5G System Overview

11/21/24, 10:46 PM 5G System Overview
TM
 Technologies / 5G System Overview
5G System Overview
Aug 08,2022
Coordinated by Alain Sultan, MCC.
Introduction
The Fifth Generation of Mobile Telephony, or 5G, or 5GS, is the system
defined by 3GPP from Release 15, functionally frozen in June 2018 and
fully specified by September 2019.
3GPP defines not only the air interface but also all the protocols and
network interfaces that enable the entire mobile system: call and session
control, mobility management, service provisioning, etc. Thanks to this
approach 3GPP networks can operate in an inter-vendor and inter-
operator context.
5G is defined in several phases. Release 15 specifies 5G phase 1, which

introduces a new radio transmission technique and other key concepts
such as an industry-grade reliability, an extended modularity, or a faster
response time.
All previous generations have been designed to be used by an ever wider

audience, 5G is pushing out further – ready for use by all industry sectors
and for time critical applications, such as autonomous driving.
To offer these capacities, and more generally to improve the user

experience, 5G makes use of a set of dedicated technologies, such as
"Network Function Virtualization" and "Slicing" to increase the modularity,
"EDGE computing" for faster response time, Non-Terrestrial Networks
(NTN) / Satellite Communications for ubiquitous coverage, etc.
The road to a fifth generation
3GPP plays a major part in the approximate once-every-decade

generational progression since the first phase of mobile standards in the
1980s. Each generation has harvested improvements throughout the
https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/5g-system-overview#:~:text=The 5G radio interface&For the uplink (UL)%2C,with Discrete Fourier Transform … 1/11
system, measured in 3GPP Releases – with the groups having recently

starting progress on Rel-18 specifications.
TM
As the name suggests, 3GPP started work in 1998 on the third generation
of mobile, using techniques and an evolutionary path that could be
embraced by all regions. This Global convergence towards the 3GPP
specifications has allowed fantastic market growth and an increasing
level of assurance that broadband cellular - and now the internet-of-
everything - can rely on a stable and future looking standardization
platform.
From an array of mobile systems for early generations, all operators are
now offering 3GPP systems, with LTE (4G) delivered by over 800
operators, with 150 of them already offering 5G to their users (Source:
GSAcom.com).
5G services
5G improves on the 4G services over several axis:
Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB): Higher data-rates are specified.

For the downlink, up to 50 Mbps are offered for outdoor and 1 Gbps for
indoor (5GLAN), with half of these values available for the uplink. A
number of case studies have been under consideration, amongst them
is aviation – where eMBB is helping deliver a bitrate of 1,2 Gbps to an
airborne flight.
Critical Communications (CC) and Ultra Reliable and Low Latency
Communications (URLLC): In some contexts, extremely high reliability
is expected. For instance, for remote control of process automation, a
reliability of 99,9999% is expected, with a user experienced data rate up
to 100 Mbps and an end-to-end latency of 50 ms. This is provided in
particular through the Edge Computing capability.
Massive Internet of Things (mIoT). Several scenarios require the 5G
system to support very high traffic densities of devices. The Massive
Internet of Things requirements include the operational aspects that
apply to the wide range of IoT devices and services anticipated in the
5G timeframe.
Flexible network operations. These are a set of specificities offered by
the 5G system, as detailed in the following sections. It covers aspects
such as network slicing, network capability exposure, scalability, and
diverse mobility, security, efficient content delivery, and migration and
interworking.
More information on these axis is provided in:
Release 15 Description; Summary of Rel-15 Work Items (TR 21.915)
Service requirements for the 5G system (TS 22.261)

