At its weekly 3GPP plenary meeting in Sorrento, Italy, a much-anticipated, but still cornerstone decision was finally made – to include 5G NR unlicensed spectrum support in 3GPP Release 16, thereby sanctioning the roll out of the work item. As we are on the horizon to witness numerous commercial smartphone launches in the next few months, it is not unreal to get fascinated about the prospects of having a 5G smartphone in your hands soon enough; however, we find it equally fascinating to witness what is coming next.
There are several aspiring projects in prospect of the upcoming 3GPP release 16, including the industrial IoT (aka IIoT), cellular-V2X, broadcast, private networks, positioning, significant upgrades to mobile broadband, and the mmWave evolution, only to mention a few.
However, the one we want to highpoint in this post is 5G NR operating within unlicensed spectrum, which is one of the most groundbreaking aspects broadening the 5G scope to evolve and further expand the ecosystem along with inspiring a drastic transformation across industries.
5G NR unlicensed spectrum (NR-U)
Licensed spectrum is necessary for cellular communication and it will remain as important in the 5G era as well, particularly for the conventional mobile broadband services set to launch as 2019 unfolds. However, when it comes to extending the 5G ecosystem into new marketplaces around the world, we believe the opportunities created by adding support for unlicensed spectrum can hardly be exaggerated.
The NR-U work item, which was recently approved by 3GPP, supports existing 5GHz unlicensed band along with the novel “greenfield” 6GHz unlicensed band. During the upcoming releases, we expect that other shared and unlicensed spectrum bands, including mmWave, will also be added.
The work item includes five scenarios with functionalities such as dual connectivity (across two eNodeBs), Carrier Aggregation (within one eNodeB), 5G NR anchor in licensed spectrum, LTE anchor in licensed spectrum, uplink only in licensed spectrum, and downlink only in unlicensed spectrum along with standalone operation. To maintain the ease, let us collapse these scenarios into two major modes of operation:
- Licensed assisted access NR-U
- Stand-alone NR-U
It is fairly exciting to see NR-U being added in the subsequent 3GPP release, since it can be considered as a fruit of all the groundbreaking efforts that Qualcomm began more than 5 years back with LTE-U and then with LTE LAA as well as LTE-based MulteFire.
License-assisted access NR-U (LAA NR-U)
The first mode, i.e. LAA NR-U, extends the effectiveness of LTE-U/LAA from 4G LTE to 5G NR. It enables network operators to boost performance — both in terms of capacity and speed — by grouping unlicensed spectrum with licensed spectrum.
Therefore, LAA NR-U will support NR as well LTE in licensed spectrum (the anchor we discussed earlier) aggregated with NR-U in the unlicensed spectrum. LAA NR-U can be deployed by adopting dual-connectivity between a macro-cell having licensed spectrum and a local small-cell having unlicensed spectrum, or by deploying carrier aggregation in a small-cell that support both licensed as well as unlicensed spectrum. The spectrum strategy of a network operator comprises of leveraging all types of spectrum, therefore it is evident that LAA NR-U will offer a robust utility for 5G operators, identical to how they operate LAA at present to provide Gigabit LTE in more regions.
Standalone NR-U
The second mode, i.e. standalone NR-U, is equally exciting. As such, it may be more fascinating or even fundamental, because it indicates the expansion of cellular technologies that are standardized by 3GPP into standalone operation within unlicensed spectrum (that is, with no anchor in licensed spectrum).
As we discussed, licensed spectrum is the groundbreaking aspect for ubiquitous mobile communication; however, the capacity to operate 5G NR standalone in unlicensed spectrum is a fundamental technology enabler that will surely be further exploited by use cases, perhaps more than those we can think about at present.
This is not about building an improved Wi-Fi, but about catering to the unmet needs to further expand the marketplace for wireless communications to several new verticals, including:
- Local private 5G broadband networks dedicated to a certain application such as enterprise mobile broadband or industrial IoT.
- 5G open mobile broadband services provided by new vendors such as modern-day internet service providers, cable operators, or neutral host providers in public venues like malls and stadiums.
- More use cases that will be conceived during the course of time.
The idea for having standalone cellular operation in unlicensed spectrum began with a concept termed MulteFire that extended LTE capabilities to run in unlicensed spectrum created by LTE-U/LAA. This vision was driven by the MulteFire Alliance with the aim to standardize a solution in line with 3GPP and create an ecosystem.
The vision has now started transmitting an influence as now 3GPP itself is incorporating this feature to 5G NR. As standalone NR-U become part of the 3GPP standard ecosystem, it is not unreal that the extensive market interception for standalone cellular functionality in unlicensed spectrum will sync with 5G.
NR-U to be a reality soon
We may expect to hold our first 5G smartphone soon enough. We can’t wait to discover and experience all the latest new functionalities in the upcoming 3GPP release, particularly regarding NR-U, which will surely expand 5G to new cornerstone verticals. Qualcomm is in motion to add NR-U to their 5G testbeds.
3GPP release 16, which comprises of NR-U, is likely to be completed by the fall of 2019, meaning that you won’t have to wait for too long to see NR-U successfully deployed around the world.