Global mobile data usage is increasing significantly every year. statistics and forecasts suggest that it is set to rise exponentially over the coming years.
Many operators are already facing capacity challenges in the high-dense areas
Which requires to keep building more sites continuously and keep increasing the capacity of the existing sites.
Operators are facing challenges in solving this issue especially in built up areas due to the current high cell densities and other factors. Like any evolving system, legacy networks Including LTE have reached the limit of being a complicated design, this limitation is due to the fact that LTE, which is the newest generation of the legacy networks was designed a decade ago. Therefore it is becoming impossible to updated legacy networks further in a simple way and to keep them compatible with the earlier equipment.
5G frequency range categories
Frequency bands for 5G NR are devided into three different frequency ranges:
1-Low band: 410 MHz to 1 GHz.
This band provides excellent coverage and indoor Penetration with limited capacity. An expected Peak data rate in this range is approximately 200 Mbps.
 These bands are suitable for interactive communications and massive machine type communications (mMTC).
2-Mid-band: 1 GHz to 7 GHz.
This band is suitable for urban deployment with increased capacity. It provides a peak data rate of approximately 2 Gbps. Frequencies in this band are suitable for both rural and urban areas, since it can deliver high data rates over long distances
3-High band: 24 GHz to 100 GHz (mmWave).
This Band offers very high capacity with Limited coverage. An expected Peak data tops out at approximately 10 Gbps. This frequency band is excellent for low-latency, short-range, and high-capacity ultra-dense small cell networks. In other words, to fulfill the high bandwidth demand forEnhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and for wireless backhaul solutions.
5G frequency range categories according to 3GPP
3GPP on the other hand  devided 5G Frequency bands into only two different frequency ranges; Frequency Range one (FR1) and Frequency Range two (FR2).
Frequency Range one (FR1) spectrum from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz, it is generally overlapping with LTE cellular frequencies and also referred as sub-6 GHz band
The other is band Frequency Range 2 (FR2), which include frequency bands from 24250 MHz to 52600 MHz
5g Frequency Rage tables as defined in 3GPP TS 38.101-1 V17.3.0 and TS 38.101-2 V17.3.0
It is noticeable that frequency bands are defined with letter N instead of B used to defined 4G Bands.
Table 5.2-1: NR operating bands in FR1
|
NR operating band |
Uplink (UL) operating band BS receive / UE transmit FUL_low   – FUL_high |
Downlink (DL) operating band BS transmit / UE receive FDL_low  – FDL_high |
Duplex Mode |
|
n1 |
1920 MHz – 1980 MHz |
2110 MHz – 2170 MHz |
FDD |
|
n2 |
1850 MHz – 1910 MHz |
1930 MHz – 1990 MHz |
FDD |
|
n3 |
1710 MHz – 1785 MHz |
1805 MHz – 1880 MHz |
FDD |
|
n5 |
824 MHz – 849 MHz |
869 MHz – 894 MHz |
FDD |
|
n7 |
2500 MHz – 2570 MHz |
2620 MHz – 2690 MHz |
FDD |
|
n8 |
880 MHz – 915 MHz |
925 MHz – 960 MHz |
FDD |
|
n12 |
699 MHz – 716 MHz |
729 MHz – 746 MHz |
FDD |
|
n13 |
777 MHz – 787 MHz |
746 MHz – 756 MHz |
FDD |
|
n14 |
788 MHz – 798 MHz |
758 MHz – 768 MHz |
FDD |
|
n18 |
815 MHz – 830 MHz |
860 MHz – 875 MHz |
