Chapter 1-5G Development and Evolution

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1 5G Development and Evolution 
5G has been deployed on a large scale as of 2020. High-speed 5G development has boosted 
fast increase of sites. What are the new features and latest technologies of 5G networks? 
What are the applications of 5G in various industries? How does 5G drive industry 
digitalization? Let's start our 5G learning journey and look for answers in this course. 
1.1 Basics of Mobile Communications 
1.1.1 Development and Evolution of Mobile Communications 
5G, short for fifth generation, refers to the fifth-generation mobile communications system. 
It is also an extension of 4G. To understand 5G, we need to understand the development of 
mobile communications systems and first figure out what is communications and what is 
mobile communications? Actually, we are doing communications all the time, like a letter to 
a family member, a phone call, a message, or a video chat in a family group. In a broad sense, 
the exchange of any information between people or between people and nature is a kind of 
communications. There are various common communication methods in life, such as phone 
calls, SMS messages, WeChat, and even various massive apps and social media. It has been 
concluded that the communication signal has become the fifth necessary factor in modern 
people's life that ranks after air, water, food, and electricity. 
Communications has always been playing an important role in human history and even 
human development. In ancient China, soldiers stationed along the military front or 
transportation strongholds used smoke signals at the top of towers to alert each other of an 
impending enemy attack or other urgent military intelligence. Also in ancient China, 
drumming, to beat the drum and sound the gong, was used to order an advance or retreat in 
battle. In addition to encouraging the soldiers to attack, drumming was also used in 
quartering or marching. Smoke signal and drumming were suitable only for sending military 
intelligence or orders on the battlefield, other information was conveyed through letters. In 
ancient China, there was a place similar to a post office, and the postman delivered letters on 
horseback. In addition, the homing ability of flying pigeons was exploited to send letters tied 
to their legs. During World War II, sending messages using pigeons was safer than using radio 
equipment. Some Africans trained monkeys to deliver letters. The lighthouse originated from 
ancient Egypt was used to guide ships sailing at sea. The flag signal used on the warships has 
been used since ancient times. Among other ancient communication methods abroad, 
marathon is the most notable. More than two thousand years ago, the Greek army fought 
 
 
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back the enemy's invasion at the Marathon plain. A messenger, Pheidippides, ran from 
Marathon to Athens without stopping to deliver news of the victory of the battle of 
Marathon. "Joy to you, we've won" he said, and there and then he died. In commemoration 
of the soldier's heroic deeds, the marathon race was instituted. 
Figure 1-1 Modern communications 
 
 
In modern times, Samuel Morse from the US invented the telegraph in 1837. This marked the 
first device to quickly transmit information to any corner of the world. In 1875, Alexander 
Graham Bell invented the telephone. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, telephones had no 
dial, so it was impossible to dial a number directly. Instead, an operator would connect the 
calling party. A telephone with a rotary dial was invented by the 1920s, and push-button 
phones went to market in the 1970s and 1980s. These also had the CLIP function. However, 
users needed to be near a fixed-line phone to receive calls. As such, people wanted a more 
convenient communication tool. First, pagers were invented, becoming transition products. 
With a pager, the called party could see the calling party's number, but not communicate 
with the calling party directly. A pager was also known as a beeper, because it beeped after 
someone called. In 1973, Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola in the US invented the first 
handheld cellular phone. After continuous transformation, mobile phones have evolved to 
keyboards and then to smartphones in our hands. 
How do these devices connect to each other? The transmission media is required. There are 
two types of transmission media: wireless and wired. The wired transmission media is visible 
and tangible, such as the telephone line of a fixed-line phone, the network cable for a 
desktop computer to access the Internet, the optical fiber connected to a router, and the 
coaxial cable used for communication between devices. In wireless communications, 
electromagnetic waves are mainly used to transmit information. Mobile, Wi-Fi, GPS, 
microwave, and satellite communications are all of this kind. 
C =λ x f 
⚫ λ: wavelength of radio waves, in meters 
⚫ f: frequency of radio waves, in Hz 
⚫ C: light speed, fixed at 299792458 m/s 
Single the speed of light equals the frequency multiplied by the wavelength, the frequency is 
inversely proportional to the wavelength, with a higher frequency leading to a smaller 
wavelength. This is very important for the research of electromagnetic waves and wireless 
communications. 
 
 
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Figure 1-2 Classification of electromagnetic waves 
 
 
As shown in Figure 1-2, the wave frequencies can be summarized as a spectrum. Spectrum is 
a physical quantity that exists in nature and cannot be increased or decreased. Therefore, 
spectrum is extremely valuable. The propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves 
vary across frequency bands. Low frequency bands, indicating long wavelengths, feature 
small propagation loss, long coverage distance, and a strong diffraction capability. High 
frequency bands, indicating short wavelengths, come with large propagation loss, short 
coverage distance, and poor diffraction capability. Currently, low frequency resources are 
limited, and the system capacity is small. High frequency resources are abundant, and the 
system capacity is large. How to use the spectrum more efficiently and obtain a higher 
transmission rate with the limited spectrum has become a goal for continuous breakthrough 
in wireless communications. 
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines the usable frequency range of 
electromagnetic waves as 3 kHz to 300 GHz. 
Hz, also called hertz, is the basic unit of frequency. It is named in honor of Heinrich Rudolf 
Hertz, a German physicist who first proved the existence of electromagnetic waves. 
Frequency refers to the number of times that electrical pulses, alternating current 
waveforms, electromagnetic waves, sound waves, and mechanical vibrations repeat in one 
second. Humans with normal hearing can hear sounds between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. Waves 
below 20 Hz are called infrasonic waves and those above 20,000 Hz are known as ultrasonic 
waves. 
Figure 1-3 1 Hz 
 
