Introduction
When diving into 5G, no matter what your role is, it is helpful to know the best places to go to find the right information about your task and position. Over the years, I have compiled some of my favorites, and I often use these resources weekly, if not daily. The following is a list of my favorite websites, tools, blogs, books, white papers, and training that are available. Most of the material listed below is free except the books and Qualcomm training and certifications.
Websites
https://www.sqimway.com
Sqimway offers a variety of tools for all Radio Access Technologies. The ARFCN and GSCN calculators are easy ways to find frequencies associated with channels. The Point A reference tool takes in channel information and outputs an easy-to-digest table of channel information and acceptable parameters. The PDCCH search space tool also looks up the appropriate 3GPP spec tables based on the MIB parameters for Coreset0 and SearchSpaceZero. There are plenty of other tools on this site, too!
https://nrexplained.com/
This website has great tools for calculating offsets, frequencies, channels, and much more. I suggest the PointA frequency calculator and the SSB pattern table. This website aided in my understanding of how 5G channels are configured and how to visualize them.
https://www.eventhelix.com/5g/
Event Helix provides great 5G Registration flow diagrams with plenty of links to each message. I suggest starting here if you are learning how the UE completes the Registration Procedure with the RAN and Core Network.
https://www.sharetechnote.com
Detailed articles about 5G procedures with good references to packet captures and Amarisoft Callbox logs. Sharetechnote also has a large repertoire of other technical data from engineering, computers, networking, coding, and other wireless technologies.
https://www.techplayon.com/
Techplayon has articles that are in line with most of the material that is presented in the 5G in Bullets book. It doesn’t cover the same depth that 5G in Bullets does, though the articles are easy to access and digest.
3GPP 5G NR Specifications
Not necessarily a last resort, but I will always reference the specs when a concept or feature does not make complete sense to me. TS 24.501 for 5G NAS, and TS 38.331 for 5G RRC are some of my most referenced specifications. If you are not familiar with 3GPP or the specs, then the site can be intimidating to navigate. I usually download the ETSI PDF spec since the word documents can be very large and cause your word document viewer to lag quite a bit.
Open-Source Documentation
https://docs.magmaindia.org/
Magma provides a lot of detail on their software as well as Open5GS, Open Air Interface 5GC, and Free5GC. Each section goes in depth with Network Functions, protocols and interfaces.
srsRAN Project
Detailed documentation provided by SRS RAN ranges from installation to configuration and usage.
Open5GS
Detailed documentation provided by Open5GS ranges from installation to configuration and usage.
Blogs & Articles
https://blog.magmaindia.org/
Magma India also has a blog with some highly technical topics such as ECIES, 5G AKA procedure, and the standards that different open-source projects follow for their network functions.
https://medium.com/@googler_ram
Ram offers many articles on open-source 5G projects and much more. I recommend digging through these articles once you have an open-source network of your own started and are looking for your next project.
5G Core Part 1
The first article in a series about 5G Core, PDU Sessions, QoS, etc. A great reference for analyzing network traffic
5G Core Part 2
5G Core Part 3
5G Core Part 4
Books
5G In Bullets
5G in Bullets is my “go-to” reference for all things related to 5G Radio. This book is light on 5G Core details but has some high-level details of the 5GC, Network functions, procedures, etc. This book takes the most relevant data from 3GPP specs and presents it in bullet format with informal tables and figures.
5G Core Networks
For all things related to 5G Core, this book has it all. I highly suggest this book and 5G in Bullets to cover the RAN and 5GC. Topics covered in this book include Mobility and Session management, Security, QoS, Policy Control and Charging, Network Slicing, Network Functions and Services, and 5GC Protocols.
Fundamentals of 5G Communications
This book is from some of Qualcomm’s engineers and includes details on all aspects of 5G NR. This is a great secondary resource when my primary resources do not have all of the information that I am looking for.
5G NR: Architecture, Technology, Implementation, and Operation of 3GPP Radio Standards
This book has a lot of high and low-level information on everything related to 5G. I don’t find myself using this book as often as the others, though it still has a lot of information on all aspects and use cases of 5G including V2X, IoT, and all layers of the NR protocol stack.
5G Physical Layer
I recommend this book for RF engineers and anyone focusing mostly on Layer 1. This book is highly detailed and offers a lot of information outside of the scope of my studies.
5G System Design
Rohde & Schwarz: 5G New Radio Fundamentals, Procedures, Testing Aspects
If you have an R&S GLORIS account, you can access this ebook online, or request a physical copy. Great overall reference for 5G Radio and Core concepts and procedures.
Training & Certifications
Qualcomm Wireless Academy
Qualcomm QWA offers learning paths for 5G NSA and 5G SA and even offers certifications. Check out their entire catalog of training courses. Most are available online though some are “in-person” or live training sessions. Unfortunately, the training and certifications are not free.
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