Evolution and Impact of Cellular Location Services (LCS)

Location Services (LCS) have been standardized by 3GPP across all major generations of cellular technology, including 2G (GSM), 3G (UMTS), 4G (LTE), and 5G. These services enable applications to determine the geographical location of mobile devices, facilitating crucial functions such as emergency calls, navigation, and location-based advertising. The consistent adoption of standardized protocols ensures interoperability, scalability, and reliability, empowering mobile operators and device manufacturers to implement location services in a globally consistent manner.

The evolution of LCS technology has seen remarkable advancements with each generation of cellular networks. Early implementations in 2G and 3G relied on basic techniques such as Cell-ID, Timing Advance, and triangulation, which offered limited accuracy and were suitable only for rudimentary use cases. 

The introduction of LTE in 3GPP Release 9 marked a significant improvement, integrating support for regulatory services like emergency call localization and commercial applications such as mapping. LTE networks commonly employ global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), like GPS, to determine locations. However, alternative methods using the LTE air interface are crucial in scenarios where GNSS signals are obstructed, such as indoors or in dense urban environments. An LTE network can support horizontal positioning accuracy of 50m for 80% of mobiles and a vertical positioning accuracy of 5m and an end-to-end latency of 30 seconds.

In 5G, the introduction of high-bandwidth, low-latency communication and new architectural enhancements allows for even more accurate and responsive location services. These improvements support critical use cases like autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and industrial IoT applications. 

5G networks have further improved LCS with high-bandwidth, low-latency communication and architectural enhancements. These innovations enable critical applications like autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and industrial IoT. In Release 15, 5G devices support legacy LTE location protocols through the Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC). From Release 16, the Network Exposure Function (NEF) streamlines location requests for modern applications. A 5G network is expected to deliver a horizontal positioning accuracy of 3m indoors and 10m outdoors, a vertical positioning accuracy of 3m in both environments and an end-to-end latency of one second.

The standardization efforts of 3GPP have ensured that location services meet stringent requirements for accuracy, privacy, and security. Emergency services, for instance, benefit from these standards through Enhanced 911 (E911) in the United States and similar mandates globally, which require precise location reporting for mobile callers. Furthermore, standardization fosters innovation by providing a common foundation on which developers can create new location-based services and applications. As cellular networks continue to evolve, 3GPP’s standardized LCS will remain a cornerstone in bridging connectivity with the physical world, enabling smarter, safer, and more connected societies.

Mpirical recently shared a video exploring the concepts and drivers of Location Services (LCS). It's embedded below:

If you want to learn more about LCS, check out Mpirical's training course on this topic which seeks to provide an end to end exploration of the techniques and technologies involved, including the driving factors, standardization, requirements, architectural elements, protocols and protocol stacks, 2G-5G LCS operation and location finding techniques (overview and specific examples).

Mpirical is a leading provider of telecoms training, specializing in mobile and wireless technologies such as 5G, LTE, and IoT. They boast a course catalogue of wide ranging topics and technologies for all levels, with each course thoughtfully broken down into intuitive learning modules. 

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: Short Tutorial on Mission Critical Services in LTE and 5G
• Connectivity Technology Blog: How is Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployed?
• The 3G4G Blog: UE Assistance Information in LTE and 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: EPS Fallback Mechanism in 5G Standalone Networks
• The 3G4G Blog: Is there a compelling Business Case for 5G Network Slicing in Public Networks?
• The 3G4G Blog: IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Support for Service Based Architecture (SBA)
• The 3G4G Blog: Network Slicing using User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP)
• 3G4G: 5G Security Overview by Mpirical 

Tutorial Session on Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) and 3GPP Standards from 5G to 6G

Over five years ago, we introduced the concept of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) in our NTN tutorial and wrote IEEE ComSoc article, "The Role of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) in Future 5G Networks." Since then, the landscape has seen remarkable transformations with advancements in standards, innovations in satellite connectivity, and progress in real-world applications.

The 2024 Global Forum on Connecting the World from the Skies, held on November 25–26, served as a pivotal platform for stakeholders across the spectrum; policymakers, industry leaders, and technical experts. Jointly organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST), the event underscored NTNs' growing importance in advancing global connectivity.

A key highlight of the forum was Tutorial Session 2, delivered by Gino Masini, Principal Researcher, Standardization at Ericsson. The session, titled "Non-Terrestrial Networks and 3GPP Standards from 5G to 6G," provided an in-depth look at the evolution of NTNs and their integration into mobile networks.

Key Takeaways from the Session included:

• 3GPP Standardization Milestones:
• Release 17: NTN integration began, paving the way for seamless 5G coverage.
• Release 18: Enhanced features and capabilities, focusing on improved satellite-terrestrial convergence.
• Release 19 (Ongoing): Lays the foundation for natively integrated NTN frameworks in 6G.
• Unified Networks in 6G: A focus on radio access network architecture demonstrated how NTN can evolve from a supporting role to becoming an intrinsic component of future 6G systems.
• Industry Impact: The session highlighted how convergence between satellite and terrestrial networks is no longer aspirational but a tangible reality, fostering a truly unified global connectivity ecosystem.

