5G Network Protocols

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 Objectives

 Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

 Understand the NR network architecture and interfaces.

 Understand the differences between LTE and NR in the

protocol stack.

 Be familiar with the functions of each protocol stack of the

NR air interface.

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 Contents

1. NR Network Architecture
2. 5G Network Interfaces and Protocol Stack
3. NR Air Interface Protocol Stack

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 Basic 5G Architecture

NGC

AMF/SMF/UPF AMF/SMF/UPF
NG-C/U

NG-C/U
NG-

C/U
NG-
C/U

Xn NG-RAN
gNB gNB
X

n
X
n

gNB

 NG-RAN: It consists of several gNodeBs.

 NGC: It refers to the next-generation core network where the AMF, UPF, and SMF are deployed.

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 3GPP-defined NGC

 3GPP has confirmed the Service Based Architecture (SBA) led and
proposed by China Mobile as the basic architecture of 5G core network.

 The 5G core network architecture involves three key technologies: SBA,

CUPS, and network slicing.

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 SBA
 In SBA, NFs are used to implement network functions. Each NF provides the common
exposure function for external devices and can be invoked by reference points.

 The interfaces between 2G, 3G, and 4G NEs must be predefined and configured with
dedicated protocols. These interfaces can be used only between two types of NEs and
cannot be invoked.

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 NGC Architecture (Based on Reference Points)

AUSF N13 UDM

N12 N8 N10

AMF N11 SMF N7 PCF N5 AF

N14 N15

N1 N2 N4

UE (R)AN N3 UPF N6 DN

N9

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 NGC NFs

 AMF:  UPF:
 Termination of uplink NAS signaling  Anchor point for mobility management user
 NAS signaling security plane
 AS security control  PDU session node
 Signaling node for interoperability in 3GPP  Downlink data routing and forwarding
systems
 User-plane data detection and policy execution
 Idle UE reachability management
 Uplink service type identification
 UE location area management
 UE access authentication  QoS-based packet filter and processing

 Data packet flag

 SMF:
 Session management  UPF control

 UE IP address allocation  QoS and policy execution

 User plane function selection and control  Downlink data notification

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 5G NR Network Topology
 5G NR has two main architecture options:
 NR NSA: non-standalone network architecture

 NR SA: standalone network architecture

EPC NGC EPC NGC

CP and UP UP CP and UP

CP and UP
S1 NG
CP and UP CP and UP
LTE eNB gNB eLTE eNB gNB
X2 Xn

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5G Network Architecture (NSA)
EPC

S1
X2
eNodeB gNodeB

User plane
4G/5G dual-mode UE
Control plane

 The UE accesses the gNodeB through dual connectivity (DC).

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 NSA Option 3 and Option 3a

 Option 3 and option 3a: The legacy LTE EPC network is reused.

EPC EPC
S1-C S1-U S1-C S1-U S1-U

LTE eNB gNB LTE eNB gNB

Option 3 Option 3a
 Option 3: To control the NR bandwidth, the LTE eNodeB needs to be
upgraded to forward mass data on the 5G user plane.

 Options 3a: Data steering is required on the EPC.

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 NSA Option 3x, Option 7, and Option 7x
 Option 3x: The LTE EPC is reused.

EPC
S1-C S1-U S1-U

LTE eNB gNB

 Option 7 and option 7a: A new NGC is used.

NGC NGC
NG-C NG-U NG-C NG-U NG-U

eLTE eNB gNB eLTE eNB gNB

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 5G Network Architecture (SA)
NG-CP/UPGW NG-CP/UPGW
NGC
NG

eLTE eNB
New RAN
gNB
Xn Xn

Xn
eLTE eNB gNB

 NG-RAN: It consists of several gNodeBs.

 NGC: It refers to the next-generation core network where the AMF, UPF, and SMF are deployed.

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 SA Option 4 and Option 4a

 Options 4 and option 4a: A new NGC is used.

NGC NGC
NG-C NG-U NG-U NG-C NG-U

eLTE eNB gNB eLTE eNB gNB

Option 4 Option 4a
 Option 4: The LTE eNodeB is upgraded to forward mass data on
the 5G user plane.

 Option 4a: The NGC must support effective management of UE

bearers between the eLTE eNodeB and the gNodeB.

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 SA Option 5 and Option 2
 Option 5 and option 2: A new NGC is used.

NGC NGC
NG-C NG-U NG-C NG-U

eLTE eNB gNB

Option 5 Option 2
 Option 5: The LTE eNodeB is upgraded to support the control plane and user plane of the NGC.

 Option 2: The control plane and user plane of the 5G gNodeB access the NGC.

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 Contents

1. NR Network Architecture

2. 5G Network Interfaces and Protocol Stack

3. NR Air Interface Protocol Stack

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 NG Interface
 The NG interface is the interface between the NR
gNodeB and the NGC. It is similar to the S1 interface on
the LTE network.