 
 
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Figure 1-4 2 Hz 
 
 
Currently, the usable frequency range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz is divided into eight segments: low 
frequency (LF), medium frequency (MF), high frequency (HF), very high frequency (VHF), 
ultra high frequency (UHF), super high frequency (SHF), extremely high frequency (EHF), and 
tremendously high frequency (THF, that is, terahertz radiation). The use of frequency bands 
is developed together with human science and technology. The development of science and 
technology is the process of "building houses" in frequency bands. The frequency band with 
a range of 3 kHz to 300 kHz is called very low frequency (VLF) and LF. Its wavelength can 
reach tens of kilometers and has strong diffraction capability to easily cover the entire earth. 
Therefore, this frequency band was initially used for navigation of air and sea transportation. 
When the capability of radio waves to transmit informationsuch as sound was discovered, 
MF initially became the preferred frequency band for regional radio stations. MF is also used 
in many navigation systems. In the radio broadcasting field, HF is called short wave. The first 
global broadcasting station and global communications radio station were implemented in 
the HF range as HF allowed for ultra-long-distance transmission through ionospheric 
reflection without requiring the ultra-high power of the transmit stations. Radio frequency 
identification (RFID) and Near Field Communication (NFC) work in this frequency range, 
where NFC works in 13.56 MHz, and RFID additionally uses 27.12 MHz. Selecting this 
frequency band reduces the design difficulty and manufacturing costs of the receiver and 
transmitter, rather than increases the transmission distance. Since frequency ranges from LF 
to HF have been used for transmitting sound globally, VHF was then developed and utilized 
to achieve visualized, two-way communication. FM radios, walkie-talkies, pagers, cordless 
phones, and wireless TVs all work in this frequency band. The popularity of these products 
has profoundly affected social development. In addition, VHF is also used in international 
maritime communications, aviation navigation, aviation ground communications, and so on. 
Most digital wireless communications technologies, such as GSM (2G), WCDMA (3G), LTE 
(4G), and GPS, as well as certain 5G services, are provided in the UHF. Given the massive 
applications, the use of this frequency range must be strictly licensed in most cases in 
countries around the world, in a form such as a mobile phone operator-specific license. 
Countries also define unlicensed frequency bands (such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) in this 
frequency band. The UHF is rather congested with a large number of wireless 
communications working in it. Therefore, a higher frequency band is required to further 
improve the transmission rate. From 802.11n onwards, the 5 GHz unlicensed frequency band 
is used to achieve above-Gigabit-level Wi-Fi speeds. Due to its large bandwidth, the 5 GHz 
unlicensed frequency band helps further improve the transmission rate and bearer 
capability. As for the 5G communications standard, the mmWave band 28 GHz, in addition to 
the 2.4 GHz frequency band that has been used in LTE, is utilized to achieve an ultra-high 
transmission rate. We will talk about mmWave later. In the next-generation Wi-Fi standard 
IEEE 802.11ad, the 60 GHz frequency band is used to reach a maximum transmission rate of 
 
 
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7 Gbps. Before IEEE 802.11ad was released, Wireless HDMI implemented wireless 
transmission of HDMI signals within 10 meters in the 60 GHz frequency band. Despite many 
restrictions, the EHF is definitely another path of wireless communications. To achieve the 
transmission rate of over 10 Gbps, the EHF must be fully utilized. The wavelength of the THF 
is between the EHF and the infrared ray. The electromagnetic wave in the THF has various 
features of the light wave. Therefore, the THF can scan an object like a ray. Although the 
imaging quality is inferior to that of the X ray, the THF does not have a radioactive effect on 
the object. Due to its exclusive features, the THF is used in imaging and security, but does not 
lead to many breakthroughs in communications. The full-body scanners used at American 
airports are based on terahertz radiation. The UHF, SHF, and EHF are the main frequency 
bands used in mobile communications. 
Why can a higher frequency band support a larger bandwidth? You need to first understand 
Shannon's equation: C = B x log2(1 + S/N) 
Shannon's equation is the most basic principle of all communication standards. In the 
equation, C indicates the available link speed, B the link bandwidth, S the average signal 
power, N the average noise power, and S/N the signal-to-noise ratio. Shannon's equation 
provides the relationship among the upper limit of the link rate (bit/s), SNR, and bandwidth. 
It can explain why the maximum traffic volume on a single carrier in 3G varies with the 
bandwidth. 
An analogy in case is that the speed of a car on a city road relates to the road width, vehicle 
power, and other interference factors (for example, the number of concurrent vehicles on 
the same road and the number of red lights). 
The first generation (1G) of mobile communications system was born in Chicago, USA, in 
1986. The most typical representative of the 1G network is the popular mobile telephone 
launched by Motorola in the 1990s. The second generation (2G) uses digital modulation 
technology and the main communication standards include code division multiple access 
(CDMA, used by Motorola) and global system for mobile communications (GSM, used by 
Nokia). 
In the 2G era, mobile phones could access the Internet, but with a low data transmission 
rate. The third generation (3G) substantially increased the transmission rate by developing 
new electromagnetic spectrum and formulating new communication standards. The 3G 
protocol standards include the European standard WCDMA used by China Unicom, the North 
American standard CDMA2000 used by China Telecom, and the Chinese-dominated TD-
SCDMA used by China Mobile. With the 3G-capable iPhone released in 2008, users could 
browse web pages, send and receive emails, make video calls, and watch live videos from 
this hand-held device, dawning the era of mobile multimedia. 
What are CDMA, WCDMA, and TD-SCDMA? Those are multiple access technologies. 
 
