Alumni Interaction Technical Session 5G Communication

The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering organized an alumni interaction technical session on 5 August 2026 for the final year students of ECE, in which 36 students participated. The session was delivered by Mr. Abhay Tripathi, currently working at Capgemini, on the theme “5G Technology and ViNGC Lab Applications.” The session commenced with a comparative overview of 4G and 5G technologies, emphasizing the transition from mobile broadband centric 4G networks to the ultra low latency, high speed, and IoT enabled ecosystem of 5G.
The speaker then introduced the Capgemini ViNGC (Virtual Next Generation Connectivity) Lab architecture, explaining its cloud native design, reliance on Open RAN, SDN, and NFV principles, and its role in enabling network slicing, edge computing, and multi vendor interoperability. A detailed discussion on 5G Network Functions (NFs) followed, covering AMF, SMF, UPF, PCF, and NRF, with emphasis on the service based interface model that differentiates the 5G core from the 4G EPC. Students were then exposed to a PCAP analysis of 5G call flow, where packet captures were demonstrated using Wireshark to visualize registration, authentication, session establishment, data transfer, and call release signaling. The alumni provided a live demonstration of lab working, showcasing Kubernetes based orchestration of network functions, traffic monitoring, and slicing scenarios, thereby bridging theoretical concepts with practical implementation. Finally, the session concluded with an end to end 5G call demonstration, tracing the flow from UE through gNB to the 5G core and onward to external services, highlighting QoS enforcement, latency improvements, and throughput gains compared to 4G.
This alumni interaction provided the final year students with direct industry exposure, strengthening their understanding of next generation telecom systems and enhancing their investigative and analytical skills.