Timing Management in 5G and Its Implications for Location Privacy

Abstract

The fifth generation (5G) technological leap has arrived, bringing with it promises of incredible data rates and never before seen precision in location accuracy. However this self-same precision carries with it the significant question: how will it be protected? These questions form the underlying motivation for this article where we examine 5G architecture which employs a radio access part commonly termed a cloud or centralized radio access network (C-RAN). The C-RAN centralizes higher-level physical layer processes while keeping lowlevel processes distributed throughout the physical network. We show how this architecture both increases location-based privacy through improved physical-layer security, but creates new privacy concerns via the extension of the radio access network through fronthauls connecting data transfer among low and high-level processing. Concurrently, the proposed 5G variable subcarrier spacing further exacerbates the former point. Through simulation we quantify the decrease in location privacy given the aforementioned considerations. It is shown that location privacy is inversely proportional to subcarrier spacing for user equipment (UE) connected to multiple 5G access points. Specifically, for a (UE) using the widest allowable subcarrier spacing location privacy drops to approximately three meters.