 38.200 series.
layers 1, 2 and 3 of the communications stack. These are known as the • Layers 2 and 3 are described in the 38.300 series. The data link layer
physical layer, the data link layer, and the network layer. The physical enables data transfer between the different networks. Known as medium
layer represents the interface to the real world and includes the access control (MAC), it provides different logical channels to the
radio link control (RLC) in the network layer.
hardware and software to control linkage. It provides a transport channel
and specifies how information is transferred over the radio interface. • Layer 3 connects with the nodes in the network so that the UE can
travel through the network.

LAYER 3 RADIO RESOURCE CONTROL (RRC)

NETWORK CONTROL / MEASUREMENTS

LOGIC
CHANNELS

LAYER 2
MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL
DATA LINK

TRANSPORT
CHANNELS

LAYER 1 PHYSICAL LAYER

Radio interface protocol architecture around the physical layer (38.201)

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 13

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
3GPP RAN study items and specifications

5G NR specifications are covered by the RAN working groups. The

Study items Specifications
output of the work group is public; all documents, meeting reports,
and published specifications are available on the 3GPP Website.
TR 38.802
RAN1 Study on new radio
TS 38.201 - 38.215
Radio layer 1 access technology:
physical layer aspects
Technical reports (TR) and technical specifications (TS) for 5G NR
documents are available in the 38.xxx series. For 5G NR, RAN study
TR 38.804
items and specifications define functions, requirements, and RAN2
Study on new radio
Radio layer 2 and TS 38.300 -TS 38.331
interfaces to the networks. radio layer 3
access technology: radio
interface protocol aspects

TR 38.801
Shown here are 5G RAN 1-5. RAN3
Study on new radio
access technology: radio TS 38.401 - 38.474
Radio network
access architecture
and interfaces

TR 38.803
RAN4
The 3GPP system architecture (SA) parallel work Radio performance
New radio access
technology: RF and
TS 38.101 - 38.307
and protocol
identifies the features and functionality needed to coexistence aspects

deploy a services-based operational network for RAN5

Mobile terminal No study item TS 38.508 – 38.533
5G system. These specifications are represented conformance tests

in 3GPP TS 23.xxx documents.

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A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
What’s next?

LEARN MORE ABOUT 5G NR STANDARDS:

For many equipment developers,
the real work starts now. Webinar: Understanding the 5G NR Physical Layer

Designing new technologies that meet the new Webinar: Introducing Rel-16 of the 5G NR Physical Layer

standards is critical to delivering increased performance

and ensuring dual connectivity with 4G. Support for
new use cases requires a whole new level of test. With
standards still evolving, you will need a test solution
that can scale to cover sub-6 GHz Frequency Range 1
frequencies and higher Frequency Range 2 mmWave
frequencies, wider bandwidths, denser waveforms, and
a growing number of test cases.

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 15

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
C

Conformance
and Acceptance
Test

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 16

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Conformance tests ensure a minimum level of performance in UEs
and base stations. UE requirements are comprehensive to ensure RF
transmission and reception, radio access, signaling, and demodulation.
As we begin to transition to a new generation of wireless
technologies, it’s growing more important that we establish
Conformance tests only provide pass / fail results — the test does
industry alignment. With 5G, this is more important than ever,
not indicate how the device will perform when integrated into a as we’re tapping into an area of the radio spectrum that has
wireless communications system. Vendors will test a broad set been a big unknown for the mobile industry. Being able to
of parameters using verification and regression testing to ensure
work closely with Keysight and leveraging their expertise
quality and sufficient margins.
with network simulation, RF and mmWave technologies is
an advantage for our product validation efforts.
Pre-conformance testing ensures a “pass” before spending time
and expense on official conformance tests. Device acceptance tests Woojune Kim, Vice President of Next-Generation Strategy,
confirm that a device meets the additional requirements specified
Samsung Electronics
by the operators.

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 17

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Over-the-air tests

Devices and base stations operate in two frequency ranges —

Frequency Range 1 (FR1) from 410 MHz to 7.125 GHz, and FR2 from
24.25 to 52.6 GHz. Many low frequency tests will be similar to 4G
LTE tests. Base stations operating in FR2 will require radiated tests
using OTA test methods. OTA test methods validate device and base
station beam steering functionality in multi-element antenna arrays
integrated into radio frequency integrated circuits at FR1 and FR2.

Direct-far-field (DFF) Indirect-far-field (IFF) Near-field to far-field transformation (NFTF)

Provides a near-field to far-field conversion enabling

A simple, comprehensive approach A compact approach that can be lower cost
a compact antenna test range (CATR)

Can be very large with greater path for Suitable for testing mmWave devices but not well Limited application for transceiver only, no receiver
mmWave devices suited for spatial RRM or RF parametric tests yet

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 18

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
OTA solutions

Keysight’s OTA test solutions include chambers, probing, and test

equipment that address a wide range of RF, demodulation, and
functional performance test requirements from RF to mmWave.

