Speaker 1: Welcome pill and knowledge seekers to the deep dive. We've
Speaker 1: all heard the buzz about five G. You know, faster speed,
Speaker 1: super low latency, this whole connected future thing. But what
Speaker 1: does that really mean when you look under the hood.
Speaker 1: What's actually powering this leap, the one that's meant to
Speaker 1: change well everything. Today we're taking a fascinating deep dive
Speaker 1: into the very heart of it, the five G mobile
Speaker 1: core network, and we're really lucky today we've got some
Speaker 1: incredibly insightful material to guide us. It's five G Mobile
Speaker 1: Core Network design, deployment, automation and testing strategies by Rogenie
Speaker 1: Studecar Shetty. Now this author, mister Shetty, he's an industry
Speaker 1: expert over two decades of experience, co author to four
Speaker 1: G book, holds five G core patents.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely someone who knows the stuff inside and out.
Speaker 2: We're tapping into real authority here.
Speaker 1: Exactly so we can understand these shifts from someone who
Speaker 1: you know, helped build them. Our mission today, let's pull
Speaker 1: back the curtain on that core architecture, shed light on
Speaker 1: the key functions, and really reveal the shifts that make
Speaker 1: five G a genuine game changer. By the end, you'll
Speaker 1: have a clear shortcut to understanding its power, not just
Speaker 1: as a phone user, but appreciating the engineering behind it. All.
Speaker 2: Okay, sounds great, let's dig in.
Speaker 1: You know, looking back, each mobile G brought something really new,
Speaker 1: didn't it.
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: One G was that analog voice, amazing for its time.
Speaker 1: Then two G the nineties, that was digital SMS, messages
Speaker 1: ziconic texts. Yeah. Then three G mobile internet video calls,
Speaker 1: email on the.
Speaker 2: Move at big step.
Speaker 1: And four G well that's the word we basically live
Speaker 1: in now, high speed streaming, gaming, right, hailing apps.
Speaker 2: Yeah, four G really enabled the modern smartphone experience.
Speaker 1: So calling five G just another G, just faster, That
Speaker 1: feels like saying a rocket is just a faster car.
Speaker 1: It's more fundamental, it is.
Speaker 2: What's truly fascinating is how five G isn't just an evolution.
Speaker 2: It's designed as a fundamental technology enabler. It's engineered really
Speaker 2: to bring things to life that felt like science fiction,
Speaker 2: you know, just a few years back. Right, we're talking
Speaker 2: about more than just speed boosts. We're seeing totally new
Speaker 2: capabilities emerge, groundwork for a future we couldn't quite grasp before.
Speaker 1: So what are these core capabilities driving it. The source
Speaker 1: highlights three.
Speaker 2: Exactly three key ones, each targeting very distinct needs. First,
Speaker 2: there's eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband.
Speaker 1: AH, the speed one.
Speaker 2: That's the one everyone talks about. Up to ten gigabits
Speaker 2: per second potentially and latency under one millisecond. Think ultra
Speaker 2: HD screens, immersive three D video working entirely in the cloud.
Speaker 1: Okay, seamless high bandwidth stuff precisely.
Speaker 2: Then there's URLLC ultra reliable low latency communication.
Speaker 1: That sounds critical.
Speaker 2: It absolutely is for mission critical applications where any delay,
Speaker 2: any drop could be catastrophic. Imagine autonomous cars needing split
Speaker 2: second decisions talking to each other. That's V two V
Speaker 2: or the road infrastructure V two X.
Speaker 1: Or remote surgery exactly.
Speaker 2: A surgeon operating remotely needs flawless real time feedback. URLLC
Speaker 2: aims to guarantee that animal delay and maximum uptime.
Speaker 1: Wow. Okay.
Speaker 2: And the third, and finally, MMTC Massive machine type communication,
Speaker 2: so Internet of Things. That's the focus, connecting a staggering
Speaker 2: number of IoT devices billions potentially, sensors, actuators, smart gadgets,
Speaker 2: think smart surveillance drones over huge areas, or tracking systems
Speaker 2: for logistics across a whole city.