With NTNs now integral to 3GPP's vision, the groundwork has been laid for scalable satellite connectivity that complements terrestrial networks. The insights shared at the forum emphasize the importance of collaboration across industry and standards organizations to unlock the full potential of NTNs in both 5G and 6G.

For those interested, the full tutorial slides and session video are embedded below.

Non-Terrestrial Networks and 3GPP Standards from 5G to 6G from 3G4G

Gino has kindly shared the slides that can be downloaded from here.

Related Posts: 

• Connectivity Technology Blog: Tutorial Session on Current Trends and Key Challenges of Satellite communications
• Connectivity Technology Blog: R&S Technical Explainer on 3GPP 5G Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN)
• Connectivity Technology Blog - Connecting the Uncharted: Space Norway’s Arctic Satellite Mission Takes Off
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Will 5G NTN Deliver on the Promised Use Cases?
• Connectivity Technology Blog: 5G NB-IoT NTN Coverage Extension by Sateliot
• Connectivity Technology Blog: KDDI Prepares for Disasters with Vehicle-Mounted Base Stations Backhauled via Starlink
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Laser Inter-Satellite Links (LISLs) in a Starlink Constellation
• Free 6G Training: The European Space Agency (ESA) Explores the Role of Satellites for 5G & 6G
• Connectivity Technology Blog: How does Plane Wi-Fi and Mobile Connectivity on Planes Work? 

TechKnowledge Technology Stories (Series 1)

TechKnowledge is a series of Technology Stories looking at how technology has evolved over the years and how it will continue to evolve in the future. The series is targeted at youth looking to understand how technology has been evolving and how it will evolve further. It is our intention to make a ten part series but as of yet only four parts are complete. 

Part 1: 'Smaller, Faster, Cheaper and More…' looks at how technology has evolved by things getting smaller, faster, cheaper and much more. It investigates Moore’s law and how it has helped create a future technology roadmap.

Part 2: 'Connecting Everything Everywhere…' discusses different connectivity options available to connect various devices, gadgets and appliances to the internet. It highlights the fact that this is just the beginning, and everything that can be connected will eventually get connected.

Part 3: 'Satellites - Our Friends In The Sky…' discusses the fact that they are our friends and helpers in the sky. In discusses how satellites are useful as a connectivity option, how it helps us map and navigate, how we can use location based services, how we can watch broadcast video or listen to broadcast radio, and last but not least, how satellites are helping us observe and monitor the earth. 

Part 4: 'Devices and Gadgets - Our Companions and Life Savers…' looks at the fact that we use a variety of electronic devices/gadgets in our everyday lives to make it more convenient, efficient, and even keep us connected. From smartphones and laptops to smart home appliances and wearable tech, these devices simplify tasks, enhance productivity, and provide instant access to information and communication. They help us manage work, stay in touch with loved ones, and access entertainment on the go. Gadgets like fitness trackers promote healthier lifestyles, while others automate household chores, saving time and energy. Overall, the connected devices & gadgets have become essential tools in modern life, blending seamlessly into our routines and transforming how we live and interact.

The playlist of the videos is embedded below:

The slides can be downloaded from here.

Related Posts: 

• 3G4G: Free 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Training Videos
• The 3G4G Blog: Explaining Telecoms
• The 3G4G Blog: Short Tutorial on Mission Critical Services in LTE and 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: Private Networks Introductory Series
• The 3G4G Blog: A Quick Introduction to 3GPP
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G and Cyber Security
• The 3G4G Blog: Tech Quotes we should know about - #TechQuotes
• The 3G4G Blog: Tech Laws we should all know about - #TechLaws 

Explaining Telecoms

Over the years we have made a lot of tutorials explaining mobile wireless technology (list here). Here is another one that came up as part of a discussion where many experienced telecom engineers seemed to be struggling explaining what telecoms mean. Slides and video embedded below:

Slides:

Beginners: What Does ‘Telecommunications’ or ‘Telecoms’ Mean? from 3G4G

Video:

You can download the pdf from here.

Related Posts: 

• 3G4G: Free 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Training Videos
• The 3G4G Blog: Short Tutorial on Mission Critical Services in LTE and 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: Private Networks Introductory Series
• The 3G4G Blog: A Quick Introduction to 3GPP
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G and Cyber Security 

Short Tutorial on Mission Critical Services in LTE and 5G

Over the years we have looked at the standards development, infrastructure development and even country specific mission critical solutions development in various blog posts. In this post we are sharing this short new tutorial by Mpirical on mission critical services in LTE and 5G. The video is embedded below:

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: Maritime Communication (MARCOM) Services over 3GPP system
• The 3G4G Blog: Update from 3GPP on LTE & 5G Mission Critical Communications
• The 3G4G Blog: Mission Critical Services update from 3GPP - June 2017
• The 3G4G Blog: QCI Enhancements For Mission Critical Communications
• The 3G4G Blog: Virve 2.0 - Finland's 4G/5G Public Safety Network
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Virve 2.0 is becoming a broad-band service
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: T-Mobile USA's Disaster Response Satellite Vehicles, Drones and COWs
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: THOR - Verizon's Disaster Response COW
• The 3G4G Blog: A practical use of MOCN in ESN
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Meshing for BYOC (Bring Your Own Coverage)
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Release 17 Description and Summary of Work Items 

Private Networks Introductory Series

Private Networks has been a hot topic for a while now. We made a technical introductory video which has over 13K views while its slides have over 25K views. The Private Networks blog that officially started in April is now getting over 2K views a month. 