Shielded box or environmental noise chamber

Channel
OTA probe antennae emulator
DUT

Base station
network emulator

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 19

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Certification

The test systems used in third party conformance tests must be

validated and calibrated to ensure the conformance test contains
Standards body:
the known uncertainties under controlled conditions. Certification body:
3GPP RAN5
GCF/PTCRB
Test spec
Conformance test spec
5G NR work from
38.521-1/3 RF/RRM
The following certification bodies oversee conformance tests: descriptors
38.523-1/3 PROTOCOL

• Global Certification Forum (GCF), under the umbrella of the

GSM Association (GSMA), represents GSM and UMTS operators

Validation report
worldwide; it requires that the device be drive-tested.

WID
Test system
• PTCRB is a pseudo-acronym that originally stood for PCS Type vendors
Certification Review Board. PTCRB provides UE certification
services for North American operators. 5G test platforms with
test cases
Validation request

Validation test
laboratory

Perform test case

Reference UE validation

5G NR UE
manufacturers

Standards bodies, certification bodies, test equipment vendors, and 5G NR

device makers together ensure conformance to 5G specifications

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 20

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Device acceptance testing

Once the UE passes conformance tests and meets specifications,

the next step is to validate the device on a specific network. Device
acceptance testing evaluates whether the device has adequate
performance and helps identify and resolve issues before a device is
allowed on the network in the hands of consumers. For example, some
networks are marketed with attributes such as the fastest network,
or most reliable network. In these cases, operator acceptance tests
include performance and functional tests to ensure the device will
deliver as promised.

The network operators own the acceptance tests. Operators will stress
the UE and the network using many use case scenarios. One standard
test is battery performance under different usage scenarios of data
consumption, talk time, or with the use of location-based services.
Evaluating real-world battery performance with many different
permutations and combinations of activities requires many tests.
Another common test is performance and user experience on a
network. With the use of multiple radio access technologies in 5G, it
is critical to evaluate real-world handovers between radio networks.

LEARN MORE

First Steps in 5G: Overcoming New Radio Device

Challenges Series

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 21

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Implications for developers

Challenge Solution

Consider an end-to-end measurement solution that can test parameters early in

5G NR conformance standards continue to evolve. Launching devices to development to ensure successful pre-conformance, conformance, and device
market without thoroughly testing RF performance, demodulation, RRM, and acceptance testing under real-world conditions. The test solution must include
protocol signaling can result in a non-compliant product. fading and interference and incorporates 3GPP-approved OTA test requirements
and methodologies.

Operators are releasing their device acceptance plans. Waiting to find

Consider using proven network emulation tools that can test KPIs in your
issues during the device acceptance test could mean major rework late in
development cycle to identify potential issues early to reduce risk.
development, resulting in higher costs and delayed time to market.

OTA tests are required for 5G. DFF, IFF, and NFTF test methods have been
approved by 3GPP, but test procedures and techniques are still evolving. Consider an OTA test partner who has experience implementing the
It can take a significant amount of time and rework to investigate and different methods.
implement an OTA test solution.

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A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
Are You Ready for the 5G
NR Standard?
5G NR introduces a new end-to-end network architecture that
promises everything is connected 24/7. 5G NR introduces new
technologies, increases performance requirements, establishes the
need for dual connectivity with 4G, and defines many new test cases.

With standards still evolving through Release 16 and beyond, you will
need test solutions that can scale to cover sub-6 GHz and mmWave
frequencies, wider bandwidths, denser waveforms, and a growing
number of test cases. Conformance and operator acceptance tests
are still under development, meaning you will need a solution that is
flexible and upgradable as test requirements evolve.

Keysight’s 5G NR design and test solutions span the entire workflow

— from simulation, manufacturing, and deployment. Our end-to-end
coverage generates new insights that accelerate 5G innovation across
the device workflow.

LEARN MORE ABOUT 5G NR SOLUTIONS

5G New Radio Solutions for Chipset and

Device Designers

5G Solutions for Network Equipment

Manufacturers

5G Solutions for Mobile Network Operators

The ABCs of 5G New Radio Standards | 23

A New Era of Wireless Communications The Basics of 5G NR Standards Conformance and Acceptance Tests
 Keysight enables innovators to push the boundaries of engineering by quickly solving design, emulation, and
test challenges to create the best product experiences. Start your innovation journey at www.keysight.com.

This information is subject to change without notice. © Keysight Technologies, 2020 – 2023, Published in USA, October 20, 2023, 5992-3406EN