5G System Design

3Spectrum Usage and Management

Thomas Rosowski¹, Rauno Ruismaki², Luis M. Campoy³, Giovanna D’Aria⁴, Du Ho Kang⁵ and Adrian Kliks⁶

¹ Deutsche Telekom, Germany

² Nokia, Finland

³ Telefónica, Spain

⁴ Telecom Italia, Italy

⁵ Ericsson, Sweden

⁶ Poznan University of Technology, Poland

3.1 Introduction

5th generation (5G) networks need to handle mobile data rates in the range from a few kbps up to several Gbps. The requirements w.r.t. the availability of wireless access and link reliability will also increase. Beside mobile broadband services, other utilizations like, e.g., automotive applications, smart grid or smart meter communications, manufacturing systems, and health care by electronic means are going to be incorporated into the 5G design for economies of scale, as pointed out in Chapter 2.

The total amount of spectrum below 6 GHz currently allocated for the mobile service and identified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations [1] is 1886 MHz (see Table 3‐2). However, in individual countries, only parts of this spectrum are available or planned for mobile communications.

In principle, the capacity of mobile networks can be increased in three ways: a) through additional spectrum bands, b) through cell densification with the deployment of more access points, and c) by using advanced radio technologies obtaining higher spectral efficiency. Since cell densification and higher spectral efficiency alone are not sufficient ...