Advanced Features and Specifications of 5G Access Network

Abstract

The recently developed fifth generation (5G) of mobile communication has several advanced features. It would be very much different from the previous versions of the mobile generations in several aspects. Based on the performance, 5G will have gigantic data rates, very low end-to-end latency, high spectral efficiency, very high device densities, high energy efficiency, and seamless connectivity with devices and sensors. These advanced features will bring several differences in the 5G architecture. The differences will be both in the core, and access parts of these new networks. While the core will be comprised of high speed optical fibers, the access will have advanced wireless technologies such as massive MIMO, beamforming, energy efficient waveforms, new radio access technologies, and new full duplex channels. In this article, we present the new features and their performance characteristics of 5G access networks. We show the newly proposed standards in place for the 5G new radio (NR). The 5G NR is going to frame the practical aspects of 5G in the wireless form. Based on the 5G NR, the access networks of 5G will have several new initiatives such as new spectrum for communication, too many small cells, massive MIMO antennas, exploiting the space diversities, and advanced signal processing techniques to deal with these complexities. Finally, at the user’s end, a high data rate is delivered with very low latency.