 The NG interface supports the following functions:

NGC
 UE context management: Roaming, access restriction,
NG-C NG-U
security, and information related to network slicing.

 UE mobility management

 CN paging message sending

gNB
 PDU session management: Establishment, deletion,
and change of PDU sessions.

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 NG Interface Protocol Stack

 The NG-C interface currently supports the SCTP and GTP-U protocols.

NG-AP User plane PDUs

GTP-U
SCTP
UDP
IP
IP
Data link layer
Data link layer
Physical layer Physical layer

NG-C NG-U

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 Xn Interface
 Function
 The Xn interface is the interface between gNodeBs and between the gNodeB
and the eLTE eNodeB. It can also be used between eLTE eNodeBs in future.

Xn-U Xn-U
eLTE eNB gNB gNB
Xn-C Xn-C

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 Xn Interface Protocol Stack

 The transport layer protocol of the Xn control plane uses SCTP, the application layer
protocol stack uses XnAP, and the user plane supports at least the GTP-U protocol stack.

Xn-AP User plane PDUs

GTP-U
SCTP
UDP
IP
IP
Data link layer Data link layer

Physical layer Physical layer

Xn-C Xn-U

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 Uu Interface (1)
 Compared with the control plane protocol stack of the LTE Uu interface, the
user plane protocol stack of the NR Uu interface integrates the SDAP.

Control plane User plane

Service data

RRC signaling SDAP

PDCP PDCP

RLC Layer 2 RLC

MAC MAC

PHY Layer 1
PHY

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 Uu Interface (2)
 In the converged networking of NR and LTE, the DC technology is used so that a
UE can access two systems for data transfer at the same time. The following figure
uses option 3/3a/3x as an example to illustrate how data is processed by the Uu
interface protocol stack and to provide the network architecture from the
perspective of protocol stack.

MCG bearer Split bearer SCG bearer MCG bearer SCG split
bearer
S1 S1 S1 S1

Xx Xx
PDCP PDCP NR PDCP PDCP NR PDCP NR PDCP

RLC RLC NR RLC NR RLC RLC RLC NR RLC NR RLC

MAC NR MAC MAC NR MAC

LTE eNB gNB LTE eNB gNB

Uu interface protocol stack in Uu interface protocol stack

option 3 or 3a in option 3x

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 Contents

1. NR Network Architecture
2. 5G Network Interfaces and Protocol Stack
3. NR Air Interface Protocol Stack

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 5G Air Interface Protocol Stack Overview

Control plane User plane

UE gNB AMF UE gNB

NAS NAS SDAP SDAP

RRC RRC
PDCP PDCP
PDCP PDCP
RLC RLC
RLC RLC
MAC MAC
MAC MAC

PHY PHY PHY PHY

 Layer 3: Provides air interface services for RRC signaling and user plane data.
 Layer 2: Differentiates Layer 3 data and provides different services.
 Layer 1 (physical layer): Provides radio resources and physical layer processing for higher-layer data.

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 NR Channels

 A channel is used for communication between the RAN and a UE.

 Logical channel: A channel uses its identifier to distinguish the transmitted contents. For
example, a broadcast channel (BCCH) identifies a broadcast message by using its own
logical channel identifier.
 Transport channel: A channel indicates the transmission mode. For example, the downlink
shared channel (DL-SCH) indicates that services and some control messages are
transmitted by sharing air resources. It specifies the MCS, spatial multiplexing, and other
information to inform the physical layer how to transmit the information.
 Physical channel: A carrier for transmitting signals in the air, mapped to a specific time-
frequency resource. For example, the PBCH uses a specific MCS to contain a broadcast
message in an actual physical location.

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 RRC Layer Functions
 The RRC layer is located above the PDCP layer. The functions of the
RRC layer are similar to those on the LTE network.
 System information RRC/NAS Layer 3
 Admission control
PDCP
 Security management
Logical RLC
 Measurement and reporting channel Layer 2

 Handover and mobility MAC

Transport
 NAS message transfer channel
PHY Layer 1
 Radio resource management Physical
channel

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 UE Status at the RRC Layer

NR RRC_CONNECTED

Resume / Release
with Suspend
Establish /
Release
NR RRC_INACTIVE

Release

NR RRC_IDLE

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 Contents

3. NR Air Interface Protocol Stack

3.1 SDAP and PDCP Processing Procedure
3.1 SDAP and PDCP Layer Processing Procedure
3.2 RLC Layer Processing Procedure
3.3 MAC Layer Processing Procedure
3.4 3.5 Physical Layer Processing Procedure

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 QoS Architecture (1)
 The minimum granularity for 5G QoS management is QoS flow. Data
can be transmitted only when a PDU session is set up on the user plane.
NG-RAN NGC

UE NB UPF

PDU Session
Radio Bearer NG-U Tunnel
QoS Flow

QoS Flow

Radio Bearer
QoS Flow

Radio N3

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 QoS Architecture (2)

 The NGC sets up one or more PDU sessions for each UE. One or more QoS flows may
be established in a PDU session. The NG-RAN establishes different DRBs for the QoS
flows that have QoS requirements, or map QoS flows in the same PDU session to a
DRB.

