5G TERMS AND ACRONYMS

ISI – Intersymbol interference

What is ISI? ISI (Intersymbol Interference) is a form of signal distortion where energy from one transmitted symbol spreads into adjacent symbol periods, causing errors

ITU – International Telecommunication Union

What is ITU? The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) is a specialised United Nations agency responsible for coordinating global telecommunications standards, spectrum allocation, and satellite orbit

Latency

What is Latency? In 5G networks, latency is the time delay for a data packet to travel from source to destination (one-way) or make a

Layer 1

What is Layer 1? Layer 1 is the Physical Layer in the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) reference model. It governs the transmission of raw data

Layers 2/3

What is Layers 2/3? Layers 2 and 3 in the OSI model correspond to the Data Link Layer and the Network Layer respectively. In 5G

Layers 4-7

What is Layers 4-7? Layers 4 through 7 of the OSI model comprise the Transport (Layer 4), Session (Layer 5), Presentation (Layer 6), and Application

LO – Local oscillator

What is LO? A LO (Local Oscillator) is an electronic circuit that generates a stable sinusoidal signal at a specific frequency, used in radio transceivers

LoS – Line of sight

What is LoS? LoS (Line of Sight) refers to a propagation condition where the transmitter and receiver have a clear, unobstructed direct path between them.

Low Band

What is Low Band? Low Band refers to the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum below 1 GHz used for cellular communications. In 5G NR, low-band

LTE (Long-Term Evolution)

What is LTE? LTE is the 4G mobile broadband standard developed by 3GPP (Release 8, 2008), delivering peak downlink speeds of 300 Mbps (LTE-Advanced: 1

LTE-A (Long-Term Evolution-Advanced)

What is LTE-A? LTE-A (LTE-Advanced) is the evolution of LTE standardised in 3GPP Release 10 that met the ITU’s IMT-Advanced requirements for true 4G performance.

LTE-Advanced – Long-term Evolution Advanced

Also known as “LTE Release 10,” LTE-A is one of the two mobile communication platforms officially designated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the

LTE-Advanced Pro

What is LTE-Advanced Pro? LTE-Advanced Pro (also marketed as 4.5G or pre-5G) is the designation for 3GPP Releases 13 and 14, representing the most advanced

LTE-LAA – Long-term Evolution Licensed Assisted Access

What is LTE-LAA? LTE-LAA (Licensed Assisted Access) is an LTE-Advanced Pro feature defined in 3GPP Release 13 that enables mobile operators to aggregate licensed LTE

M2M (Machine-to-Machine)

What is M2M? M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communication refers to the direct exchange of data between devices without human intervention. M2M is the precursor concept to the

Machine Type Communication

Also known as Machine to Machine (M2M), MTC refers to data communication between two entities without human intervention. Typically, this involves communication between an MTC

Massive MIMO

What is Massive MIMO? Massive MIMO equips the gNB with a very large number of antenna elements — typically 32, 64, 128, or more —

Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output)

Refers to the large number of antennas in the base-station antenna array that enables multiple spatially separated users to be catered to by the antenna