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NG-RAN — gNB Split Architecture

The actual wiring of the network — curated from 3GPP TS 38.401, baseline Rel-18.

Network Topology — shows the actual wiring of the network functions (interfaces, protocols, data flow), verified against the specification. For conceptual relationships between terms, switch to the Knowledge Map.
UuF1-CF1-UE1N2N3Centralized UnitgNB-CU-CPgNB-CU-CPgNB-CU-UPgNB-CU-UP5G Core (context)AMFAMFUPFUPFDevicesUEUEDistributed UnitgNB-DUgNB-DU
Control PlaneUser PlaneShared Data LayerNetwork functions are grouped into functional groups. Click a node for its glossary definition.

Interfaces and reference points

InterfaceBetweenTypeProtocolSource
UuUE ↔ gNB-DUlogical-association—TS 38.300 · Clause 4.1 (Overall Architecture)
F1-CgNB-CU-CP ↔ gNB-DUreference-pointf1apTS 38.401 · Figure 6.1-1 (NG-RAN architecture)
F1-UgNB-CU-UP ↔ gNB-DUreference-pointgtp-uTS 38.401 · Figure 6.1-1 (NG-RAN architecture)
E1gNB-CU-CP ↔ gNB-CU-UPreference-pointe1apTS 38.401 · Figure 6.1-1 (NG-RAN architecture)
N2gNB-CU-CP ↔ AMFreference-pointngapTS 38.401 · Figure 6.1-1 (NG-RAN architecture)
N3gNB-CU-UP ↔ UPFreference-pointgtp-uTS 38.401 · Figure 6.1-1 (NG-RAN architecture)
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