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 

Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS)

I have been meaning to write on this topic for a very long time. The discussion started back in 2016 when the limitations of GSM-R were obvious and it was recognised that a successor will be needed sooner or later. The International Railway Union (UIC) published a user requirement specification in their paper “Future Railway Mobile Communication System - FRMCS”. This is available on 3GPP server as liaison statement S1-161250.

As 3GPP notes in their article, this was the trigger for them to go ahead and start the studies. Then in Release 16, 3GPP TS 22.289 "Mobile communication system for railways" outlined the requirements for railway communication, beyond the 3GPP Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) Phase 1 specs. Details are available on this post here.

Source Tweet

The latest version of 3GPP TR 22.889, Study on Future Railway Mobile Communication System; Stage 1 is from Release 17. The introduction to the document clarifies:

The railway community is considering a successor communication system to GSM-R, as the forecasted obsolescence of the 2G-based GSM-R technology is envisaged around 2030, with first FRMCS trial implementations expected to start around 2020. 

The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) Functional Working Group (FWG) of the International Union of Railways (UIC) have investigated and summarised their requirements for the next generation railway communication system in the Future Railway Mobile Communication User Requirements Specification (FRMCS URS). The present document is based on this input given by the UIC/ETSI TC-RT 

Study on FRMCS Evolution (FS_eFRMCS), available as SP-201038 clarifies:

The UIC FRMCS programme was recently releasing stable version 5.0.0 of the User Requirement Specification, version 2.0.0 of the Functional Use Cases and a new specification item, version 1.0.0 of the Telecom On-Board System - Functional Requirements Specification, as a further step in the evolution of the FRMCS specifications. The UIC FRMCS Programme is developing all the technical conditions for the 5G FRMCS, with the main objective to make available a “FRMCS First Edition” ecosystem available for procurement by Q1 2025.

The UIC FRMCS 3GPP Task Force has been identifying and analyzing impact of this newly released set of FRMCS specifications on existing use cases and requirements collected in TR 22.889. The UIC FRMCS 3GPP Task Force analysis has concluded that refining existing use cases, defining new use cases such as merging railway emergency communications and real-time translation of conversation, and deriving potential new requirements, will be necessary to align FRMCS and 3GPP specifications. The potential impact on normative work is estimated to be limited and much less compared to the study work.

As approved in SA1#90-e (S1-202245), TR 22.889 has now been re-named to TR 22.989 from Rel-18 onwards (latest version is TR 22.989 v18.0.0) to make it visible to the Rail community to be able to follow the 3GPP normative work in line with their needs. It is of most importance for the Rail community that specifications from different organisations (i.e. UIC, 3GPP and ETSI) are all aligned.

Due to the expected 3GPP work overload in Release 18 (SA1 and downstream groups), it is proposed to reduce the scope of the present Rel-18 study to evolution of critical applications related use cases only already identified by UIC – what is really essential for the railways as part of the “FRMCS First Edition” and the migration phase from GSM-R to FRMCS. 

Study of non-essential use cases (e.g. evolution of performance and business use cases) shall be postponed to Rel-19.

This plan is from 2019 so quite likely that it is already outdated. It does provide an idea on different steps and trial plans. Some of this was also covered in the 5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals Webinar detailed here.

Finally, as this image from Arthur D. Little highlights, there is a lot of other interest in addition to FRMCS for 5G in railway. Report here.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: '5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals' Webinar Highlights
• The 3G4G Blog: Three New Standards to Accelerate 5G Wireless Wireline Convergence (WWC)
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Workshop Summary
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Technology Evolution from a Network Perspective Whitepaper
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Bringing Connectivity to Underground Rail Network
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Deutsche Bahn to get Seamless Mobile Network Along all Tracks
• Connectivity Technology Blog: China Unicom Brings 5G Connectivity to Nanjing Metro 

Qualcomm Explains 5G Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Future & Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)

We have covered various topics in our blog posts on millimeter wave spectrum and even going beyond 52.6 GHz in FR2. A Qualcomm webinar from back in January expands on many of the topics that I looked superficially in various posts (links at the bottom).