In addition, there are quite a few questions and enquiries that I receive on them on a regular basis. With this background, it makes sense to add these Introductory video series by Firecell in a post. Their 'Private Networks Tutorial Series' playlist, aiming to demystify private networks, is embedded below:

The playlist has five videos at the moment, hopefully they will add more:

• Introduction to different kinds of mobile networks: public, private and hybrid networks
• Different Names for Private Networks
• Drivers and Enablers of Private Networks
• Mobile Cellular vs Wi-Fi Private Networks
• Architecture of Mobile Private Networks

I also like this post on different names for private networks.

Related Posts: 

• Private Networks Technology Blog
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Connecting Large Offshore Wind Farms with Private LTE & 5G Networks
• Connectivity Technology Blog: 4G/5G Campus Networks and their Challenges
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Private and Non-Public Network (NPN)
• The 3G4G Blog: Qualcomm Webinar on 'Realizing mission-critical industrial automation with 5G'
• The 3G4G Blog: Challenges and Future Perspectives of Industrial 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: Real-life 5G Use Cases for Verticals from China
• The 3G4G Blog: Private 4G / 5G Cellular Networks and Bring Your Own Spectrum
• The 3G4G Blog: Non-public networks (NPN) - Private Networks by another name 

Tutorial: A Quick Introduction to 3GPP

We recently made a beginners tutorial explaining the need for The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), its working, structure and provides useful pointers to explore further. The video and slides are embedded below.

Beginners: An Quick Introduction to 3GPP from 3G4G

You can download the slides from here.

3GPP experts, what else? pic.twitter.com/Gd7TkwwCwF

— 3G4G (@3g4gUK) February 14, 2023

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP TSG RAN and TSG SA Release-19 Workshop Summary
• The 3G4G Blog: ATIS Webinar on "3GPP Release 18 Overview: A World of 5G-Advanced"
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Reality Check - Data Rates
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Release-18 Work Moves Into Focus as Release-17 Reaches Maturity
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Presentations from CEATEC Japan 2021
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Release 17 Description and Summary of Work Items
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Release 16 Description and Summary of Work Items 

Is there a compelling Business Case for 5G Network Slicing in Public Networks?

Since the industry realised how the 5G Network Architecture will look like, Network Slicing has been touted as the killer business case that will allow the mobile operators to generate revenue from new sources.

Last month ABI Research said in a press release:

According to global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, 5G slicing revenue is expected to grow from US$309 million in 2022 to approximately US$24 billion in 2028, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 106%. 

“5G slicing adoption falls into two main categories. One, there is no connectivity available. Two, there is connectivity, but there is not sufficient capacity, coverage, performance, or security. For the former, both private and public organizations are deploying private network slices on a permanent and ad hoc basis,” highlights Don Alusha, 5G Core and Edge Networks Senior Analyst at ABI Research. The second scenario is mostly catered by private networks today, a market that ABI Research expects to grow from US$3.6 billion to US$109 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 45.8%. Alusha continues, “A sizable part of this market can be converted to 5G slicing. But first, the industry should address challenges associated with technology and commercial models. On the latter, consumers’ and enterprises’ appetite to pay premium connectivity prices for deterministic and tailored connectivity services remains to be determined. Furthermore, there are ongoing industry discussions on whether the value that comes from 5G slicing can exceed the cost required to put together the underlying slicing ecosystem.”

I recently published IDC's first forecast on 5G network slicing services opportunity. Slicing should be an important tool for telcos to create new services, but it still remains many years away in most markets. A very complicated undertakinghttps://t.co/GNY4xiLFBV

— Daryl Schoolar (@DHSchoolar) April 29, 2022

Earlier this year, Daryl Schoolar - Research Director at IDC tackled this topic in his blog post:

5G network slicing, part of the 3GPP standards developed for 5G, allows for the creation of multiple virtual networks across a single network infrastructure, allowing enterprises to connect with guaranteed low latency. Using principles behind software-defined network and network virtualization, slicing allows the mobile operator to provide differentiated network experience for different sets of end users. For example, one network slice could be configured to support low latency, while another slice is configured for high download speeds. Both slices would run across the same underlying network infrastructure, including base stations, transport network, and core network.

Network slicing differs from private mobile networks, in that network slicing runs on the public wide area network. Private mobile networks, even when offered by the mobile operator, use infrastructure and spectrum dedicated to the end user to isolate the customer’s traffic from other users.

