5G new radio and LTE uplink coexistence

Abstract

By the introduction of the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication networks and its physical layer entitled as new radio (NR), the question of link performance in coexistence scenario between the 5G NR and fourth generation (4G) mobile communication networks based on long term evolution (LTE) has been raised. In this paper, we evaluate the uplink (UL) performance of 5G NR and LTE links operating within a common channel. The need for subcarrier shift in 5G NR UL similar to LTE UL is addressed and analyzed, and the effect of guard band (GB) in frequency domain between 5G NR and LTE is studied. It is shown that with a single physical resource block GB no subcarrier shifting is required in 5G NR, as long as the power control accuracy is sufficient, in which case LTE performance is unaffected. From the 5G NR performance point of view no GB is required.