The document discusses the future of 5G network architecture and the potential sunset of non-standalone (NSA) 5G networks. It notes that most operators currently use NSA networks but will eventually transition to standalone (SA) networks. However, many early 5G devices only support NSA networks. Once SA networks are stable and tested, it may make sense to sunset NSA networks. This would mean NSA-only devices would lose 5G access but push users to upgrade, freeing spectrum for improved SA speeds overall.

1. Opinion:
Would 5G NSA undergo Sunset?
Zahid Ghadialy,
Principal Analyst and Consultant
@3g4gUK

2. 5G Deployment Options and Migration Strategy
©3G4G
EPC 5GC (NGCN)
SA
NSA
eNB EPC
Option 1: SA LTE connected to EPC Option 2: SA NR connected to 5GC
(Standalone)
(Non-Standalone)
[Dual Connectivity]
ng-eNBgNB 5GC
Option 5: SA LTE connected to 5GC
Option 3: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to EPC
Option 4: NSA NR assisted LTE
connected to 5GC
Option 7: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to 5GC
Migration
Strategy Option 1
↗ Option 2
↘ Option 3
Option 3
↗ Option 7
↘ Option 5
Option 3
↗ Option 3
↘ Option 2
Option 3
↗ Option 4
↘ Option 2
[EN-DC] [NE-DC] [NGEN-DC]
5GC
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
EPC
eNB
en-gNB

3. 5G Deployment Options and Migration Strategy
©3G4G
EPC 5GC (NGCN)
SA
NSA
eNB EPC
Option 1: SA LTE connected to EPC Option 2: SA NR connected to 5GC
(Standalone)
(Non-Standalone)
[Dual Connectivity]
ng-eNBgNB 5GC
Option 5: SA LTE connected to 5GC
Option 3: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to EPC
Option 4: NSA NR assisted LTE
connected to 5GC
Option 7: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to 5GC
Migration
Strategy Option 1
↗ Option 2
↘ Option 3
Option 3
↗ Option 7
↘ Option 5
Option 3
↗ Option 3
↘ Option 2
Option 3
↗ Option 4
↘ Option 2
[EN-DC] [NE-DC] [NGEN-DC]
5GC
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
EPC
eNB
gNB
Today – 4G Networks

4. LTE Carrier Aggregation
©3G4G
f1 f2 f3
LTE Carrier Aggregation
4G / LTE
While LTE-A supported up to 5 Component
Carriers (CC), each with a max of 20 MHz for
Carrier Aggregation, LTE-A Pro supports 32 CCs

5. 5G Deployment Options and Migration Strategy
©3G4G
EPC 5GC (NGCN)
SA
NSA
eNB EPC
Option 1: SA LTE connected to EPC Option 2: SA NR connected to 5GC
(Standalone)
(Non-Standalone)
[Dual Connectivity]
ng-eNBgNB 5GC
Option 5: SA LTE connected to 5GC
Option 3: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to EPC
Option 4: NSA NR assisted LTE
connected to 5GC
Option 7: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to 5GC
Migration
Strategy Option 1
↗ Option 2
↘ Option 3
Option 3
↗ Option 7
↘ Option 5
Option 3
↗ Option 3
↘ Option 2
Option 3
↗ Option 4
↘ Option 2
[EN-DC] [NE-DC] [NGEN-DC]
5GC
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
EPC
eNB
en-gNB
Non-Standalone 5G
Networks, Release-15, all 5G
networks today (SRIT)

6. 5G: Multiple Layers for multiple needs
©3G4G
Coverage Layer
Sub-1GHz
Capacity Layer
1GHz – 7.125GHz
High Throughput Layers
24.25GHz – 52.6GHz

7. Most Popular 5G Frequency Bands
©3G4G
700 MHz – most
popular band
3.5 GHz – most
popular band
26/28 GHz – most
popular band

8. 5G Dual Connectivity
©3G4G
f1 f2 f3
LTE Carrier Aggregation
4G / LTE
f1 f2 f3 f4
Dual Connectivity (DC)
5G NSA
f5 f6
LTE Carrier Aggregation 5G NR Carrier Aggregation
While LTE-A supported up to 5 Component
Carriers (CC), each with a max of 20 MHz for
Carrier Aggregation, LTE-A Pro supports 32 CCs
5G NR supports up to 16 CCs of max 400 MHz

9. Current NSA 5G Speeds
©3G4G
f1 f2 f3 f4
Dual Connectivity (DC)
5G NSA
f5 f6
LTE Carrier Aggregation 5G NR Carrier Aggregation
5G NSA Speeds = 4G Speeds + 5G (Coverage + Capacity + mmWave) Speeds

