Beacon track
The 5G New Radio interface

In any cellular system, each base station periodically transmits a reference signal to enable any terminal to detect it. This is the principle of the beacon channel. It also enables the terminal to synchronize itself with the base station, measure the power with which it receives it and determine the main transmission parameters. The beacon channel functions in 5G-NR are grouped together in a structure known as the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB). This block plays an essential role, and its structure has been defined to combine, as far as possible, low energy consumption and detection speed.