TM
NR and NG-RAN Overall description; Stage-2 (TS 38.300).
This diversity of requirements, associated to the different categories of

usage described above, enables the 5G system (5GS) to be useful to a new
set of markets aka. "verticals", including: automotive, rail & maritime
communications; transport and logistics; discrete automation; electricity
distribution; public Safety; health and wellness; smart cities; media and
entertainment.
In addition to the new 5G-specific services, the 5G system supports

almost all the 4G LTE ones [1 – 9] and mobility between a 5G core network
and a 4G core network (EPC) is supported, with minimum impact on the
user experience.
Overall architecture
Schematically, the 5G system uses the same elements as the previous

generations: a User Equipment (UE), itself composed of a Mobile Station
and a USIM, the Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) and the Core Network
(5GC), as shown in the figure below.
Figure 1: overview of the 5GS
The main entity of the NG-RAN is the gNB, where "g" stands for "5G" and
"NB" for "Node B", which is the name inherited from 3G onwards to refer
to the radio transmitter. The radio interface is named "NR-Uu" for similar
reasons, although with divergences: here, "5G" is indicated by "NR" (for
"New Radio") and Uu is also a name inherited from previous generations.
The gNB may be further split into a gNB-Central Unit (gNB-CU) and one
or more gNB- Distributed Unit(s) (gNB-DU), linked by the F1 interface.
The 5GC is here schematically represented by the AMF/UPF entity: the

User Plane Function (UPF), handling the user data and, in the signalling
plane, the Access and Mobility management Function (AMF) that
accesses the UE and the (R)AN. Further entities of the 5GC are presented
below. The reference point between the access and the core networks is
called "NG". This reference point is constituted of several interfaces

(mostly N2, N3), as shown below.
TM
The 5GC architecture relies on a "Service-Based Architecture" (SBA)

framework, where the architecture elements are defined in terms of
"Network Functions" (NFs) rather than by "traditional" Network Entities.
Via interfaces of a common framework, any given NF offers its services to
all the other authorized NFs and/or to any "consumers" that are permitted
to make use of these provided services. Such an SBA approach offers
modularity and reusability.
The Figure 2, extracted from ‘System architecture for the 5G System (5GS)’
(TS 23.501), shows the main NFs:
Figure 2: the 5GS architecture
In the figure above, the User Plane, i.e. the Network Functions (NFs) and
elements involved in the transport of user data, is shown at the bottom
level, whereas the upper part of the figure shows all the essential NFs
within the signalling plane. In this first approach, the following NFs are
shown:
The four entities already introduced, i.e.: the UE, the NG-RAN or (R)AN,
the UPF and the AMF
The (external) Data Network (DN), mostly in the User Plane
The Application Function (AF), controlling the application(s) (with
possible involvement also in the user plane)
The Session Management Function (SMF), that handles the calls and
sessions, and contacts the UPF accordingly
The Unified Data Management (UDM), functionally similar to 3G and
4G's HSS (and 2G's HLR)
The Policy Control Function (PCF), that controls that the user data
traffic does not exceed the negotiated bearer(s) capacities
The Network Repository Function (NRF), which "controls" the other NFs
by providing support for NF register, deregister and update service to
NF and their services.
The security-related NFs: Network Exposure Function (NEF),

Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Security Anchor Functionality
TM
(SEAF) – see TechGuide "Security in 5G"

The Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) – see TechGuide "Slicing
in 5G"
The charging framework migrated from the Diameter based Off- and
Online charging to converged charging service with Service Based
Interface (SBI) as defined in TS 32.240, for Operators to be able to
monetize the various set of 5GS features and services.
5G Protocol stacks
A protocol stack is defined e.g. in TS 23.501 for communications between

several of these NFs, and secondary ones, not presented in the figure
above. Here, we highlight some of the main ones:
Control plane: the UE-to-AMF and UE-to-SMF protocol stack
The protocol stack between the UE and the SMF, via the AMF, is shown in
the next figure [TS 23.501, section 8.2]:
Figure 3: Control Plane protocol stack between the UE, the 5G-AN, the
AMF and the SMF
NAS-SM: it supports the handling of Session Management between the

UE and the SMF. It supports user plane PDU Session Establishment,
modification and release. It is transferred via the AMF, and transparent to
the AMF. It is defined in ‘Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for 5G
System (5GS); Stage 3’ (TS 24.501).
NAS-MM: it supports registration management functionality, connection

management functionality and user plane connection activation and
deactivation. It is also responsible of ciphering and integrity protection of
NAS signalling. 5G NAS protocol is defined in TS 24.501.
5G-AN Protocol layer: This set of protocols/layers depends on the 5G-AN.