Speaker 1: So it's designed for efficiency even for tiny bits of
Speaker 1: data from loads of devices.
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, efficiency for low power devices sending small bursts.
Speaker 1: So yeah, definitely, not just faster phones. That market projection
Speaker 1: you mentioned, it really puts.
Speaker 2: The scale into perspective, doesn't it. From around five point
Speaker 2: five billion dollars in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: To it projected what was it, six hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: seven billion dollars by twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Six, six hundred and sixty seven point nine zero billion dollars.
Speaker 2: It's an exponential leap.
Speaker 1: That's massive. I like your analogy. Four G was like
Speaker 1: building faster highways for everyone, but five G is like
Speaker 1: building a whole new smart city. The traffic flowsn't just faster,
Speaker 1: it's dynamically changed, purpose built.
Speaker 2: Right dedicated lanes for critical data, maybe slower efficient routes
Speaker 2: for IoT, super fast lanes for your browsing.
Speaker 1: It's reimagining the whole city plan for data, not just
Speaker 1: an upgrade.
Speaker 2: That's a great way to put it, because what truly
Speaker 2: defines this leap beyond those capabilities is how the network
Speaker 2: is built fundamentally, Unlike four G which used let's say
Speaker 2: more traditional tightly coupled telecom protocols.
Speaker 1: Right, things like GTP and diameter exactly.
Speaker 2: Five G takes this huge leap, drawing inspiration from modern
Speaker 2: cloud computing web services.
Speaker 1: Ah okay, and that changes things operational frownly.
Speaker 2: The five G core embraces a service based architecture SBA
Speaker 2: service based architecture.
Speaker 1: So instead of these rigid monolithic blocks with fixed.
Speaker 2: Connections like big single purpose machines.
Speaker 1: Sort of yeah, Now, network functionality comes from discrete independent
Speaker 1: network functions and fs. These nfs act like individual micro services. Really,
Speaker 1: they provide capabilities to other authorized nis through open APIs.
Speaker 2: API's application programming interfaces like how websites talk to each other,
Speaker 2: very similar concept. It fundamentally changes the design distributed applications
Speaker 2: much more agile, modular, resilient.
Speaker 1: And the core principle making this work.
Speaker 2: It's the widespread use of REST representational state transfer, that
Speaker 2: architectural style, along with HTTP two methods for.
Speaker 1: Communication REST and HTTP two. Okay.
Speaker 2: This shift from hardware centric to this flexible software defined
Speaker 2: service based model, that's what delivers the flexibility, the stalability,
Speaker 2: the modularity five G promises.
Speaker 1: So it allows for faster innovation too. Because functions are independent.
Speaker 2: Precisely, you can develop, deploy, update them independently without breaking
Speaker 2: the whole network.
Speaker 1: So back to that factory analogy. Four G was a
Speaker 1: few big specialized machines. Updating one was a huge deal, right, slow.
Speaker 2: Complex could shut down half the factory potentially, But.
Speaker 1: Five GSBA is more like lots of small, interconnected robots, interchangeable,
Speaker 1: each doing specific tasks, talking openly.
Speaker 2: That's a good picture, and it's not just faster development.
Speaker 2: Think resilience.
Speaker 1: Ah right, If one robot function fails.
Speaker 2: Its services can be dynamically rerouted to another instance much
Speaker 2: better uptime, especially for critical stuff compared to the more
Speaker 2: brittle four G systems.
Speaker 1: That stability is a huge deal, and.
Speaker 2: That resilience comes directly from key rest principles. They seem simple,
Speaker 2: but they're powerful. Like client server totally separates concerns. Clients
Speaker 2: request servers provide.
Speaker 1: So one NF asks for a service, another provides it.
Speaker 2: Yep, and they can evolve independently update the server NF
Speaker 2: without needing to update every client ENF that uses.
Speaker 1: It makes sense and statelessness statelessness hmmm crucial.
Speaker 2: Each request has all the info needed the server doesn't
Speaker 2: need to remember past interactions or session state, like a.
Speaker 1: Web server, not needing to track every user's session details
Speaker 1: constantly exactly.