 The 5G QoS model is created based on the QoS flow. The QoS flow is the best
granularity for differentiating QoS differences in a PDU session, and uniquely
identified by the QFI. Each QoS flow has its associated QoS attribute set.

 The UE and UPF associate the services with the QoS flows through the packet filter
set. The RAN maps the QoS flows to the DRBs to ensure the service quality.

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 SDAP Layer Functions
 The SDAP layer is located above the PDCP layer and directly carries IP
data packets. It is used only on the user plane.
 Mapping between QoS flows and DRBs

 QFI marking for packets

IP data Layer 3
SDAP
PDCP
RLC Layer 2
Logical
Channel MAC
Transport
Channel PHY Layer 1
Physical
channel

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 Data Processing Procedure

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 SDAP Layer Data PDU

 Format of the SDAP data PDU without the SDAP header

Data Oct 1

….
Oct N

 Format of the SDAP data PDU with the SDAP header

RDI RQI QFI Oct 1

Data Oct 2

...

Data Oct N

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 PDCP Layer Functions
 The NR PDCP layer is located below the RRC layer or the SDAP layer. The PDCP layer
on the NR network inherits the functions on the LTE network and integrates the
sorting and replication functions.

 Transmission of data on the user plane and control plane

Layer 3
 PDCP SN maintenance

 Routing and replication (in DC scenarios) RRC/NAS IP packet

 Encryption, decryption, and integrity protection SDAP
 Reordering PDCP
Discarding due to duplication Layer 2

Logical RLC
 ROHC (user plane) Channel
MAC
Transport
Channel Layer 1
PHY
Physical
channel

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 PDCP Layer Entities

 Each radio bearer corresponds to one PDCP entity, which can

correspond to one, two, or four RLC entities. The number of RLC
entities depends on the RB features, such as the transmission
mode and split bearer solution.
 In the non-split bearer solution, each PDCP corresponds to one or two
bidirectional UM RLC entities.

 In the split bearer solution, each PDCP corresponds to two

unidirectional UM or AM RLC entities, or corresponds to four
bidirectional UM RLC entities.

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 Data Processing at the PDCP Layer
UE/NG-RAN NG-RAN/UE
Transmitting Receiving
PDCP entity PDCP entity

SN addition Decompression

Header compression
Packets associated to
a PDCP SDU
Packets associated to
a PDCP SDU

associated to a

associated to a
Packets not
PDCP SDU
Reordering and repeated

Packets not
PDCP SDU
Integrity protection discard

Encryption Integrity check

PDCP header addition Decryption

Routing/Duplication PDCP header extraction

Radio Interface (Uu)

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 PDCP PDU Types

 Two types of PDUs are generated after PDCP processing.

 Data PDUs carry the following information:
 PDCP SN
 User-plane data (DRB)
 Control-plane data (SRB)
 MAC-I for integrity protection
 Control PDUs carry the following information:
 PDCP status reports
 ROHC feedback information

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 PDCP SN Addition

 The length of PDCP SN is configured by upper-layer signaling.

Length Description
12 UM DRBs, AM DRBs, and SRBs

18 UM DRBs, and AM DRBs

 COUNT: A 32-bit parameter for PDCP integrity and

encryption/decryption; HFN length = 32 - PDCP SN length
(ranging from 0 to [2[PDCP SN length] – 1]

HFN PDCP SN

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 ROHC Compression

 ROHC provides an efficient header compression mechanism for data

packets. It is specially designed for the radio links with high bit error rates
(BERs) and long round trip time (RTT). ROHC has the following advantages:
 High reliability: ROHC has higher reliability for radio links with high BERs
and long RTT.
 High compression efficiency: The packet header can be compressed into
the 1 byte (at minimum).

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 ROHC Profile
 ROHC is an extensible framework consisting of different profiles for data streams
compliant with different protocols. 5G RFC defines the following profiles for ROHC:

Profile ID Protocol Compliance

0x0001 RTP/UDP/IP
0x0002 UDP/IP
0x0003 ESP/IP
0x0004 IP
0x0006 TCP/IP
0x0101 RTP/UDP/IP
0x0102 UDP/IP
0x0103 ESP/IP
0x0104 IP

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Integrity Protection Procedure
 The sender uses a specific algorithm to generate the MAC-I, and the Rx end uses the
same algorithm to calculate the X-MAC. If the X-MAC calculated by the receiver is the
same as the MAC-I, the integrity protection verification succeeds.

 Integrity protection can be used for SRBs and DRBs and cannot be used for PDCP
control PDUs.

Processing procedure at the sender

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 Integrity Protection

Processing procedure at the receiver

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 Integrity Protection Algorithm

 NIA algorithm is the 5G integrity protection algorithm.