5G network slicing is a perfect candidate for future business connectivity needs. Slicing provides a differentiated network experience that can better match the customers performance requirements than traditional mobile broadband. Until now, there has been limited mobile network performance customization outside of speeds. 5G network slicing is a good example of telco service offerings that meet future of connectivity requirements. However, 5G network slicing also highlights the challenges mobile operators face with transformation in their pursuit of remaining relevant.

For 5G slicing to have broad commercial availability, and to provide a variety of performance options, several things need to happen first.

• Operators need to deploy 5G Standalone (SA) using the new 5G mobile core network. Currently most operators use the 5G non-standalone (NSA) architecture that relies on the LTE mobile core. It might be the end of 2023 before the majority of commercial 5G networks are using the SA mode.
• Spectrum is another hurdle that must be overcome. Operators still make most of their revenue from consumers, and do not want to compromise the consumer experience when they start offering network slicing. This means operators need more spectrum. In the U.S., among the three major mobile operators, only T-Mobile currently has a nationwide 5G mid-band spectrum deployment. AT&T and Verizon are currently deploying in mid-band, but that will not be completed until 2023.
• 5G slicing also requires changes to the operator’s business and operational support systems (BSS/OSS). Current BSS/OSS solutions were not designed to support the increased parameters those systems were designed to support.
• And finally, mobile operators still need to create the business propositions around commercial slicing services. Mobile operators need to educate businesses on the benefits of slicing and how slicing supports their different connectivity requirements. This could involve mobile operators developing industry specific partnerships to reach different business segments. All these things take time to be put into place.

Because of the enormity of the tasks needed to make 5G network slicing a commercial success, IDC currently has a very conservative outlook for this service through 2026. IDC believes it will be 2023 until there is general commercial availability of 5G network slicing. The exception is China, which is expected to have some commercial offerings in 2022 as it has the most mature 5G market. Even then, it will take until 2025 before global revenues from slicing exceeds a billion U.S. dollars. In 2026 IDC forecasts slicing revenues will be approximately $3.2 billion. However, over 80% of those revenues will come out of China.

I'll put my hand up:

When it comes to #5G, I'm an unashamed #SliceDenier

Network slicing is one of the mobile industry's worst strategic errors since IMS.https://t.co/lc7EJ8SgP1 pic.twitter.com/Nz1vvNS9bA

— Dean Bubley (@disruptivedean) July 14, 2022

The 'Outspoken Industry Analyst' Dean Bubley believes that Network Slicing is one of the worst strategic errors made by the mobile industry, since the catastrophic choice of IMS for communications applications. In a LinkedIn post he explains:

At best, slicing is an internal toolset that might allow telco operations or product teams (or their vendors) to manage their network resources. For instance, it could be used to separate part of a cell's capacity for FWA, and dynamically adjust that according to demand. It might be used as an "ingredient" to create a higher class of service for enterprise customers, for instance for trucks on a highway, or as part of an "IoT service" sold by MNOs. Public safety users might have an expensive, artisanal "hand-carved" slice which is almost a separate network. Maybe next-gen MVNOs.

(I'm talking proper 3GPP slicing here - not rebranded QoS QCI classes, private APNs, or something that looks like a VLAN, which will probably get marketed as "slices")

But the idea that slicing is itself a *product*, or that application developers or enterprises will "buy a slice" is delusional.

Firstly, slices will be dependent on [good] coverage and network control. A URLLC slice likely won't work reliably indoors, underground, in remote areas, on a train, on a neutral-host network, or while roaming. This has been a basic failure of every differentiated-QoS monetisation concept for many years, and 5G's often-higher frequencies make it worse, not better.

Secondly, there is no mature machinery for buying, selling, testing, supporting. price, monitoring slices. No, the 5G Network Exposure Function won't do it all. I haven't met a Slice salesperson yet, or a Slice-procurement team.

Thirdly, a "local slice" of a national 5G network will run headlong into a battle with the desire for separate private/dedicated local 5G networks, which may well be cheaper and easier. It also won't work well with the enterprise's IT/OT/IP domains, out of the box.

Also there's many challenges getting multi-operator slices, device OS links to slice APIs, slice "boundary controllers" between operators, aligning RAN and core slices, regulatory questionmarks and much more.

There are lots of discussion in the comments section that may be of interest to you, here.

My belief is that we will see lots of interesting use cases with slicing in public networks but it will be difficult to monetise. The best networks will manage to do it to create some plans with guaranteed rates and low latency. It would remain to be see whether they can successfully monetise it well enough. 

New 5G Americas Whitepaper: Commercializing 5G Network Slicing - https://t.co/nEDKoTShSQ #Free5Gtraining #3G4G5G #5G #5GNetwork #5GTechnology #NetworkSlicing #5GSlicing #5GS #5GCore #5GStandalone #Orchestration #Automation #NFV #MultiTenancy #Vertical #Horizontal #Slicing pic.twitter.com/juatw3vCwq

— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) July 28, 2022

For technical people and newbies, there are lots of Network Slicing resources on this blog (see related posts 👇). Here is another recent video from Mpirical:

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Network Slicing for Beginners
• The 3G4G Blog: Network Slicing Tutorials and Other Resources
• The 3G4G Blog: Network Slicing using User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP)
• The 3G4G Blog: Network Slicing in NG RAN
• The 3G4G Blog: How to Identify Network Slices in NG RAN
• The 3G4G Blog: QoS Flow Establishments in 5G Standalone RAN and Core
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Slicing Templates
• The 3G4G Blog: End-to-end Network Slicing in 5G 

5G and Cyber Security

Dr. Seppo Virtanen is an Associate Professor in Cyber Security Engineering and Vice Head of Department of Computing, the University of Turku, Finland. At 5G Hack The Mall 2022, he presented a talk on Cybersecurity and 5G. 

