The document provides an overview of 5G networks, including their drivers and requirements, use scenarios, spectrum considerations, hardware, software, advantages and disadvantages. 5G aims to enable higher data rates (up to 10Gbps), lower latency (1ms), and support for new applications through enhanced mobile broadband, massive IoT connectivity, and ultra-reliable low latency communications. Key technologies enabling 5G include new spectrum bands, small cells, massive MIMO, and virtualization of network functions. Challenges include high deployment costs and the need for further development to resolve issues like coverage limitations and security.

1. Towards 5G Networks
Overview to landscape of 5G Networks
Adugna Getu
Telecommunications Network Engineering
Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
adugna.getu@ethiotelecom.et
Abstract— This article, introduces the general landscape of the 5th
generation of wireless communication systems (5G), including its
drivers and requirements, its challenges and use scenarios, spectrums
and architectures of 5G technology, advantages and disadvantages,
and hardware’s that might help to achieve its intended goals of new
applications. These new applications includes: Enhanced mobile
broadband (eMBB) like high data rates of mobile, Massive to machine-
type communications (mMTC), enabling massive IOT applications
like automatic meter reading and automated agriculture; remote
computing, eHealth services and ultra-reliable low latency
communications (uRLLC), enabling mission-critical applications like
autonomous drones (for delivery and other uses) and autonomous
vehicles. Applications are dramatic change in terms of increased
capacity available for subscribers (10Gbps per customer at peak rate),
enabling applications like augmented reality and virtual reality.
Licensed and unlicensed spectrum availability, heterogeneous system
deployment, massive MIMO and beam forming antennas, macro and
small sites, and many features of 5G technology brings paradigm shifts
in services and businesses.
Keywords: 5G, Spectrum, Small Cells, Massive MIMO,
Waveforms, Optical Wireless Integration, Software defined
Networking, Network Functions Virtualization, eMBB, uRLLC,
mMTC, IoT
I. INTRODUCTION
Mobile and wireless communication systems increased to
deliver dramatic rise of Information and entertainment demand.
These developments will lead to a big rise of mobile and wireless
traffic volume, predicted to increase a thousand-fold over the
subsequent years. As 5G mmWave technology, including
massive MIMO and beamforming, becomes commoditized, it
will increasingly be a viable alternative to fixed-access
technologies such as coaxial, DSL, and even fiber connections.
5G commercial services will enable a new innovation cycle. The
ability to create new applications and services with fewer
limitations will take the connected society to a new level [1].
II. 5G DRIVERS AND REQUIREMENTS
5G vision sets an ambition to enable a world where
everything is provided wirelessly to the end device by a
converged fixed and mobile infrastructure that works
everywhere. 5G infrastructure should be far more
demand/user/device centric with the agility to marshal
network/spectrum resources to deliver "always sufficient"
data rate and low latency to give the users the perception
of infinite capacity. The main driving forces of the
ambitions and ITU defined requirements of 5G briefly
described as follows.
A. Drivers of 5G
There are two major factors driving the development of 5G:
first, a need to support increasing demand for broadband
services of many kinds delivered over mobile networks, and
secondly a desire to support or create services for the Internet of
Things (IoT) including for machine-to-machine (M2M)
applications.
B. Requirements of 5G technology
5G is a truly converged network and offers seamless support for
a variety of new network. Deployments set of 5G requirements
is gaining industry acceptance are:
• 1-10Gbps connections to endpoints in the field (i.e. not
theoretical maximum)
• 1 millisecond end-to-end round trip delay - latency
• 1000x bandwidth per unit area
• 10-100x number of connected devices
• Perception of 99.999% availability
• Perception of 100% coverage
• 90% reduction in network energy usage
•Up–to-ten year battery life for low power, machine-type
devices. Some of parameter requirements are summarized on
below table.
Table 1: Requirements of 5G
III. USE SCENARIOS
The high speeds and low latency promised by 5G will propel
societies into a new age of smart cities and the Internet of
Things (IoT). Industry stakeholders have identified several

2. potential use cases for 5G networks, and the ITU-R has defined
three important categories of these as shown in Figure 1:
Figure 1: Use Scenarios of 5G (Source: IMT for 2020 and beyond)
A.enhanced mobileb broadband (eMBB):- The requirements
are defined on high data rates, higher traffic or connection
density, high user mobility, and the requirements related to
various deployment and coverage scenarios. The scenarios
address different service areas (e.g., indoor/outdoor, urban
and rural areas, office and home, local and wide areas
connectivity), and special deployments (e.g., massive
gatherings, broadcast, residential, and high-speed vehicles).
