2/24/2020 3GPP Release 15 Overview - IEEE Spectrum

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3GPP Release 15 Overview
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) members meet regularly to
collaborate and create cellular communications standards

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3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) members meet regularly to collaborate an

create cellular communications standards. Currently, 3GPP is defining standards for
5G. Different groups, each with a specific focus area, make up 3GPP. Figure 1 shows a
overview of the structure. It focuses on the lower layers, the physical (PHY) layer as
defined by RAN1, the MAC layer as defined by RAN2, and, in some cases, the PHY lay
test as defined by RAN4.

5G KPIs and 3GPP’s Timeline

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has put forth some requirements
for 5G that focus on fulfilling three key performance indicators (KPIs):

■ >10 Gb/s peak data rates for the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)

■ >1 M/km2 connections for massive machine-type communications (MMTC)

■ <1 ms latency for ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC).

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The table below provides an overview of specific technical requirements laid out as th
2020 minimum requirements.

3GPP has a specified release timeline, shown in Figure 2, to ensure that the regular
cadence of releases between 4G and 5G continues and that the standard is delivered o
time. The schedule for Release 15 has been accelerated since the timeline was initially
released, but Release 16 is still planned for 2020 to align with the ITU.

5G NR TIMELINE

■ Overall timeline had been agreed at RAN#75 in March 2017

■ This time plan still holds

■ RAN#77 took some key measures to ensure timeline is met

Release 15 was concluded at the June 2018 RAN plenary meeting. However, some
issues still need to be treated and solutions need to be formalized. A late drop is
scheduled

in December 2018 to discuss New Radio to New Radio (NR-NR) dual connectivity (D
Specifically, options 4 and 7 for DC are planned to be treated. Figure 3 shows
Illustrations for these two options.

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Release 15 Detailed Overview

Defining an entire new standard for 5G is a large undertaking. 3GPP has split the 5G
standard into two releases: Release 15, which corresponds to NR Phase 1, and Releas
16, which corresponds to NR Phase 2. In NR Phase 1, there are common elements
between LTE and NR, such as both using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(OFDM).

However, there are also differences as summarized in Table 2.

To truly implement the full version of NR, a massive amount of new hardware must b
deployed. To continue using existing hardware, a phased approach has been propose
There is a non-standalone (NSA) version that will use the LTE core and a standalone
(SA) version that will use an NR core and be completely independent of the LTE core
network.

To keep straight which devices can communicate with each other, new terminology h
been introduced:

■ LTE eNB—Device that can connect to the EPC or the current LTE core network

■ eLTE eNB—Evolution of the LTE eNB that can connect to the EPC and NextGen co

■ gNB —5G NR equivalent of the LTE eNB

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■ NG—Interface between the NextGen core and the gNB

■ NG2—Control plane interface between core network and RAN (S1-C in LTE)

■ NG3—User plane interface between the core network and RAN (S1-U in LTE)

Keeping this terminology in mind, the three diagrams from 3GPP TR 38.804 (draft
v0.4) shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5 illustrate various deployment scenarios for 5G
NR.

Figure 4 shows in the left diagram a setup where a secondary cell NSA operation of th
NR gNBs connects to the LTE EPC. The image on the right shows a scenario where th
NextGen core is added. The eLTE eNB acts as the master. The NR gNBs are in NSA
mode with a defined path for data flow between the eLTE eNB and the NR gNB with
NextGen core as the master. Figure 5 shows an alternative deployment scenario with
phased evolution to add standalone operation. All the deployment types can operate
simultaneously as this phased approach is enacted. The exact timing and phasing of t
new deployments depend on individual network providers.

For NSA operation, there needs to be a coordinated frequency plan between LTE and
NR for dual connectivity. Table 3 shows how various LTE bands correspond to
proposed NR frequency ranges.

There is convergence around particular bands for NR, but the frequencies are still no
firmly set, especially for mmWave. From the RAN4 meeting held in May 2018, Table
shows the proposed operating bands. Of note, band n261 has been added and, more

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interestingly, band n259, defined in the old versions as 31.8 GHz–33.4 GHz TDD, ha
been removed. This band was originally called out as a band for study, but CEPT
removed it for consideration for 5G in November 2017.

Other bands, such as 24.25 GHz–29.5 GHz, are being actively studied for use in 5G N
This is being tracked and actively updated as a part of Technical Report 38.815. The
below frequency chart, taken from that report, provides a good visual overview of the
frequencies of interest in various locations.

The numerology for NR is designed to function in both the sub-6 GHz bands as well a
mmWave bands. This is achieved by creating multiple numerologies formed by scalin
a basic subcarrier spacing (SCS) by integer N where 15 kHz is the baseline SCS and N
a power of 2. The numerology is selected independently of the frequency band, with
possible SCS of 15 kHz to 480 kHz.

Not all SCS options are being proposed for all frequencies. For sub 6 GHz, only 15 kH
30 kHz, and 60 kHz are to be used. Above 6 GHz, there is no decision yet. The
candidate SCSs are 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz with 480 kHz marked for future
study. The feasibility of each of these will be studied based on phase noise models,
channel bandwidth, fast Fourier transform (FFT) size, and which service they are to
support (eMBB, URLLC, or mMTC). These SCSs are not applicable to all bands and a
applicable to common/dedicated data channels. Table 5 summarizes these
combinations.

