Module 4 - 5G Protocol Architecture

By
S.S.Bhowmick
Nex-G Innovations – NESPL

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 Training Session Agenda

 Introduction ( OSI Model)

 NG-RAN Protocol Layer

 Strata (NAS, AS)

 User Plane Protocol

 Control Plane Protocol

 QoS Flow, Profile, Architecture

 Radio Interface Structure

 3GPP TS for 5G

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 Introduction ( OSI Model)

An ISO (International standard Organization) that covers all aspects of

network communications is the Open System Interconnection (OSI)
model. It was created as a framework and reference model to explain how
different networking technologies work together and interact.

The OSI model is not a protocol, it is model for understanding and

designing a network architecture that is flexible, robust and inter-
operable.

An open system is a model that allows any two different systems to

communicate regardless of their underlying architecture (hardware or
software).

The OSI model is built of seven ordered layers:

1. (Layer 1) Physical Layer

2. (Layer 2) Data Link Layer

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 Introduction ( OSI Model)

3. (Layer 3) Network Layer

4. (Layer 4) Transport Layer

5. (Layer 5) Session Layer

6. (Layer 6) Presentation Layer

7. (Layer 7) Application Layer

The Process of Moving Data Between Layers of The OSI Model

Encapsulation: Data > segment >packet > frame > bits

De-encapsulation: Bits > frame >packet > segment > data

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 Introduction ( OSI Model)

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 NG-RAN Protocol Layer

NG-RAN Protocol Layer

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 NG-RAN Protocol Layer

NR radio protocol stack has two different stack depending on the type of
data that is processed by the stack. If the data is Signaling message, it
goes through the C-plane stack. If it is user data, it goes through U-Plane
stack.

Both U-Plane and C-Plane is made up of a common structure : PHY <->

MAC <-> RLC <-> PDCP, but the components sitting on top of
PHY/MAC/RLC/PDCP gets different between C-Plane and U-Plane.

In case of U-Plane, a layer called SDAP is sitting at the top of the radio
stack and the SDAP is connected to UPF (User Plane Function).

In case of C-Plane, the two layers RRC and NAS are sitting at the top of
the stack. NAS layer gets connected to AMF (Access and Mobility
Management Function).
NG-RAN Protocol Layer
 NG-RAN Protocol Layer

Basic structure is same as downlink structure except that Uplink does not
support carrier aggregation. Carrier Aggregation is used to increase the
Bandwith.
 User Plane Protocol

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 Control Plane Protocol

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 Control Plane Protocol

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 User Plane Protocol

User plane (SDAP, PDCP, RLC, MAX, PHY)

SDAP

 SDAP stands for Service Data Adaptation Protocol

 It is a layer of 5G NR radio protocol stack

 It is placed the top of the PDCP Layer (for user plane) in the Radio
Protocol Stack in 5G NR

Services provided to upper layers :

The SDAP sublayer provides its service to the user plane upper layers. i.e.
transfer of user plane data

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 User Plane Protocol

Services expected from lower layers :

 User plane data transfer service

 In-order delivery except when out of order delivery is configured by

RRC(3GPP TS 38.331)

The main services and functions of SDAP are :

 Transfer of user plane data

 The mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer for both DL
and UL

 Marking QoS flow ID (QFI) in both DL and UL packets

 A single protocol entity of SDAP is configured for each individual PDU

session

 Reflective QoS flow to DRB mapping for the UL SDAP data PDUs

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 User Plane Protocol

SDAP Layer Structural View:

The structural view of the SDAP layer given in the below diagram.

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 User Plane Protocol

The Functional Diagram for SDAP Layer:

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 User Plane Protocol

PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) Layer Functions:

The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the user plane
include:

 Sequence Numbering

 Header compression and decompression: ROHC only

 Transfer of user data

 Reordering and Duplicate detection (if order delivery to layers above

PDCP is required)

 PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers)

 Retransmission of PDCP SDUs

 Ciphering and Deciphering

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 User Plane Protocol

 PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM

 Duplication of PDCP PDUs

 PDCP SDU discard

Note : PDCP Out-of-Order Deciphering Drawback in LTE.

 In-sequence delivery from RLC layer (i.e. reordering in RLC) might

incur high latency due to deciphering

Enhancement in NR

 Complete PDCP PDUs can be delivered out-of-order from RLC to

PDCP. RLC delivers PDCP PDUs to PDCP after the PDU reassembling

 PDCP reordering is always enabled if in sequence delivery to layers

above PDCP is needed

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 User Plane Protocol

RLC Rx window operation in NR

RLC Rx entity needs to keep track of each packet in the window to
determine if any of them has been completed and delivered to PDCP.
Duplication of PDCP PDUs
RLC retransmission (ARQ) is not assumed to be used in 5G NR to meet
the strict user plane latency requirements of URLLC applications.
 Duplication applies in case of multi-connectivity and carrier
aggregation (CA)

