Gino Masini

Gino Masini is Principal Researcher with Ericsson, based in Sweden. His interests include network architecture, satellites, microwaves, antennas, and radio propagation. Prior to joining Ericsson, he worked at Politecnico di Milano for the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. As part of his work with Ericsson, he has been active in standardization for 20 years in 3GPP, ETSI, ITU and CEPT, among others. He has worked with 4G and later 5G since 2009, with his involvement as 3GPP delegate. He was 3GPP RAN WG3 Chairman from 2017 to 2021, overseeing the standardization of 5G radio network architecture, interfaces, and protocols. He is co-author of the book 5G and Beyond: Fundamentals and Standards, published by Springer, and of an upcoming book on 5G and satellites. He is the author of more than 70 patents and of several scientific articles. He holds a master’s degree in Electronics Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and an MBA from SDA Bocconi School of Management.

Tutorial: “5G Radio Access Network Architecture and 3GPP Standards: Principles, Methods, and Future”
Abstract: NG-RAN architecture, interfaces, and protocols, at the heart of 5G radio access networks, have been specified by 3GPP starting from a mix of very different requirements, while the industry was still consolidating and managing the success of LTE. NG-RAN introduced new key concepts and aims to facilitate the migration and evolution of 4G LTE cellular networks to 5G NR in a cost-efficient way, while also helping the uptake of NR and 5GC (the 5G Core network) to deliver new types of services. Since its first inception in 3GPP Rel-15, additional enhancements to NG-RAN have been made to address requirements from industries beyond mobile broadband, among which Internet of Things/Machine-Type Communications (IoT/MTC), Industrial IoT/Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (IIoT/URLLC), and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN). We will present the overall architecture, migration path options, 5G base station architecture, and key protocol components, putting them in perspective through different generations of radio access network architectures, from 3G through 5G and beyond. This tutorial will also include an introduction to standardization and in particular to 3GPP ways of working, including handling of network protocols and backwards compatibility.

Keynote: “Non-Terrestrial Networks: When 5G Meets Satellite”
Abstract: Satellite and terrestrial telecommunications have traditionally been two separate worlds, each working in different ways, and targeting very distinctive scenarios. While the satellite world had the general tendency to be vertically integrated, with no particular driver for standardization, for terrestrial mobile networks standardization has been key to unlocking global success which has become a reality and has consolidated since 3G. Nowadays, under the 5G scope, both the satellite and the terrestrial “worlds” are coming together in 3GPP, with the aim to bring support for 5G NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks) into global standards. This journey started with a study in Rel-16, which was finalized in 2020; the first release with full support for NTN (including NTN IoT) will be Rel-17, due to be finalized in early 2022. This lecture is an introduction to the 5G NTN concepts and architecture as studied and standardized by 3GPP with the ambition level to integrate satellite and terrestrial mobile telecommunications.