5G Spectrum

The growing traffic demand necessitates increasing the amount of spectrum that may be utilised by the

5G systems. High frequency bands in the centimeter wave (cmWave) and millimeter wave (mmWave)

range will be adopted due to their potential for supporting wider channel bandwidths and the consequent

capability to deliver high data rates.

The new spectrum below 6GHz is expected to be allocated for mobile communication at the World Radio

Conference (WRC) 2015, and the band above 6GHz expected to be allocated at WRC 2019, as shown in

Figure.

5G network is a heterogeneous network which enables the cooperation between lower-frequency wide-area coverage network and high-frequency network. The consensus is higher frequency bands are the complementary bands to 5G whereas low frequency bands (<6GHz) are still the primary bands of 5G spectrum.

High frequency also enables unified access and backhaul since the same radio resources is shared. It is expected to use a unified air interface and a hierarchical scheduling for both radio access and backhaul which enables flexible backhauling and low-cost ultra dense networking (UDN).

Future radio access may also employ bands with different levels of access regulation including exclusive licensed, non-exclusive licensed and unlicensed bands. The 5G system treats both the licensed and unlicensed spectrum in a flexible, unified air interface framework.