In the talk he covered the following topics:

• Cybersecurity and Information Security
• The CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability) Model
• Achieving the goals of the CIA model
• Intrusion and Detection
• Intrusion detection, mitigation and aftercare
• Smart Environments
• Abstraction levels
• Cybersecurity in smart environments
• Cyber security concerns in smart environments
• Security concerns in Smart Personal Spaces
• Security concerns in Smart Rooms and Buildings
• Security concerns of a participant in a smart environment
• Cyber Security Concerns in Smart Environments
• Cyber Security in the 5G context
• Drivers for 5G security
• Securing 5G

This video embedded below is a nice introduction to cybersecurity and how it overlaps with 5G:

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Lawful Intelligence and Interception in 5G World with Data and OTT Apps
• The 3G4G Blog: Realizing Zero Trust Architecture for 5G Networks
• The 3G4G Blog: Bug hunting in 5G Networks and Devices
• The 3G4G Blog: AT&T Cybersecurity Experts Provide 5G Security Overview
• The 3G4G Blog: Everything you need to know about 5G Security
• The 3G4G Blog: Key Technology Aspects of 5G Security by Rohde & Schwarz
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Roaming with SEPP (Security Edge Protection Proxy)
• 3G4G: Security in 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Mobile Networks 

Tutorial on 4G/5G Mobile Network Uplink Working and Challenges

People involved with mobile technology know the challenges with uplink for any generation of mobile network. With increasing data rates in 4G and 5G, the issue has become important as most of the speeds are focused on download but upload speeds are quite poor.

Speedtests are still the 5G killer app (#5GKillerApp) right now. Fantastic speeds from Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband (UWB) #5GBuiltRight. Upload speeds 250+ Mbps but notice how to hold the phone right to get these speeds 🤫https://t.co/DS18IOw8AW

— 3G4G (@3g4gUK) February 12, 2021

Even without massive MIMO mobile networks are uplink limited. We've always engineered networks accordingly.

— Andy Sutton (@960sutton) June 5, 2019

People who follow us across our channels know of many of the presentations we share across them from various sources, not just ours. One such presentation by Peter Schmidt looked at the uplink in details. In fact we recommend following him on Twitter if you are interested in technical details and infrastructure.

The details of his talk as follows:

The lecture highlights the influences on the mysterious part of mobile communications - sources of interference in the uplink and their impact on mobile communication as well as practices for detecting sources of RF interference.

The field strength bar graph of a smartphone (the downlink reception field strength) is only half of the truth when assessing a mobile network coverage. The other half is the uplink, which is largely invisible but highly sensitive to interference, the direction from the end device to the base stations. In this lecture, sources of uplink interference, their effects and measurement and analysis options will be explained.

Cellular network uplink is essential for mobile communication, but nobody can really see it. The uplink can be disrupted by jammers, repeaters, and many other RF sources. When it is jammed, mobile communication is limited. I will show what types of interference sources can disrupt the uplink and what impact this has on cellular usage and how interference hunting can be done.

First I explain the necessary level symmetry of the downlink (from the mobile radio base station - eNodeB to the end device) and the uplink (from the end device back to the eNodeB). Since the transmission power of the end device and eNodeB are very different, I explain the technical background to achieving symmetry. In the following I will explain the problems and possibilities when measuring uplink signals on the eNodeB, it is difficult to look inside the receiver. In comparison, the downlink is very easy to measure, you can see the bars on your smartphone or you can use apps that provide detailed field strength information etc. However, the uplink remains largely invisible. However, if this is disturbed on the eNodeB, the field strength bars on the end device say nothing. I will present a way of observing which some end devices bring on board or can be read out of the chipset with APPs. The form in which the uplink can be disrupted, the effects on communication and the search for uplink sources of disruption will complete the presentation. I will also address the problem of 'passive intermodulation' (PIM), a (not) new source of interference in base station antenna systems, its assessment, measurement and avoidance.

The slides are available here. The original lecture was in German, a dubbed video is embedded below:

If you know of some other fantastic resources that we can share with our audience, please feel free to add them in the comments.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog - Radio Design Webinar: Optimising Your 700 MHz Deployments
• The 3G4G Blog: 2G/3G Shutdown may Cost Lives as 4G/5G Voice Roaming is a Mess
• The 3G4G Blog: Lawful Intelligence and Interception in 5G World with Data and OTT Apps
• The 3G4G Blog: Transitioning from eCall to NG-eCall and the Legacy Problem
• The 3G4G Blog: ATIS Webinar on '5G Standards Development Update in 3GPP Release 17 and 18'
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Release-17 5G NR Reaches Completion
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Network Slicing for Beginners
• The 3G4G Blog: Everything you need to know about 5G Security 

Edge Computing Tutorial from Transforma Insights

Jim Morrish, Founding Partner of Transforma Insights has kindly made an in-depth Edge Computing Tutorial for our channel. Slides and video is embedded below.