 There are four NIA algorithms defined in 3GPP specifications.

 NIA0: Integrity protection is not performed.

 128-NIA1: 128-bit SNOW 3G

 128-NIA2: 128-bit AES

 128-NIA3: 128-bit ZUC

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 Encryption and Decryption Principle (1)

 Exclusive OR (XOR) ⊕ is a mathematical operator, which is mainly used for logical

operations.

 Restoration of raw data focuses on key consistency of the sender and receiver.

Unencrypted Received Unencrypted

Operator Key Sent Data Operator Key
Data Data Data

1 ⊕ 0 1
1 ⊕ 0 ?

1 ⊕ 1 0 0 ⊕ 1 ?

0 ⊕ 0 0 0 ⊕ 0 ?

0 ⊕ 1 1 1 ⊕ 1 ?

Sender Receiver

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 Encryption and Decryption Principle (2)

COUNT DIRECTION COUNT DIRECTION

BEARER LENGTH BEARER LENGTH

KEY NEA KEY NEA

KEYSTREAM KEYSTREAM
BLOCK BLOCK

PLAINTEXT CIPHERTEXT PLAINTEXT

BLOCK BLOCK BLOCK

Sender Receiver

Input and output procedures of user plane data encryption and decryption

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 Encryption and Decryption Algorithm

 NEA algorithm is the 5G encryption and decryption algorithm.

 There are four NEA algorithms defined in 3GPP specifications.

 NEA0: Not encrypted

 128-NEA1: 128-bit SNOW 3G

 128-NEA2: 128-bit AES

 128-NEA3: 128-bit ZUC

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 Data Processing Procedure at the PDCP Layer

Data reception from

upper layer

PDCP entity Timer configuration

PDCN SN
association
discardTimer startup
Next_PDCP_TX_SN
PDCP Header compression
SN

Locally stored data

Next_PDCP_TX_SN
COUNT TX_HFN
TX_HFN
Maximum_PDCP_SN

Encryption and
integrity protection NO:Next_PDCP_TX_SN++

YES:
Next_PDCP_TX_SN >
Next_PDCP_TX_SN Next_PDCP_TX_SN=0
Maximum_PDCP_SN
TX_HFN++

PDCP PDU

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 Procedure at the PDCP Layer (Receiver)
Transfer to
upper layer

Reception of
Received PDCP SN PDCP SDU
underlying data
PDCP entity
Received data
Received PDCP SN
COUNT

HFN calculation
according to rules

Decryption
RX_HFN

Header
decompression
Locally stored data
Next_PDCP_RX_S
N;
RX_HFN;
Maximum_PDCP_S
N

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 PDCP Data PDU Format
 Format of SRB data PDUs

 Format of DRB data PDUs

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PDCP Control PDU Format

 Format of PDCP status report (used only in AM mode)

 Format of PDUs in ROHC feedback information

D/C PDU Type R R R R Oct 1

Interspersed ROHC feedback Oct 2

...

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 Questions

 When the air interface quality is poor and a large number of packets are lost, how to set
the PDCP SN length to resolve the HFN synchronization problem?

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 Contents

3. NR Air Interface Protocol Stack

3.1 SDAP and PDCP Layer Processing Procedure
3.2 RLC Layer Processing Procedure
3.3 MAC Layer Processing Procedure
3.4 3.5 Physical Layer Processing Procedure

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RLC Layer Entities
 The RLC layer is located below the PDCP layer.

 RLC layer entities are classified into TM entities, UM entities, and AM

entities. The AM data is transmitted and received using the same entity. The
main functions of the UM entities and TM entities are as follows:

 ARQ for error detection and correction (AM)

 Segmented reassembly (UM and AM) RRC/NAS IP packet Layer 3

Re-segmentation (AM)
SDAP


 Repeated packet detection (AM)

PDCP
RLC Layer 2
Logical channel
MAC
Transport channel
PHY Layer 1
Physical channel

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 TM RLC Entity Functions
 The TM entity at the RLC layer mainly processes the data of the BCCH, DL/UL CCCH,
and PCCH. The processing procedure is the same as that in the LTE network.

UE/GNB GNB/UE
Radio interface (Uu)
TM-RLC channel TM-RLC channel

Transmittin Receiving
g TM-RLC TM-RLC
Transmission entity entity
buffer

BCCH/PCCH/CCCH BCCH/PCCH/CCCH

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 UM RLC Entity Functions
 The UM entity at the RLC layer mainly processes data of the DL/UL DTCH. The UM
data cannot be retransmitted at the RLC layer.
UE/GNB GNB/UE
Radio interface (Uu)
UM-RLC channel UM-RLC channel

Generate RLC SDU reassembly

header and store
Transmitting Receiving
UM-RLC UM-RLC
entity entity
Segmentation
Remove RLC
Modify RLC
header
header

Add RLC header Reception

buffer

DTCH DTCH

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 AM RLC Entity Functions
 The AM RLC entity mainly processes data of the DTCH/DCCH. It has the segmentation, re-
segmentation, and ARQ mechanisms.