 
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Figure 1-5 Common multiple access technologies 
 
 
There are many multiple access technologies. Commonly used multiple access technologies 
include Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), 
code division multiple access (CDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), and orthogonal 
frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). FDMA is used in the early analog mobile 
communications system (1G). In GSM, TDMA dominates and FDMA is used as a supplement. 
CDMA is introduced in 3G to distinguish users by orthogonal sequence (code). 
Supporting high-definition movies, real-time gaming services, and fast transmission of large 
data, 4G ushers in the era of mobile Internet. Considering the complexity of system 
implementation, 4G uses orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) or SC-
OFDMA instead of CDMA to differentiate users by time-frequency resource. 5G enables the 
F-OFDMA technology for further optimization. 5G expands communication from just people-
people to people-people, people-things, and things-things, achieving interconnection of 
everything. 5G networks will enable the digitalization of the entire industry, bring 
tremendous changes, and reshape our life, work, and business models. 
What is a network that can carry services of hundreds of millions of users around the world? 
The network consists of five parts: terminal, base station, transport network, core network, 
and application service. A terminal can be a mobile phone, CPE, or drone. Terminals are 
connected to the antenna system on base stations, which may be found on the rooftops, 
lamp poles, and towers. Base stations need to connect to each user distributed all around. 
The transport network needs to send information to the core network. After processing a 
request from a terminal, the core network sends the request to the relevant application to 
provide services. The processing of each small request requires all the five parts. Only such a 
complete network can meet the massive requirements of hundreds of millions of users. 
 
 
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Figure 1-6 Overview of a communications network 
 
 
1.1.2 Industry Applications of Mobile Communications 
How does such a network implement services? Use viewing a TikTok video as an example: 
Step 1: A user powers on the mobile phone. The mobile phone automatically accesses the 
network throughthe base station and transmission network. After performing 
authentication and registration, the core network allocates an IP address and a bearer to the 
user. Step 2: When the user runs the mobile phone application, a service request is sent to 
the corresponding port number and destination IP address through the bearer. Step 3: The 
application platform responds to the request and pushes video data packets based on the 
internal algorithm of the server. After the data packets are transmitted to and then 
decompressed by the mobile phone, the video starts to play. 
Figure 1-7 Mobile service process 
 
 
What are the applications of mobile communications in other industries? In the 
transportation industry, high-speed railways and subways use the autonomous driving 
 
 
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technology, and manual control by a driver is needed only in emergencies. The GSM-R and 
LTE-R technologies are required for controlling the train speed and parking location. 
Information broadcast and video surveillance on trains, including video and TV 
advertisements we watch on trains, and Wi-Fi Internet access on high-speed railways are also 
based on LTE-R technologies. Introducing 5G or using 5G as a substitute has become a trend 
in the future. The latest 5G DIS/AirFlash technology is used to collect information about 
vehicle-mounted devices. The 5G@60 GHz wireless technology is used to implement ultra-
high-speed train-to-ground wireless transmission at a rate higher than 1.5 Gbit/s, connect 
the vehicle and ground systems, and implement automatic alignment, automatic connection, 
automatic upload, and automatic dump (dual-end) of all videos recorded in a train in a trip 
within 150 seconds. The entire process does not require manual intervention. The data is 
complete, secure, and reliable. 
In the electric power industry, there are multiple services that have different network 
requirements, such as low latency and high reliability for power distribution automation, 
massive terminal access for power consumption information collection and intelligent 
charging pile management, and large bandwidth for surveillance video upload at power 
distribution stations and video services in drone inspection. Huawei eLTE-DSA, enterprise 
long-term evolution-discrete spectrum aggregation, can be used to process services. It 
provides features such as low latency, deep coverage, low power consumption, and physical 
slicing to implement the applications of communication technologies in smart electric power. 
1.2 Driving Forces Behind 5G Development 
As a popular saying goes, "4G has changed our life while 5G will change the entire society". 
In the big video era of 4G networks, the evolution of mobile wireless networks is changing 
and improving the communication mode between people. However, there are still many 
services that cannot be provided by 4G technologies. 
Figure 1-8 5G development vision 
 
 
 
