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Mobile Network Architecture for 5G Era - New

C-RAN Architecture and Distributed 5G Core
October 06, 2015 | By Dr. Harrison J. Son and Dr. Michelle M. Do (tech@netmanias.com)

It's been only a year and a half since we excitedly introduced the Evolution of Mobile RAN Architecture in
LTE/LTE-A Era (C-RAN) last April. And today we are discussing the same for 5G era already.
Key transitions from 3G to 4G included i) network architecture change from coverage-based to capacity-based,
and ii) introduction of new 4G element, X2 interface. Specifically, cells became smaller for enhanced user
throughput and network capacity, C-RAN was brought in for more efficient interference coordination between
those smaller cells, and point-to-point backhaul was transformed into IP routing network to achieve minimal
delay in X2 interfaces where interference coordination data between cells are exchanged.
While commercialized 5G is expected to arrive in 2020 globally, Korean operators are planning to launch 5G
trial service in 2018.
Many predict 5G, compared to 4G, will give:

Ultra-high radio speed (20Gbps/UE) - New RAT, mmWave, massive MIMO, massive Aggregation

Ultra-low latency (E2E few msec) - Tectile Internet, autonomous driving, remote controlled machine

Massive connectivity (hundreds of millions of IoT devices)

Among the most talked about use cases of 5G selected by ITU-R and 3GPP are enhanced mobile broadband
(mobile speeds up to 20Gbps), massive IoT (5G access by billions of IoT devices like sensor), and missioncritical IoT (Ultra-reliable and low latency communications).
How 5G, with higher technological requirements and distinguished use cases compared to those of 4G, will
affect the current mobile network architecture? What changes will it bring?

1. Ultra-High Radio Speed Enormous traffic at fronthaul New C-RAN/Fronthaul

Currently, all Korean operators use the same 4G RAN architecture, C-RAN (Centralized/Cloud RAN). In C-RAN,
BBUs and RRHs are separated from each other, and BBUs are located at central offices (CO) or master cell sites
while RRHs are located at cell sites. These separately located units are connected via CRPI interface (i.e. BBU CPRI port - RRH), with one CPRI port connecting to each RRH. Each RRH has two antennas (2T2R) and has LTE
channel bandwidth (BW) of 20MHz. So, the capacity of CPRI interface is 2.45Gbps.
Once massive MIMO is applied, CPRI capacity between BBU and each RRH has to be enhanced drastically. For

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Mobile Network Architecture for 5G Era - New C-RAN Architecture and
Distributed 5G Core

example, if BW is 20MHz and an RRH has 16 antennas, then 19.66Gbps of CPRI capacity is required between
BBU and the RRH. Moreover, if new RAT is used, BW is no longer 20MHz as in 4G LTE, but it will even further
extend beyond 100MHz, 400MHz, and so on, eventually requiring tens or hundreds of Gbps of CPRI capacity
per RRH.

Cell Site

4G

5G

CPRI Fronthaul

BBU Pool
EPC

2.45Gbps/RRH

RRH

5G Radio
- Massive MIMO
- New RAT
- mmWave

IP Speed: A few Gbps

Packet Core
Backhaul

2-antenna
20MHz@700MHz to
3.8GHz
IP Speed: 150Mbps

C-RAN

(CPRI option 3)

BBU

CPRI interface

Packet Core
CPRI Fronthaul
Explosion

RRH

tens or
hundreds of
Gbps/RRH

Backhaul
BBU Pool
5G Core

BBU
CPRI interface

Figure 1. CRPI fronthaul explosion due to untra-high radio speed

The C-RAN/Fronthaul architecture of today will no longer be able to handle such increasing capacity
requirement in 5G era (Currently, the maximum transmission capacity per CPRI port is 10Gbps). To overcome
this issue, a solution is proposed and is under review. This solution would re-define the functions of BBU and
RRH, differently from the way they are defined now (i.e. pulling PHY, at least, down to RRH, thereby
significantly reducing transmission capacity), and change the interface between BBU and RRH from Circuit
fronthaul (CPRI) to Packet fronthaul (Ethernet).
In the approaching 5G era, BBU and RRH should be re-defined, and fronthaul should be re-built as packet
fronthaul. To make these changes, many functional split options have been proposed, each offering trade-offs
such as reduced fronthaul capacity, CoMP effect, RAN virtualization gain, etc. These new network solutions
are currently being tested by many operators including the Korean big 3, NTT, AT&T, etc., by using equipment
by RAN vendors like Nokia.