In the case of NG-RAN, the radio protocol between the UE and the NG-
RAN node (eNodeB or gNodeB) is specified in the E-UTRA & E-UTRAN;

‘Overall description; Stage 2’ (TS 36.300) and the NR ‘Overall description;
TM
Stage-2’ in TS 38.300. In the case of non-3GPP access, see clause 8.2.4.
NG Application Protocol (NG-AP): Application Layer Protocol between the

5G-AN node and the AMF. NG-AP is defined in TS 38.413.
Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP): This protocol guarantees

delivery of signalling messages between AMF and 5G-AN node (N2). SCTP
is defined in ietf RFC 4960.
Note that there is also a direct communication between 5G-AN and SMF,
called N2 SM information: this is the subset of NG-AP information (not
shown on the figure) that the AMF transparently relays between the 5G-
AN and the SMF, and is included in the NG-AP messages and the N11
related messages.
User plane: the UE-to-AMF and UE-to-SMF protocol stack
The following figure is extracted from TS 23.501, section 8.3. It illustrates

the protocol stack for the User plane transport related with a PDU
Session.
Figure 4: User Plane Protocol Stack between the UE, the 5G-AN and
the UPF
PDU layer: This layer corresponds to the PDU carried between the UE and
the DN over the PDU Session. When the PDU Session Type is IPv4 or IPv6
or IPv4v6, it corresponds to IPv4 packets or IPv6 packets or both of them;
When the PDU Session Type is Ethernet, it corresponds to Ethernet
frames; etc.
GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for the user plane (GTP U): This protocol
supports tunnelling user data over N3 (i.e. between the 5G-AN node and
the UPF) and N9 (i.e. between different UPFs of the 5GC) in the backbone
network, details see TS 29.281. GTP shall encapsulate all end user PDUs. It
provides encapsulation on a per PDU Session level. This layer carries also
the marking associated with a QoS Flow defined in clause 5.7. This
TM
protocol is also used on N4 interface as defined in TS 29.244.
5G-AN protocol stack: This set of protocols/layers depends on the AN.

When the 5G-AN is a 3GPP NG-RAN, these protocols/layers are defined in
TS 38.401. The radio protocol between the UE and the 5G-AN node
(eNodeB or gNodeB) is specified in TS 36.300 and TS 38.300. L2 is also
called the "Data Link Layer" and the L1 is the "Physical Layer".
UDP/IP: These are the backbone network protocols.
The 5G radio interface
5G's radio technology is called NR (for New Radio). It is specified in TS

38.300 "NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall description; Stage-2".
For layer 1: for the downlink (DL), i.e. network to UE, NR uses OFDM with
Cyclic Prefix (CP) (similar to LTE). For the uplink (UL), i.e. UE to network,
OFDM can also be used, as well as DFT-s-OFDM (OFDM with Discrete
Fourier Transform precoding). DFT-s-OFDM improves UL coverage but it
has lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) and is limited to single-
layer transmission only.
Some key characteristics of 5G layer 1 is that it spreads over multiple

frequency ranges, to enable deployment in frequencies on a per-country
or per-region basis. The carriers are from 400 MHz up to 100 GHz, but the
licensed bands are from 600 MHz up to 39 GHz. These frequencies are re-
farmed analogue TV (UHF) bands and some satellites systems, without
interference since used in different locations.
For terrestrial, 3 main ranges of frequencies are identified:
Up to 1 GHz: with its better propagation characteristics, this set is

intended to cover large areas, typically for rural deployment. The
maximum bandwidth for one carrier is 100 MHz.
From 1 to 6 GHz: this intermediate range is for 5G deployment in a
urban or sub-urban context. Here too, the maximum bandwidth is 100
MHz.
Higher than 6 GHz: with its poorer propagation but higher bandwidth
to the user (maximum bandwidth of 400 MHz), this range is meant for
dense urban environment ("hot-spot" type of coverage).
More high-level details of the 5G NR, including the layer 1, are provided in
the Summary of Rel-15 Work Items: TR 21.915.
The "Non-Stand Alone" (NSA) versus the "Stand-Alone" (SA)

architecture
TM
Two deployment options are defined for 5G:
the "Non-Stand Alone" (NSA) architecture, where the 5G Radio Access

