5G NSA to SA Migration Paths
How to evolve from 4G to 5G? How to migrate from NSA to SA?
After talking about the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of 5G SA and NSA networking modes and different NSA options of 5G (refer to Related Blogs below), the question arises: how to evolve from 4G to 5G? and how to migrate from NSA to SA network?
There are two paths to evolve from 4G to 5G network.
Path 1: Go straight to Option 2, which is the ultimate architecture. This requires heavy investment from the beginning.
Path 2: Option 1 (4G)→ Option 3x (5G NSA) → Option 7x (5G NSA)→ Option 4 (5G NSA)→ Option 2 (5G SA), all steps in between are optional. This path also indicates how can 5G NSA network be migrated to SA network.
Path 2 looks complicated, and the total cost of multiple investments is greater than the amount of one-time investment. However, the risk is smaller. Gradual investment could be a wise choice.
Two evolution paths of 5G networking architecture
The switch from a 4G core to a 5G core is a big reason why Path 2 looks so complicated. Fortunately, with the gradual maturity of virtualization and cloud computing, the 4G core network and the 5G core network can be combined into a 4/5G fusion core network. In this way, the evolution of wireless network has become much easier, and a variety of network architectures can coexist harmoniously.
In fact, there is only one factor that will determine all of this, and that is the explosion of demand for 5G.
Terms Explanation
Control plane: the channel to send the signaling required to manage and schedule resources.
User plane: the channel to send the user data. The user plane and the control plane are completely separate.
Dual connection: As the name suggests, the mobile phone can communicate with both 4G and 5G networks and download data at the same time. Typically, there will be a master connection and a slave connection.
Control plane anchor: the base station responsible for the control plane in the dual connection is called control plane anchor.
Data split anchor: the user's data needs to be split for transmission in the two paths of dual connection, but where should it be split? This location is called data split anchor.
Related Blogs
5G SA Options - Option 2, Option 5
Understand 5G SA and NSA in One Minute