Speaker 2: That massively improved scalability makes it easier to distribute the
Speaker 2: load more.
Speaker 1: Robust Okay, and cacheability.
Speaker 2: Responses can be marked as cacheable. Clients can store and
Speaker 2: reuse that data.
Speaker 1: Reducing requests. Boosting efficiency like cacheing common subscription data Closer.
Speaker 2: Perfect example, speeds things up, reduces load on the core.
Speaker 1: NF said the layered system.
Speaker 2: Layered system clients don't need to know what happens beyond
Speaker 2: the server they talk to. So say the SMF needs
Speaker 2: user data, it asks the UDM. The UDM might then
Speaker 2: talk to the UDR to get.
Speaker 1: It, but the SMF doesn't care how the UDM does
Speaker 1: its job internally exactly.
Speaker 2: It simplifies the architecture improved security too. Nfs only need
Speaker 2: to know their immediate neighbors got it.
Speaker 1: And the uniform interface.
Speaker 2: Uniform interface standardized methods get for retrieving, put for replacing,
Speaker 2: put for creating patch for partial updates delete. The standard
Speaker 2: web verbs pretty much makes communication predictable, easy to implement.
Speaker 2: New functions can plug in seamlessly.
Speaker 1: So this isn't just theory. It means a network that's agile, robust,
Speaker 1: evolves quickly, handles diverse needs, recovers better.
Speaker 2: It's the engine for those dynamic five G services for you,
Speaker 2: the end user.
Speaker 1: Okay, so with this SBA blueprint, let's meet some of
Speaker 1: these key players. The network functions these robots.
Speaker 2: Sounds good, And in five G there's a really clear
Speaker 2: separation of concerns, much more so than in four G. First,
Speaker 2: the Access and Mobility Function AMF.
Speaker 1: The gatekeeper and passport control.
Speaker 2: Good analogy. It's comparable to the MME and four G,
Speaker 2: but more focused access and mobility management, registering users, managing connections,
Speaker 2: knowing where devices are, and handling identity.
Speaker 1: You mentioned SUPI right.
Speaker 2: It handles your subscription permanent identifier SUPI. That's your unique
Speaker 2: permanent ID. But crucially for security over the air, the
Speaker 2: AMF assigns a temporary ID, the five G globally unique
Speaker 2: Temporary Identifier five.
Speaker 1: GGUTI, and that changes frequently.
Speaker 2: Yep to keep your permanent SUPI private. A big security improvement.
Speaker 1: Okay. AMF panels access, mobility, temporary ID. What about data sessions?
Speaker 2: That's the session management function SMF Somewhat like the PGW
Speaker 2: and four G, but again specialized. SMF is all about PDU.
Speaker 1: Session PDU sessions like private data.
Speaker 2: Tunnels, exactly your dedicated tunnel through the five G network.
Speaker 2: When your phone connects to the Internet or an app.
Speaker 2: The SMF sets up this tunnel, assigns your IP address,
Speaker 2: manages how data flows, interacts with policy.
Speaker 1: And charging, so it orchestrates the connection based on your
Speaker 1: needs and plan.
Speaker 2: Precisely, it tailors that connection.
Speaker 1: Okay, AMF for access SMF for session orchestration. Who handles
Speaker 1: the actual data movement?
Speaker 2: That would be the user plane function UPF. This one's
Speaker 2: critical along with the GNB the five GU radio base station.
Speaker 2: The UPF is the only data plane node in the
Speaker 2: five G core architecture.
Speaker 1: Only data plane node. Everything else is control plane AMF
Speaker 1: SMF correct.
Speaker 2: They manage the network. The UPF moves the data. It's
Speaker 2: the workhorse. It acts as the anchor point for mobility routes.
Speaker 2: Your packets, can do deep packet.
Speaker 1: Inspection for application detection yes, and.
Speaker 2: Enforces quality of service making sure your video gets the bandwidth.
Speaker 2: It also reports usage for billing.
Speaker 1: So quick recap AMF. Where are you securely SMF? What
Speaker 1: session you need, how it's managed upf handles the actual dataflow.
Speaker 2: You got it? That clear separation emphasizes the modularity.
