I have been talking about unlicensed LTE since 2013. With all the debate around LTE-U and LAA now non-existent, the technology has evolved with every new release. As can be seen from this picture by Ericsson above, 5G NR-U in Release-16 supports:
- License-exempt Downlink (DL)
- License-exempt scheduled Uplink (UL)
- License-exempt autonomous UK
- Standalone license-exempt operation
5G New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U): Challenges and Evaluation - https://t.co/RFyhHHddzh #Free5Gtraining #3G4G5G #5G #5GNR #NRU #NRunlicensed #UnlicensedSpectrum #5GNetworks #5GTechnology #Release16 pic.twitter.com/aiTg2RCECR
— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) October 17, 2021
The Release-16 work item summary details the following deployment scenarios for NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum:
- Scenario A: Carrier aggregation between NR in licensed spectrum (PCell) and NR in shared spectrum (SCell);
- A.1: SCell is not configured with UL (DL only);
- A.2: SCell is configured with UL (DL+UL).
- Scenario B: Dual connectivity between LTE in licensed spectrum and NR in shared spectrum (PSCell);
- Scenario C: NR in shared spectrum (PCell);
- Scenario D: NR cell in shared spectrum and uplink in licensed spectrum;
- Scenario E: Dual connectivity between NR in licensed spectrum (PCell) and NR in shared spectrum (PSCell)
5G New Radio Unlicensed: Challenges and Evaluation, available on arXiv here provides a lot of useful information on different kind of operations within the unlicensed band and the challenges of co-existence with Wi-Fi
Finally, Qualcomm has quite a few resources on this topic. Last year, they hosted a webinar on the topic, "How does unlicensed spectrum with NR-U transform what 5G can do for you?". The slides from that are available here and a video of that is available here. RCR Wireless also has this short article from one of the webinar presenters here.
Related Posts:
- The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Release 16 Description and Summary of Work Items
- The 3G4G Blog: Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices
- The 3G4G Blog: Positioning in 5G networks
- The 3G4G Blog: Qualcomm Explains 5G Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Future & Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)
- The 3G4G Blog: '5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals' Webinar Highlights
- The 3G4G Blog: Qualcomm Demoes Sub-band Half Duplex (SBHD)
- The 3G4G Blog: Reducing 5G Device Power Consumption Using Connected-mode Discontinuous Reception (C-DRX)
- The 3G4G Blog: Positioning Techniques for 5G NR in 3GPP Release-16
- The 3G4G Blog: 5G Enhanced URLLC (eURLLC)