The scenarios and their performance requirements shown in
table 7.1-1 of 3GPP TS 22.261 version 15.5.0 Release 15 [2].
For example, for the downlink, experienced data rate of up to
50 Mbps are expected outdoor and 1Gbps indoor (5GLAN),
and half of these values for the uplink. For services to an
airplane, a bit rate of 1.2Gbps is expected per plane.
B.Ultra reliable low latency communications (uRLLC):
Several scenarios require the support of very low latency and
very high communications service availability. These are
driven by the new services such as industrial automation. The
overall service latency depends on the delay on the radio
interface, transmission within the 5G system, transmission to
a server which may be outside the 5G system, and data
processing. Some of these factors depend directly on the 5G
system itself, whereas for others the impact can be reduced by
suitable interconnections between the 5G system and services
or servers outside of the 5G system, for example, to allow
local hosting of the services. The scenarios and their
performance requirements shown in table 7.2.2-1 of 3GPP TS
22.261Version 15.5.0 Release 15 [2]. For instance, in the
context of remote control for process automation, a reliability
of 99.9999% is expected, with a user experienced data rate up
to 100 Mbps and an end-to-end latency of 50ms.
C. Massive machine Type communications:
Several scenarios require the 5G system to support very high
traffic densities of devices. The Massive Internet of Things
requirements include the operational aspects that apply to
the wide range of IoT devices and services anticipated in the
5G timeframe.
IV. SPECTRUM
Spectrum is continues range electromagnetic wave
frequency, propagating with speed of light and a limited natural
resource belongs to all citizens. Since it is limited and demand
of spectrum is more than supply, it should be allocated and
managed properly with authorized regulatory bodies. The use of
radio frequency spectrum can be authorized in two ways, first
by individual authorization in the form of awarding licenses, and
secondly by general authorization, also referred to as license‐
exempt or unlicensed. Four different user modes for the
operation of 5G radio access systems have been defined, namely
the service dedicated user mode, the exclusive user mode, the
Licensed Shared Access (LSA) user mode, and the unlicensed
user mode. The relationship between these user modes and the
two authorization schemes is illustrated in the upper part of
Figure 2 named regulatory framework domain [3] [4].
Figure 2: Concept for spectrum management and spectrum sharing [3]
The proposed 5G spectrum allocations is shown as in figure 3.
Figure 3: Proposed spectrums of 5G
A. 5G Network spectrum allocations
A wide range of 5G spectrum utilized for variety of services
demands as shown in figure 4.
Figure 4: 5G spectrum usage ranges

3. A multi-layer spectrum approach is required to address a 5G
network wide range of usage scenarios and requirements:
• The "Coverage and Capacity Layer" relies on spectrum in the
2 to 6 GHz range (e.g. C-band) to deliver the best
compromise between capacity and coverage.
• The "Super Data Layer" relies on spectrum above 6 GHz (e.g.
24.25-29.5 and 37-43.5 GHz) to address specific use cases
requiring extremely high data rates.
• The "Coverage Layer" exploits spectrum below 2 GHz (e.g.
700 MHz) providing wide-area and deep indoor coverage.
The 5G spectrum usage scenarios and requirements are shown
on figure 5.
Figure 5: 5G Spectrum Usage Scenarios (Source: Huawei document)
Uncomplished spectrum issues are;
a)Development of the L-band and 470-694/698 MHz spectrum
in the UHF band at regional level should be undertaken.
b)Trends of industry convergence should be considered when
defining long term spectrum planning.
c)The WRC-19 key target is harmonisation of spectrum
allocation for IMT above 24.25 GHz. Expected to be
completed on WRC-19 conference, which will be held
October 2019 [5].
V. HARDWARE AND SOFTWARES OF 5G
A. Hardware of 5G
1)User Equipment (UE)
The UE connects to the base station evolved node B (eNB) or
Gigabit Node B (gNB). The base stations connect to form the
RAN. These, in turn, connect to the CN, which exits into the
wider internet via the serving and packet gateways. One of the
transformational changes was an E2E internet protocol (IP)
architecture that allowed the mobile network to be treated like
any other internet network.
2)Fixed Network Access
Fixed network elements play an instrumental role in the
connectivity ecosystem but less so than in the past in the context
of cellular systems. It is interesting to note that the interest of a
native usage of fixed networking assets is surging in the context
of 5G.
3)(Converged) Core Network
The core network aggregates the user traffic (via the user plane)
and manages these data flows (via the control plane). While the
user plane infrastructure has not been changed much over the
years in design, much of the control functionalities have been
virtualized. That is, the evolved packet core (EPC) can have its
functions placed anywhere and even migrated via containers in
real time from one part in the network to another. The virtual
EPC (vEPC) approach is seen as a viable way forward, also,
since it allows “thinning” the core-networking infrastructure
and bringing packet gateways closer to the edge.