Speaker 1: And this modularity, this division of labor, that's what unlocks
Speaker 1: those really customized experiences.
Speaker 2: Right absolutely, which brings us straight to two really groundbreaking concepts,
Speaker 2: network slicing and MAC.
Speaker 1: Right multi access edge computing.
Speaker 2: Indeed, these aren't just buzzwords, they are fundamental game changers.
Speaker 1: Let's start with slicing.
Speaker 2: Network slicing. Okay, this is genuinely new in five g
Speaker 2: imagine taking the single physical network infrastructure.
Speaker 1: Towers, fiber, data centers, everything.
Speaker 2: And partitioning it into multiple virtual, independent networks slices. Each
Speaker 2: slice is then designed, configured, optimized for a specific application, service,
Speaker 2: or customer.
Speaker 1: A huge departure from the old one size fits.
Speaker 2: All network totally And why is it so powerful? Well,
Speaker 2: you can have one slice just for or massive IoT
Speaker 2: optimize for efficiency millions of sensors simultaneously. Another slice provides
Speaker 2: that ultra that's a great way to visualize it.
Speaker 1: But running multiple specialized kitchens that sounds complex Operationally, How
Speaker 1: do operators manage these slices effectively? Be sure they don't
Speaker 1: interfere maintain those slas.
Speaker 2: That is a critical point. The orchestration layer is key
Speaker 2: automating the creation, deployment, life cycle management of slices. That's
Speaker 2: where a lot of the challenge in innovation lies.
Speaker 1: So it's not just set up its dynamic.
Speaker 2: Management, dynamic real time resource allocation monitoring. Preventing one slice
Speaker 2: from impacting another critical one needs sophisticated tools, maybe AI
Speaker 2: to predict demand and adjust.
Speaker 1: Okay, that makes sense now MAC Multi access Edge computing MEC.
Speaker 2: This is about bringing computation and hosting closer.
Speaker 1: To the action, closer to the user or device exactly.
Speaker 2: Instead of sending all data to some distant centralized cloud
Speaker 2: data center, MEC lets, applications and even parts of the
Speaker 2: user plane like the UPF we discussed, be hosted at
Speaker 2: the edge of the network.
Speaker 1: So benefits our mainly lower latency.
Speaker 2: That's a huge one. Reduced latency is vital for real
Speaker 2: time things like autonomous riding or milliseconds count, but also
Speaker 2: better responsiveness for local services think AR in a stadium
Speaker 2: or real time sensor processing in.
Speaker 1: A factory, and deploying upfs at the edge helps steer
Speaker 1: traffic locally avoid sending it all the way back to
Speaker 1: the main.
Speaker 2: Core precisely, dynamic traffic steering to local application servers, saves time,
Speaker 2: saves bandwidth, it's much more efficient.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's not just a generic pipe anymore. It's
Speaker 1: this dynamic, on demand, customized platform tailored for almost any application,
Speaker 1: enabling new business models.
Speaker 2: A network that adapts to your needs, not the other
Speaker 2: way around.
Speaker 1: That is a big vision. And obviously building this new
Speaker 1: five G core is an instant. It's a journey, right,
Speaker 1: a migration. The source mentions different ways operators are handling
Speaker 1: this transition from four G.
Speaker 2: That's right. It's a massive undertaking the ancient. It came
Speaker 2: up with two main approaches, five G non standalone NSA
Speaker 2: and five G standalone.
Speaker 1: Say and an essay is usually the first step.
Speaker 2: Often, yes, it's pragmatic. It lets operators leverage their existing
Speaker 2: four G LTE infrastructure, both the radio network the RAN
Speaker 2: and the core network the EPC. In NSA, the four
Speaker 2: G core, the EPC still acts as the anchor for control, functions,
Speaker 2: mobility of sessions.
Speaker 1: But the new five G radio handles the data mostly.
Speaker 2: Yes, new radio NR gets integrated for the data plane.
Speaker 2: It's basically upgrading the radio without immediately ripping out the
Speaker 2: entire core.