The following is edited from the Qualcomm blog post:

5G NR in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) was standardized in Release 16 and it is a key enabler for the 5G expansion to new use cases and verticals, providing expanded spectrum access to mobile operators, service providers, and industry players. At the same time, we are starting to push the mmWave boundary to even higher bands toward the sub-Terahertz (i.e., >100 GHz) range. Expected in Release 17, 5G NR will support spectrum bands up to 71 GHz, leveraging the 5G NR Release 15 scalable numerology and flexible framework. This opens up 5G to operate in the globally unlicensed 60 GHz band, which can fuel a broad range of new applications and deployments.

One daunting challenge that mobile operators will face when expanding 5G mmWave network coverage is the cost of deploying additional base stations for mmWave, which usually requires new fiber optics backhaul installations. Release 16-defined IAB allows a base station to not just provide wireless access for its user devices (e.g., smartphones) but also the ability to backhaul wirelessly via neighboring base stations using the same mmWave spectrum. IAB opens the door to more flexible densification strategies, allowing mobile operators to quickly add new base stations to their networks before having to install new fiber to increase backhaul capacity. 

Release 16 established foundational IAB capabilities, such as dynamic topology adaptation for load balancing and blockage mitigation, and Release 17+ will further enhance IAB by bringing new features like full-duplex operation, topology redundancy, and ML-based network management.

Beyond IAB, there is a rich roadmap of other new features that can further improve 5G mmWave system performance and efficiency. The webinar embedded below is presented by Ozge Koymen, Senior Director, Technology, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. It covers the following topics:

• Qualcomm's vision for 5G mmWave and the new opportunities it poises to bring for the broader ecosystem
• mmWave capabilities and enhancements coming in Release -16 and beyond
• Qualcomm’s role in mobilizing and democratizing 5G mmWave to usher in new experiences
• Latest update on the global commercial rollout of 5G mmWave networks and devices

Slides of the presentation are available here.

Related Posts:

• Free 6G Training: Spectrum for 5G, Beyond 5G and 6G research
• The 3G4G Blog: A mmWave Special Cell in Open RAN Environment
• The 3G4G Blog: Spectrum for 5G NR beyond 52.6 GHz
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) Enhancements in Rel-17
• The 3G4G Blog: Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Dual Connectivity (DC)
• The 3G4G Blog: The Politics of Standalone vs Non-Standalone 5G & 4G Speeds 

3GPP's 5G-Advanced Technology Evolution from a Network Perspective Whitepaper

China Mobile, along with a bunch of other organizations including China Unicom, China Telecom, CAICT, Huawei, Nokia, Ericsson, etc., produced a white paper on what technology evolutions will we see as part of 5G-Advanced. This comes not so long after the 3GPP 5G-Advanced Workshop which a blogged about here.

The abstract of the whitepaper says:

The commercialization of 5G networks is accelerating globally. From the perspective of industry development drivers, 5G communications are considered the key to personal consumption experience upgrades and digital industrial transformation. Major economies around the world require 5G to be an essential part of long-term industrial development. 5G will enter thousands of industries in terms of business, and technically, 5G needs to integrate DOICT (DT - Data Technology, OT - Operational Technology, IT - Information Technology and CT - Communication Technology) and other technologies further. Therefore, this white paper proposes that continuous research on the follow-up evolution of 5G networks—5G-Advanced is required, and full consideration of architecture evolution and function enhancement is needed.

This white paper first analyzes the network evolution architecture of 5G-Advanced and expounds on the technical development direction of 5G-Advanced from the three characteristics of Artificial Intelligence, Convergence, and Enablement. Artificial Intelligence represents network AI, including full use of machine learning, digital twins, recognition and intention network, which can enhance the capabilities of network's intelligent operation and maintenance. Convergence includes 5G and industry network convergence, home network convergence and space-air-ground network convergence, in order to realize the integration development. Enablement provides for the enhancement of 5G interactive communication and deterministic communication capabilities. It enhances existing technologies such as network slicing and positioning to better help the digital transformation of the industry.