FDD |
|
n20 |
832 MHz – 862 MHz |
791 MHz – 821 MHz |
FDD |
|
n24 |
1626.5 MHz – 1660.5 MHz |
1525 MHz – 1559 MHz |
FDD |
|
n25 |
1850 MHz – 1915 MHz |
1930 MHz – 1995 MHz |
FDD |
|
n26 |
814 MHz – 849 MHz |
859 MHz – 894 MHz |
FDD |
|
n28 |
703 MHz – 748 MHz |
758 MHz – 803 MHz |
FDD |
|
n29 |
N/A |
717 MHz – 728 MHz |
SDL |
|
n30 |
2305 MHz – 2315 MHz |
2350 MHz – 2360 MHz |
FDD |
|
n34 |
2010 MHz – 2025 MHz |
2010 MHz – 2025 MHz |
TDD |
|
n38 |
2570 MHz – 2620 MHz |
2570 MHz – 2620 MHz |
TDD |
|
n39 |
1880 MHz – 1920 MHz |
1880 MHz – 1920 MHz |
TDD |
|
n40 |
2300 MHz – 2400 MHz |
2300 MHz – 2400 MHz |
TDD |
|
n41 |
2496 MHz – 2690 MHz |
2496 MHz – 2690 MHz |
TDD |
|
n46 |
5150 MHz – 5925 MHz |
5150 MHz – 5925 MHz |
TDD13 |
|
n47 |
5855 MHz – 5925 MHz |
5855 MHz – 5925 MHz |
TDD |
|
n48 |
3550 MHz – 3700 MHz |
3550 MHz – 3700 MHz |
TDD |
|
n50 |
1432 MHz – 1517 MHz |
1432 MHz – 1517 MHz |
TDD1 |
|
n51 |
1427 MHz – 1432 MHz |
1427 MHz – 1432 MHz |
TDD |
|
n53 |
2483.5 MHz – 2495 MHz |
2483.5 MHz – 2495 MHz |
TDD |
|
n65 |
1920 MHz – 2010 MHz |
2110 MHz – 2200 MHz |
FDD4 |
|
n66 |
1710 MHz – 1780 MHz |
2110 MHz – 2200 MHz |
FDD |
|
n67 |
N/A |
738 MHz – 758 MHz |
SDL |
|
n70 |
1695 MHz – 1710 MHz |
1995 MHz – 2020 MHz |
FDD |
|
n71 |
663 MHz – 698 MHz |
617 MHz – 652 MHz |
FDD |
|
n74 |
1427 MHz – 1470 MHz |
1475 MHz – 1518 MHz |
FDD |
|
n75 |
N/A |
1432 MHz – 1517 MHz |
SDL |
|
n76 |
N/A |
1427 MHz – 1432 MHz |
SDL |
|
n77 |
3300 MHz – 4200 MHz |
3300 MHz – 4200 MHz |
TDD |
|
n78 |
3300 MHz – 3800 MHz |
3300 MHz – 3800 MHz |
TDD |
|
n79 |
4400 MHz – 5000 MHz |
4400 MHz – 5000 MHz |
TDD |
|
n80 |
1710 MHz – 1785 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n81 |
880 MHz – 915 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n82 |
832 MHz – 862 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n83 |
703 MHz – 748 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n84 |
1920 MHz – 1980 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n85 |
698 MHz – 716 MHz |
728 MHz – 746 MHz |
FDD |
|
n86 |
1710 MHz – 1780 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n89 |
824 MHz – 849 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n90 |
2496 MHz – 2690 MHz |
2496 MHz – 2690 MHz |
TDD5 |
|
n91 |
832 MHz – 862 MHz |
1427 MHz – 1432 MHz |
FDD9 |
|
n92 |
832 MHz – 862 MHz |
1432 MHz – 1517 MHz |
FDD9 |
|
n93 |
880 MHz – 915 MHz |
1427 MHz – 1432 MHz |
FDD9 |
|
n94 |
880 MHz – 915 MHz |
1432 MHz – 1517 MHz |
FDD9 |
|
n95 |
2010 MHz – 2025 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n96 |
5925 MHz – 7125 MHz |
5925 MHz – 7125 MHz |
TDD13 |
|
n97 |
2300 MHz – 2400 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n98 |
1880 MHz – 1920 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
|
n99 |
1626.5 MHz – 1660.5 MHz |
N/A |
SUL |
Table 5.2-1: NR operating bands in FR2
|
Operating Band |
Uplink (UL) operating band BS receive UE transmit FUL_low  –  FUL_high |
Downlink (DL) operating band BS transmit UE receive FDL_low  –  FDL_high |
Duplex Mode |
|
n257 |
26500 MHz – 29500 MHz |
26500 MHz – 29500 MHz |
TDD |
|
n258 |
24250 MHz – 27500 MHz |
24250 MHz – 27500 MHz |
TDD |
|
n259 |
39500 MHz – 43500 MHz |
39500 MHz – 43500 MHz |
TDD |
|
n260 |
37000 MHz – 40000 MHz |
37000 MHz – 40000 MHz |
TDD |
|
n261 |
27500 MHz – 28350 MHz |
27500 MHz – 28350 MHz |
TDD |
|
n262 |
47200 MHz – 48200 MHz |
47200 MHz – 48200 MHz |
TDD |