As per 3GPP specifications for 5G NR, it defines three classes for 5G NR base stations:
- Wide Area Base Station
- Medium Range Base Station
- Local Area Base Station
These classes are as per cell types deployments like Macrocell, Microcell, and Pico cell.
Transmit power capability:
Wide Area base station: No upper limit
Medium Range base station: <38dBm or 6.3 watts
Local area base station: <24 dBm or 0.25 watts
Base station types:
BS type 1-C
BS type 1-C requirements are applied at the BS antenna connector (port A) for a single transmitter or receiver with a full complement of transceivers for the configuration in the normal operating conditions. If any external apparatus such as an amplifier, a filter, or the combination of such devices are used, requirements apply at the far end antenna connector (port B).
BS type 1-H
BS type 1-H requirements are defined for two points of reference, signified by radiated requirements and conducted requirements.
Radiated characteristics are defined over the air (OTA), where the operating band-specific radiated interface is referred to as Radiated Interface boundary (RIB). Radiated requirements are also referred to as OTA requirements. The characteristics in which the OTA requirements apply are detailed for each requirement. The transceiver unit array is part of the composite transceiver functionality generating modulated transmit signal structures and performing receiver combining and demodulation.
BS type 1-O and BS type 2-O
For BS type 1-O and BS type 2-O, the radiated characteristics are defined over the air (OTA), where the operating band-specific radiated interface is referred to as the Radiated Interface Boundary (RIB). Radiated requirements are also referred to as OTA requirements. For a BS type, 1-O the transceiver unit array must contain at least 8 transmitter units and at least 8 receiver units. Transmitter units and receiver units may be combined into transceiver units. The transmitter/receiver units have the ability to transmit/receiver parallel independent modulated symbol streams.
Base station classes:
It covers Wide area base stations, Medium range base stations, and local area base stations. The Associated deployment scenarios for each class are exactly the same for BS with and without connectors.
For BS type 1-O and 2-O, BS classes are defined as:
Wide area base stations are characterized by requirements derived from Macrocell scenarios with a BS to UE minimum distance along the ground equal to 35m.
Medium range base stations are characterized by requirements derived from microcell scenarios with a BS to UE minimum distance along the ground equal to 5m.
Local area base stations are characterized by requirements derived from picocell scenarios with a BS to minimum coupling loss equal to 45dbB.
Operating bands and channel arrangement:
Requirements throughout the RF specifications are in many cases defined separately for different frequency ranges (FR).
- FR1: 450 MHz – 6000 MHz
- FR2: 24250 MHz – 52600 MHz
Minimum coupling loss requirements:
- Wide Area Base station: MCL of 70 dB
- Medium range base station: MCL of 53 dB
- Local area base station: MCL of 45dB
The minimum distance between the base station and UE:
- Wide Area Base station: 35m
- Medium range base station: 5m
- Local area base station: 2m
