FIG. 1B illustrates an example configuration of a portion of the RAN 120A and a portion of the core network 140 based on a 5G NR network, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1B, RAN 120A is configured with a plurality of gNodeBs 202, 204, and 206. In the example of FIG. 1B, gNodeB 202 is shown as a Home gNodeB (HgNodeB) and interfaces with the RAN 120A via a HgNodeB gateway 245. The Home gNodeB 202 is an example of a “small cell base station.” The term “small cell” generally refers to a class of low-powered base stations that may include or be otherwise referred to as femto cells, pico cells, micro cells, home base stations, Wi-Fi APs, other small coverage area APs, etc. A small cell may be deployed to supplement macro cell (e.g., gNodeB) coverage and/or increase network capacity. A small cell may provide wireless coverage indoors such as within a house, office, a portion of a large building, a portion of a convention center, shopping mall, etc. A small cell may instead or in addition provide wireless coverage outdoors such as over an area covering part of a block or a few blocks within a neighborhood. Small cells may communicate using unlicensed frequency bands, as opposed to macro cells, which may typically communicate using licensed frequency bands.
