5G technology is now at its advanced stage, 5G-Advanced, starting with 3GPP Release 18, finalized in 2024, and continuing into Release 19, expected by the end of 2025. 5G-Advanced Release 18 brings AI/ML integration across the RAN and core and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), along with enabling advanced extended reality (XR) and reduced capability, as well as non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity. It also supports new use cases, such as industrial automation and robotics, and introduces new improvements in energy efficiency and uplink performance.
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However, these advances also bring challenges from a design perspective. For example, the use of massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), beamforming technology, and multi-band support drives the need for more advanced RF design and thermal management. The September/October issue covers some of these 5G challenges, from RF device design to NTN and Open RAN testing.
Viet Nguyen, president of 5G Americas, calls 5G a foundational shift in how devices, machines, and infrastructure connect in real time that is enabling new applications across industries, with 5G-Advanced bringing significant enhancements for the wireless industry.
5G-Advanced represents a technically significant step forward, he said, introducing new architectural tools, enhanced performance features, and a foundation for XR, AI-native services, and extended coverage through satellites.
Two of the biggest advances are integrated sensing and AI-native edge processing. 5G-Advanced adds initial standardization for ISAC, which allows 5G base stations to estimate object presence and environmental motion using reflected radio signals, and formalizes the use of AI/ML as core system functions, Nguyen said.
It also marks a turning point for NTNs, integrating LEO satellite connectivity directly into 5G architectures, he said.
Contributing writer Stefano Lovati explains how 5G-Advanced innovations, including AI integration and XR support, are adding some RF design challenges and looks at how chipmakers are delivering more advanced RF components. Some of those key challenges include operating across wider frequency ranges, managing higher power consumption and heat generated from large antenna arrays, and maintaining signal quality with advanced modulation schemes.
As a result, there is a need for more complex, as well as more expensive, RF chips and modules that need to integrate multiple functions while meeting strict performance requirements. Then there is the ever-present requirement to fit more devices, including antennas, power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, and filters, into smaller footprints.
Another technology innovation expected to play a bigger role in 5G-Advanced wireless communications is GaN-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si), combining the benefits of GaN technology and the cost-effectiveness of a silicon substrate for large-scale manufacturing.
Ahmad Abbas, technology and market analyst for compound semiconductors at Yole Group, explains the increasing role of GaN-on-Si in 5G/6G networks. GaN can address the demands of exponential data growth, rising power consumption, and the need for smaller, more compact base stations with higher power density due to their higher operating voltages, greater power density, and superior frequency performance, he said.
Delivering capabilities beyond those of legacy LDMOS and gallium arsenide technologies, Abbas sees GaN gradually replacing LDMOS in power amplifiers for 5G massive MIMO antennas. This shift to GaN technology is driven by GaN-on-Si and GaN-on-SiC as key enablers by balancing performance, cost, and scalability, he said.
5G also brings challenges in testing as new capabilities are added. This includes testing NTNs. Tim Seyler, product manager for signaling testers at Rohde & Schwarz, said NTN testing introduces a variety of new challenges that require end-to-end test systems that account for complex scenarios to ensure high reliability.
He also discusses a new solution that can meet these test challenges. These include dynamic Doppler frequency shifts, variable propagation delays, and significant path loss that make channel emulation far more complex, because they must accurately replicate real-world satellite conditions in a controlled test environment, Seyler said. In addition, FR2 transmissions in NTNs must use frequency-division duplex rather than time-division duplex, which adds another layer of complexity. There are also mobility management challenges and the need to ensure interoperability between NTN and terrestrial network segments.
Open RAN compliance testing also creates challenges, particularly for smaller OEMs. Erik Probstfield, senior director of the VALOR program, and Ian Wong senior director for RF and wireless architecture, both at Viavi Solutions Inc., explain that radio, distributed, and centralized units come from a range of vendors, each designed to a set of interoperability standards, and while there are significant benefits in cost, efficiency, performance, and flexibility, ensuring system interoperability from a huge number of vendors requires complex testing procedures. This includes system verification, security assessments, certification, and pre-deployment testing, which is beyond the reach of most small and medium-sized enterprises and startups.
Viavi discusses a new approach called lab-as-a-service that addresses this challenge. It uses a hybrid model, combining cloud-based and physical labs, enabling smaller companies to access on-demand, affordable testing facilities throughout the product lifecycle, helping to level the playing field.
Also in this issue, we cover the top 10 5G chips and modules introduced over the past year. These devices are supporting new 5G technologies, including 5G-Advanced, NTN connectivity, 5G fixed wireless access, and 5G Open RAN, which also means growing support for millimeter-wave and massive MIMO. Don’t miss the product roundup of cables and connectors. These interconnects offer higher reliability and ruggedness for applications that also call for longer life, higher operating temperatures, and miniaturization.
Cover image: Adobe Stock
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