 
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For example, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), cloud gaming, and cloud office 
listed in Figure 1-8 are not available by using simply 4G. How to achieve digital 
transformation in various industries has become the biggest goal of the communications 
industry. This will be the future development direction of 5G and even mobile 
communications. 
Based on the technology development direction and customer service requirements, 
International Telecommunication Union - Radio communication Sector (ITU-R) defined three 
types of 5G application scenarios in June 2015: enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-
reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine-Type Communications 
(mMTC). It also defined the requirements on 5G network capabilities in eight aspects, such 
as throughput, latency, connection density, and spectral efficiency improvement. 
Why did the ITU-R define the three types of application scenarios? From the aspects of what 
kinds of services? Let's see what services will be available in the future. 
1. Large bandwidth: AR and VR are such services. AR has been regarded as a killer 
application of 5G due to its friendliness and flexibility. In the experience game 
showrooms in shopping malls, people may have access such services by using technical 
products such as Huawei glasses. However, customers may have poor service 
experience due to the heavy terminals, wired head-mounted devices like big knots, 
inaccurate locating, long delay, or slow rendering. 5G can solve these issues to 
eliminate the knots, improve the upload and download rates, and make the service 
access more convenient, with an aim that everyone can become Iron Man that has their 
own "Javies" as soon as possible and use VR to assist learning, scientific research and 
innovation, games and entertainment. 
However, an AI manager cannot be achieved by simply using the current local VR alone. 
In the future, Cloud VR will become the mainstream. In Cloud VR, the terminal we carry 
may just be glasses or laser projectors, and the presented content, interactive feedback 
of actions, and video rendering are all completed by the cloud server, which not only 
improves user experience, but also significantly reduces terminal costs, allowing VR to 
be available to thousands of households. This requires terminals and servers to 
continuously upload and download a large amount of data to enhance users' sense of 
reality and 5G is expected to fulfill the requirement. 
2. Low latency: In the future, various services will have strict requirements on latency, 
such as electric power control, autonomous driving, and remote surgery. For example, 
VR is also a low-latency service given that a user will feel dizzy if the delay exceeds 20 
ms. Currently, the minimum latency provided by 4G is only 30 ms, which cannot meet 
the requirements of VR, not to mention the 1 ms latency requirement for autonomous 
driving and industrial control. 
Why does autonomous driving require a latency of 1 ms? Let's take a high-speed car 
running at 100 km/h as an example. When the driver stops the car in a case of an 
emergency, the car still travels for 3.33 m in 3G and 1.67 m in 4G. This distance could 
still endanger peoples' lives. With the 1 ms delay in 5G, the car traveling at the same 
speed only travels for 3.3 cm, ensuring traffic safety. In such cases, low latency is no 
longer technical data, but the readline for protecting peoples' lives. It is true that 5G 
changes the society. 
3. Massive connections: Currently, IoT technologies have been widely used in multiple 
scenarios, such as smart metering and bicycle sharing. However, what we want to 
achieve in the future is the Internet of Everything. Massive intelligent terminals will be 
widely used in industries, agriculture, education and healthcare, transportation and 
energy, financial information, and the environment and home. Technically, 4G is far 
 
 
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from enough to support such massive connections. For example, smart city has always 
been a gold card for advanced cities. Currently, street lamps, signal lights, cameras, and 
water meters can be connected to the network. However, this is far from enough. In 
the future, smoke detectors and fire hydrants can be used to intelligently put out fires. 
Smart garbage bins and smart cameras will be able to automatically classify garbage. 
Smart hydrology monitoring, smart greenhouses, and smart animal husbandry will also 
be available to promote the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Apart 
from these common facilities, self-driving cars, smart office tools, and devices used in 
smart homes all need to be connected to the network, and the number of connections 
will definitely increase exponentially. 
To sum up, 5G needs to accommodate services that require ultra-high bandwidth, such 
as AR/VR, live video, and 8K video; and services that require faster response and lower 
latency, such as autonomousdriving, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and smart 
manufacturing; as well as services similar to the Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of 
Vehicles (IoV), and smart city that require massive connections. These services finally 
fall into the three application scenarios enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-
reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine-Type 
Communications (mMTC). 
For these three application scenarios, key performance indicators of 5G networks 
include the 1 ms air interface latency, 10 Gbps throughput per connection, and 1 million 
connections per km2, representing improvements by dozens of times or hundreds of 
times as compared to 4G. Another key technology is slicing. 5G will not only connect 
every user, that is, to customer (toC), but also connect thousands of industries, that is, 
to business (toB). Services of toB users not only require large bandwidth, low latency, 
and massive connections, but also secure service isolation and independent operation. 
This is because industry services carried on 5G networks may be core secrets and must 
not be stolen. In addition, to ensure industry service stability, the issue of industry 
bandwidth reduction due to excess network requirements must be avoided. 5G uses 
NFV and FlexE technologies to flexibly orchestrate and automatically deploy services on 
the core network. Slices for large bandwidth, low latency, or massive connections can 
be generated as required and independent of each other. 
1.3 5G Standardization Progress 
As a Chinese saying goes that food and fodder must come before troops and horses, a 
qualified standard, like ISO9001, must be formulated before a qualified product can be 
produced. The same is true for mobile networks. How can we enable global mobile phone 
manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, mobile operators, application service providers, 
and industry customers to implement 5G in the same way for interconnection and 
interworking? Formulating protocol standards is an important step. In addition, protocols are 
often modified with features upgraded in different versions to ensure accuracy of standards. 
Small modifications in the protocols are implemented through software upgrades; big 
changes to protocols may require redesigning hardware and developing software. 
So which organizations are developing standards? Generally, the International 
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) are the 
organizations related to standards of mobile communications. ITU is an international 
organization responsible for establishing international radio and telecommunication 
management rules and standards. The ITU formulates standards, allocates radio resources, 
and develops international toll interconnection solutions between countries. 3GPP is an 
 
 
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international standards organization. Its members include some scientific research institutes, 
government management organizations, equipment vendors such as Huawei, and mobile 
phone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung. Unlike the ITU that does not discuss 
technical details, 3GPP elaborates on technical details, but its standard plans must comply 
with ITU requirements. Then, equipment vendors manufacture communications products 
and operators deploy networks in accordance with the standards, allowing end users to 
access various networks in a convenient way. 
Figure 1-9 3GPP protocol evolution 
 
