When 3GPP set out to define the 5G core network (5GC), it used all the latest and greatest web technologies to radically reshape core network architecture. One tiny part of this is the use of HTTP/2 for signaling between functions. This made me wonder just how on the Internet today, web browsers and servers decide … Continue reading HTTP/2 in the 5G Core – How Does that Work In the Web Today?
After the both good and bad performance of my Lenovo X250 and Ubuntu 20.04 over a 2.5GbE link to my workstation, I couldn’t just leave the topic but had to further investigate how I could potentially improve throughput when using Ubuntu’s Nautilus file manager to transfer files to and from the workstation. And again, some … Continue reading 2.5GbE Performance Revisited – Workstation Power At Home – Part 9
I’m quite amazed I am already into part 8 in this series of exploring the limits of using a headless workstation as a ‘power booster’ next to my notebook. The next thing I have taken a closer look at is the connection between the notebook and the workstation, a 1 Gbit/s Ethernet link. That’s good … Continue reading 2.5GbE Network Performance – Workstation Power at Home – Part 8
It’s a bit of a strange headline perhaps but my recent blog posts on working with a headless workstation that supplies extra CPU muscle to my working setup has a lot to do with the envisaged 5G evolution of wireless networks and services. Let me explain…
When LTE was launched a decade ago a clear cut was made from GSM security when it came to SIM cards and authentication. As far as I remember, LTE was the first system in which mutual authentication between network and devices became mandatory. Fortunately, by the time LTE came around the corner, most subscribers already … Continue reading Are New SIM Cards Required for 5G SA?
The show must go on, so at some point, network operators will start putting 5G core networks in place which means that mobile devices will use the 5G NR Standalone (SA) air interface for signaling instead of LTE anchor cells. So I had a look at 3GPP TS 38.331 which contains the Radio Resource Control … Continue reading 5G Standalone Architecture – RRC Inactive State
When you look through the 5G core network specification documents of 3GPP such as TS 23.501 and 23.502 the idea I got was that it’s pretty much the same as before. Yes, the interfaces and network components have new names but by and large the 5G core network does the same things as today’s core … Continue reading The Cloud Native 5G Core Network
A couple of weeks ago in January 2020 I spotted the first 5G antenna at the cell site that serves my home in Cologne on my way home. My first reaction: ‘Hm, that wasn’t there this morning…’. It wasn’t switched-on straight away. but when I came back from vacation early in February, I was greeted … Continue reading I’ve Got 5G At Home Now!
Recently I’ve been looking a bit at the 5G NR Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol in 3GPP TS 38.311 to get an idea how it is structured and how it compares to the LTE RRC protocol specified in 3GPP TS 36.331. As Ralf points out in the comments below (thanks very much!) some parts of … Continue reading 5G RRC Protocol And How It Compares to 4G RRC
Already back in 2018 I wrote a post that one new thing about 5G in TDD band n78 will be that network operators need to agree on a common uplink/downlink pattern and in addition synchronize their networks. Recently I was asked to what level of accuracy the networks need to be synchronized so I did … Continue reading 5G TDD Inter-Operator Network Synchronization