4)Transport Network
The transport network, often being all-optical, is responsible for
carrying the data traffic E2E between the operators’ packet
gateways. It carries traffic from internet service providers
(ISPs) and other data sources. It must be dimensioned to cater
for the increased data traffic coming from wireless systems. In
addition, if 5G is to offer slicing capabilities, then slicing ought
to be offered in the wider transport network, too; otherwise,
benefits of slicing will be eroded [6]. The 5G User Plane
architecture considers converged optical and wireless network
domains in a common 5G infrastructure supporting both
transport and access. In the wireless domain, a variety of legacy
and other technologies can be considered, including a dense
layer of small cells that can be wirelessly backhauled through
mm Wave and sub‐6 GHz technologies. Alternatively, small
cells can be connected to a Control User through optical
network solutions. Besides to this, the transport network needs
Front haul links to provide operational services. Front haul links
provide connectivity services between densely distributed DUs
with regional data centres hosting CUs that have very stringent
delay and synchronization requirements. To maximize sharing
benefits, offering improved efficiency in resource utilization
and measurable benefits in terms of cost, scalability and
sustainability, it is proposed to use a common network
infrastructure to jointly support Back Haul (BH) and Front Haul
(FH) functions [3].
Figure 6: Converged heterogeneous network and compute
infrastructures [3]
B. Softwares of 5G
The 5G system is being designed to support data connectivity
and services, which would enable deployment, by the industry,
using new techniques such as Network Function Virtualization
and Software Defined Networking. The need for these new

4. techniques rises due to the various different profiles of data
services that need to be supported by the 5G network.
1)Software Defined Networking
In traditional IP networks, the control and data planes are tightly
coupled, that is, control and data planes’ functionalities run on
the same networking devices.
The softwarization paradigm is useful to overcome the
limitations of network management, which is typically handled
through a large number of proprietary solutions with their own
specialized hardware, operating systems, and control programs
as it introduces the following features:
 The decoupling of control and data planes i.e., control
functionalities will no longer be handled by network devices
that act only as packet-forwarding units.
 Per flow–based forwarding, i.e., all packets belonging to the
same flow (identified through the sender/receiver addresses)
receive identical service policies at the forwarding devices,
instead of having per-packet routing decisions based only on
the packet destination’s address.
 Network controller Control logic is moved to an external
controller, which is a software platform that runs on
commodity server technology and provides the essential
resources and abstractions to facilitate the programming of
forwarding devices based on a logically centralized, abstract
network view. This allows for the control of the network by
taking into consideration the whole state of the network.
 Software-based network management. The network is
programmable through software applications running on top
of the network controller that interacts with the underlying
data plane devices. This allows for a quick network
reconfiguration and innovation.
2)Network Function Virtualization
The proprietary nature of existing hardware appliances as well
as the cost of offering the space and energy for a variety of
middle boxes limits the time to market of new services in
today’s networks.
Network function virtualization (NFV) is a radical shift in the
way network operators design and deploy their infrastructure
that deals with the separation of software instances from
hardware platform. The main idea behind the virtualization is
that virtualized network functions (VNFs) are implemented
through software virtualization techniques and run on
commodity hardware (i.e., industry-standard servers, storage,
and switches).
The virtualization concept is expected to introduce a large set
of benefits for telecommunication operators: (1) a capital
investment reduction, (2) energy savings by consolidating
networking appliances, (3) a reduction in the time to market of
new services thanks to the use of software based service
deployment, and (4) the introduction of services tailored to the
customer’s needs.
Furthermore, the concept of virtualization and softwarization
are mutually beneficial and highly complementary to each
other. For example, SDN can support network virtualization to
enhance its performance and simplify the compatibility with
legacy deployments [7].
VI. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF 5G
A. Advantages of 5G technology
5G technology provides the following advantages:
 Data rates of about 10 Gbps or higher can be achieved. This
provides better user experience as download and upload
speeds are higher.
 Latency of less than 1ms can be achieved in 5G mm wave.
This leads to immediate connection establishment and
release with 5G network by 5G smartphones. Hence, traffic
load is decreased on 5G base stations.
 Higher bandwidth can be used with the help of carrier
aggregation feature.
 Antenna size is smaller at higher frequencies. This leads to
use of massive MIMO concept to achieve higher data rates.
 Dynamic beamforming is employed to overcome pathloss at
higher frequencies.
 Due to improved 5G network architecture handoff is smooth
and hence it does not have any effect on data transfer when
mobile user changes cells.