 
Now, let's look at the 3G, 4G, and 5G systems that we are familiar with. As its name suggests, 
3GPP was initially intended for developing and implementing the global third-generation 
(that is 3G) mobile phone system specifications within the ITU-launched International Mobile 
Telephony-2000 (IMT-2000) framework. 3GPP has also developed and implemented the 
global fourth-generation (that is, 4G) mobile system specifications within the ITU-launched 
IMT-Advanced framework. During the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 held in 
Geneva, Switzerland from October 26 to 30, ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) officially 
approved the resolution on promoting future 5G research and formally decided on "IMT-
2020" as the legal name of 5G. 
Now, let's take a look at the evolution of standards. LTE was introduced since 3GPP Release 8, 
LTE-A since Release 10, and 4.5G (LTE Advanced Pro) since Release 12. 5G started from 3GPP 
Release 15. Strictly speaking, 5G includes not only new technologies — such as New Radio 
(NR) and Next Generation Core (NGC), but also LTE evolutions — such as evolved LTE (eLTE) 
based on LTE Advanced Pro and EPC+. Given the huge details to be discussed and the 
complex procedures, 5G was planned to be fulfilled in two releases, 3GPP Release 15 and 
Release 16. 
 
 
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Figure 1-10 5G standard development process 
 
 
Originally, it was planned that 3GPP Release 15 should be formulated from 2017 to the 
middle of 2018 to complete 5G phase 1 with the focus on eMBB and 3GPP Release 16 should 
be formulated from 2018 to 2019 to complete 5G phase 2 centered on URLLC. However, the 
actual implementation was not smooth. At MWC 2016, Verizon in the US, KT in South Korea 
and SKT and DCM in Japan announced the establishment of OTSA to formulate unified 
specifications for 5G tests, promote the allocation of 28 GHz spectrum resources, and 
promote the development of the 5G industry. The OTSA, dominated by Verizon, is often 
referred to as V5G. As only an enhancement to existing LTE technologies, V5G could be 
quickly implemented and was intended for pre-commercial use in 2018, which preceded 
3GPP-defined 5G phase 1 and posed significant challenges to the 3GPP organization. This is 
because the emergence of different standards such as GSM and CDMA in 2G, will inevitably 
lead to the problems of international roaming and interconnection and finally split the 
industry chain. Therefore, the 3GPP organization accelerated the standardization process and 
divided the original 3GPP Release 15 into phase 1.1 non-standalone (NSA) networking and 
phase 1.2 standalone (SA) networking. The NSA networking was frozen at the end of 2017, 
allowing 5G products and services to be launched quickly and occupy the market. The SA 
networking was frozen in the middle of June 2018, and SA networking of 5G could be 
launched by evolution based on the existing networks. Thanks to the more convenient and 
fast NSA deployment, Verizon later shifted to 3GPP and the other three vendors also 
announced that they would no longer provide products based on OTSA specifications. Today, 
OTSA is no longer functioning. 5G allows for complete unification of global mobile 
communications standards, which was unavailable in previous RATs. Therefore, the 5G 
standardization process is as follows: Phase 1 completed in the middle of 2018 implements 
eMBB and basic URLLC services. Phase 2, that is, 3GPP Release 16, completes URLLC services 
and enhances eMBB. mMTC was considered in the initial phase. However, considering the 
service and network convergence of mMTC with existing NB-IoT, mMTC will be implemented 
in later versions. The overall goal was to achieve global commercial use of 5G by 2020. 
We have talked about global standards. What efforts has China made in this regard? Since Q3 
in 2017, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) has 
participated in standard formulation, service planning, and feature tests. China has been very 
active or even dominant in the 5G standard formulation phase, laying a solid foundation for 
rapid 5G commercial use and having significant social impact. 
 
 
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Figure 1-11 Releases frozen for 5G 
 
 
The NSA part of 5G phase 1, that is, phase 1.1, was frozen in December, 2017. The figure 
shows an example of the conference for freezing a standard. In June, 2018, the SA part of 
3GPP Release R15 that is phase 1.2was frozen. As for Late Drop, it is sometimes called phase 
1.3. This phase may affect the networking mode, but does not affect the initial deployment 
and service implementation of 5G. Since there are many options for 5G evolution, details will 
be explained in the key technology course. 
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, after a three-month delay and changing the 
SA88 conference to the online SA88-e, 3GPP frozen the second 5G standard version, Release 
16, on July 3, 2020. Based on Release 15, this version mainly enhances basic functions, 
extends vertical industry capabilities, and enhances O&M automation and network 
intelligence. 
1.4 5G Industry Chain and Ecosystem 
The commercial rate of 5G will far exceed that of 3G and 4G. Generally, the commercial use 
of a system is represented by the network readiness, terminal launch, and increase of users. 
From the perspective of network commercialization, it only took six months to release the 
first commercial network by LG U+ after the standard was frozen in June, 2018. This is mainly 
attributed to the Winter Olympics in South Korea. From the perspective of maturity of the 
terminal industry chain: 5G standard freezing and terminal launch were ready in the same 
year, much shorter than the two to three years required in 3G or 4G. It took only two years to 
release 5G mobile phones worth about CNY1,000 after launching the first commercial 
terminal (HUAWEI Mate X). From the perspective of user base, it took 10 years for 3G and 5 
years for 4G to attract 500 million users. According to GSM Association, 5G is expected to 
take just 3 years to attract 500 million users. In addition, simplification is pivotal for 5G, 
meaning both the ecosystem and network deployment must be simplified. A simplified chip 
is used to support 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G. A simplified network adopts the co-site, co-antenna, 
and single core network modes. 
Huawei provides end-to-end 5G product solutions. On the terminal side, Huawei provides 
CPEs for home or office use, as well as many 5G mobile phones. Huawei-provided 5G base 
stations consist of two parts: baseband units that support all RATs including 2G, 3G, 4G, and 
5G, and various RF units. They can be lamp pole sites, AAUs supporting massive MIMO, blade 
sites, 8-channel common RRUs, PQRUs for indoor deployment, and Small Cells. Since 5G 
adopts higher frequency bands, leading relatively poorer coverage. Blade sites and lamp pole 
sites can be used to improve coverage, and solutions like Small Cell will become the 
mainstream solutions in the future. Base stations can be connected to the core network 
through the bearer network. Generally, optical fibers are used for transmission. If optical 
 