Speaker 1: So like putting that faster engine in the old car frame,
Speaker 1: you g have speed, but still rely on the older
Speaker 1: chassis for something.
Speaker 2: That's a good way to think about it. It gets five
Speaker 2: G services out.
Speaker 1: Faster, But what are the downsides then, of relying on
Speaker 1: that older four G core even temporarily? Does it limit
Speaker 1: the real five G potential? It does?
Speaker 2: That's the tradeoff. NSA accelerates deployment, lets you reuse assets,
Speaker 2: boosts broadband capacity quickly, but it can't fully deliver on
Speaker 2: all advanced features. True end to end network slicing limited
Speaker 2: because the four G core doesn't natively support it like
Speaker 2: the five G core does.
Speaker 1: An ultralow latency also.
Speaker 2: Constrained by the older corese capabilities, so NSA is a
Speaker 2: powerful stepping stone, but not the final destination for the
Speaker 2: full vision. A popular deployment option mention is option three
Speaker 2: X oution three x YEAH, where the four GenB based
Speaker 2: station acts as the master node and the five GGNB
Speaker 2: is the secondary. They team up. They can even split
Speaker 2: your data traffic between four G and five G paths
Speaker 2: using a link called the XN interface, maximizes speed during transition.
Speaker 1: Interesting. Okay, So NSA is the stepping stone. What's ssay?
Speaker 2: Five GSA is the full vision stand alone, a completely
Speaker 2: independent five G core network detached from four G infrastructure.
Speaker 1: This is where all the advanced stuff happens. Slicing URLLC massive.
Speaker 2: IoT fully realize. Yes, this is the ultimate goal. Enables
Speaker 2: the whole spectrum of new applications, but it requires that
Speaker 2: complete overhaul, significant investments.
Speaker 1: So the typical path is four G then NSA like
Speaker 1: option three x, and finally to ESSAY option two.
Speaker 2: That's the common migration path described FORG option one to NSA,
Speaker 2: Option three X, then to ESSAY option two. NSA is
Speaker 2: vital for that initial rapid rollout, especially for boosting mobile broadband.
Speaker 2: But ESSAY is the complete transformative evolution.
Speaker 1: Wow, okay, that was quite a journey through the core.
Speaker 1: It's really clear five G is so much more than
Speaker 1: just speed. It's this fundamental rethink of network.
Speaker 2: Building, absolutely far beyond what many people might initially think.
Speaker 1: We acknowledged the hype, but we went way beyond, just faster.
Speaker 1: We saw this re architected network, the service based.
Speaker 2: Architecture modular flexible using open APIs like rest mirroring cloud principles,
Speaker 2: more resilient, more agile.
Speaker 1: We met the key players AMF, SMF, UPF, each with
Speaker 1: clear roles from secure tracking to actually moving the data packets,
Speaker 1: and we explored those huge capabilities like network slicing, dedicated
Speaker 1: virtual networks, and MAC bringing computing close for low.
Speaker 2: Latency, fundamentally changing how data is processed and delivered.
Speaker 1: And we understood that strategic journey operators are on from
Speaker 1: NSA leveraging four G to the full power.
Speaker 2: Of essay, balancing those immediate benefits with the long term potential.
Speaker 2: It's a big strategic play.
Speaker 1: So the takeaway really is five G isn't just an upgrade,
Speaker 1: it's a foundational redesign.
Speaker 2: A shift from one size fits all to this highly
Speaker 2: customizable on demand platform delivering tailored services. That adaptability is unprecedented.
Speaker 1: So thinking about these shifts, it's not just how we connect,
Speaker 1: but what's possible for industries, for daily life, maybe in
Speaker 1: ways we haven't even.
Speaker 2: Imagined yet definitely opens up new possibilities.
Speaker 1: So here's something them all over what complex problems things
Speaker 1: may be previously unsolvable. Do you think we'll finally find
Speaker 1: solutions with this dynamic on demand five G network? Thanks
Speaker 1: for diving deep with us today my pleasure. We really
Speaker 1: hope this exploration gave you a fresh perspective, a shortcut
Speaker 1: to being genuinely informed about the amazing engineering behind five G.
Speaker 1: Until next time,