In this tutorial Jim covers the following topics:

• Definitions of Edge Computing.
• How and why Edge Computing is used.
• Planning for deployment of Edge Computing.
• Forecasts for Edge Computing.

Technology Introduction Series: Edge Computing tutorial.pdf from 3G4G

We would love to know if this answers your questions on this topic. If not, please feel free to post your questions below.  

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Standards on Edge Computing
• The 3G4G Blog: Edge Computing - Industry Vertical Viewpoints
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Presentations from CEATEC Japan 2021
• The 3G4G Blog: What is Cloud Native and How is it Transforming the Networks?
• The 3G4G Blog - Webinar: Where Edge Meets Cloud by Dean Bubley
• The 3G4G Blog: Can Augmented & Mixed Reality be the Killer App 5G needs?
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: AWS for Public and Private 5G Networks
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Edge Computing and the Future of Small Cell Networks
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: SK Telecom’s 5G MEC Status and Plan
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Operator Cloud Infrastructure and Innovation Strategy
• Free 6G Training - 6G in the sky: On-demand intelligence at the edge of 3D networks
• Operator Watch Blog: How is KT Reducing the Latency of their 5G Network
• Connectivity Technology Blog: C-V2X and 5G for Vehicular Connectivity
• The 3G4G Blog: Are there 50 Billion IoT Devices yet? 

5G Network Slicing for Beginners

Network Slicing is a hot topic on our blogs and it looks like people can't get enough of it. So here is a short introductory tutorial from Wray Castle.

The video embedded below explores what Network Slicing is, how it is used, and how it is deployed in the 5G network, as well as (briefly) the role of MEC (Multi Access Edge Computing) in support of specific use cases and potential slice deployments.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: Network Slicing Tutorials and Other Resources
• The 3G4G Blog: Network Slicing using User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP)
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Slicing Templates
• The 3G4G Blog: End-to-end Network Slicing in 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: Network Slicing in NG RAN
• The 3G4G Blog: How to Identify Network Slices in NG RAN 

Different Types of RAN Architectures - Distributed, Centralized & Cloud

I come across a question relating to the different type of RAN architectures once per month on an average. Even though we have covered the topic as part of some or the other tutorial, we decided to do a dedicated tutorial on this.

The video and slides are embedded below

Beginners: Different Types of RAN Architectures - Distributed, Centralized & Cloud from 3G4G

As always, feedback and comments welcome.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Open RAN Terminology and Players
• The 3G4G Blog: A quick tutorial on Open RAN, vRAN & White Box RAN
• The 3G4G Blog: Open RAN Explanation, Videos, White papers and Other Resources
• The 3G4G Blog: O-RAN Introduction for Beginners
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: NTT Docomo's 5G Network is based on 'Open RAN' Principles
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: NTT Docomo's 5G RAN Infrastructure
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G RAN Functional Splits
• The 3G4G Blog: From traditional RAN to Open RAN - O-RAN: Goals and Challenges
• 3G4G: Open RAN, OpenRAN and O-RAN 

O-RAN Introduction for Beginners

Having been writing about Open RAN for a while, I thought it was important to make simple beginners tutorials for O-RAN. As my full time job* is with a company that is heavily involved in Open RAN and O-RAN, I had an insiders view for doing this project. 

I am making a series of videos for Parallel Wireless to help the industry become familiar with the technology and terminology. The playlist is embedded below:

Four of these are ready and more will be added as and when I get some time. Here is a summary of the videos available. Some of them also have a corresponding blog that I am linking below.

1. Introduction to O-RAN Philosophy: This explains the basics of O-RAN and how O-RAN is transforming the mobile networks industry towards open, intelligent, virtualized and fully interoperable RAN.
2. Introduction to O-RAN Timeline and Releases: This part looks at important timelines from the O-RAN Alliance, understand the O-RAN Software Community (OSC) and the role it plays in O-RAN, and finally, looks at the O-RAN Open-Source Software releases.
3. Introduction to O-RAN Architecture: This part looks at how the basic OpenRAN architecture is evolving into the O-RAN Alliance based Intelligent, Virtualized and Fully Interoperable RAN. It starts with a high-level ORAN architecture and then delves into details of Service Management and Orchestration (SMO), Non-Real-Time (Non-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), Near-RT RIC and O-Cloud.
4. O-RAN Technical Steering Committee (TSC) & Workgroups: This part looks at O-RAN Technical Steering Committee (TSC) & Workgroups (WGs). The O-RAN TSC decides or gives guidance on O-RAN technical topics and approves O-RAN specifications prior to the Board approval and publication. The TSC consists of Member representatives and the technical workgroup co-chairs, representing both Members and Contributors. Within the TSC, there are 10 work groups, 4 focus groups, Open-Source Community and Minimum Viable Plan Committee. These have all been discussed within the video.
5. O-RAN Workgroup1: Task Groups and Deliverables: This part looks at O-RAN Workgroup#1 (WG1), its task groups and sub-task groups and finally the deliverables produced by WG1.
6. O-RAN Alliance Workgroup 2 and Workgroup 3: Specifications and Other Deliverables: This part looks at O-RAN Workgroup#2 (WG2) and Workgroup#3 (WG3) deliverables.

