3GPP Release 16 Description and Summary of Work Items

Someone reached out recently asking for a summary of Release 16 features. For people who are involved in standards, they already know of a few ways you can get this quickly. 

The first is to go to the Releases page here: https://www.3gpp.org/specifications/releases 

Here you can see the status of current releases as well as at the bottom of the page you can jump to the individual releases. 

A full Release Description is produced by the Work Plan manager at the completion of the work. This has been available since Release-14 onwards. You can go and get the latest version of the following technical reports:  

• TR 21.914 covers Rel-14, 
• TR 21.915 for Rel-15 and now 
• TR 21.916 as the Rel-16 description document.

The following is the summary of features listed in 3GPP TR 21.916 for Release-16: 

5. Enhancement of Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC)
1. Enhancement of URLLC support in the 5G Core network
2. Physical Layer Enhancements for NR Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC)
3. Support of NR Industrial Internet of Things
6. Support of LAN-type services
1. NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum
2. LAN support in 5G
3. 5GS Enhanced support of Vertical and LAN Services
7. Cellular Internet of Things (IoT)
1. Cellular IoT support and evolution for the 5G System
2. Additional enhancements for NB-IoT
3. Additional MTC enhancements for LTE
8. Advanced V2X support
1. Improvement of V2X service Handling
2. Architecture enhancements for 3GPP support of advanced V2X services
3. Application layer support for V2X services
4. 5G V2X with NR sidelink
9. Northbound APIs related items
1. Usage of CAPIF for xMB API
2. Enhancement of 3GPP Northbound APIs
3. Enhancements for Common API Framework for 3GPP Northbound APIs
4. Service Enabler Architecture Layer for Verticals
5. Other APIs-related items
10. Coexistence with Non-3GPP systems
1. Wireless and Wireline Convergence Enhancement
2. Access Traffic Steering, Switch and Splitting support in the 5G system architecture
11. Railways and Maritime
1. Mobile Communication System for Railways 2
2. Further performance enhancement for LTE in high speed scenario
3. NR support for high speed train scenario
4. Maritime Communication Services over 3GPP System
12. Mission Critical, Public Warning
1. Enhancements of Public Warning System
2. MBMS APIs for Mission Critical Services
3. Mission Critical Services Security Enhancements
4. Other Mission critical improvements
1. MCData File Distribution support over xMB
2. Enhanced Mission Critical Communication Interworking with Land Mobile Radio Systems
3. MBMS APIs for Mission Critical Services
4. Enhancements to Functional architecture and information flows for Mission Critical Data
5. MC Communication Interworking
6. Enhanced Mission Critical Push-to-talk architecture phase 2
7. Other Mission Critical activities
13. Conversational services, Streaming and TV
1. Conversational services
1. Coverage and Handoff Enhancements for Multimedia (CHEM)
2. Single radio voice continuity from 5GS to 3G
3. Volume Based Charging Aspects for VoLTE
4. EVS Floating-point Conformance for Non Bit-Exact
5. Media Handling Extensions for 5G Conversational Services
6. VR QoE metrics
7. Media Handling Aspects of RAN Delay Budget Reporting in MTSI
8. Removal of H.263 and MPEG-4 Visual from 3GPP Services
2. 13.2 Streaming
1. Enhancement of LTE for Efficient delivery of Streaming Service
2. Enhancements to Framework for Live Uplink Streaming
3. Media streaming architecture
14. 5G Location and Positioning Services
1. 5G positioning services (5G_HYPOS)
2. Enhancement to the 5GC LoCation Services
3. NR positioning support
15. User Identities, Authentication, multi-device
1. User Identities and Authentication
2. Multi-device and multi-identity
16. Slicing
1. Enhancement of Network Slicing
2. Enhancement of 3GPP management system for multiple tenant environment support
3. Business Role Models for Network Slicing
4. Enhancement of performance assurance for 5G networks including network slicing
17. UE radio capability signalling optimization
1. Optimisations on UE radio capability signalling
18. Other system-wide Features
1. Enablers for Network Automation Architecture for 5G
2. Provision of Access to Restricted Local Operator Services by Unauthenticated UEs
3. Enhancing Topology of SMF and UPF in 5G Networks
4. Private and Non-Public Network Support for NG-RAN
5. Service-Based Architecture