Generate RLC header

and store in transmission RLC control SDU reassembly
buffer

Segmentation Remove RLC header

Retransmissi
Modify RLC
on buffer
header

Reception
buffer

Add RLC header

Routing

DTCH/DCCH DTCH/DCCH

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 Polling Mechanism (AM Mode)

 Similar to the polling mechanism in the LTE network, the polling

mechanism in the NR network is designed at the RLC layer to
avoid packet losses when data is transmitted over the air interface,
that is, after a certain period or conditions are met, the sender
initiates polling and requires the receiver to feed back the status
report, indicating the data packet reception status.
 The status report contains the RLC SN received by the receiver and the
SN that is not received, which are used as the basis for retransmission.

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Polling Triggering (Sender)
 The sender triggers polling when the number of bytes or the
number of PDU packets meets either of the following conditions:
 PDU_WITHOUT_POLL ≥ pollPDU

 BYTE_WITHOUT_POLL ≥ pollByte

 After the condition is met, the AM RLC entity at the sender side
performs the following operations:
 Initiating a query of the P position 1 of the RLC data PDU to the receiver.

 Setting PDU_WITHOUT_POLL and BYTE_WITHOUT_POLL to 0.

 Starting the t-PollRetransmit timer.

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 Polling Triggering (Receiver)

 After receiving the RLC packet carrying the P identifier, the receiver needs
to feed back the status report, but the following timer requirements must
be met:

 t-Reassembly timer: This timer is introduced for out-of-order packets.

For this type of packet, it is uncertain about packet losses. The packet
may be delayed, but packet reception must have time limits. If a packet
has not received, this timer is started for the receiver to receive it again.

 t-StatusProhibit timer: This timer specifies the interval for sending status
reports.

 After receiving the status report, the sender stops the t-PollRetransmit
timer.

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 ARQ Mechanism (AM Mode)
Sends a status report
after polling is triggered.
Receiver
Sender

Is packet
retransmission
required?
Yes
No
No Is the number of
retransmission retransmissions less than
maxRetxThreshold?

Ye
s
Does the underlying resource
size meet the requirement of
PDU size?
Yes

Segmentation/R Retransmission
e-segmentation

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 RLC PDUs (1)

 The AM RLC entity mainly processes RLC data PDUs and

RLC control PDUs.

 Data PDUs
 TMD PDU

 UMD PDU

 AMD PDU

 Control PDUs
 STATUS PDU

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 RLC PDUs (2)

 TMD PDU (without the RLC header field)

Data Oct 1
...
Oct N

 UMD PDU (The SN is not carried when the packet is not

segmented. R indicates the reserved bit.)

SI R R R R R R Oct 1
Data Oct 2
...
Oct N

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 RLC PDUs (3)

 UMD PDU (a 6-bit SN used during segmentation)

SI SN Oct 1
SO Oct 2
SO Oct 3
Data Oct 4
...
Oct N

 UMD PDU (a 12-bit SN used during segmentation)

SI R R SN Oct 1
SN Oct 2
SO Oct 3
SO Oct 4
Data Oct 5
...
Oct N

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 RLC PDUs (4)

 AMD PDU (a 12-bit SN)

D/C P SI SN Oct 1
SN Oct 2
SO Oct 3
SO Oct 4
Data Oct 5
...
Oct N

 AMD PDU (an 18-bit SN)

D/C P SI R R SN Oct 1
SN Oct 2
SN Oct 3
SO Oct 4
SO Oct 5
Data Oct 6
...
Oct N

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 Key Fields in RLC PDUs (1)

 Sequence Number (SN)

 Length: An AMD PDU has 12 bits or 18 bits, and a UMD PDU has 6
bits or 12 bits.

 Segmentation Info (SI)

 Indicates the RLC SDU information carried in an RLC PDU.

Value Description
00 Data field contains all bytes of an RLC SDU.
01 Data field contains the first segment of an RLC SDU.
10 Data field contains the last segment of an RLC SDU.
11 Data field contains neither the first nor last segment of an RLC SDU.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 65

 Key Fields in RLC PDUs (2)

 Segment Offset (SO)

 Length: 16 bits. It is carried only when RLC PDUs are
segmented.

 The SO indicates the byte position of the RLC SDU

segment in the original RLC SDU. It is used to detect and
reassemble SDUs.

 Data/Control (D/C)
 Indicates the RLC PDU type.
Value Description
0 Control PDU
1 Data PDU

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 Key Fields in RLC PDUs (3)

 Polling bit (P)

 This field is carried only in AM mode, indicating whether the sender
needs to receive the status report from the receiver.

Value Description
0 Status report not requested
1 Status report is requested

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 67

 Questions

 What are the functions of the t-PollRetransmit, t-Reassembly, and t-StatusProhibit timers?

 What is the polling triggering mechanism?

