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Evolution of Air Interface towards 5G

Evolution of Air Interface towards 5G banner
Preview this course
Self-paced Advanced

Evolution of Air Interface towards 5G

3(115)
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FREE
743 min
Anytime
English
128 views
Engineering Academy
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Why enroll

This course helps participants understand how 5G networks really work at the air interface level. It builds strong fundamentals of key 5G technologies like NR, mmWave, and Massive MIMO. The knowledge gained is useful for careers in wireless communication, research, and advanced mobile networks.

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Is this course for you?

You should take this if

  • You work in Automotive
  • You're a Electrical Engineering professional
  • You have 3+ years of hands-on experience in this field
  • You want to build skills in Engineering & Design, Project Management

You should skip if

  • You're new to this field with no prior experience
  • You need a different specialisation outside Electrical Engineering
  • You need live interaction with an instructor

Course details

The air interface is one of the key elements that distinguishes 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G mobile communication systems. While 3G systems were based on CDMA and 4G systems adopted OFDMA, this course focuses on the air interface design of 5G networks. Whereas 4G enabled a large number of infotainment services, 5G is designed to support extremely low latency services, reliable communication in dense user environments, enhanced mobile broadband (making applications like virtual reality practical), ultra-reliable and secure connectivity, ubiquitous quality of service, and highly energy-efficient networks.These ambitious requirements are achieved through several advanced technologies, including: (i) new waveforms known as 5G New Radio (NR), (ii) millimeter-wave communication, (iii) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, (iv) non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), (v) heterogeneous networks such as small cells and device-to-device communication, (vi) energy-efficient radio access network designs, and (vii) mechanisms to ensure ubiquitous quality of service.This course aims to provide a strong understanding of the fundamental principles behind these technologies, which together form the core of the 5G air interface. The course begins with an overview of 5G technology and its key features. It then covers the 5G New Radio waveform, its evolution, and different variants. This is followed by an introduction to non-orthogonal multiple access schemes. The course also explores millimeter-wave communication techniques and massive MIMO systems, focusing on their basic building blocks and design challenges. In addition, essential propagation models required for performance analysis are briefly discussed. Finally, the course presents performance analysis of heterogeneous networks, including small cells and device-to-device communication.

Source: NPTEL IIT Kharagpur [Youtube Channel]

Course suitable for

Key topics covered

  • Evolution of Air Interface towards 5G

  • Evolution of Wireless Communication

    • Growth from basic voice services to high-speed data

    • Increasing user demand and new applications

  • Evolution of Wireless Communication Standards from 2G to 5G (Part-I)

    • Introduction to 2G systems

    • Digital voice and basic data services

  • Evolution of Wireless Communication Standards from 2G to 5G (Part-II)

    • Transition to 3G

    • Packet data and multimedia services

  • Evolution of Wireless Communication Standards from 2G to 5G (Part-III)

    • Emergence of 4G LTE

    • High-speed data and IP-based networks

  • Evolution of Wireless Communication Standards from 2G to 5G (Part-IV)

    • Limitations of 4G

    • Motivation for 5G development

  • Requirements and Operating Scenarios of 5G

    • High data rate

    • Low latency

    • Massive connectivity

  • Requirements and Operating Scenarios of 5G (Contd.)

    • Support for diverse applications

    • Flexible and scalable network design

  • 5G Scenarios

    • Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)

    • Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)

    • Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC)

  • Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC)

    • Mission-critical applications

    • Industrial automation

    • Autonomous vehicles

  • Designing 5G New Radio (NR)

    • Flexible numerology

    • Scalable frame structure

    • Support for multiple frequency bands

  • Fundamental Framework for Waveform Analysis

    • Time and frequency domain concepts

    • Performance metrics

  • Fundamental Framework for Waveform Analysis (Contd.)

    • Spectral efficiency

    • Interference and robustness

  • Waveforms in 3G

    • CDMA-based transmission

    • Spread spectrum techniques

  • Waveforms in 3G (Contd.)

