Assessing 3.5 GHz Frequency for 5G New Radio (NR) Implementation in Indonesia's Urban Area

Abstract

5G New Radio (NR) is the fifth generation of cellular technology that provides better service quality and higher data rates than previous technologies, which can help to reduce the current level of network traffic congestion in In-donesia. Therefore, careful network planning and determination of propagation characteristics are essential for designing a 5G NR cellular network. This research aims to design and assess the performance of a 5G NR network for the Indonesian urban area of Bandung city, using the balanced coverage and capacity, mid-band frequency of 3.5 GHz frequency and simulated using Forsk Atoll v3.4 software. This research utilizes both Line of Sight (LoS) and Non-Line of Sight (N-LoS) scenarios with the Urban Macro (Uma) propagation model based on the 3GPP v38.901 standard in uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) for Outdoor to Outdoors (O2O). The LoS propagation scenario shows that UL requires 142 gNodeB (gNB), and DL requires 43 gNB. While the N-LoS propagation scenario delivers 2260 gNB for the UL and the DL requires as much as 560 gNB. The simulation results show that the N-LoS propagation design has a good SS-RSRP value with an average SS-RSRP value of -91.96 dBm and a fair SS-SINR value with an average SS-SINR value of 9.21 dB. On the other hand, N-LoS propagation uses an excellent SS-RSRP value with an average SS-RSRP value of -80.89 dBm and a good SS-SINR value with an average SS-SINR value of 10.49 dB. Thus, the deployment of 5G NR at 3.5 GHz can be implemented in Bandung city.