5G NR (New Radio)[1] is a radio access technology (RAT) developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for the 5G (fifth generation) mobile network.[1] It was designed to be the global standard for the air interface of 5G networks.[2] It is based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), as is the 4G (fourth generation) long-term evolution (LTE) standard.
The 3GPP specification 38 series[3] provides the technical details behind 5G NR, the successor of LTE.
The study of NR within 3GPP started in 2015, and the first specification was made available by the end of 2017. While the 3GPP standardization process was ongoing, the industry had already begun efforts to implement infrastructure compliant with the draft standard, with the first large-scale commercial launch of 5G NR having occurred in the end of 2018. Since 2019, many operators have deployed 5G NR networks and handset manufacturers have developed 5G NR enabled handsets.[4]