    • Power control

    • Multiple access schemes

  • Waveform Design Aspects of 2G

    • Narrowband transmission

    • Emphasis on voice quality

  • Waveforms in 4G and 5G (OFDM)

    • Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

    • High spectral efficiency

  • Waveforms in 4G and 5G (OFDM) (Contd.)

    • Resistance to multipath fading

    • Simple equalization

  • Waveforms in 4G and 5G (OFDM) (Contd.)

    • Cyclic prefix

    • Subcarrier spacing

  • Waveforms in 4G and 5G (OFDMA)

    • Multi-user access

    • Resource block allocation

  • Waveforms in 4G and 5G (OFDMA, SC-FDMA, SC-FDE)

    • Comparison of uplink and downlink schemes

    • Power efficiency considerations

  • Waveforms in 4G and 5G (SC-FDMA) (Contd.)

    • Lower PAPR

    • Uplink advantages

  • Waveform in 5G

    • Flexible waveform design

    • Support for diverse use cases

  • Waveform in 5G – Numerology

    • Variable subcarrier spacing

    • Adaptation to different frequency bands

  • Frame Structure in 5G NR

    • Flexible slot duration

    • Support for low latency and high reliability

Course content

The course is readily available, allowing learners to start and complete it at their own pace.

25 lectures12 hr 23 min
  1. Evolution of Air Interface towards 5G
    12 min
  2. Evolution of wireless Communication
    28 min
  3. Evolution of wireless Communication Standards From 2G to 5G (Part-I)
    28 min
  4. Evolution of wireless Communication Standards From 2G to 5G (Part-II)
    30 min
  5. Evolution of wireless Communication Standards From 2G to 5G (Part-III)
    29 min
  6. Evolution of wireless Communication Standards From 2G to 5G (Part-IV)
    29 min
  7. Requirements and operating scenarios of 5G
    35 min
  8. Requirements and operating scenarios of 5G (contd.)
    26 min
  9. 5G scenarios
    28 min
  10. Ultra reliable low latency communication
    29 min
  11. Designing 5G new radio
    33 min
  12. Fundamental Framework for waveform analysis
    28 min
  13. Fundamental Framework for waveform analysis (cont.)
    27 min
  14. Waveforms in 3G
    29 min
  15. Waveforms in 3G (cont.)
    32 min
  16. Waveform Design Aspects of 2G
    31 min
  17. Waveform in 4G and 5G (OFDM)
    28 min
  18. Waveform in 4G and 5G (OFDM) contd.
    34 min
  19. Waveform in 4G and 5G (OFDM) contd
    33 min
  20. Waveform in 4G and 5G (OFDMA)
    31 min
  21. Waveform in 4G and 5G (OFDMA, SCFDMA, SCFDE )
    36 min
  22. Waveform in 4G and 5G (SCFDMA cont.)
    35 min
  23. Waveform in 5G
    33 min
  24. Waveform in 5G Numerology
    27 min
  25. Frame Structure in 5G NR
    32 min

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Questions and Answers

A: That's the most common mistake — confusing the LTE legacy framing intuition with the NR numerology scaling rule. The difference matters because Tu is defined as 1/(15 kHz × 2^μ). For μ=1, that’s 1/30 kHz, which gives 33.3 µs for the full symbol, but the useful part used in calculations is half that once you align to the NR FFT reference, landing at 16.67 µs.

A: That’s the classic trap — optimizing PA efficiency while ignoring system-level scheduling. The difference matters because dense, mixed-service deployments live or die by time-frequency granularity. CP-OFDM with scalable numerology lets you trade latency, Doppler tolerance, and slot length on demand, even if you pay a PAPR penalty.

A: That’s the most common mix-up — treating a radio coordination failure like a safety or core issue. The difference matters because unsynchronized TDD flips UL and DL at different times, so one cell’s downlink lands squarely on its neighbor’s uplink, driving cross-link interference and collapsing SINR.

A: That’s the usual misread — assuming it’s an implementation convenience. The difference matters because scalable numerology is a system knob: wider spacing shortens symbols for low latency and high Doppler, while narrower spacing preserves spectral efficiency and phase noise margins at lower bands.