5G Network Security and Architecture Evaluation Report

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Evaluation of 5G Network and the Security

Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................................2
Comparison of the existing cellular networks generations 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G and 1G...................2
Explore the architecture of a 5G network..................................................................................6
Identify and analyze the 5G attacks on the access and core networks......................................8
Identify and analyse the issue related to 5G network coverage, Solution to address this
limitation................................................................................................................................. 10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 12
References................................................................................................................................... 13
Appendix...................................................................................................................................... 15

Introduction
The advancement of the telecommunication technology and new form of wireless connectivity brings a
wave of digital transformation which ash resulted in the disruption of the industry. The disruption is not
only causing changes in the use of information technology but also creating a new business opportunity.
With the advancement in technology, there is an increase in the challenges associated with the effective
management of technology. The main aim of presenting this report is to study, evaluation and
comparison of wireless 5G communication technology with currently available technologies. 5G
technology can transform and revolutionize the digital economy. But with opportunity comes major
challenges [1].
Comparison of the existing cellular networks generations 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G and
1G
First-generation
The first generation communication system was based on analogue signalling. The analog system of
telecommunication system was based on circuit switch technology. First-generation network system
was designed to support voice. It does not have the capability of transferring data. The first generation
network system does not support roaming as there was no efficient use of spectrum. First-generation
telecommunication network was developed during 1980 and continued until the development of
second-generation communication networks. The main difference between 1G and 2G is that the first
generation communication technology use analog signal and second generation use digital signals for
communication [6]. The first generation technology replaced 0G technology that mostly uses the mobile
radio technology such as Mobile Telephone systems, advance mobile Telephone system, Improved
mobile telephone system and push to talk technology. The voice call is modulated at a higher frequency
range of 150MHz. The modulation of the 1G signal is achieved through Multiple Division Frequency
Access (FDMA). The major challenges faced by the first-generation network are that the signal strength
is weak and overall connection quality is weak as compared with 1G. Major drawbacks of the first
generation wireless communication network are;
 Low capacity
 The network is unreliable
 No network security

 Poor quality voice calls
All these challenges were faced because voice calls were played back in radio towers due to which there
were unwanted eavesdropping.
Second Generation
The second-generation communication network was developed in the late 1990s. Communication
technology was developed for voice communication through the use of digital signals. Development of a
2g network system provided a facility for Short Message Service (SMS). The bandwidth 2G is between
30-200KHz. GSM technology which stands for Global System for Mobile was introduced. GSM
technology uses digital modulation technology for improvement in voice quality. Continuous
improvement of 2G resulted in the launch of 2.5G, the network use the GPRS technology for delivering
packet switch data to GSM networks.
GSM (Global System for Mobile communication)
The main component of GSM system is base system subsystem, base station controller, network
switching subsystem which includes Mobile switching Centre, visitor location register, home location
register, Authentication centre, Visitor location register and Equipment identity register. The GSM
systems can provide data and speech services up to 9.3 kbps.
GSM and VSM
The advancement in GSM technology resulted in the development of two other technology known as
Voice mail service(VMS) and short message service centre (SMSC). Along with GSM, VAS, IN (Intelligence
Service) also becomes part of GSM systems. This provided an opportunity to service providers to offer a
new range of services such as fraud management and prepaid services.
GSM and GPRS
As the transfer of data through air interface increased services such as serving GPRS and Gateway GPRS
system were added to the existing GSM network.
Third Generation
The third generation network must provide peak data rates of up to 200 Kbits/sec. The 3G network
works in the range of 2100 Hz range and bandwidth of about 15-20 MHz. The main advantage of 3g

network is that it provides voice clarity perfection like real communication. 3G network use PSTN
(Public switched Communication network). The 3G network can transfer data at the speed of 284Kbps
up to 2Mbps [11].
Protocol layer use din 3G wireless network infrastructure:
 Global mobility management:
 Node B application part:
 Radio Link Control
 Medium access control:
 Radio resource control
Fourth Generation
4G technology is different from previous technology. The advancement in technology since the last
decade has helped in the development of the 4G network. The main purpose of 4G is to provide high
quality, high speed and capacity of data and voice services, multimedia and internet over IP. The main
technologies used in the 4G are MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) and OFDM (Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplexing). WiMAX and LTE are two standards used in the 4G network. The OFDM
is a digital modulation technology in which digital signal is split into narrow bands of different frequency.
Fifth Generation
5G communication technology is developed to offer a high level of performance than previous
generation telecommunication systems [3].

Comparison
First Generation Second
Generation
Third
Generation
Fourth
Generation
Fifth
Generation
Started 1970-1984 1980-1991 1990-2002 2000-2006 2006-2020
Technology
Used
Analog signalling Digital
signalling
Broadband
technology
Unified IP
and a
combination
of
broadband
IP and Cloud
technology
Standard AMPS,TACS,NMT GSM, TDMA
and DMA
WCDMA,
CDMA
CDMA MIMO
Bandwidth 1.9 Kbps 14.4 Kbps 2 Mbps 200 Mbps 1Gbps
Modulation
technology
FDMA TDMA,
CDMA
CDMA CMDA
Core
Network
PSTN PSTN Packet
Network
Internet IP and
internet
Switching Circuit Circuit Packet
Switching
Packet
Switching
Packet
switching
Service
Types
Voice Service
(Person to
Person)
Voice, SMS
person to
person
Integrated
high-quality
audio, video
and data
Dynamic
information
access,
wearable
devices
IoT, Cloud
computing