The paper can be downloaded from China Mobile's website here or from Huawei's website here. A video of the paper launch is embedded below:

Nokia's Antti Toskala wrote a blog piece providing the first real glimpse of 5G-Advanced, here.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: '5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals' Webinar Highlights
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Workshop Summary
• Operator Watch Blog: China Mobile on The Next Phase of 5G: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Ericsson Explains Internet of Drones and 3GPP UAV Roadmap
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP RAN Plenary Update and Evolution towards 5G-Advanced
• The 3G4G Blog: Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Standards on Edge Computing
• Connectivity Technology Blog: 5G Drone Cell Towers
• Free 6G Training: Pre-Study of B5G and 6G in China
• Free 6G Training: China's IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group Releases 6G Whitepaper
• The 3G4G Blog: Real-life 5G Use Cases for Verticals from China
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Remote Surgery and Telehealth Solutions
• Free 6G Training: China Mobile on the 5G/6G Connectivity Transformation for Sustainability
• Free 6G Training: Nokia Bell Labs on Augmenting Human Potential in the 6G Era
• Free 6G Training: Huawei talks about Beyond 5G, 5.5G and 6G
• The 3G4G Blog: Nokia veterans Harri Holma and Antti Toskala explain 5G Basics 

'5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals' Webinar Highlights

5G PPP held a virtual workshop on RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals on June 23rd, 2021. The workshop was organised by 3GPP Market Representation Partners (MRPs): 5G-IA, 5GAA, 5G-ACIA and PSCE.

It features a fireside chat with new 3GPP RAN TSG Chair, Wanshi Chen. In addition to this, the workshop then provides a deep dive on new requirements from verticals, spanning automotive (5GAA), manufacturing (5G-ACIA), critical communications and public safety (TCCA with PSCE), broadcasting and media (5G-MAG), satellite (ESOA), rail (UIC), maritime (IALA) and energy (EUTC).

5G-SOLUTIONS came on board as a 5G PPP project supporting verticals with the 5G-EVE and 5G-VINNI 5G network infrastructures alongside RAN specialists doing standardisation work applicable to multiple verticals.

The video of the webinar is embedded below. In addition, you will find timings of when a particular talk starts and a link to the slides (if shared/available)

Timings:

• 0:04:21 Fireside chat with Wanshi Chen, Qualcomm and 3GPP RAN TSG Chairman
• 0:21:00 NTN Requirements in Rel-18 by Nicolas Chuberre, Thales Alenia Space (slides)
• 0:31:40 Multiple verticals: Andrea Di Giglio, 5G SOLUTIONS (slides)
• 0:36:35 Media and Broadcasting: David Vargas, BBC and 5G-MAG Chair of CD-T WG, Proposals for 3GPP RAN Rel-18 (slides)
• 0:43:19 Maritime: Hyounhee Koo, Synctechno and IALA, Maritime Requirements on 3GPP Rel 18 RAN Studies/Works Priorities (slides)
• 0:46:12 Rail: Ingo Wendler, UIC, NR Narrowband Channel Bandwidth - Railway Use Case (slides)
• 0:50:02 Utilities: Julian Stafford, EUTC 3GPP RAN Rel-18 Requirements (slides)
• 0:58:35 Utilities: Erik Guttman, Samsung 5G Smart Energy Infrastructure (slides)
• 1:05:45 Multiple verticals: Mathew Webb, Huawei and 3GPP RAN 3GPP Release 17 and Release 18 support for industry verticals (slides)
• 1:15:19 Public Safety/Critical Communications: Tero Pesonen, TCCA Chair, joint presentation with PSCE, 3GPP MRP Mini Workshop: 3GPP Rel 18. Requirements from industry verticals (slides)
• 1:20:15 Multiple verticals: Thierry Berisot, Novamint and 3GPP RAN, Industry Verticals and Rel-18 RAN (slides)
• 1:32:56 Manufacturing/IIoT: Michael Bahr, Siemens and 5G-ACIA WG 1Chair and An Xueli, Huawei and 5G-ACIA WG1 Vice Chair 3GPP RAN Rel-18 for Industry Verticals (slides)
• 1:42:20 Automotive: 5GAA Maxime Flament, CTO Input to RAN 18 Rel-18 Workshop (slides)
• 1:53:35 Interactive Session 2
• 2:04:36 Passive IoT for 5G-Advanced, Mathew Webb, Huawei and 3GPP RAN (slides)
• 2:14:59 Template A for Interactive Session 2
• 2:20:40 Critical Communications / Public Safety requirements for Release 18 
• 2:26:00 Closing Remarks

