5G - India’s own 5G Stack - developed by CDOT - 5G RAN based on open standards

Collaboration with Indian startup companies on the development of indigenous 5G end to end solution is under finalization

5G, the fifth generation of cellular networks, will bring a paradigm shift in the role of mobile technologies with a much broader role beyond connectivity.

5G and associated technologies will empower enterprises and other industry verticals which include agriculture, automotive, energy, and utilities, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, media and entertainment, public safety, public transport, and retail to launch new innovative services.

5G networks support different data traffic profiles viz. high throughput (enhanced mobile broadband-eMBB), low latency (ultra-reliable low-latency communications-URLLC), and massive connections (massive machine-type communications-mMTC) and data traffic models.

The overall economic impact of the above is estimated to be of the order of 1 Trillion USD in India by 2035. 5G Trials currently underway in low band (700 MHz), mid-band (3300 MHz) and millimeter band (26 GHz) shall be used to identify use cases and performance across different bands for large-scale commercial rollouts.

Due to low frequency and the ability to penetrate buildings efficiently, the 700MHz band shall help to provide connectivity (coverage) in congested regions. 3,300MHz band will be used for 5G communication service (capacity) while the 26GHz will be focused on providing super high-speed mobile broadband services (for hotspots).

5G spectrum that has recently been auctioned include 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands. The government is targeting to allocate spectrum by mid-August 2022. India is expected to see the rollout of 5G services in certain pockets around September or October 2022.

Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has cataloged 1,400 announced 5G devices, with over 809 devices announced with 5G standalone support. GSA has identified 735 announced 5G phones at the end of 2020. There are more than 1,050 commercially available 5G devices and 192 vendors producing or planning 5G devices.1 (1GSA 5G Market Snapshot June 2022).

5G networks support different data traffic profiles viz. high throughput (enhanced mobile broadband-eMBB), low latency (ultra-reliable low-latency communications-URLLC), and massive connections (massive machine-type communications-mMTC) and data traffic models.

Mobile data traffic is forecasted to keep growing by 25 percent per year between 2020 and 2025. Video streaming is currently the main driver of increased data consumption.

In 2024, the first reduced capability (RedCap) devices should be available, which would allow expansion of the new radio, NR, device ecosystem to cater to use cases that are not currently best served by NR specifications.

This includes wearables, industrial wireless sensors, and video surveillance.2 (2Ericsson Mobility Report June 2022)

There are two main deployment strategies available to mobile operators for new 5G networks-

• Non-standalone (NSA), with 5G Radio Access Network (New Radio- NR) as an add-on to 4G

• Standalone (SA), having both 5G Core and 5G Radio Access Network (New Radio- NR)

To deliver mainly high-speed connectivity to consumers with 5G-enabled devices, the non-standalone architecture (NSA) option can be used in early deployments. It enables operators to leverage their existing network investments in transport and mobile core networks rather than deploy a completely new end-to-end 5G network.

Till the 4G devices get phased out, operators will require to continue to provide 4G services. NSA network can be used to provide 4G & 5G services. The majority of the current 5G launches so far have been of 5G NSA.

5G NSA networks support enhanced mobile broadband use case (higher broadband speeds) with 5G handsets, in networks having 3GPP Release 15 (or higher) compliant 4G eNodeB and 5G gNodeB. In the 5G NSA architecture (Figure 1), the 5G Radio Access Network (5GRAN) is used in conjunction with the existing LTE infrastructure (eNodeB and Evolved Packet Core), thus making the technology available without a 5G core network.

It combines 4G LTE coverage and 5G high-speed benefits offered by the 5G New Radio, effectively allowing operators to take advantage of both network technologies simultaneously.

Till the 4G devices get phased out, operators will require to continue to provide 4G services. NSA network can be used to provide 4G & 5G services. The majority of the current 5G launches so far have been of 5G NSA.

In the 5G SA architecture (Figure 2), the 5G RAN is directly connected to the 5G Core Network. 5GSA introduced

Service-Based Architecture (SBA) and functional separation of various network function in 5G Core as shown in Figure 3. Through the use of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) / Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technology, 5G Core can be deployed in virtualised and cloudified manner.

5G SA network can perform 5G functions such as reducing latency, improving network performance, and centrally managing network functions.

5G SA networks additionally support:

• Low latency communications for industrial automation through real-time process control, teleoperation, drone control, live online entertainment, gaming, etc.

• Massive IoT for live monitoring and remote control in disaster recovery efforts, providing real-time data for emergency responders, gaming, etc.

The C-DOT 5G RAN is based on the Open RAN architecture defined by the O-RAN alliance as shown in Figure 4. Open RAN architecture is based on open interfaces and general-purpose hardware.

• Network slicing for sharing the same physical network infrastructure for simultaneously supporting high bandwidth applications, low latency applications, and massive connectivity of IoT devices.

Current mobile network deployments are predominantly based on imported technology. 5G technology, with a significant focus on homegrown technology development, will boost Digital India, Smart Cities, and Smart Village missions thereby fulfilling the dream of becoming “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

The C-DOT 5G RAN is based on the Open RAN architecture defined by the O-RAN alliance as shown in Figure 4. Open RAN architecture is based on open interfaces and general-purpose hardware. RAN is disaggregated into three different modules viz Centralized Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU), and Radio Unit (RU).

In line with the objectives of promoting indigenous development of 5G technologies under the

Atmanirbhar Bharat program, C-DOT has launched a 5G India Alliance program to provide a common platform to Indian industry members for individually / collectively developing 5G technologies in the country. C-DOT intends to facilitate the Indian industry in collaboratively designing and developing 5G technologies. Among other envisaged facilitation mechanisms, CDOT is in the process of setting up a sharable captive campus-wide private 5G network infrastructure for conducting research & development, testing, pilot production, and deployment of innovative 5G products and services.

The development of the main functional components of the C-DOT 5G RAN solution such as O-CU, ODU, O-RU and SMO are in progress. C-DOT has signed MoU with various industry/academia partners for the development of the 5G solution.

In addition, collaboration with Indian startup companies on the development of indigenous 5G end-to-end solutions is under finalization. C-DOT aims to play a key role in 5G deployments in the Indian market.

Anurag Gupta, Group Leader, 5G

S. V. Hari Prasad, Group Leader 5G-RAN

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