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 68

 Contents

3. NR Air Interface Protocol Stack

3.1 SDAP and PDCP Layer Processing Procedure
3.2 RLC Layer Processing Procedure
3.3 MAC Layer Processing Procedure
3.4 Physical Layer Processing Procedure

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 MAC Layer Functions (1)
 There are MAC layer entities for both the UEs and the gNodeB side. If
there is a DC, there are multiple MAC entities for a UE.

Logical PCCH BCCH CCCH DCCH MAC control

DTCH
channel

Logical channel priority (Uplink)

Demultiplexing/Multiplexing
Ctrl

HARQ Random access

control

Transport PCH BCH DL-SCH UL-SCH RACH

channel

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 MAC Layer Functions (2)
 Similar to the MAC layer functions of the LTE network, the MAC layer
functions of the NR network are as follows:

MAC Layer Function

Mapping between logical channels and transport channels
Multiplexing
Demultiplexing
Scheduling
HARQ
Setting of logical channel priorities

 Concatenation and segmentation of the RLC PDUs. In the NR network, the RLC
layer no longer provides the concatenation function of RLC SDUs.

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 MAC Channels
 The transport channels on the NR network are the same as those on the LTE network.

Abbreviatio
Transport Channel Downlink Uplink
n
Broadcast channel BCH X

Downlink shared channel DL-SCH X

Paging channel PCH X

Uplink shared channel UL-SCH X

Random access channel RACH X

 The logical channels on the NR network are the same as those on the LTE network.
Control Traffic
Logical Channel Abbreviation
Channel Channel
Broadcast control channel BCCH X

Paging control channel PCCH X

Common control channel CCCH X

Dedicated control channel DCCH X

Dedicated traffic channel DTCH X

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 72

 Scheduling Implementation
 The scheduling function is implemented by the scheduler (MAC entity).
The 5G NR has two MAC entities: One is located in the UE, and the other is
located in the gNodeB.

RRC/NAS IP Layer 3
packet
SDAP
PDCP PDCP
RLC RLC
Layer 2
Logical
channel MAC MAC
Transport
channel PHY PHY Layer 1
Physical
channel gNodeB
UE

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 73

 Scheduling Procedure (1)
 The gNodeB performs downlink MAC scheduling based on
the bearers, and performs uplink scheduling based on the
logical channel groups.
UE gNodeB

Scheduling request through the PRACH or SR-PUCCH

Uplink scheduling authorit y (BO sending)

BSR (How many data packets are t o be sent )

Uplink scheduling for

UEs and LCG, and
downlink scheduling
based on RBs

Uplink and downlink scheduling through PDCCH

Secondary uplink
scheduling f or UEs
based on logical
channel priorities

Uplink and downlink data transfer (including HARQ)

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 74

 Scheduling Procedure (2)
 On the downlink, the gNodeB schedules UEs according to the size of data steered from the
core network or the LTE network.

 On the uplink, the UE applies for scheduling through the SR or random access procedure,
and reports the BSR and PHR. The gNodeB uses the scheduling algorithm for UE
scheduling information output and sends the scheduling information to the UE through
the PDCCH. The UE then obtains its scheduling information through the PDCCH and RNTI.

Value RNTI
0000 N/A
0001–FFEF RA-RNTI, Temporary C-RNTI, C-RNTI, CS-RNTI,
TPC-CS-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-
RNTI, and TPC-SRS-RNTI
FFF0–FFFD Reserved
FFFE P-RNTI
FFFF SI-RNTI

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 75

 Random Access Procedure
 NR is classified into contention-based random access and non-contention-
based random access. UE random access is aimed for:

 Obtaining uplink synchronization.

 Uplink authorization.

 Obtaining system information. UE gNB

UE gNB 1 Random Access Preamble

0 RA Preamble assignment Random Access Response 2

Random Access Preamble 1 3 Scheduled Transmission

2 Random Access Response Contention Resolution 4

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 76

 RAR Messages

 After receiving the initial random access preamble from the UE, the
gNodeB responds to the random access. The RAR message carries
the following information:

Timing Advance Command Oct 1

Timing Advance
UL Grant Oct 2
Command

UL Grant Oct 3

UL Grant Oct 4

Temporary C-RNTI Oct 5

Temporary C-RNTI Oct 6

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 77

 Uplink Timing Advance Command
 UL Grant information

RAR Grant Field Number of Bits

Frequency hopping flag 1
Msg3 PUSCH frequency resource allocation 12
Msg3 PUSCH time resource allocation 4
MCS 4
TPC command for Msg3 PUSCH 3
CSI request 1
Reserved bits 3
 After completing the random access, the UE sends the MAC CE through
the gNodeB to maintain the uplink synchronization. If the UE does not
receive the TA command before the timeAlignmentTimer expires, the UE
is out of synchronization in the uplink.