Official page here.

The slide above nicely summarizes 3GPP RAN Verticals up to Release 17.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Workshop Summary
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Technology Evolution from a Network Perspective Whitepaper
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• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP RAN Plenary Update and Evolution towards 5G-Advanced
• The 3G4G Blog: Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Standards on Edge Computing
• Connectivity Technology Blog: 5G Drone Cell Towers 

Qualcomm Demoes Sub-band Half Duplex (SBHD)

Qualcomm has been busy promoting its advanced 5G solutions these last few months in the run up to Mobile World Congress (MWC). You can find a detailed write-up on their website here as well as a feature which they did with RCR wireless here.

One of the innovations that caught my attention was Sub-band Half-Duplex (SBHD). In the first glance it looks like the Enhanced Interference Mitigation & Traffic Adaptation (eIMTA) solution we discussed long back here.

Their article talks about how their 5G multi-cell over-the-air (OTA) test network can now support subband half-duplex, allowing for more flexible service multiplexing as well as improved latency and coverage. 

While you can get an idea of what SBHD is from the diagram above, here is a video explaining it further.

Let us know what do you think about how important will this feature be in future 5G networks.

Related Posts:

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• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Private and Non-Public Network (NPN)
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) Enhancements in Rel-17
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Will NB-IoT Survive?
• Connectivity Technology Blog: 5G Indoor Precise Positioning
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• The 3G4G Blog - eIMTA: Enhanced Interference Mitigation & Traffic Adaptation 

3GPP's 5G-Advanced Workshop Summary

From 28 June to 02 July 2 2021, 3GPP held its first internal workshop on the radio specific content of Release 18, reviewing over 500 company and partner organization’s presentations, to identify topics for the immediate and longer-term commercial needs for:

• eMBB (evolved Mobile BroadBand);
• Non-eMBB evolution;
• Cross-functionalities for both eMBB and non-eMBB driven evolution.

All the documents related to the workshop can be found on the 3GPP website here. The workshop details is available in RWS-210002 while the summary of the RAN Rel-18 workshop is available in RWS-210659.

The following is from 3GPP's news article on 5G-Advanced workshop:

Wanshi Chen, the TSG RAN Chair, summarized that the example areas under each topic serve as a starting point, each subject to further update or removal during the email discussion period - with additional topics still possible, up to the September e-meeting. That RAN#93-e meeting (13-17 September 2021) will see progress on ‘high-level descriptions’ of the objectives for each topic.

List of Topics:

1. Evolution for downlink MIMO, with the following example areas:

• Further enhancements for CSI (e.g., mobility, overhead, etc.)
• Evolved handling of multi-TRP (Transmission Reception Points) and multi-beam
• CPE(customer premises equipment)-specific considerations

2. Uplink enhancements, with the following example areas:

• >4 Tx operation
• Enhanced multi-panel/multi-TRP uplink operation
• Frequency-selective precoding
• Further coverage enhancements

3. Mobility enhancements, with the following example areas:

• Layer 1/layer 2 based inter cell mobility
• DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack)/CHO (Conditional HandOver) related improvements
• FR2 (frequency range 2)-specific enhancements

