3GPP 5G Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN) Standardization Update

We have looked at 5G Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN) in many different posts in our blogs. If you are new to this topic then this tutorial with a video is a good place to start or just follow this IEEE Comsoc article or this short update from R&S here.

Nicolas Chuberre is the rapporteur of the NR_NTN_solutions work item (TSG RAN) and of the FS-5GET study item (WG SA1) from Thales Alenia Space. In the October 2021 issue of 3GPP Highlights newsletter, he along with Munira Jaffar, Lead delegate representing EchoStar and Hughes Standards in ESOA (EMEA Satellite Operators Association) Standards Working Group, wrote a summary of 'Status of NTN & Satellite in 3GPP Releases 17 & 18'.

Quoting from the article:

The approval of normative activities on Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) in Rel-17 has generated growing interest in the topic. The Rel-17 NTN work items are supported by a wide range of vendors (terminal, chipset, network), as well as service providers from both the mobile and space industries and vertical user groups including ESOA.

The Rel-17 NTN and satellite work items in Technical Specification Group (TSG) RAN and TSG SA have been progressing towards the goal of satellite inclusion in 3GPP technical specifications. The focus is on transparent payload architecture with FDD systems where all UEs are assumed to have GNSS capabilities. The normative phase includes adaptation to the physical & access layer aspects, radio access network and system architecture, radio resource management, and RF requirements for targeted satellite networks operating at LEO, MEO or GEO orbits.

With an expected completion date of March 2022, the 3GPP Rel-17 specifications will support New Radio (NR) based satellite access deployed in FR1 bands serving handheld devices for global service continuity. Equally exciting, the 3GPP Rel-17 specification will support NB-IoT and eMTC based satellite access to address massive Internet of Things (IoT) use cases in areas such as agriculture, transport, logistics and many more. 

This joint effort between mobile and satellite industries will enable the full integration of satellite in the 3GPP ecosystem and define a global standard for future satellite networks. This will address the challenges of reachability and service continuity in unserved/underserved areas, enhance reliability through connectivity between various access technologies, and improve network resilience and dependability in responding to natural and manmade disasters.

Upon completion of Rel-17 the long-awaited standard for satellite networks serving handheld devices should be in place by 2022, with commercial product availability expected sometime in 2024. Including satellite as part of the 3GPP specifications will support the promise of worldwide access to 5G services and drive explosive growth in the satellite industry. 

Looking ahead, ESOA members and other NTN stakeholders have started discussions during the 3GPP Rel-18 June workshop and are continuing to work on a further list of enhancements for both NR-NTN and IoT-NTN to be considered in Rel-18. Plans are also underway to further define the enablers for NR based satellite access in bands above 10 GHz to serve fixed and moving platforms (e.g., aircraft, vessels, UAVs) as well as building- mounted devices (e.g., businesses and premises). The goal of these efforts is to further optimize satellite access performance, address new bands with their specific regulatory requirements, and support new capabilities and services as the evolution of 5G continues.

At Mobile Korea 2021, Nicolas Chuberre gave a talk on '3GPP NTN standardization: past, current and future'. The talk nicely summarizes Release-17 progress and the features planned for 3GPP Release-18. His talk is embedded below:

Related Posts:

• Free 6G Training: Huawei explains Perspectives and Challenges of 6G-NTN
• Connectivity Technology Blog: OneWeb presents their Vision for LEO Satellites and 6G Connectivity
• Connectivity Technology Blog: SoftBank to Promote Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Solutions
• Connectivity Technology Blog: 5G Ready' OneWeb Megaconstellation is Getting Ready for Commercial Launch
• Connectivity Technology Blog: ITU Satellite Webinars 2020
• Connectivity Technology Blog: OneWeb has Global Connectivity Ambitions
• Connectivity Technology Blog: R&S Technical Explainer on 3GPP 5G Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN)
• IEEE Comsoc: Connectivity From Top to Bottom
• The 3G4G Blog: An Introduction to Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) 

An Introduction to Minimization of Drive Testing (MDT)

Over the last few years, Ralf Kreher has done some fantastic posts on Minimization of Drive Testing (MDT) on this blog (links at the bottom of this post). To complement that, here is a basic introductory tutorial looking at what exactly is meant by MDT and how it's done. 