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Some parts of the numerology are flexible, like the SCS, while others are fixed. The
subframe duration is fixed to 1 ms and the frame length is 10 ms. Given subcarrier
spacing of 15 kHz* 2n, each symbol length, including the CP, of 15 kHz equals the sum
of the corresponding 2n symbols of the SCS. The first OFDM symbol in 0.5 m is longe
by 16 Ts (assuming 15 kHz and FFT size of 2,048) compared to other OFDM symbols
16 Ts is used for the CP for the first symbol. NR supports an extended CP.

For NR, a slot is defined as 7 or 14 OFDM symbols for subcarriers up to 60 kHz and 1
OFDM symbols for subcarrier spacing higher than 60 kHz. A slot can contain all
downlink, all uplink, or at least one downlink part and at least one uplink part. Data
transmission can span multiple slots. Figure 8 shows an example numerology in a slo
that uses mixed numerology in both frequency domain and time domain.

The NR modulation and waveforms have some commonalities with LTE but aim to
have much higher spectral efficiency. NR supports QPSK, 16 QAM, and 256 QAM wit
the same constellation mapping as LTE. An OFDM-based waveform is support. At lea
up to 40 GHz, CP-OFDM waveform supports spectral utilization of Y greater than tha
of LTE, where Y=90% for LTE. Y as a percent is defined as transmission bandwidth
configuration divided by channel bandwidth* 100%. The proposed Y, for example is 9
percent. For uplink only, DFT-S-OFDM- based waveforms are also supported, but th
are limited to single stream transmissions.

Both CP-OFDM- and DFT-S-OFDM-based waveforms are mandatory for user

equipment (UE).

NR defines physical resource block (PRB) where the number of subcarriers per PRB i
the same for all numerologies. The number of subcarriers per PRB is N=12. Below is
diagram of this.

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An area that has not yet been solidified for NR is the maximum channel bandwidth.
RAN1 agreed to a maximum channel bandwidth of 400 MHz in Release 15, but the
following are listed for further study:

Sub 6 GHz: MHz –200 MHz range

Above 6 GHz: MHz–1 GHz range

Possibility to support maximum channel bandwidth with carrier aggregation

Carrier aggregation allows for the use of spectrum that is larger than the maximum
channel bandwidth. This is of particular interest for mmWave where there are 800
MHz- and 1.2 GHz-wide channels available for use. Table 6 shows the companies
proposing maximum channel bandwidths across different frequencies.

Multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) operation is a key component of NR. The gN
has two TXRUs per polarization, which are connected to cross polarized Tx antenna
panels. The gNB selects one analog beam on each antenna panel polarization for the
downlink data transmission (that is, MIMO transmission). The UE should be able to
measure multiple Tx beams swept on different time units on each panel polarization
and then select one Tx beam that is determined to be the “best” beam on each.

Synchronization in NR is defined by synchronization signal (SS) blocks, bursts, and

burst sets. The NR-PSS, NR-SSS, and/or the NR-PBCH signal are transmitted within
SS block. One or multiple SS blocks compose an SS burst. One or multiple SS bursts
further compose an SS burst set. From the UE perspective, the SS burst set

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transmission is periodic. This concept is best described visually. Figure 11 shows the
makeup of an SS burst and Figure 12 shows the SS burst set structure.

Finally, to complete Release 15, the channel coding for NR has been decided and it
differs from LTE for both the data and the control channels. LTE uses turbo coding fo
the data channel and NR uses LDPC coding. For the Downlink Control Information
(DCI) control channel, LTE uses convolution coding and NR uses polar coding. These
coding techniques are defined for the eMBB use case. It is possible that different codi
techniques may be used in the other NR use cases in the future.

Channel coding techniques for NR should support info block size K flexibility and
codeword size flexibility. Rate matching like puncturing and/or repetition supports 1
bit granularity in codeword size. The channel coding technique for data channels of N
supports both incremental redundancy (IR) and chase (C). For very small block lengt
where repetition/ block coding is used, it may be preferred to use combining (CC)
HARQ.

Looking Forward: Release 16 Study Items and Trends

Work for Release 16 has already begun and some trends are emerging. There is
increasing support of vertical industries such as non-terrestrial networks (NTN),
vehicle to everything (V2X), public safety, and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT). Fo
NTN, NR Release 15 will need to be modified to support satellite communications,
specifically at mmWave bands. For V2X, further study is proposed for dynamic suppo
for sidelink (PC5) as well as access network (Uu) interfaces. New evaluation
methodology is being defined for V2X use cases including vehicle platooning, advanc
driving to enable semi-automated or fully automated driving, and remote driving. Ot
trends and open study items include unlicensed access (NR-U), enhanced MIMO
studies (in particular >6 GHz), integrated access and backhaul (IAB), and non-
orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) waveforms. Other applications and study items w
surely emerge as work for Release 16 continues. The 2020 goal for finalization of 5G
ambitious given the amount of effort still required to make Release 16 successful. But
the pace stays at the rate it was for Release 15, it is an achievable goal.

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