4. Additional topological improvements (IAB and smart repeaters), with the following example areas:

• Mobile IAB (Integrated Access Backhaul)/Vehicle mounted relay (VMR)
• Smart repeater with side control information

5. Enhancements for XR (eXtended Reality), with the following example areas:

• KPIs/QoS, application awareness operation, and aspects related to power consumption, coverage, capacity, and mobility (Note: only power consumption/coverage/mobility aspects specific to XR)

6. Sidelink enhancements (excluding positioning), with the following example areas:

• SL enhancements (e.g., unlicensed, power saving enhancements, efficiency enhancements, etc.)
• SL relay enhancements
• Co-existence of LTE V2X & NR V2X

7. RedCap evolution (excluding positioning), with the following example areas:

• New use cases and new UE bandwidths (5MHz?)
• Power saving enhancements

8. NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks) evolution

• Including both NR & IoT (Internet of Things) aspects

9. Evolution for broadcast and multicast services

• Including both LTE based 5G broadcast and NR MBS (Multicast Broadcast Services)

10. Expanded and improved Positioning, with the following example areas:

• Sidelink positioning/ranging
• Improved accuracy, integrity, and power efficiency
• RedCap positioning

11. Evolution of duplex operation, with the following example areas:

• Deployment scenarios, including duplex mode (TDD only?)
• Interference management

12. AI (Artificial Intelligence)/ML (Machine Learning), with the following example areas:

• Air interface (e.g., Use cases to focus, KPIs and Evaluation methodology, network and UE involvement, etc.)
• NG-RAN

13. Network energy savings, with the following example areas:

• KPIs and evaluation methodology, focus areas and potential solutions

14. Additional RAN1/2/3 candidate topics, Set 1:

• UE power savings
• Enhancing and extending the support beyond 52.6GHz
• CA (Carrier Aggregation)/DC (Dual-Connectivity) enhancements (e.g., MR-MC (Multi-Radio/Multi-Connectivity), etc.)
• Flexible spectrum integration
• RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces)
• Others (RAN1-led)

15. Additional RAN1/2/3 candidate topics, Set 2:

• UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)
• IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things)/URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication)
• <5MHz in dedicated spectrum
• Other IoT enhancements/types
• HAPS (High Altitude Platform System)
• Network coding

16. Additional RAN1/2/3 candidate topics, Set 3:

• Inter-gNB coordination, with the following example areas:
• Inter-gNB/gNB-DU multi-carrier operation
• Inter-gNB/gNB-DU multi-TRP operation
• Enhancement for resiliency of gNB-CU
• Network slicing enhancements
• MUSIM (Multiple Universal Subscriber Identity Modules)
• UE aggregation
• Security enhancements
• SON (Self-Organizing Networks)/MDT (Minimization of Drive Test)
• Others (RAN2/3-led)

17. Potential RAN4 enhancements 

The latest timeline for Release-17/18 is as shown in the diagram above. 

The official 3GPP Release-18 page is here. This link is better to navigate through features in different 3GPP releases.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: '5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals' Webinar Highlights
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Technology Evolution from a Network Perspective Whitepaper
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP RAN Plenary Update and Evolution towards 5G-Advanced
• The 3G4G Blog: Initiative to Remove Non-inclusive terms from 3GPP Specifications
• The 3G4G Blog: Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Standards on Edge Computing
• The 3G4G Blog: ATIS Webinar on '5G Standards Developments in 3GPP Release 16 and Beyond' 

Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices

Back in 2019, we wrote about Release-17 study item called NR-Lite (a.k.a. NR-Light). After the study started, it was renamed as RedCap or Reduced Capability.

5G NR-RedCap (New Radio Reduced Capability Device) is now the official name of NR-Light (or NR-Lite before that). Assuming this was also being discussed in 3GPP as NR-RedCom (New Radio Reduced Complexity Device) earlier. Can anyone confirm 🤔 pic.twitter.com/WZUaJSgQ8s

— 3G4G (@3g4gUK) December 20, 2020

We have now made a video tutorial on RedCap to not only explain what it is but also discuss some of the enhancements being discussed for 3GPP Release-18 (5G-Advanced). For anyone wanting to find out the differences between the baseline 5G devices with RedCap, without wanting to go too much in detail, can see the Tweet image for comparison.

