What Is 5G NR? 5G New Radio Standard Explained

What Is 5G NR?

5G New Radio access technology was designed to improve high-band communication for mobile networks. 5G NR includes the following benefits: 

• Low latency
• Greater user capacity
• Network slicing
• Enhanced speed

These improvements help make technology such as remote controlled vehicles, smart city IoT applications, augmented reality and many others possible. Before we dive into use cases, let’s explore exactly how 5G NR is different from other types of 5G.

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How Is 5G NR Different?

The 5G spectrum covers a wide range of bands to achieve specific communication goals. For example, low-band 5G enables long-distance communication while the high band offers the best performance across shorter distances.

5G NR focuses on the higher bands, operating between either 410 MHz–7125 MHz or 24250 MHz–52600 MHz. The goal of 5G NR is to provide wired-like performance to support the growing demand for new devices and bandwidth-hungry applications.

This specific focus on low-latency performance will support future technologies, much like how 4G was a foundation for the first modern smartphones. 

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5G NR Use Cases

Before we explore how 5G NR works, let's touch on technologies that are already leveraging 5G NR.

Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication

5G NR supports URLLC that can provide few millisecond latency for packet transmission and supports network reliability greater than five 9s. These performance milestones make URLLC popular among enterprises and service providers who must meet specific network requirements.

The following are a few examples of URLLC applications:

• Autonomous robotics/vehicles
• Augmented reality
• Smart City infrastructure
• Industrial IoT and automation

Massive Machine-Type Communications

5G NR can support widespread mMTC across thousands of devices and applications with more efficient signal processing and lower energy consumption. 5G NR will play a significant role in ubiquitous 5G IoT as enterprises build more extensive networks with more sensors and applications.

The following are a few examples of mMTC applications:

• General enterprise device orchestration
• Healthcare sensors on patients, inventory, and lifesaving equipment
• Industrial sensors that monitor safety systems like air quality and pipe pressure
• Sensors that monitor machine health, performance levels, and track products through assembly

Enhanced Mobile Broadband

Lastly, 5G NR will enhance mobile broadband performance and help shape the future evolutions of cellular technology. Higher efficiency combined with improved data rates and lower energy consumption is better for both consumers and businesses. 

By utilizing new higher frequency bands in the millimeter-wave spectrum, 5G NR can reach users in shorter amounts of time by deploying alongside 4G infrastructure through dynamic spectrum sharing. This makes widespread use of 5G NR easier and less expensive for network operators to implement.

The following are a few examples of EMB applications:

• Targeted and blanket coverage across smart cities
• Improved cellular service for commercial carriers
• Faster downloads and more efficient video streaming
• Less energy consumption across all cellular networks

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How Does 5G NR Work?

5G NR uses a variety of new technologies to achieve enhanced performance and latency across mobile networks. 

OFDM Optimization

OFDM allows networks to carry data in parallel for improved spectrum efficiency, better time synchronization, and reduced intersymbol interference. 5G NR adopts this approach by using the cyclic prefix OFDM across its waveforms.

New Higher Radio Spectrum Bands

As mentioned earlier, 5G NR utilizes two high-frequency bands for communication. These higher bands are much wider and thus support higher data transmission and throughput rates. While these higher frequency signals have a shorter range, they can be extended through repeaters and small cells to reach specific target areas.

Beamforming

Beamforming allows network operators to “beam” 5G NR communications from the mobile base station to the target device. Beamforming helps improve reliability through antenna beam patterns that reduce interference and provide enhanced reliability.

Small Cell Coordination

5G small cells can be used to expand the coverage and capacity of public 5G networks from mobile operators, especially when cells are grouped together. Administrators can coordinate these networks of small cells for load balancing as well as overcome physical obstructions that are more prevalent when broadcasting over higher frequencies.

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5G NR Deployment

With private 5G, enterprises can now deploy and control their own 5G NR networks much like an enterprise Wi-Fi platform. Below are a few requirements and different deployment models you can use to design your network.

Before you begin your journey, be sure to check out the Celona Network Planner to help you estimate the size of your private 5G LAN based on your coverage area, private spectrum availability, device density and application performance requirements.

5G NR Requirements

In order for a signal to be classified as 5G NR, a number of requirements must be met to ensure that signal can meet the latency and reliability requirements of 5G NR. 

• The network must support wireless mobile connectivity.
• The connection must support IoT, specifically the multitude of sensor types as well as both wired and wireless connections.
• Then connection uses adaptive bandwidth, allowing lower bandwidth and power consumption when possible.
• The connection enforces data transmission requirements by forcing users to adhere to specific rules.  

5G NR Deployment Modes

5G NR can be deployed in a number of different ways. This flexibility allows for wide adoption of 5G NR, especially in places where there is already 4G cellular architecture.

• Standalone Mode - Uses a 5G packet core for both information transfer and signaling.

• Non-Standalone Mode (NSA) - Uses the existing control plane of a 4G network for control functions, while using 5G NR across the user plane. This improves implementation times and reduces hardware costs.

• Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) - Shares spectrum between 4G LTE and 5G NR based on demand. This deployment is typically used where 4G LTE infrastructure is compatible with the 5G NR terminal. Like NSA mode, DSS allows for faster implementation and reduced hardware costs.
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Experience the Power of 5G NR Through Celona

If you’re interested in deploying 5G NR cellular wireless technology to take advantage of its transformative benefits for enterprise mobility, here at Celona we can help. Celona takes the complexity out of private 5G by providing a simple yet powerful integrated hardware and software solution designed for enterprise networks.

Our unique private 5G LAN solution integrates directly within your IT infrastructure through out of the box plug-and-play deployment, taking advantage of cloud networking principles. Enterprises can quickly deploy their Celona network to support their devices and critical applications across their environment and be up and running in hours, not days.

If you’re building your network for the future, check out a live demo of Celona’s solution by visiting us at celona.io/journey where you can also sign up for a free trial of a Celona 5G LAN.