TAG ID Timing Advance Command Oct 1

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 78

 BSR (1)

 The UE sends a BSR to notify the gNodeB of how many data packets to be
sent. The BSR has two formats:

 A short BSR PDU carries the buffer report of a logical channel group.

LCG ID Buffer Size Oct 1

 A long BSR carries the buffer reports of multiple logical channel groups.

LCG7 LCG 6 LCG 5 LCG4 LCG3 LCG2 LCG1 LCG0 Oct 1

Buffer Size 1 Oct 2

Buffer Size N Oct 3

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 79

 BSR (2)
 The NR gNodeB identifies the BSR format by using the LCID field in the MAC PDU
header, and obtains the specific data volume of the UE by using the buffer size.

 LCID values corresponding to indices

Index LCID Value

000000 CCCH
000001–100000 Identity of the logical channel
100001–110110 Reserved
110111 Configured Grant Confirmation
111000 Multiple Entry PHR
111001 Single Entry PHR
111010 C-RNTI
111011 Short Truncated BSR
111100 Long Truncated BSR
111101 Short BSR
111110 Long BSR
111111 Padding

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 80

 Buffer Size
 The Buffer Size field has 5 bits or 8 bits. The UE does not need to report the
number of buffered bytes, but reports the index value of the buffered data. The

following table lists the mapping between the buffered data and the buffer indices.

Index BS Index BS Index BS Index BS

Value Value Value Value
0 0 8 ≤ 102 16 ≤ 1446 24 ≤ 20516
1 ≤ 10 9 ≤ 142 17 ≤ 2014 25 ≤ 28581
2 ≤ 14 10 ≤ 198 18 ≤ 2806 26 ≤ 39818
3 ≤ 20 11 ≤ 276 19 ≤ 3909 27 ≤ 55474
4 ≤ 28 12 ≤ 384 20 ≤ 5446 28 ≤ 77284
5 ≤ 38 ≤ 535 ≤ 7587 ≤
13 21 29 107669
6 ≤ 53 ≤ 745 ≤ 10570 ≤
14 22 30 150000
7 ≤ 74 ≤ 1038 ≤ 14726 >
15 23 31 150000

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 81

 HARQ Classification

 To ensure data transfer reliability, the receiver uses CRC to verify data correctness and uses
the HARQ retransmission mechanism to ensure data transfer reliability. HARQ is classified
into the following types based on the retransmission time:

 Synchronous HARQ: Retransmission of an HARQ process occurs at fixed time, and the
receiver knows the time in advance.

 Asynchronous HARQ: Retransmission of an HARQ process may occur at any time, and
the receiver does not know the time in advance.

 HARQ can be classified into non-adaptive HARQ and adaptive HARQ based on whether the
data characteristics change during retransmission. Different from the LTE network, the NR
network currently uses asynchronous HARQ in both uplink and downlink.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 82

 Adaptive HARQ Process
 As asynchronous adaptive HARQ is used in the uplink, the NR
gNodeB does not need to feed back ACK and NACK message on
the downlink PHICH.

Data reception PDCCH scheduling

PDCCH failed. retransmission

DCI (UL grant) DCI (UL grant)

T = K2 T = K3

PUSCH

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 83

 Downlink Adaptive HARQ Process

 If asynchronous adaptive HARQ is used in the downlink, the UE needs to

report ACK/NACK.

PDCCH scheduling
PDCCH PDSCH retransmission

DCI (DL grant)

NACK DCI (DL grant)
T=K0 T=K1

PUSCH/PUCCH

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 84

 MAC Data Encapsulation

 The MAC header can contain multiple sub-headers.

R/F/LCID/L
MAC SDU
subheader

 Downlink LCID

Index LCID Value

000000 CCCH
000001–100000 Identity of the logical channel
100001–110111 Reserved
111000 Duplication Activation/Deactivation
111001 SCell Activation/Deactivation (4 octet)
111010 SCell Activation/Deactivation (1 octet)
111011 Long DRX Command
111100 DRX Command
111101 Timing Advance Command
111110 UE Contention Resolution Identity
111111 Padding

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 85

 Questions

 What are the differences between the NR and LTE HARQ

procedures?

 What information does the MAC scheduler need to input? What

are the scheduling results?

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 86

 Contents

3. NR Air Interface Protocol Stack

3.1 SDAP and PDCP Layer Processing Procedure
3.2 RLC Layer Processing Procedure
3.3 MAC Layer Processing Procedure
3.4 Physical Layer Processing Procedure

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 87

 Physical Layer Functions

 The physical layer is located at the bottom layer of the air

interface protocol stack. It maps transport channels to physical
channels and performs MAC layer scheduling.
 CRC Addition

 Channel coding

 Modulation

 Antenna port mapping

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 88

 CRC Verification Process
 The sender appends a binary string B to the original number A and sends A+B to the
receiver. B is the code of CRC, which is the remainder obtained by the polynomial that
is generated using modulo-2 binary division to divide A by CRC.

