G network through the control and user planes, whereas they are connected to the 5G network through the user plane only. In this architecture, mobiles only employ one core network, which is either the 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC) network, and are simultaneously connected to 4G and 5G Radio Access Networks (RANs) in order to reach higher peak data rates, which are achieved by combining the 4G and 5G bit rates. 5G Deployment Options NSA deployments help MNOs provide an Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) service, which delivers high data bandwidth and reliable connectivity. With the help of NSA architecture, 5G networks can be quickly deployed with Next Generation NodeBs (gNBs) by utilizing the existing 4G infrastructure. NSA basically allows MNOs to offer 5G speeds with the 4G EPC without the need for the 5GC. Therefore, NSA deployments have been a popular choice within many 5G rollouts SO far: 4G EPC (Evolved Packet Core) (5G Core Network) standalone Non-standalone Figure 9.1 - NSA and SA architectures for 5G deployments The second deployment approach is the SA architecture. The SA architecture consists of only one generation of radio access technology used, with only one core network at the same time. The mobile is either connected to the 4G RAN with the 4G EPC, which is the existing 4G deployment, or it is connected to the 5G RAN with 5GC. In this architecture, there is only one generation of radio access technology connected to a core network via both the control plane and the user plane. From hereon, we will evaluate SA architecture in the context of the 5G deployments. In 5G SA architecture, the mobile doesn't depend on the 4G infrastructure as NSA does, where it depends on 4G from the control plane. Moreover, with the employment of 5GC, SA architecture supports all three use cases of IMT-2020, which are eMBB, Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC), and Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). Therefore, 5G SA architecture is the target architecture for MNOs in the long term. 5G n