 
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fibers are insufficient, for example, due to blocking by mountains or rivers, large-bandwidth 
microwave transmission can be used as a substitute. In addition, the bearer network can 
employ the latest SDN technology to automatically deploy networks as required. The core 
network also changes. NFV is introduced, which greatly improves the processing capability 
and implements elastic scaling. A corresponding number of VMs can be generated to process 
services under different traffic volumes. Using it together with SDN can meet the service 
requirements of thousands of industries. 
Huawei provides different solutions for different coverage scenarios. For example, massive 
MIMO AAUs can be used for densely populated urban areas, 8-channel RRUs for subway 
tunnels, Small Cell solution for densely populated indoor areas, such as offices, shopping 
malls, airports, and high-speed railway stations, and the lamp pole site solution for hotspot 
areas, such as scenic spots and pedestrian streets because this solution can be quickly 
deployed, requiring little space but delivering good coverage. 
Currently, the following companies can provide chips globally: 
Huawei HiSilicon provides Balong 5000, the world's first multi-mode baseband chip that 
supports 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, and both NSA and SA. The commonly used Kirin 990 integrates 
the baseband chip into the System-On-a-Chip (SoC) to improve integration and save space. 
Qualcomm in the US mainly provides the X50 5G baseband chip, which is used by many self-
owned brands in China. This chip supports only the NSA networking mode. This company 
also provides X60+SD875 and now Snapdragon 888, which is capable of both NSA and SA but 
is relatively costly. Samsung also has self-developed Exynos 5100 and 990. Exynos 5100 
supports only NSA networking. Exynos 990 supports both NSA and SA networking as well as 
SOC. In addition, MediaTek in Taiwan, China, launched the Dimensity 1000 capable of both 
NSA and SA. In addition, UNISOC-provided Makalu Ivy510 also supports multi-mode NSA and 
SA. 
Terminal types are diversified, such as smartphones, CPEs, industrial modules, mobile Wi-Fi, 
dongles, UAVs, robots, and tablets. 
1.4.1 5G Terminal Development 
Currently, there are a large number of 5G-capable terminals in the market. Each mobile 
phone manufacturer has four to five types of such terminals, like Mate X, Mate 20, Mate 30, 
Mate 40, P30, and P40 provided by Huawei. OPPO, Xiaomi, Vivo, Samsung, ZTE, and Apple 
have launched 5G mobile phones since 2020. Secondary brands of mainstream vendors, such 
as Redmi, Realme, iQoo have also launched their 5G mobile phones. Currently, one can buy a 
5G mobile phone at CNY1200 to CNY1500. 
In addition to mobile phones, 5G terminals also include CPEs and MiFi. 5G MiFi can convert 
ubiquitous 5G network signals into high-speed personal hotspot signals. 5G MiFi enables 
mobile Internet access of multiple devices. 5G CPE (user-end device) uses the 5G network to 
provide stable Wi-Fi coverage in specific scenarios, meeting the requirements of multi-user 
data access. 
Indoor CPEs, such as Huawei CPE Pro, are usually small and can be placed at home or in 
offices. Window-mounted CPEs are generally flat and deployed on windows to increase the 
coverage of the entire floor. Outdoor CPEs are usually large and used to cover coverage 
holes. 
In addition, TD Tech releases 5G industrial-grade CPEs to meet requirements in the industry. 
Industrial-grade protection: IP65 protection level, shockproof, anti-salt spray corrosion, and 
 