 The receiver uses modulo-2 binary division to divide A+B by CRC to generate the
polynomial. If the result is not 0, an error occurs during frame transmission.

1010 Modulo-2 binary

division 1010 011 modulo-2 binary
Data A division
011 1010 011
A+B 0
Polynomial
generation CRC code B Polynomial
A+B
generation
1011
1011 1011
Sender Receiver

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 89

 CRC-based Polynomial Generation

 The polynomial generated in NR must be converted into binary

mode and then divided using modulo-2 binary division.

 There are multiple CRC lengths for the uplink and downlink traffic
channels in the NR. The CRC length is usually 24 bits.
g CRC24A D   [ D 24  D 23  D18  D17  D14  D11  D10  D 7  D 6  D 5  D 4  D 3  D  1]

 The maximum number of input bits for the LDPC code is 8448, as
specified in 3GPP TS 38.212.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 90

 Modulation and Coding
 Modulation
LTE NR

QPSK QPSK
16QAM 16QAM
Uplink 64QAM 64QAM
256QAM

QPSK QPSK
16QAM 16QAM
64QAM 64QAM
Downlink 256QAM 256QAM

 In eMBB scenarios, control channels use the Polar code,

where traffic channels use the LDPC code.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 91

 Antenna Processing
 The NR contains a maximum of two TBs. After layer mapping
(a maximum of eight layers for a single UE), the signals are
sent through different logical ports. Each port has
independent DMRS signals for the UE to demodulate signals.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 92

 Physical Channels and Signals

Downlink Uplink

Physical Physical Physical Physical

Channel Signals Channel Signals

PBCH PSS/SSS PRACH DMRS

PDCCH DMRS PUCCH PT-RS

PDSCH PT-RS PUSCH SRS

CSI-RS

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 93

 Downlink Physical Channels
Downlink Physical Channel and Signal Function
SS Synchronization signal Used for time-frequency
synchronization and cell search.
PBCH Physical broadcast channel Used to carry system broadcast
messages.
PDCCH Physical downlink control channel Used for transmission of control
signaling, such as uplink and
downlink scheduling and power
control.
PDSCH Physical downlink shared channel Used to carry downlink user
data.
DMRS Demodulation reference signal Used for downlink data
demodulation and time-
frequency synchronization.
PT-RS Phase tracking reference signal Used for downlink phase noise
tracking and compensation.
CSI-RS Channel state information reference signal Used for downlink channel
measurement, beam
management, RRM/RLM
measurement, and refined
time-frequency tracing.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 94

 Uplink Physical Channels
Uplink Physical Channel and Signal Function

PRACH Physical random access channel Used for random access

requests of a UE.
PUCCH Physical uplink control channel Used for L1/L2 control
signaling, such as HARQ
feedback, CQI feedback, and
scheduling request indication.

PUSCH Physical downlink shared channel Used to carry uplink user data.

DMRS Demodulation reference signal Used for uplink data

demodulation and time-
frequency synchronization.
PT-RS Phase noise tracking reference signal Used for uplink phase noise
tracking and compensation.

SRS Sounding reference signal Used for uplink channel

measurement, time-frequency
synchronization, beam
management, and other
functions.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 95

 Multiple Access Technologies
Downlink: CP-OFDM
waveform

Orthogonal multiple access

Uplink: CP-OFDM/DFT-
s-OFDM

Multiple access technologies

MUSA

SCMA

Other multiple access technologies

(Candidate technologies\)

PDMA

...

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 96

 Physical Resources
Radio frame
Subframe

Physical resources OFDM symbol

Timeslot

Physical channels
and signals
Basic time
unit: Ts

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 97

 Questions
 Assume that the downlink Layer 3 of the NR gNodeB needs to send an
800-byte data packet to a UE.

 What is the size of the SDAP layer data PDUs?

 What is the size of the data PDUs after the PDCP layer processes
them?

 What is the size of the data PDUs after the RLC layer processes them?

 What is the data size of data PDUs after the MAC layer and physical
layer process them?

 What is the transmission efficiency over the air interface?

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 98

 Summary: Comparison Between LTE and 5G Protocol Stack Functions

Item NR LTE
The SDAP protocol is added to the
SDAP No SDAP protocol
user plane.
PDCP layer
PDCP layer
PDCP reordering and encryption integrity
encryption integrity protection
protection
AM/TM/UM mode AM/TM/UM mode, ARQ function, RLC PDU
RLC
ARQ function submission in sequence, and reordering

QPSK, 16QAM/64QAM, 256QAM, QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM, convolutional code,

MCS
LDPC code, and polar code Turbo code
Cell-level RS demodulation
Cell RS cancellation
Physical channels Uplink and downlink ACK and NACK message
PHICH cancellation
and signals fed back by the PHICH
PCFICH
Number of PDCCH symbols carried in a PCFICH

The NR control channels and traffic

The LTE network does not involve beam
Beam management channels have the beam scanning
scanning.
function.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 99

Thank You
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