I am hoping that I will be able to do a few more parts and add a lot more information to the basics so a handy resource is available for anyone interested. Feel free to add links, suggestions, etc. in the comments below. 

Finally, The O-RAN ALLIANCE Story, June 2021 via @TelecomTV - https://t.co/tbU2fsabHi#Free5Gtraining #3G4G5G #4G #5G #OpenRAN #ORAN #ORANalliance #MWC21

— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) June 28, 2021

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Open RAN Explanation, Videos, White papers and Other Resources
• The 3G4G Blog: A quick tutorial on Open RAN, vRAN & White Box RAN
• 3G4G: Open RAN, OpenRAN and O-RAN
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Small Cells World Summit Open RAN Webinar
• The 3G4G Blog: From traditional RAN to Open RAN - O-RAN: Goals and Challenges
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: NTT Docomo's 5G Network is based on 'Open RAN' Principles 

*Full Disclosure: I work for Parallel Wireless as a Senior Director, Technology & Innovation Strategy. This blog is maintained in my personal capacity and expresses my own views, not the views of my employer or anyone else. Anyone who knows me well would know this.

A look at 5G Applications, Application Functions & Application Servers

We often get questions about 5G Service Based Architecture. Luckily, we have a tutorial that we can redirect people to. It's available here and the video just crossed 50K views. One of the questions that people often want to understand, is about the Application Function (AF) and how does it fit in the Applications Architecture.

To explain this, we made a tutorial. The slides and videos are embedded below. In that we have used the examples from our XR, V2X and Private Networks tutorials. All links are available at the bottom of this post.

Video:

Slides:

Intermediate: 5G Applications Architecture - A look at Application Functions & Application Servers from 3G4G

Related Posts:

• 3G4G: 5G Service Based Architecture (SBA)
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G eXtended Reality (5G-XR) in 5G System (5GS)
• The 3G4G Blog: An Introduction to Vehicle to Everything (V2X) and Cellular V2X (C-V2X)
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Private and Non-Public Network (NPN)
• 3G4G: 3GPP 5G Specifications 

Everything you need to know about 5G Security

5G & Security are both big topics on this blog as well as on 3G4G website. We reached out to 3GPP 5G security by experts from wenovator, Dr. Anand R. Prasad & Hans Christian Rudolph to help out audience understand the mysteries of 5G security. Embedded below is video and slides from a webinar they recorded for us.

You can ask any security questions you may have on the video on YouTube

5G Security Briefing from 3G4G

The slides could be downloaded from SlideShare.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Lawful Intercept in 5G Networks
• The 3G4G Blog: Key Technology Aspects of 5G Security by Rohde & Schwarz
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Roaming with SEPP (Security Edge Protection Proxy)
• The 3G4G Blog: Evolution of Security from 4G to 5G
• The 3G4G Blog - Tutorial: Service Based Architecture (SBA) for 5G Core (5GC)
• 3G4G: Security in 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Mobile Networks
• 3G4G: 5G (IMT-2020) Wireless 

Nokia Lectures in Collaboration with Bangalore University

Nokia recently delivered some lectures virtually to Bangalore University students. The talks covered a variety of talks from LTE to 5G, Security & IMS. The playlist from Nokia is embedded below. The video contains following topics:

Part 1: 5G - General Introduction and IoT Specific Features
Part 2: 5G Overview
Part 3: Network Security Practices and Principles
Part 4: LTE Network Architecture - Interface and Protocols
Part 5: IMS - IP Multimedia Subsystem

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Evolution with Matthew Baker, Nokia
• 3G4G: Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication for 5G New Radio
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Nokia's 5G Small Cells in Limelight
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Nokia's AirScale indoor Radio (ASiR) Small Cells
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: LuxTurrim5G smart light pole concept
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Verizon and Nokia Put Small Cell in the Air at #OCR2019
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Paris Metro is now 100% covered with LTE
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Air-to-Ground (A2G) Network for Emergency Communications
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS)
• 3G4G: Introduction to NR-Light a.k.a. NR-Lite

Network Slicing Tutorials and Other Resources

I have received quite a few requests to do a 5G Network Slicing tutorial but have still not got around to doing it. Luckily there are so many public resources available that I can get away with not doing one on this topic. 

This Award Solutions webinar by Paul Shepherd (embedded below) provides good insights into network slicing, what it is, how it efficiently enables different services in 5G networks, and the architectural changes in 5G required to support it.

Then there is also this myth about 3 slices in the network. The GSMA slice template is a good starting point for an operator looking to do network slicing in their 5G networks. The latest version is 3.0, available here.