 
HCIA-5G Development and Evolution 15 
 
low power consumption. The protection ensures normal use in harsh conditions and secures 
VPN connections for digital security. Industry customers can use the 5G network for 
connection. Simplified installation for fast deployment saves 50% installation time, and 
eliminates the need for grounding or antenna adjustment, safeguarding people's lives and 
property promptly in special circumstances. 
Another type of terminals is 5G module, which can be easily disassembled and assembled as 
required to support 5G services in a wide range of industries. What are 5G industrial 
modules? As the core component for 5G network connections of industrial products, 5G 
industrial modules encapsulate hardware such as 5G baseband chips, radio frequency, 
storage, and power management units and provide standard software and hardware 
interfaces. Huawei launched the first commercial 5G industrial module that supports not 
only all RATs including 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, but also NSA and SA hybrid networking. The 
downlink rate can reach 2 Gbps and the uplink rate can reach 230 Mbps. It can cope with 
harsh working environments and provides interfaces towards external controllers, sensors, 
storage devices, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet. In addition, there are also 5G terminals that 
support V2X, and the previously mentioned industrial-grade CPE released by TD Tech are 
developed by Huawei for industry scenarios. 
Apart from Huawei, Fibocom, SIMCom, China Mobile IoT, and Sunsea AIoT have launched 
industry-level terminals and modules. With the further maturity of the 5G terminal 
ecosystem and large-scale deployment of 5G networks, the priceof 5G modules will further 
decrease. 
1.4.2 5G Spectrum Allocation 
Spectrum is most important resources for mobile communications, the development history 
of which is the process of building a house based on limited spectrum resources. What are 
the spectrum resources approved for 5G? 
The 5G spectrum resources can be divided into two frequency ranges, the C-band from 3 GHz 
to 6 GHz and mmWave above 6 GHz. As has been mentioned before, ultra high frequency 
(UHF) below 3 GHz has been allocated to 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, leaving few continuous 
spectrum resources for 5G. Currently, C-band is the primary frequency band for 5G to 
provide coverage and capacity. In hotspot areas or scenarios where self-backhauling of 5G 
base stations is required, mmWave can be used to increase the capacity or backhaul 
bandwidth. For example, the 39 GHz mmWave band is used to expand the capacity in some 
scenic spots or hotspots in commercial districts. The 28 GHz (ranging from 27.5 GHz to 29.5 
GHz) is used for some industrial frequency bands. 
Figure 1-12 5G spectrum 
 
 
 
 
HCIA-5G Development and Evolution 16 
 
Let's have a look at the usage of C-band and mmWave around the world. Take the European 
Union (EU) as an example. The EU has confirmed that it can use C-band to deploy 5G and will 
also provide some mmWave resources. The C-band spectrum in the US has been occupied by 
the military in advance. Therefore, many operators use mmWave for 5G. In the future, the US 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will coordinate the release these resources. 
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has always been in charge of 
spectrum allocation, and the spectrum planning is relatively reasonable, covering 2.6 GHz, 
3.3 GHz to 3.4 GHz for indoor use, 3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz, 4.8 GHz to 5.0 GHz, and mmWave 
bands. Japan and South Korea also have planned C-band and mmWave resources. Therefore, 
C-band, that is, 3.5 GHz, is the primary frequency band to be used around the world because 
its industry chain is relatively mature and products are diversified. 
What if this primary frequency band is unavailable? Not all regions around the world have 
planned the use of 5G in advance, similar to the case in city planning where crops have been 
planted or houses have been built on the roads to be planned. For example, in Malaysia and 
Indonesia, C-band is occupied by satellite transmission and fast frequency clearance is 
unavailable. Other frequency bands have to be used. At some sites in Europe, the antenna 
space of base stations has been fully occupied by 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, disallowing 
reconstruction for 5G massive MIMO. In-depth exploration and utilization of sub-3 GHz 
frequency bands can be considered for such networks that cannot use C-band due to 
historical issues. In addition, the C-band frequency band is higher and provides poorer 
coverage than sub-3 GHz. Using sub-3 GHz can significantly expand the coverage area to 
reduce the penetration loss. The following is a summary of how countries and regions 
around the world use sub-3 GHz to implement 5G. 
After reading the examples of spectrum utilization outside China, let's look at the spectrum 
allocation in China. In addition to China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, China 
Broadcasting Network also needs to use 5G spectrum resources. 
Figure 1-13 Spectrum allocation in China 
 
 
The 100 MHz spectrum from 3.4 GHz to 3.5 GHz is allocated to China Telecom, the 100 MHz 
spectrum from 3.5 GHz to 3.6 GHz is allocated to China Unicom, and the 160 MHz spectrum 
from 2515 MHz to 2675 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band is allocated to China Mobile for 5G. Among 
this 160 MHz spectrum, 60 MHz comes from the original 4G spectrum, and the rest comes 
from newly allocated spectrum or some spectrum originally used by China Unicom and China 
 