Video embedded below:

The slides from the presentation are available here.

Please check out our 3GPP SON Series videos here.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP MDT - How it works and what is new in Rel. 16
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) Signaling at a Glance
• The 3G4G Blog: LTE Physical Layer Measurements of RSRP and RSRQ
• The 3G4G Blog: RRC Signalling in Rel-10 for MDT
• 3G4G: 3GPP SON Series
• 3G4G: Self-Organizing Networks / Self-Optimizing Networks (SON) 

What is RF Front-End (RFFE) and why is it so Important?

As more technologies, frequency bands, antennas, etc., are crammed in our smartphones and tablets, it becomes essential for these devices to keep performing despite what technologies and spectrum are in use at any instant of time. This requires specialist design of the RF front end in our devices. Wikipedia explains it as:

In a radio receiver circuit, the RF front end, short for radio frequency front end, is a generic term for all the circuitry between a receiver's antenna input up to and including the mixer stage. It consists of all the components in the receiver that process the signal at the original incoming radio frequency (RF), before it is converted to a lower intermediate frequency (IF). In microwave and satellite receivers it is often called the low-noise block downconverter (LNB) and is often located at the antenna, so that the signal from the antenna can be transferred to the rest of the receiver at the more easily handled intermediate frequency.

🔸RFFE revenues should also grow at a rapid clip with proliferation of 5G & 5G mmWave in coming years
🔸 The RF Semi $ content per device will rise and drive the RFFE segment.
🔸 Will be interesting to see if Qualcomm can get more design wins at Apple over next two yr window. pic.twitter.com/9hKrQYpwI4

— Neil Shah (@neiltwitz) July 29, 2021

Qualcomm is very active in this area as can be seen from the chart in the Tweet above. Back in October, Qualcomm announced ultraBAW, their new generation of micro acoustic filter technology that expands their RF front-end (RFFE) portfolio and opens up new 5G services and applications. They have a short intro video explaining RFFE:

Apple bought ~$14 billion worth of baseband, RF front-end (RFFE) and connectivity chips from Broadcom, Qorvo, Qualcomm and Skyworks in 2021.

That means ~$55 worth of baseband + RFFE + connectivity content per iPhone.$AVGO $QCOM $QRVO $SWKS

— Sravan Kundojjala (@SKundojjala) December 18, 2021

It is also interesting to see from the Tweet above that on an average baseband + RFFE + connectivity chips cost Apple nearly $55 per device.

The analyst firm CCS Insight have also done some good work explaining RFFE and their analyst Wayne Lam has written a few detailed articles on this topic. Here are the links if you want to read further:

• Advances in RF Front-Ends Made 5G Phones Possible (link)
• Advances in 5G RF Front-Ends Lead to Longer Battery Life (link)

Their RFFE videos playlist is embedded below.

Also worth noting that a good modem and RF front-end, especially with 5G, can make a lot of difference in what speeds and coverage you can get

Sometimes I forget the value of having a good modem and RF front-end having an S21 Ultra and then I compare my mid-band coverage on @TMobile to people next to me with an iPhone 13 and Pixel 5 and they don't get remotely the same speeds or coverage.

— Anshel Sag (@anshelsag) December 26, 2021

Related Posts:

• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Open RAN (O-RAN) RRU (O-RU) and DU (O-DU) Design
• The 3G4G Blog - Radio Design Webinar: Optimising Your 700 MHz Deployments
• The 3G4G Blog: Envelope Tracking for improving PA efficiency of mobile devices 

Top 10 Posts for 2021 and Top 5 Videos

Here are the top posts from this year, from most popular to the tenth most popular, in descending order of popularity:

1. A look at 5G Applications, Application Functions & Application Servers, April 2021

2. Different Types of RAN Architectures - Distributed, Centralized & Cloud, July 2021

3. AT&T Cybersecurity Experts Provide 5G Security Overview, July 2021

4. Qualcomm Explains 5G mmWave Future & Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB), September 2021

5. 5G RAN Functional Splits, March 2021

6. O-RAN Introduction for Beginners, June 2021

7. Network Slicing using User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP), November 2021

8. Positioning in 5G networks, April 2021

9. An Early View of 3GPP Release-18 5G-Advanced Topics, October 2021

10. Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices, July 2021

In addition, the following two posts from last year made it in the top 10 as well, so including them below:

⦿ EPS Fallback in 5G Standalone Deployments, Feb 2020

⦿ Positioning Techniques for 5G NR in 3GPP Release-16, October 2020

In addition to the above, we have a very popular and active YouTube channel, here are the top 5 videos that we posted this year: 

1. 5G Radio Access Network Architecture: The Dark Side of 5G, January 2021

2. Webinar: 5G Security Briefing, March 2021

3. Beginners: Open RAN Terminology – Virtualization, Disaggregation & Decomposition, June 2021

4. 6G Training Course Part 1: Introduction, January 2021

5. Beginners: Connecting Underground Railway Network, June 2021

Do you have a favourite 3G4G blog post or video? Please feel free to add in comments.

Related Posts: 

• Free 6G Training: Top 5 Posts for 2021
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Top 5 Posts for 2021
• Operator Watch Blog: Top 5 Posts for 2021
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Top 5 Posts for 2021
• The 3G4G Blog: Top 10 Posts for 2020 and Top 5 Videos
• The 3G4G Blog: Top 10 posts for 2019
• The 3G4G Blog: Top 10 posts for 2018 

Impact of 5G on Lawful Interception and Law Enforcement.

At Telecoms Europe 5G 2021 event, David Anstiss, Senior Solutions Architect, SS8 Networks gave a talk on Impact of 5G on lawful interception and law enforcement. The talk provided an insight in​to how 5G is impacting lawful interception, and the challenges faced by intelligences agencies as they work with communication service providers to gather information, to safeguard society.

The talk, followed by Q&A is embedded below:

You may also find this blog post titled, 'Five Challenges of Gathering Digital Evidence in a 5G World' by David Anstiss, interesting.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Lawful Intercept in 5G Networks
• The 3G4G Blog: Everything you need to know about 5G Security
• 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: Exploiting Possible 5G Vulnerabilities
• The 3G4G Blog: Presentations from ETSI Security Week 2019 (#ETSISecurityWeek)
• The 3G4G Blog: VoLTE Hacking
• The 3G4G Blog: Evolution of Security from 4G to 5G 

5G & AI Powered Smart Hospitals

5G Telehealth has been one of the main driving use cases for upgrading the infrastructure. While some use cases definitely make sense, some others like remote surgery will most likely never happen, at least the way it's depicted today.

At the GSMA Mobile 360 APAC - 5G Industry Community Summit, Michael Fung, Chief Information Officer from CHUK Medical Centre presented a nice talk detailing how they see 5G & AI powered hospitals of the future. The video of his talk is embedded at the bottom of this post.

There have also been some other discussions on 5G & healthcare recently. Here are the links if you want to explore this topic further:

• Video: UK5G Presents Health & Social Care Panel Session
• Video: Telecoms Europe 5G 2021 - What can 5G do for healthcare?
• Video: Ericsson - 5G Connected Ambulance
• Video: 5G Healthcare Application for Smart Hospital - Tseung Kwan O Hospital
• Article: Vodafone Germany launches real-time network in the first 5G hospital 

Service Level Agreements for 5G and Beyond: Overview, Challenges and Enablers of 5G-Healthcare Systems - https://t.co/axJ05r2VqX via U.S. FDA (@US_FDA)#Free5Gtraining #5G #5GTechnology #5GUseCases #5GHealthcare #Healthcare #SLA #Cybersecurity #5Gsecurity pic.twitter.com/O9c0GEemt4

— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) December 6, 2021

The US FDA recently published a one pager looking at how Service level agreements (SLAs) can enable 5G-enabled medical device use cases by documenting how a medical device communication requirement is met by the unique characteristics of 5G networks and the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved in offering safe and effective 5G-enabled healthcare to patients.

