5G Carrier Aggregation – Bandwidth Classes

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Carrier Aggregation Bandwidth Classes

Carrier Aggregation (CA) increases the bandwidth by combining several carriers. Each aggregated carrier is referred to as a Component Carrier (CC). 5G NR CA supports up to 16 contiguous and non-contiguous CCs with different numerologies in the FR1 band and in the FR2 band. A Carrier aggregation configuration includes the type of carrier aggregation (intra-band, contiguous or not or inter-band), no. of bands and the bandwidth class.

CA Bandwidth Class is a Series of Alphabets, which defines the minimum and maximum bandwidth along with the no. of  Components Carriers. 

Bandwidth Class Key Pointer

  • 5G NR CA supports up to 16 contiguous and non-contiguous CCs with different numerologies
  • Bandwidth Class is a Series of Alphabets, which defines the min. and max. bandwidth along with the no. of CCs
  • FR1 has CA Class starting from A to O as per release 17
  • FR1 bands allows total max. CA bandwidth as 400 MHz
  • FR2 has CA Class starting from A to Q per release 17
  • FR2 bands allows total max. CA bandwidth as 800 MHz

CA – Bandwidth Classes for FR1

  • Class A corresponds to a 5G-NR configuration without carrier aggregation. The maximum 5G carrier band (BWChannel, max) depends on the band number and the numerology. Numerology defines the frequency spacing SCS between sub-carrier (Sub Carrier Spacing). Class A belongs to all the fallback groups and allows the mobile to return to a basic configuration without aggregation of carriers.
  • Class B corresponds to a total bandwidth between 20 MHz and 100 MHz by the aggregation of two radio channels
  • Class C corresponds to a total bandwidth between 100 MHz and 200 MHz from the aggregation of two radio channels
  • Class D corresponds to a total bandwidth between 200 MHz and 300 MHz from the aggregation of three radio channels
  • Class E corresponds to a total bandwidth between 300 MHz and 400 MHz from the aggregation of four radio channels. Classes C, D and E belong to the same Fallback Group 1 fallback group.
  • Class G corresponds to a total bandwidth between 100 MHz and 150 MHz from the aggregation of three radio channels
  • Class H corresponds to a total bandwidth between 150 MHz and 200 MHz from the aggregation of four radio channels
  • Class I corresponds to a total bandwidth between 200 MHz and 250 MHz from the aggregation of five radio channels
  • Class J corresponds to a total bandwidth between 250 MHz and 300 MHz from the aggregation of six radio channels
  • Class K corresponds to a total bandwidth between 300 MHz and 350 MHz from the aggregation of seven radio channels
    Class L corresponds to a total bandwidth between 350 MHz and 400 MHz from the aggregation of eight radio channels. Classes G to L belong to the same Fallback Group 2 fallback group

CA – Bandwidth Classes for FR2

  • Class A corresponds to a 5G-NR configuration without carrier aggregation. The maximum 5G carrier band (BWChannel, max) depends on the band number and numerology. Class A belongs to all the fallback groups, thus allowing the mobile to return to a basic configuration without aggregation of carriers.
  • Class B corresponds to a total bandwidth between 400 MHz and 800 MHz from the aggregation of two radio channels
  • Class C corresponds to a total bandwidth between 800 MHz and 1200 MHz from the aggregation of two radio channels.Class B is a fallback configuration for class C, both of which belong to the same FallBack group 1 fallback list.
  • Class D corresponds to a total bandwidth between 200 MHz and 400 MHz from the aggregation of two radio channels
  • Class E corresponds to a total bandwidth between 400 MHz and 600 MHz from the aggregation of three radio channels
  • Class F corresponds to a total bandwidth between 600 MHz and 800 MHz from the aggregation of four radio channels. Classes D, E and F belong to the same FallBack group 2 fallback list.
  • Class G corresponds to a total bandwidth between 100 MHz and 200 MHz from the aggregation of two radio channels
  • Class H corresponds to a total bandwidth between 200 MHz and 300 MHz from the aggregation of three radio channels
  • Class I corresponds to a total bandwidth between 300 MHz and 400 MHz from the aggregation of four radio channels
  • Class J corresponds to a total bandwidth between 400 MHz and 500 MHz from the aggregation of five radio channels
  • Class K corresponds to a total bandwidth between 500 MHz and 600 MHz from the aggregation of six radio channels
  • Class L corresponds to a total bandwidth between 600 MHz and 700 MHz from the aggregation of seven radio channels
  • Class M corresponds to a total bandwidth between 700 MHz and 800 MHz from the aggregation of eight radio channels. Classes G, H, I, J, K, L and M belong to the same FallBack group 3 fallback list.

Reference

  • 3GPP TS 38.101: 5G NR User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception;

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