10. 5G Deployment Options and Migration Strategy
©3G4G
EPC 5GC (NGCN)
SA
NSA
eNB EPC
Option 1: SA LTE connected to EPC Option 2: SA NR connected to 5GC
(Standalone)
(Non-Standalone)
[Dual Connectivity]
ng-eNBgNB 5GC
Option 5: SA LTE connected to 5GC
Option 3: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to EPC
Option 4: NSA NR assisted LTE
connected to 5GC
Option 7: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to 5GC
Migration
Strategy Option 1
↗ Option 2
↘ Option 3
Option 3
↗ Option 7
↘ Option 5
Option 3
↗ Option 3
↘ Option 2
Option 3
↗ Option 4
↘ Option 2
[EN-DC] [NE-DC] [NGEN-DC]
5GC
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
EPC
eNB
gNB
Future – Standalone 5G
Networks, after Release-16
is finalized (RIT)

11. Current SA 5G Speeds
©3G4G
f4
5G SA
f5 f6
5G NR Carrier Aggregation
5G SA Speeds = 5G (Coverage + Capacity + mmWave) Speeds

12. Some observations and analysis
©3G4G
• Most operators believe that they will run both the Non-Standalone
(NSA) 5G deployed today along with Standalone (SA) 5G
• Many of the early / cheap 5G devices only support the NSA 5G and
cannot be software upgraded to SA 5G

13. Example of how 5G networks will look like
©3G4G
Option 1
eNB
EPC
S1-C
S1-U
eNB
S1-C
S1-U S1-U
X2-C
X2-U en-gNB
Option 3
X2-C
X2-U
5GC
gNB
(5G NR)
NG-C
NG-U
Option 2

14. SK Telecom Architecture
©3G4G

15. 5G Deployment Options and Migration Strategy
©3G4G
EPC 5GC (NGCN)
SA
NSA
eNB EPC
Option 1: SA LTE connected to EPC Option 2: SA NR connected to 5GC
(Standalone)
(Non-Standalone)
[Dual Connectivity]
ng-eNBgNB 5GC
Option 5: SA LTE connected to 5GC
Option 3: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to EPC
Option 4: NSA NR assisted LTE
connected to 5GC
Option 7: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to 5GC
Migration
Strategy Option 1
↗ Option 2
↘ Option 3
Option 3
↗ Option 7
↘ Option 5
Option 3
↗ Option 3
↘ Option 2
Option 3
↗ Option 4
↘ Option 2
[EN-DC] [NE-DC] [NGEN-DC]
5GC
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
5GC
gNB
ng-eNB
EPC
eNB
gNB
Way out in the future,
probably 2024 onwards
(SRIT & RIT)

16. From Deutsche Telekom Webinar
©3G4G
Source: The 3G4G Blog (link)

17. From Deutsche Telekom Webinar
©3G4G

18. Some observations and analysis
©3G4G
• Most operators believe that they will run both the Non-Standalone
(NSA) 5G deployed today along with Standalone (SA) 5G
• Many of the early / cheap 5G devices only support the NSA 5G and
cannot be software upgraded to SA 5G
• Would it make sense to sunset NSA 5G once SA 5G is stable and
extensively tested?

19. 5G Coverage – Today & Tomorrow
©3G4G
4G only
4G + 5G
5G Availability Today 5G Availability Tomorrow

20. Implication of 5G NSA Sunset
©3G4G
Option 3: NSA LTE assisted NR
connected to EPC
[EN-DC]
EPC
eNB
en-gNB
X
• Devices supporting 5G NSA only, will fallback to 4G with no 5G
• Assuming operators gave at least 2/3 years after 5G SA devices
being available, 5G NSA only devices would be limited
• Users unhappy with no 5G on their devices would upgrade to newer
devices
• Operators can re-farm some 4G spectrum to 5G in addition to DSS,
thereby improving the 5G SA speeds to as good as 5G NSA today.
Option 2: SA NR connected to 5GC
gNB 5GC

21. Some observations and analysis - conclusion
©3G4G
• Most operators believe that they will run both the Non-Standalone
(NSA) 5G deployed today along with Standalone (SA) 5G
• Many of the early / cheap 5G devices only support the NSA 5G and
cannot be software upgraded to SA 5G
• Would it make sense to sunset NSA 5G once SA 5G is stable and
extensively tested?
• My belief is that this would be the best way forward to keep things
simple in the future network architecture

22. Further Reading
©3G4G
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Network Architecture Options (link)
• The 3G4G Blog: What about 5G Network Architecture Option 4 (a.k.a.
NE-DC) ? (link)
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) (link)
• The 3G4G Blog: The Politics of Standalone vs Non-Standalone 5G & 4G
Speeds (link)
• The 3G4G Blog: Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Dual Connectivity (DC)
(link)
• The 3G4G Blog: Spectrum for 5G NR beyond 52.6 GHz (link)

23. Thank You
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