This paper presents an overview of the 5G NR radio interface as specified by 3GPP. Specifically, the paper covers 5G NR in IMT2020 context, key design criteria and requirements, fundamental technology components of 5G NR, RF requirements and spectrum bands, Radio Resource Management and Link Monitoring and co-existence/sharing of 5G NR and LTE.

5G networks and devices are being rolled out at an unprecedented speed in all corners of the globe. These rollouts are all based on 3GPP's Release 15 standard that includes the first version of 5G NR specifications and was released in June/2019. 3GPP has since been actively working to expand the functionalities of 5G, and this paper presents the 5G evolution path brought by 3GPP release 16, 17, and beyond toward the full 5G vision. timeline for 5G evolutionThe first full release of 3GPP's 5G standards was frozen with Release 15 in two distinct steps: specifications for the Non-StandAlone variant was frozen in December 2018, while specifications for the StandAlone variant were released in June 2019. The network deployments and devices we see being rolled out today are all based on these standards. They include all key functionalities for running an Extreme Mobile Broadband service using the new 5G NR radio technology.But 5G was meant for much more than enhanced mobile broadband: it was set out to become a complete platform for all communication needs of the next decade encompassing all IoT and vertical industry needs. Reaching these ambitious goals takes several years, and for standards, it takes several releases. This is an incremental process where each new release builds on the capabilities of the previous one. In a typical generational lifespan of 10 years, 3GPP 5G standards are approaching the mid-cycle phase. Release 16 specifications were frozen in March 2020, and Release 17 work is well under way toward completion at the end of 2021, as shown in Fig. 1.

This paper presents an overview of the NG Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) architecture and key protocols. NG-RAN is the new RAN defined in conjunction with 5G by 3GPP. The paper presents the overall architecture, migration path options, the 5G base station architecture and key protocol components.

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