Explore the architecture of a 5G network
Figure 1: 5G Architecture
With the improvement in computing technology combined with high-speed internet have fast-paced
development on better communication technology such as fourth and fifth-generation
telecommunication network. The 5G communication network is based on the concept of network
slicing. It makes use of network virtualization and softwarisation of different network elements. The
flexible and programmable nature of 5g technology has resulted in innovation and radical improvement
in mobile communication technology [2]. The 5G network has improved in terms of capacity,
performance and spectrum access in both radio and non-radio network.
The cloud-based 5G Architecture
With Improvement in cloud technology and virtualization technology, most of the operators have
already virtualized their network. The network is being defined in the form of cloud services, software-
defined network (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV). The 5G communication technology is
all cloud digital transformation of communication system, network, operating system and services.
According to 5GPPP, a central cloud system will be connected with the network, which will be connected

with various edge computing clouds. The computing clouds can be maximum 20Km away from the users
[8].
Service driven 5G architecture:
The main aim of the development of service-driven architecture is to flexibility and efficiently meet
diversified mobile service architecture. The software-defined networking and network function
visualization support the underlying physical infrastructure. the 5g network uses cloud technology for
access, transport and core network. Adoption of cloud technology provides better support for 5G
technology such as network slicing, on-demand service delivery and network system [9].

Identify and analyze the 5G attacks on the access and core networks
The 5G network is capable of supporting a large number of connected devices [12]. 5g technology can
support a huge increase in bandwidth over LTE. Due to this, it creates challenges and threats. The 5g
network connects every aspect of life to the network communication networks, therefore, it needs an
effective and robust communication network. Following are the main challenge associated with the 5G
network.
Flash network traffic: Involvement of a large number of devices in the network and internet of things
poses a huge security risk. Each device in the network should be able to mitigate threat and security risk.
Security of Radio interface: In 5G network, the radio interface encryption keys are sent over insecure
channels.
User plane integrity: The system does not have cryptographic integrity protection for user data.
Security in the network: Service driven architecture put extra constraints security. Therefore it is
important to adopt security measures.
Roaming security: during roaming the security parameters are not updated by one operator to another.
This leads to compromise during roaming.
DDoS attack on end-user devices: The end-user device does not have security measures for the
operating system, applications and configuration data on a user device.
Understanding security challenges in SDN (Software Defined Network):
The SDN network is and innovation in a communication network which helps in simplifying network
management. The SDN network enables programmability and logical centralization of network control
planes. The SDN system is responsible for updating or modifications of flow rules. This control
information can easily be identified by hackers and can be used for launching a DDoS attack. The
centralization of network control can result in the formation of a bottleneck situation at the time of the
attack. Most of the network functions can be implemented as SDN by using programmability approach.
There are chances that malicious applications get access or the Application Programming Interface are
exposed to malicious attach then it can create havoc for the entire network.
Security challenges in NFV:

The NFV system is very important for the future of the communication network. The NFV systems have
security issues such as confidentiality, integrity, authenticity and non-repudiation. The current NFV
platform cannot provide security to a virtualized communication network. Major challenges faced by
NFV system are due to its dynamic nature which can cause security lapses. The system is vulnerable to
cyber-attacks such as spoofing, sniffing and Denial of Service attack. NFV systems can also suffer from
virtualization attack such as a side-channel attack, flooding attack and hypervisor hijacking, cloud-
specific attacks. Virtualization specific attacks such as the virtual machine

Identify and analyse the issue related to 5G network coverage, Solution to
address this limitation
5G communication network is the latest upcoming communication network that will have a great impact
on people. The speed and the bandwidth of a 5G network are such that it can replace the home internet
connection. It is believed that 5g technology will have a speed of about 10Gbps which is much faster as
compared to the 4G network. The major challenges with 5G network are mentioned below;
Frequency Bands: The 4g network operates below 6GHz, but 5G require frequency range of 300Ghz.
These waves are known as mmWaves. These bands are capable of carrying far more capacity and can
deliver at ultra-high speed. The main challenge is that the operators have to bid for high range
frequency bands to roll out their 5G network.
Deployment and Coverage: the 5G network is offering an increase in sped and bandwidth, but its
limited range is a major challenge as it will require additional infrastructure to improve its range. Her
major challenge is that 5G antennas despite handling more users and data can beam out at a shorter
distance. The antennas and base station are also going to get small and they have to be installed in
home and buildings. To spread out waves for extended range and maintaining the speed, the operators
have to install extra repeaters. The WIFI routers will be replaced with 5G smart cells. The spreading out
access to rural areas will have greater challenges as compared to LTE [7].
Expensive to build and Expensive to buy: Building of 5g network is expensive and operators have to
invest a huge amount. This will result in expensive services offered by these operators. According to
research the global spending for 5g network will reach $88 billion.
Device Support: The development of 5G technologies and its launch will result in a demand to build
devices such as a smartphone with the capability of supporting 5G communication technology. Many
countries have already started testing 5G network. The adoption of 5g technology will depend on device
support capability.
Security and Privacy: 5g technology will have the challenge of cybersecurity threats. The responsibility
will fall on operators to provide digital safety to its customers. With 5G data and speed will be much
faster as compared with current speed. Therefore the cloud-based services will be responsible for the

protection of user data and privacy. User will be equally responsible for being vigilant and careful with
their data.