As this picture (courtesy of Phil Kendall) shows, it's not a straightforward task.  

That is 37 attributes each of which can take multiple values. The permutations are massive.

— Dr. Dan Warren (@TMGB) October 18, 2019

Alistair URIE from Nokia Bell Labs points out some common misconceptions people have with Network Slicing:

1. Multiple slices may share the same cell and the same RU in each slice
2. Single UE may have up to 8 active slices but must have a single CU-CP instance to terminate the common RRC 
3. Slicing supports more than 3 slices 

Back in March, China Mobile, Huawei, Tencent, China Electric Power Research Institute, and Digital Domain have jointly released the Categories and Service Levels of Network Slice White Paper to introduce the industry’s first classification of network slice levels. The new white paper dives into the definitions, solutions, typical scenarios, and evolution that make up the five levels of network slices. It serves as an excellent reference to provide guidance in promoting and commercializing network slicing, and lays a theoretical foundation for the industry-wide application of network slicing.

The whitepaper describes the different phases as:

Phase 1 (ready): As mentioned above, the 5G transport network and 5G core network support different software-based and hardware-based isolation solutions. On the 5G NR side, 5QIs (QoS scheduling mechanism) are mainly used to achieve software-based isolation in WAN scenarios. Alternatively, campus-specific 5G NR (including micro base stations and indoor distributed base stations) is used to implement hardware-based isolation in LAN scenarios. In terms of service experience assurance, 5QIs are used to implement differentiated SLA assurance between slices. In terms of slice OAM capabilities, E2E KPIs can be managed in a visualized manner. This means that from 2020 on, Huawei is ready to deliver commercial use of E2E slicing for common customers and VIP customers of the public network and common customer of general industries (such as UHD live broadcast and AR advertisement).

Phase 2 (to be ready in 2021): In terms of isolation, the 5G NR side supports the wireless RB resource reservation technology (including the static reservation and dynamic reservation modes) to implement E2E network resource isolation and slicing in WAN scenarios. In terms of service experience assurance, features such as 5G LAN and 5G TSN are enhanced to implement differentiated and deterministic SLA assurance between different slices. In terms of slice OAM, on the basis of tenant-level KPI visualization, the limited self-service of the industry for rented slices can be further supported. In this phase, operators can serve VIP customers in common industries (such as AR/VR cloud games and drone inspection), dedicated industry customers (such as electric power management information region, medical hospital campus, and industrial campus), and dedicated industry customers (such as electric power production control region and public security).

Phase 3 (to be ready after 2022): In this phase, 5G network slicing supports real dynamic closed-loop SLAs based on AI and negative feedback mechanism, implementing network self-optimization and better serving industries (such as 5G V2X) with high requirements on mobility, roaming, and service continuity. In addition, industry-oriented comprehensive service capabilities will be further enhanced and evolved.

A more technical presentation from Nokia is available here. The video below shows how innovations in IP routing and SDN work together to implement network slicing in the transport domain.

If you know some other good resources and tutorials worth sharing, add them in the comments below.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Slicing Templates
• The 3G4G Blog: End-to-end Network Slicing in 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: AI your Slice to 5G Perfection 

Lawful Intercept in 5G Networks

Mats Näslund is a cryptologist at the National Defence Radio Establishment outside Stockholm, an agency under the Swedish dept. of defence. As part of his work, he represents Sweden in technical LI standardization in 3GPP. Mats also has a part time appointment as adjunct professor at KTH. Her recently delivered a HAIC Talk on Lawful Intercept in 5G Networks. HAIC Talks is a series of public outreach events on contemporary topics in information security, organized by the Helsinki-Aalto Institute for Cybersecurity (HAIC).

The following is the description from HAIC website:

Our societies have been prospering, much due to huge technological advances over the last 100 years. Unfortunately, criminal activity has in many cases also been able to draw benefits from these advances. Communication technology, such as the Internet and mobile phones, are today “tools-of-the-trade” that are used to plan, execute, and even hide crimes such as fraud, espionage, terrorism, child abuse, to mention just a few. Almost all countries have regulated how law enforcement, in order to prevent or investigate serious crime, can sometimes get access to meta data and communication content of service providers, data which normally is protected as personal/private information. The commonly used term for this is Lawful Interception (LI). For mobile networks LI is, from a technical standpoint, carried out according to ETSI and 3GPP standards. In this talk, the focus will lie on the technical LI architecture for 5G networks. We will also give some background, describing the general, high-level legal aspects of LI, as well as some current and future technical challenges.

The slides are available here.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Everything you need to know about 5G Security
• The 3G4G Blog: Key Technology Aspects of 5G Security by Rohde & Schwarz
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Roaming with SEPP (Security Edge Protection Proxy)
• The 3G4G Blog: Exploiting Possible 5G Vulnerabilities
• The 3G4G Blog: Presentations from ETSI Security Week 2019 (#ETSISecurityWeek)
• The 3G4G Blog: VoLTE Hacking
• The 3G4G Blog: Evolution of Security from 4G to 5G