1. Enhancements to the Service-Based 5G System Architecture
2. SBA aspects of enhanced IMS to 5GC integration
6. User data interworking, Coexistence and Migration
19. Radio Features
1. NR-related Release 16 Features
1. NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum
2. 2-step RACH for NR
3. UE Power Saving in NR
4. Integrated access and backhaul for NR
5. Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) with 3 bands DL and 3 bands UL
6. NR mobility enhancements
7. Rel-16 NR inter-band CA/Dual Connectivity for 2 bands DL with x bands UL (x=1, 2)
8. Rel16 NR inter-band Carrier Aggregation for 3 bands DL with 1 band UL
9. Add support of NR DL 256QAM for frequency range 2 (FR2)
10. SON (Self-Organising Networks) and MDT (Minimization of Drive Tests) support for NR
11. Introduction of NR FDD bands with variable duplex and corresponding framework
12. Cross Link Interference (CLI) handling and Remote Interference Management (RIM) for NR
13. RF requirements for NR frequency range 1 (FR1)
14. NR RF requirement enhancements for frequency range 2
15. NR RRM enhancement
16. RRM requirement for CSI-RS based L3 measurement in NR
17. Over the air (OTA) base station (BS) testing TR
2. Release 16 Features impacting both LTE and NR
1. Transfer of Iuant interface specifications from 25-series to 37-series
2. Introduction of GSM, UTRA, E-UTRA and NR capability set(s) (CS(s)) to the multi-standard radio (MSR) specifications
3. Direct data forwarding between NG-RAN and E-UTRAN nodes for inter-system mobility
4. eNB(s) Architecture Evolution for E-UTRAN and NG-RAN
5. High power UE (power class 2) for EN-DC (1 LTE TDD band + 1 NR TDD band)
6. LTE-NR & NR-NR Dual Connectivity and NR Carrier Aggregation enhancements
7. 29 dBm UE Power Class for LTE band 41 and NR Band n41
8. LTE/NR Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) in band 48/n48 frequency range
3. LTE-related Release 16 Features
1. LTE-based 5G terrestrial broadcast
2. Support for NavIC Navigation Satellite System for LTE
3. Even further mobility enhancement in E-UTRAN
4. DL MIMO efficiency enhancements for LTE
5. Other LTE-only items
20. All other Release 16 Features
1. Service Interactivity
2. RTCP Verification for Real-Time Services
3. Stage-3 SAE Protocol Development for Rel16
4. Reliable Data Service Serialization Indication
5. Shared Data Handling on Nudm and Nudr
6. New Services and Markets Technology Enablers – Phase 2
7. Ambient noise test methodology for evaluation of acoustic UE performance
8. KPI reporting
21. Telecom Management
1. Network and Service Management
1. 5G Management capabilities
2. Energy Efficiency of 5G
3. OAM aspects of LTE and WLAN integration
4. Methodology for 5G management specifications
5. Closed loop SLS Assurance
6. Trace Management in the context of Services Based Management Architecture and Streaming Trace reporting
7. Management of QoE measurement collection
8. Network Resource Model (NRM) enhancement
2. Charging Management
1. Charging Enhancement of 5GC interworking with EPC
3. Other charging and management items
22. Other items
1. Items not (fully) completed in Rel-16
1. Remote Identification of Unmanned Aerial Systems
2. 5G message service
3. Integration of Satellite Access in 5G

If you find them useful then please get the latest document from here.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: ATIS Webinar on '5G Standards Developments in 3GPP Release 16 and Beyond'
• The 3G4G Blog: Anritsu Webinar on 'Evolution of 5G from 3GPP Rel-15 to Rel-17 and Testing Challenges'
• The 3G4G Blog: Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS)
• The 3G4G Blog: Qualcomm Explains 5G Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Future & Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G User Plane Redundancy
• The 3G4G Blog: NWDAF in 3GPP Release-16 and Release-17
• The 3G4G Blog: UE Radio Capability Signaling Optimization (RACS) in Rel. 16
• The 3G4G Blog: Conditional Handover (Rel. 16) Explained
• The 3G4G Blog: Three New Standards to Accelerate 5G Wireless Wireline Convergence (WWC)
• The 3G4G Blog: Positioning Techniques for 5G NR in 3GPP Release-16
• The 3G4G Blog: Understanding the Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) Handover in 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Enhanced URLLC (eURLLC)
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP MDT - How it works and what is new in Rel. 16
• The 3G4G Blog: Mobile Initiated Connection Only (MICO) mode in 5G System