IEEE Access has a detailed paper on this topic by the same authors. Quoting from the abstract:

Service level agreements (SLAs) can enable 5G-enabled medical device use cases by documenting how a medical device communication requirements are met by the unique characteristics of 5G networks and the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved in offering safe and effective 5G-enabled healthcare to patients. However, there are gaps in this space that should be addressed to facilitate the efficient implementation of 5G technology in healthcare. Current literature is scarce regarding SLAs for 5G and is absent regarding SLAs for 5G-enabled medical devices. This paper aims to bridge these gaps by identifying key challenges, providing insight, and describing open research questions related to SLAs in 5G and specifically 5G-healthcare systems. This is helpful to network service providers, users, and regulatory authorities in developing, managing, monitoring, and evaluating SLAs in 5G-enabled medical systems.

Here is the video from GSMA 5G Industry Community Summit Part 2:

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Remote Surgery and Telehealth Solutions
• The 3G4G Blog: Banana and Egg gets 5G Telesurgery
• Operator Watch Blog: Vodafone Deutschland (Germany) Continues 5G Use Cases Innovation
• Operator Watch Blog - China Mobile on The Next Phase of 5G: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities 

What will 5G Standalone deliver?

Surely you have heard me talk about the benefits of 5G Standalone and why is it needed. At Telecoms Europe 5G 2021, Dr. Kim K Larsen, CTIO, T-Mobile Netherlands, presented a talk on what exactly will 5G Standalone deliver. The video of his talk and slides are embedded below.

5G Standalone Will Deliver! - But What? from Dr. Kim (Kyllesbech Larsen)

If mobile economics is an area of interest, you may want to check out his old blog posts which are quite detailed. Here.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: When can we Stop the 5G NSA Experiment?
• The 3G4G Blog: Will Wi-Fi Help 3GPP Bring Reliable Connectivity Indoors?
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Network Architecture Options 
• The 3G4G Blog: The Politics of Standalone vs Non-Standalone 5G & 4G Speeds
• The 3G4G Blog - Tutorial: Service Based Architecture (SBA) for 5G Core (5GC)
• The 3G4G Blog: When does your 5G NSA Device Show 5G Icon?
• The 3G4G Blog: Would 5G NSA undergo Sunset? When? 

Will Wi-Fi Help 3GPP Bring Reliable Connectivity Indoors?

I have argued a few times now that it would make much more sense to be able to make access and core independent of each other. 3GPP 5G Standards already have a feature available from Release-16 onwards that enables this with 5G Core, Standalone networks.

We use our smart devices currently for voice and data communications. When we are indoor, many times the data goes over Wi-Fi. This is what tempted operators to move to WiFi for voice solution as well. Many operators are now enabling Voice of WiFi in their network to provide reliable voice coverage indoors.

While this works currently without any issues, when operators start offering new native services and applications, like XR over 5G, the current approach won't help. When our devices are connected over Wi-Fi at present, they are unable to take advantage of operator core or services. With access and core independence, this will no longer be an issue.

I gave a short (15 mins) virtual presentation at 5G Techritory this year. I argued not just for WWC but also looked at what 5G features have a potential for revolution. It's embedded below.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: 5G and Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC)
• The 3G4G Blog: Introduction to 5G ATSSS - Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting
• The 3G4G Blog: Three New Standards to Accelerate 5G Wireless Wireline Convergence (WWC)
• Connectivity Technology Blog: 5G Wireline Access Architecture
• Operator Watch Blog: Telefonica Plans to achieve Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC)
• Operator Watch Blog: BT's Converged Core to Launch in 2023 

3GPP Presentations from CEATEC Japan 2021

3GPP and its Japanese Organizational Partners TTC (Telecommunication Technology Committee) and ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses) hosted a “3GPP Summit” online workshop at CEATEC 2021, back in October. The event was co-located with the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and 5G Mobile Communications Promotion Forum (5GMF) 5G day at the event. Here is a summary of the event from 3GPP news:

The “3GPP Summit” featured all three Technical Specification Group (TSG) Chairs and one Japanese leader from each group. After the presentations, they exchanged their views and expectations for 3GPP work – as the industry starts to look at research beyond 5G. The event attracted almost 700 people, keen to understand what is going on in 3GPP.