What is 5G reduced capability (RedCap) NR and what will it achieve? - https://t.co/NwWE9bpzVy via @EricssonNetwork @EricssonLabs #Free5Gtraining #3G4G5G #Ericsson #3GPP #5G #5GNR #eMBB #mMTC #URLLC #NRRedCap #RedCap #IoT #NRLight #NRLite #WearableTech #SmartIoT pic.twitter.com/5FbGx9lt5s

— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) April 25, 2021

The video and the slides of the tutorial are embedded below:

Beginners: Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices from 3G4G

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• Free 6G Training: 6G Localization and Sensing – Technologies, Opportunities and Challenges
• The 3G4G Blog - Ultra Reliability: 5x9s (99.999%) in 3GPP Release-15 vs 6x9s (99.9999%) in 3GPP Release-16
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• The 3G4G Blog: Positioning Techniques for 5G NR in 3GPP Release-16 

AT&T Cybersecurity Experts Provide 5G Security Overview

The National Governors Association (NGA) in the USA is the voice of the leaders of 55 states, territories, and commonwealths. On May 24th, the Resource Center for State Cybersecurity featured a panel of experts from AT&T for a conversation on understanding the 5G ecosystem, security risks, supply chain resilience and the challenges and opportunities that exist around deployment.

The talk highlighted top 5G security areas of concern. The top three being:

• Increased attack surface due to massive increase in connectivity
• Greater number & variety of devices accessing the network
• Complexity of extending security policy to new types of non-traditional and IoT devices

Some of the Security Advantages with 5G are highlighted as follows:

• Software Defined Networking/Virtualization
• Stronger 3GPP encryption for over-the-air encryption
• Subscriber Identity Privacy
• Roaming or network-to-network protection
• Network Slicing

The slides of the talk is available here and the video is as follows:

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Everything you need to know about 5G Security
• The 3G4G Blog: Lawful Intercept in 5G Networks
• The 3G4G Blog: Key Technology Aspects of 5G Security by Rohde & Schwarz
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Roaming with SEPP (Security Edge Protection Proxy)
• The 3G4G Blog: Evolution of Security from 4G to 5G
• The 3G4G Blog - Tutorial: Service Based Architecture (SBA) for 5G Core (5GC)
• 3G4G: Security in 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Mobile Networks
• 3G4G: 5G (IMT-2020) Wireless 

The History of Camera Phones

Last year, Professor Nigel Linge Director of the Computer Science, Networking and Mathematics Directorate and Professor of Telecommunications at the University of Salford, Manchester presented a talk at IET, titled "Nobody saw it coming - the rise and rise of the camera-phone ". 

The following is the summary of the talk from the flyer (can't find link):

When you buy a new smartphone, what features do you look for? It is probably a safe bet that its ability to make and receive phone calls is well down the list, if on it at all! Yet the quality of the camera is probably near the top. How ironic that a technology that began life as a mobile telephone is now marketed and sold based on everything else it can do. This webinar will examine the extraordinary rise and rise of the camera-phone, from the Sharp J-SHO4 in 2000, to pushing the megapixel count up from one in 2004 to five in 2006, and then eight in 2008 to today's one-hundred plus megapixel, 4K HD video recording, multi-camera, offerings. From the first selfies, to transforming social media and turning everyone into an on-the-spot news reporter, the camera-phone has had a phenomenal impact on society in its first twenty years.

I definitely recommend watching the video, it's available on the IET page here.

Related Posts:

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• The 3G4G Blog: A quick case study on Smartwatches
• The 3G4G Blog: Embedded SIM (eSIM) and Integrated SIM (iSIM)
• The 3G4G Blog: The Futuristic Concept of 'Smart & Intelligent' Batteries
• The 3G4G Blog: A Primer on Pagers