5G Tool box in MATLAB: Possibilities and Limitations

MATLAB has introduced its 5G Toolbox, which provides standards compliant waveforms and reference examples for modeling, simulation, and verification of the physical layer of 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) communications systems. 5G Toolbox can be used  to design algorithms and predict end-to-end link performance of systems that conform to the 5G Release 15 standard.

MATLAB has introduced its 5G Toolbox, which provides standards compliant waveforms and reference examples for modeling, simulation, and verification of the physical layer of 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) communications systems. 5G Toolbox can be used  to design algorithms and predict end-to-end link performance of systems that conform to the 5G Release 15 standard. It consists various modules such as  LDPC Processing for DL-SCH,  modeling of  downlink control information (DCI) processing for the 5G New Radio communications system,  generation  of  a synchronization signal block (SSB) and generate multiple SSBs to form a synchronization signal burst (SS burst), measurement of  the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) throughput of a 5G New Radio (NR) link. Further more,  5G toolbox  also describes on downlink control processing and procedures, NR Synchronization Procedures by passing waveform  through a fading channel and then blindly synchronize to the received waveform to decode the master information block (MIB), a 5G NR downlink carrier waveform generator, new polar channel coding technique chosen for 5G New Radio (NR) communications system  specified by 3GPP etc..

 

By adopting 5G tool box, wireless engineers can verify their new architectures and algorithms,  to develop proof-of-concept prototypes and prepare the new designs for field trials. Typically, the models are manufactured utilizing FPGA equipment with implanted processors for a few bits of the plans. These stages are ordinarily known as equipment testbeds, and they empower fast prototyping and testing of new advances and configuration changes in the field.

However, MATLAB 5G toolbox has some limitations  such as  it does not discuss on MATLAB code of small cell, application  of millimeter wave in small cell, 3D beam forming :  beam selection beam indication , CSI-RS such as non precoded CSI-RS, various schemes of non-precoded beam forming,  beam formed CSI-RS, Hybrid CSI-RS, DM-RS enhancement to MU-MIMO, sounding reference signal (SRS) to improve capacity.  Many more MATLAB codes  can be added in the next version of 5G MATLAB tool box.