The first session covered Release 17 and 18 evolution, with each TSG Chair and a domestic leader jointly presenting. Wanshi Chen introduced the latest schedule of each release and potential projects for Release 18 with the result of 3GPP Release 18 workshop held in June. Then, Hiroki Takeda presented some key features on Release 17 such as Redcap, RAN slicing and evolution of duplex.

TSG SA Chair, Georg Mayer introduced the group’s latest activities alongside Satoshi Nagata, covering key Release 17 features, such as enhanced support on Non-public Networks, Industrial IoT and Edge computing.

Next up was the TSG CT Chair, Lionel Morand, presenting the latest activities and roadmap for Core Network evolution from Release 15 to 17. Hiroshi Ishikawa also presented, covering 5G core protocol enhancements and some activities driven by operators.

The second part of the session focused more on activities ‘Beyond 5G’. First, Takaharu Nakamura introduced the latest activities on the topic in Japan. A panel discussion followed, with Satoshi Nagata joining the other 3GPP speakers, to give feedback on 5G developments and future use.

You can download the PPT of presentations from 3GPP site here or get the PDF from 3G4G page here.

Please feel free to add your thoughts as comments below.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: 5G-Advanced Flagship Features
• The 3G4G Blog: An Early View of 3GPP Release-18 5G-Advanced Topics
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Workshop Summary
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Technology Evolution from a Network Perspective Whitepaper
• The 3G4G Blog: '5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals' Webinar Highlights
• 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: 3GPP Release 16 Description and Summary of Work Items
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Standards on Edge Computing
• The 3G4G Blog: Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) in 5G Challenge by ITU
• The 3G4G Blog: ITU Standardization Bureau on Machine Learning for 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G eXtended Reality (5G-XR) in 5G System (5GS)
• The 3G4G Blog: Energy Consumption in Mobile Networks and RAN Power Saving Schemes 

5G-Advanced Flagship Features

I am starting to get a feeling that people may be becoming overwhelmed with all the new 5G features and standards update. That is why this presentation by Mikael Höök, Director Radio Research at Ericsson, at Brooklyn 6G Summit (B6GS) caught my attention. 

The talk discusses the network infrastructure progress made in the previous two years to better illustrate the advanced 5G timeline to discovering 6G requirements. At the end of the talk, there was a quick summary of the four flagship features that are shown in the picture above. The talk is embedded below, courtesy of IEEE TV

In addition to this talk, October 2021 issue of Ericsson Technology Review covers the topic "5G evolution toward 5G advanced: An overview of 3GPP releases 17 and 18". You can get the PDF here.

I have covered the basics of these flagship features in the following posts:

• AI/ML (link)
• RedCap (link)
• XR (link)
• Network Energy Efficiency (link)

Please feel free to add your thoughts as comments below.

Related Posts: 

• The 3G4G Blog: An Early View of 3GPP Release-18 5G-Advanced Topics
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Workshop Summary
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP's 5G-Advanced Technology Evolution from a Network Perspective Whitepaper
• The 3G4G Blog: '5G RAN Release 18 for Industry Verticals' Webinar Highlights
• 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: 3GPP Release 16 Description and Summary of Work Items
• The 3G4G Blog: 3GPP Standards on Edge Computing
• The 3G4G Blog: Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) in 5G Challenge by ITU
• The 3G4G Blog: ITU Standardization Bureau on Machine Learning for 5G
• The 3G4G Blog: Introduction to 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) Devices
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G eXtended Reality (5G-XR) in 5G System (5GS)
• The 3G4G Blog: Energy Consumption in Mobile Networks and RAN Power Saving Schemes