In nutshell, 5G offers 10x throughput, 10x decrease in latency,
10x connection density, 3x spectrum efficiency, 100x traffic
capacity and 100x network efficiency.
B. Disadvantages of 5G technology
Even though 5G is coming with numerous advantages, it also
have some disadvantageous like:
 It requires skilled engineers to install and maintain 5G
network. Moreover 5G equipment are costly. This
increases cost of 5G deployment and maintenance phases.
 5G smartphones are costly. Therefore, it will take some
time for the common person to make use of 5G technology.
 The technology is still under development and will take
time before it is fully operational without any issues.
 Coverage distance of up to 2 meters (in indoor) and 300
meters (in outdoor) can be achieved due to higher losses at
high frequencies (such as millimeter waves). 5G mm wave
suffers from many such losses (penetration loss,
attenuation due to rain, foliage loss etc.)
 It will take time for security and privacy issues to be
resolved fully in 5G network.
Nevertheless, as the technology matures, these issues will be
solved with hopes.
VII. ARCHITECTURES OF 5G
The design of a mobile network architecture aims at defining
network elements (e.g. Base Stations [BSs], switches, routers,
user devices) and their interaction in order to ensure a consistent
system operation.The 5G System (5G Network) have three
main components as defined below:
 5G Access Network (5G-AN)
 5G Core Network (5GC)
 User Equipment (UE)
THE

5. These architecture of 5G components is shown in figure 7.
Figure 7: High-level 5G architecture [8]
In 5G a single network infrastructure can meet diversified
service requirements. A Cloud-Native E2E network
architecture has the following attributes:
 Provides logically independent network slicing on a
single network infrastructure to meet diversified service
requirements and provides DC-based cloud architecture
to support various application scenarios.
 Uses CloudRAN to reconstruct radio access networks
(RAN)to provide massive connections of multiple
standards and implement on-demand deployment of RAN
functionsrequired by 5G.
 Simplifies core network architecture to implement on
demand configuration of network functions through
control and user plane separation, component-based
functions, and unified database management.
 Implements automatic network slicing service generation,
maintenance, and termination for various services to
reduce operating expenses through agile network O&M
[9].
Figure 8: 5G Network architecture with diversified
requirements
In 5G architecture, there are non-standalone and standalone
architectures. Non-standalone mode for bridging the gap
between 4G and 5G will require incremental steps and a well-
orchestrated game plan and it utilizes existing LTE radio access
and core networks as an anchor, with the addition of a 5G
component carrier. Despite the reliance on existing architecture,
non-standalone mode will increase bandwidth by tapping into
millimeter wave frequencies. Almost all of deployed 5G in
2019 (this year) are based on non-standalone architecture.
5G standalone mode is essentially 5G deployment from the
ground up with the new core architecture and full deployment
of all 5G hardware, features and functionality. As non-
standalone mode gradually gives way to new 5G mobile
network architecture deployments, careful planning and
implementation will make this transition seamless for the user
base [10]. Deployment for 5G standalone will be started as early
of 2020.
Figure 9: 5G Non-standalone and Standalone [10]
VIII. APPLICATIONS OF 5G
It is also interesting to note that most of the needs of the applications
can be served with the current networks; however, the element of
human interaction (or lack of it) demands guaranteed latency and makes
most of the 5G requirements critical. The following table presents some
emerging applications and services for which 5G will be a pivotal enabler.
Table 2. Emerging applications and services enabled by 5G
Table 3: Envisaged future applications
IX. CONCLUSION
In this paper, overview towards 5G is seen briefly starting from
the driving forces of 5G, requirements, use case scenarios,

6. spectrum, pros and cons of the technology, components of the
5G, architectures and some of its applications are reviewed.
Since it is hot spot of the research area, and underdevelopment
it needs more focus, investigations, understandings and more
effort with time to do more on these emerging technology.
Today 5G is already started testing its promises in few
countries. 5G is not just an evolutionary upgrade of the previous
generation of cellular, but it is a revolutionary technology
envisioned that eliminate the bounds of access, bandwidth,
performance, and latency limitations on connectivity
worldwide. 5G has the potential to enable fundamentally new
applications, industries, and business models and dramatically
improve quality of life around the world via unprecedented use
cases that require high data-rate instantaneous communications,
low latency, and massive connectivity for new applications for
mobile, eHealth, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, smart
homes, and the IoT.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Firstly, I thank God for helping me in any situations. Now
my gratitude goes to Dr.Eng Yihenew Wondie and Ms.
Selamawit for their initiation and giving us this paper work to
extend our exposures, experiences and knowledge in such
exciting area.
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