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Mobile Network Architecture for 5G Era - New C-RAN Architecture and
Distributed 5G Core

5G
5G Radio
- Massive MIMO
- New RAT
- mmWave

Cell Site

Cloud RAN

Packet Core
Backhaul

New fronthaul

BBU Pool

reduce
fronthaul traffic

New
BBU

New Interface

5G Cloud RAN: Many functional split options

PDCP

Delay requirement

PDCP

BBU

CoMP effect

PDCP

RLC

PDCP

MAC

RF

PHY

RLC

RF

PHY

Symbol/Bit

RLC
MAC
PHY

PHY
RF

RLC
MAC

MAC

RF

PHY

MAC PDU

IQ data
(over CPRI
interface)

4G C-RAN

RRH

RLC PDU

PDCP

RLC
MAC
PHY
RF

PDCP PDU

Trade-off

Fronthaul capacity requirement

New
RRH

IP Speed: A few Gbps

5G Core

Figure 2. Functional split between BBU and RRH

2. Ultra-High Radio Speed Enormous traffic converging into the Core Distributed 5G
Core
In 5G era, radio IP capacity will become as large as 20Gbps per sector (mobile speeds up to 20Gbps), and ultralarge content traffic (e.g. UHD Video Streaming, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR)) will travel across
the faster radio access network. All mobile traffic have to travel via packet core network (i.e. PGW in case of
4G). Today, most countries have only a few sites with PGWs across their nations (e.g. In Korea, all PGWs are at
two sites in Seoul only).
If the current architecture is kept, massive backhaul between BBU Pools located across the country and packet
core in a few centralized sites is inevitable, and substantial backhaul investment has to be made as well. For
instance, let's say there are 10,000 5G cell sites nationwide, each with 3 sectors. Backhaul capacity required is
600Tbps (20Gbps/sector x 3-sector x 10,000 sites). Of course, 5G core in centralized sites should have ultra
high processing capacity as well.

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Mobile Network Architecture for 5G Era - New C-RAN Architecture and
Distributed 5G Core

Cell Site

Cloud RAN

IP speed
20 Gbps

Backhaul
Explosion

Cloud Core
Applications

BBU Pool

5G Core
nx100Gbps

Massive Aggregation
Massive MIMO
New RAT
mmWave

Figure 3. Backhaul explosion due to the converging into packet core

Because of the foregoing circumstances, Korean and global operators prefer 5G solutions that involve
distribution of 5G core nodes close to cell sites. If 5G core nodes are distributed closer to cell sites, content
servers (or caching servers) can be placed on the rack right next to the distributed 5G core. And this can help
significantly reduce backhaul traffic by having mobile devices download content immediately from the content
server without having to pass the backhaul to reach 5G core. According to a test conducted by SK Telecom,
backhaul traffic was decreased in deed by over 30%.
Both KT and SK Telecom decided to distribute their packet core to local sites across the country in the coming
5G era. 5G Core (Data Plane), New BBU and Applications will run on virtualized servers at the local cloud RAN
sites.

Cell Site

Cloud RAN

IP speed
20 Gbps

Distributed
5G Core

Applications

Applications

BBU Pool

Massive Aggregation
Massive MIMO
New RAT
mmWave

Cloud Core

Distributed
5G Core

5G Core
Backhaul
reduce backhaul
traffic

Figure 4. Distributed 5G Core

3. Ultra-low latency Distributed 5G Core

Many agree that massive IoT and mission-critical IoT are the biggest difference between 4G and 5G. Missioncritical IoT (Ultra-reliable and low latency communications) applications include remote controlled machine,
autonomous driving (self-driving), etc. These types of ultra-real-time services require radio latency of less than
1ms, and end-to-end latency of less than a few ms. The best way to achieve minimal end-to-end latency in
terms of network architecture would be to eliminate backhaul delay by distributing 5G core closest to mobile

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Mobile Network Architecture for 5G Era - New C-RAN Architecture and
Distributed 5G Core

devices, and placing application servers right next to it. Distribution of 5G core that we have just discussed
above will naturally give us the same effect.
Key elements of the 5G mobile network architecture presented by the Korean big 3 can be summarized as
distribution of 5G core, and introduction of new packet-based fronthaul.

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