 
HCIA-5G Development and Evolution 17 
 
Telecom. In addition, China Mobile owns the spectrum resources ranging from 4.8 GHz to 4.9 
GHz. Therefore, China Mobile has 260 MHz spectrum resources in total. China Broadcasting 
Network is allocated the 60 MHz spectrum ranging from 4900 MHz to 4960 MHz, as the 
spectrum ranging from 4960 MHz to 5000 MHz is reserved and cannot be occupied. China 
Broadcasting Network also has spectrum resources in the 700 MHz band, which can be 
considered for 5G coverage in the future. The 100 MHz spectrum ranging from 3.3 GHz to 3.4 
GHz is planned for 5G indoor coverage. The preceding summarizes the planning and usage of 
sub-6 GHz low frequency bands in China. 
To sum up, China Mobile has 260 MHz spectrum resources, while China Telecom and China 
Unicom have 100 MHz spectrum resources. For 5G networks, China Telecom and China 
Unicom have started co-construction and sharing, generally in terms of radio resources. In 
the future, they may also consider sharing spectrum resources. China Mobile first takes the 
advantages of low frequency bands to provide wide coverage and attract a large number of 
4G users to shift to 5G. When the penetration rate of 5G users reaches 20%, the 4.9 GHz 
frequency band is enabled and the original 60 MHz spectrum for 4G is converted into the 5G 
spectrum. When the number of 5G users reaches a certain scale, all frequency bands are 
enabled to support all 5G users. 
1.4.3 5G Networking Evolution 
5G networking evolution is first promoted based on services. Currently, eMBB services take 
precedence, and C-band and mmWave dominate. With development towards vertical 
industries in the future, much attention will be paid to user experience. Frequency bands 
such as 2.6 GHz band will be used for 5G, increasing the coverage in counties and signal 
penetration in the city to enhance the 5G experience in the city. In rural areas, the 
700/800/900 MHz frequency band is used for signal coverage. 
Services still mainly run in the 4.9 GHz frequency band, where 5G hotspots and vertical 
industries are served. In the 2.6 GHz frequency band, 4G-to-5G evolution is required, and 
some VR/AR services can be provided. The 1.8 GHz frequency band is originally used for 4G 
and can be used as an anchor for NSA networking to improve user experience. The 900 MHz 
spectrum of 2G can be shared with 5G to provide voice and IoT services that do not have 
high bandwidth requirements and improve coverage in rural areas. 
For wireless coverage, hierarchical networking with the macro base station, pole site, and 
indoor distributed system achieves full 5G coverage. The legacy networks can be upgraded to 
inherit the existing advantages. 
⚫ Macro base station: 64T/32T hybrid networking implements wide, continuous, and 
shallow coverage. Existing 8T sites are reused in rural areas and upgraded to support 
NR, saving costs and effectively protecting investment. 
⚫ Pole site: Legacy networks can be upgraded to quickly inherit advantages. New pole site 
deployment improves network performance. 
⚫ Indoor distributed system: It is intended to fill coverage holes, provide deep coverage, 
and offload traffic in areas lacking indoor coverage. 
In metro, high-power 2T devices are used with leaky cables to cover lines and meet the large-
capacity requirements of the platform. 
In high-speed railways: 8T RRUs are used to cover the lines, providing optimal user 
experience. 2T RRUs are mainly used for tunnel coverage, and existing 4G devices can be 
reused for line coverage, which is the most cost-effective. 
 
 
HCIA-5G Development and Evolution 18 
 
64T and 32T antennas can be used for 5G. 64T antennas have better coverage, capacity, and 
vertical coverage capabilities than 32T antennas. However, 64T antennas consume more 
power and require higher investment costs than 32T antennas. 64T is planned and deployed 
based on the density, height, and capacity requirements of buildings, and 32T is deployed in 
other scenarios. In addition, simulation tests are performed. In common urban areas, 32T 
accounts for approximately 40% and does not cause network performanceto deteriorate but 
reduces investment by 13%. The 64T/32T combination of macro base stations can meet the 
requirements for coverage and capacity in all urban scenarios. 
1.5 Global 5G Commercial Use 
Currently, there are a large number of 5G commercial sites around the world, including East 
Asia, West Europe, Middle East, South Africa, and North America. The commercial use in the 
initial stage focuses on eMBB services for which the industry chain, products, and services 
are mature and the business model is clear. For example, in East Asia, South Korea has put 5G 
into pre-commercial use since the Winter Olympics. In addition, South Korea initially 
launched the 5G packages with free VR glasses, which attracted a large number of users. 
Japan has home broadband access requirements and uses the mmWave band 28 GHz. In 
Europe and North America, pre-commercial use was completed in 2019, and large-scale 
commercial use was completed in 2020. The commercial use speed and infrastructure 
construction progress were relatively slow due to the COVID-19 epidemic. 
In China, the license was issued in June 2019, pre-commercial use was completed at the end 
of October 2019, and large-scale commercial use was completed in 2020. The number of 5G 
base stations has increased from 130,000 in 2019 to 600,000 in 2020, covering more than 50 
cities in 2019 to more than 300 cities in 2020 and aiming to achieve full coverage by 2022. 
We can see from the previous commercial use cases that eMBB services are preferred in 
North America, Europe, and South Korea and Japan in East Asia. Example services include 
AR/VR, 4K/8K HD video on-live, and UAV-oriented video backhaul. In addition, there is a 
significant increase in the bandwidth required by terminals, such as terminals with 2K 
screens or folding screens, and mobile phones with AR games. The maturity of the terminal 
industry also promotes the fast deployment of eMBB scenarios. URLLC and mMTC scenarios 
are generally delayed. The primary reason is that relevant protocols have not been 
completely frozen. In particular, mMTC will reuse 4G NB-IoT and eMTC technologies and will 
not be implemented until 3GPP Release 17. Scenarios such as URLLC, V2X, and smart 
manufacturing may require some time for exploration, incubation, and cultivation. This is the 
status quo of 5G application scenarios. eMBB is the first choice, and URLLC and mMTC will be 
gradually used. 
 
 
HCIA-5G Development and Evolution 19 
 
Figure 1-14 5G industry applications 
 
 
What are the applications of 5G in the industry? As shown in the preceding figure, video 
services in eMBB are basically used in the initial phase, such as device monitoring, campus 
inspection, UAV-based inspection, live video, and mobile video. 
Video-based basic control services dominate in the second phase, such as facial recognition, 
remote driving, power distribution automation, remote B-scan inspection, and industrial AR 
and VR services. 
The third phase involves advanced control and massive connections, such as personal smart 
wearables, smart home, self-driving, smart lamp poles, and motion control. 
The goal of 5G is to drive the digital transformation of industries. Experts predict that the 
digital economy will reach US$23 trillion by 2025. The growth rate, GDP proportion, and ROI 
of digital economy will be much higher than those of non-digital economy. Technologies that 
enable industry digitalization include 5G, IoT, and AI. Terminals use AI to perform intelligent 
analysis, IoT or 5G provides slicing, and data are transmitted to cloud servers for data 
acquisition or in-depth analysis. For details about how 5G plays a role in the industries, see 
subsequent courses.