Network (AN) and its New Radio (NR) interface is used in conjunction
with the existing LTE and EPC infrastructure Core Network (respectively
4G Radio and 4G Core), thus making the NR technology available
without network replacement. In this configuration, only the 4G
services are supported, but they enjoy the capacities offered by the 5G
New Radio (lower latency, etc). The NSA is also known as "E-UTRA-NR
Dual Connectivity (EN-DC)" or "Architecture Option 3". See also the
clause on EDCE5.
the "Stand-Alone" (SA) architecture, where the NR is connected to the
5G CN. Only in this configuration, the full set of 5G Phase 1 services are
supported.
The NSA architecture is illustrated in the following figure.
Figure 5: The NSA Architecture
The NSA architecture can be seen as a temporary step towards a "full 5G"
deployment, where the 5G Access Network is connected to the 4G Core
Network. In the NSA architecture, the (5G) NR base station (logical node
"en-gNB") connects to the (4G) LTE base station (logical node "eNB") via
the X2 interface. The X2 interface was introduced prior to Release 15 to
connect two eNBs. In Release 15, it also supports connecting an eNB and
en-gNB to provide NSA.
The NSA offers dual connectivity, via both the 4G AN (E-UTRA) and the 5G
AN (NR). It is thus also called "EN-DC", for "E-UTRAN and NR Dual
Connectivity".
In EN-DC, the 4G's eNB is the Master Node (MN) while the 5G's en-gNB is
the Secondary Node (SN).
TM
This is explained in detail on the dedicated section on NSA of this

document.
The SA architecture is illustrated in the following figure.
Figure 6: The SA Architecture
The SA architecture can be seen as the "full 5G deployment", not needing

any part of a 4G network to operate.
The NR base stations (logical node "gNB") connect with each other via the
Xn interface, and the Access Network (called the "NG-RAN for SA
architecture") connects to the 5GC network using the NG interface.
Some specificities of the 5G network
The rest of this section refers to the 5G SA architecture, with the NSA
being addressed in a later section.
More than a new radio interface, the 5G network introduces a number of

key new technologies. Some of them are briefly introduced here:
Network Slicing: This is the ability to deploy and use simultaneously

different CNs, each one specialised in the provisioning of a given set of
services and/or a given set of subscribers. For instance, one slice can
support the "usual" network operator’s subscribers, another slice might
be dedicated to support the subscribers of a virtual operator, a third one
can handle a specific service, like tracking of containers via M2M, etc.
Network Function Virtualization: As shown in Figure 2, all the Network

Functions communicate through a common interface and so can be
located anywhere. This allows for much greater flexibility in the network
deployment. Maintenance is also greatly simplified, as a temporary NF
can be easily established.
EDGE computing: Some computational power is introduced as

"physically close" to the end-user as possible. Indeed, some applications
TM
such are virtual reality, factories of the future or autonomous driving, are
very demanding in terms of the propagation's/network's response time.
To reduce this time, some "local replications” of a main server are
introduced closer to the end-user.
Going further
The 5G system is described in over a thousand 3GPP Technical Reports

(TRs) and Technical Specifications (TSs).
To help you find more information, e.g. on the dynamic behaviour of 5GS
(procedures, etc) or on some specific aspect of 5G, some key TRs and TSs
are listed here:
TS 22.261, "Service requirements for the 5G system".

TS 23.501, "System architecture for the 5G System (5GS)"
TS 23.502 "Procedures for the 5G System (5GS)
TS 32.240 “Charging management; Charging architecture and
principles".
TS 24.501 "Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for 5G System (5GS);
Stage 3"
TS 38.300 "NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall description; Stage-2"
Referenced Specifications:
1. TS 22.278, "Service requirements for the Evolved Packet System (EPS)".
2. TS 22.011, "Service accessibility".
3. TS 22.101, "Service aspects; Service principles".
4. TS 22.185, "Service requirements for V2X services".
5. TS 22.071, "Location Services (LCS); Service description".
6. TS 22.115, "Service aspects; Charging and billing".
7. TS 22.153, "Multimedia priority service".
8. TS 22.173, "IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS) Multimedia
Telephony Service and supplementary services".
9. TS 22.186, "Service requirements for enhanced V2X scenarios".
3GPP Work Plan:

See a listing of all work & study items here:
https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Information/WORK_PLAN/.
Working Groups:
All groups.
3GPP Release(s):
https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/5g-system-overview#:~:text=The 5G radio interface&For the uplink (UL)%2C,with Discrete Fourier Transfor… 10/11
Rel-19
Rel-18 TM
Rel-17
Rel-16
Rel-15
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please be aware that these pages are a snapshot of

the work going on in 3GPP. The full picture of all work is contained in the
Work Plan (https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Information/WORK_PLAN/)
Updated: 11/Oct/2022 Added charging content (KF)
https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/5g-system-overview#:~:text=The 5G radio interface&For the uplink (UL)%2C,with Discrete Fourier Transform… 11/11

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11/21/24, 10:46 PM 5G System Overview

 Technologies / 5G System Overview

Coordinated by Alain Sultan, MCC.

5G is defined in several phases. Release 15 specifies 5G phase 1, which

All previous generations have been designed to be used by an ever wider

To offer these capacities, and more generally to improve the user

The road to a fifth generation

3GPP plays a major part in the approximate once-every-decade

system, measured in 3GPP Releases – with the groups having recently

5G improves on the 4G services over several axis:

Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB): Higher data-rates are specified.

More information on these axis is provided in:

Release 15 Description; Summary of Rel-15 Work Items (TR 21.915)

Service requirements for the 5G system (TS 22.261)

NR and NG-RAN Overall description; Stage-2 (TS 38.300).

This diversity of requirements, associated to the different categories of

In addition to the new 5G-specific services, the 5G system supports

Schematically, the 5G system uses the same elements as the previous

Figure 1: overview of the 5GS

The 5GC is here schematically represented by the AMF/UPF entity: the

called "NG". This reference point is constituted of several interfaces

The 5GC architecture relies on a "Service-Based Architecture" (SBA)

Figure 2: the 5GS architecture

The security-related NFs: Network Exposure Function (NEF),

(SEAF) – see TechGuide "Security in 5G"

A protocol stack is defined e.g. in TS 23.501 for communications between

Control plane: the UE-to-AMF and UE-to-SMF protocol stack

NAS-SM: it supports the handling of Session Management between the

NAS-MM: it supports registration management functionality, connection

5G-AN Protocol layer: This set of protocols/layers depends on the 5G-AN.

RAN node (eNodeB or gNodeB) is specified in the E-UTRA & E-UTRAN;

Stage-2’ in TS 38.300. In the case of non-3GPP access, see clause 8.2.4.

NG Application Protocol (NG-AP): Application Layer Protocol between the

Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP): This protocol guarantees

User plane: the UE-to-AMF and UE-to-SMF protocol stack

The following figure is extracted from TS 23.501, section 8.3. It illustrates

protocol is also used on N4 interface as defined in TS 29.244.

5G-AN protocol stack: This set of protocols/layers depends on the AN.

UDP/IP: These are the backbone network protocols.

The 5G radio interface

5G's radio technology is called NR (for New Radio). It is specified in TS

Some key characteristics of 5G layer 1 is that it spreads over multiple

For terrestrial, 3 main ranges of frequencies are identified:

Up to 1 GHz: with its better propagation characteristics, this set is

The "Non-Stand Alone" (NSA) versus the "Stand-Alone" (SA)

Two deployment options are defined for 5G:

the "Non-Stand Alone" (NSA) architecture, where the 5G Radio Access

The NSA architecture is illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 5: The NSA Architecture

This is explained in detail on the dedicated section on NSA of this

The SA architecture is illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 6: The SA Architecture

The SA architecture can be seen as the "full 5G deployment", not needing

Some specificities of the 5G network

More than a new radio interface, the 5G network introduces a number of

Network Slicing: This is the ability to deploy and use simultaneously

Network Function Virtualization: As shown in Figure 2, all the Network

EDGE computing: Some computational power is introduced as

The 5G system is described in over a thousand 3GPP Technical Reports

TS 22.261, "Service requirements for the 5G system".