The 5G Standalone architecture consists of two major domains. The NG-RAN deploys gNBs that provide the 5G NR air interface. The 5G Core is built on a cloud-native Service-Based Architecture where every network function exposes its capabilities through HTTP/2 RESTful APIs on a common service bus. This is a paradigm shift from the Diameter and GTP-C point-to-point interfaces used in the 4G EPC. The SBA model enables independent scaling, automated lifecycle management, and the kind of microservices deployment patterns borrowed from hyperscale cloud providers.