 In case of CA, duplication for more than one logical channel is used
for Carrier Aggregation so that the duplicated PDCP PDUs are sent
over different carriers

 PDCP duplication solution for CA requires only one MAC entity

 Logical channel mapping restrictions need to be introduced to

handle duplicates in within one MAC entity (CA)

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 User Plane Protocol

RLC (Radio Link Control ) Layer Functions:

The main services and functions of the RLC sublayer depend on the
transmission mode and include:
 Transfer of upper layer PDUs

 Sequence numbering independent of the one in PDCP

 Error Correction through ARQ

 Segmentation and re-segmentation

 Reassembly of SDU

 RLC SDU discard

 RLC re-establishment

Note: no concatenation and no reordering

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 User Plane Protocol

Why No Concatenation:

To meet Extreme latency requirement in 5G.

For URLLC the target for user plane latency should be 0.5ms for UL, and
0.5ms for DL.

For eMBB, the target for user plane latency should be 4ms for UL, and
4ms for DL.

RAN1 intends to reduce the delay from the end of the reception of the
DCI (UL grant) to the beginning of the transmission of the corresponding
UL transport block to 1-2 OFDM symbol durations.

Limitation in LTE: In order to perform TB (Transport Block) filling, RLC

and MAC PDUs are generated after reception of UL grant.

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 User Plane Protocol

MAC (Media Access Control) Layer Functions

The main services and functions of the MAC sub layer 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 by means of logical

channel prioritization

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 QoS Flow, Profile, Architecture

Enhancement in NR

 MAC sub-headers are placed immediately in front of the corresponding

MAC SDUs, MAC CEs, or padding. The possibility to parse the MAC PDU
from the back is not precluded.

 UL MAC CE(s) is placed after all the MAC SDUs. For DL the placement
will be deterministic (i.e. it should not be up to the network to decide).

QoS Flow, Profile, Architecture

In 4G, LTE QoS is enforced at the EPS bearer level. In 5G, QoS is
enforced at the QoS flow level.

4G LTE uses EPS bearers each assigned an EPS bearer ID. 5G uses QoS
Flows, each identified by a QoS Flow ID (QFI). As with 4G LTE both non-
GBR flows and GBR flows are supported in 5G, along with a new delay-
critical GBR.

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 QoS Flow, Profile, Architecture

QoS Flow in LTE

 QoS Flow, Profile, Architecture

Role of QoS in 5G network services

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 QoS Flow, Profile, Architecture

5G Introduces a new concept - Reflective QoS.

The QoS flow is the lowest level granularity within the 5G system and is
where policy and charging are enforced. One or more Service Data Flows
(SDFs) can be transported in the same QoS flow, if they share the same
policy and charging rules (similar to an EPS bearer in 4G LTE). All traffic
within the same QoS flow receives the same treatment.

QoS Flow to DRB and GTP-U Tunnel Mapping

In 4G LTE, there is a one-to-one relationship for an EPS bearer between

the DRB (UE to eNB), the S1-U GTP-U tunnel (eNB to S-GW) and the S5-U
tunnel (S-GW to P-GW).

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 QoS Flow, Profile, Architecture

In the 5GC, there is only a single user plane network function – the UPF –
for transport of data between the gNB and the core.

In 5G, there is a one-to-many relationship between the GTP-U tunnel on

N3 and the DRBs on the air interface. Each QoS flow on N3 is mapped to
a single GTP-U tunnel.

The gNB may map individual QoS flows to one more DRBs. Therefore, a
PDU session may contain multiple QoS flows and several DRBs but only a
single N3 GTP-U tunnel. A DRB may transport one or more QoS flows.

The QFI that identifies the flow is carried in an extension header on N3 in

the GTP-U protocol, using UL and DL PDU session information frames. The
DL and UL PDU session information frame includes a QoS Flow Identifier
(QFI) field for each packet.

The DL PDU session information frame includes the Reflective QoS

Indicator (RQI) field to indicate whether the user plane reflective QoS is
to be activated or not. This is only applicable if reflective QoS is activated.

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 3GPP TS for 5G
3GPP TS for 5G

https://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/38-series.htm

NR: Overall Description -- TS 38.300

NR: Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) – TS 24.501

NR: Radio Resource Control (RRC) – TS 38.331

NR: Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) – TS 37.324

NR: Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) – TS 38.323

NR: Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol -- TS 38.322

NR: Medium Access Control (MAC) – TS 38.321

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 3GPP TS for 5G
NR: Physical layer , General description – TS 38.201

NR: Services provided by the Physical Layer – TS 38.202

NR: Physical Channels and Modulation – TS 38.211

NR: Multiplexing and Channel coding – TS 38.212

NR: Physical Layer procedures for control – TS 38.213

NR: Physical layer procedures for data – TS 38.214

NR: Physical Layer Measurements – TS 38.215

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