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TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS





                                  WHEN THE GOING


                                  GETS TOUGH…



                                  By Lionel Morand, TSG CT Chair                2019            2020

                                                                                 Q4    Q1     Q2    Q3     Q4
          At the conclusion of the 3GPP TSG   3GPP process, the final Rel-16 completion   TSG#86  TSG#87-e TSG#88-e TSG#89-e  TSG#90
          Plenary meetings (CT/SA/RAN#88) held   – i.e., when the ASN.1 code and OpenAPI
          electronically from June 29 to July 3   specification files are frozen – was
          2020, 3GPP Release 16 has officially been   achieved ‘on time’ at TSG#88e, in line with   Rel-16   Rel-16
                                                                                                 Rel-16
                                                                                          Rel-16
                                                                                                 Stage 3
                                                                                          Stage 3
          completed, concluding the evolution of the   the official release roadmap.     Stage 3  Stage 3
                                                                                                 Freeze
                                                                                          Freeze
                                                                                                  July
          5G system to “5G Phase 2”.                                                      Freeze  Freeze
                                                                                           March
                                             For CT to have got through the amount of      March  July
          Although we made the decision in March   work necessary to complete the release        Rel-16
                                                                                                 Rel-16
          to delay the freeze date for Rel-16 Stage 3   on time, given the Stage 3 delay – is a   ASN.1
                                                                                                 ASN.1
          (protocol aspects) by 3 months, due to the   remarkable achievement.                   Freeze
                                                                                                 Freeze
          impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the
          In Rel-16, more than 50 new or enriched features have                 • 5GC enhancements to support the
                                             •
                                                                                  wireless and wireline convergence for
          been introduced for core networks & terminals to                        the 5G System, supporting connectivity
                                                                                  to 5GC using wireline broadband access
          support advanced 5G services, such as:                                  and non-3GPP Trusted Access Network
                                                                                  (in addition of the current Rel-15
          • Enhancement of Ultra-Reliable Low      • Enhancements to the 5G system         Untrusted Access network).
            Latency Communication (URLLC)         protocols and interfaces to support      • Support of new vertical service
            support in 5G Core network (5GC),      improved capabilities for 5G Cellular       requirements, such as time sensitive
            to provide data transfer capability with      IoT devices supporting also WB-EUTRA      communication, deployment of
            strict performance requirements, to        (eMTC) or NB-IoT, or both.    non-public networks (NPNs) and
            fulfil the demands of vertical markets                                5G VPN-type services.
            and applications.

          Release 16 is not limited to 5G Phase 2.   improvements in remote tools will not   2020 has been a challenge, but we have
          Miscellaneous 5GC enhancements and   replace the social aspect of the 3GPP   achieved so much. I would like to use
          optimizations have been approved to   meetings, including the offline discussions   this occasion to warmly thank the CT
          improve existing services, such as mission   during breaks - essential to facilitate   leadership, the WG chairs and, most of
          critical services and enhanced location   common understanding and consensus   all, the delegates without whom none of it
          services.                          building - which is, for me, almost as   would have been possible.
                                             important as the pure technical part.
          During the COVID-19 crisis, face-to-
          face meetings have been replaced by
          electronic meetings, of longer duration   CT has performed strongly to complete the
          and necessitating a dramatic increase in   Release 16 work on time
          the workload of the delegates. The early
          e-meetings have taught us valuable lessons,   More than 50 new or enriched features developed to support advanced    Rel-16
          which could serve us very well in the future,   5G services in the core network and terminals  Stage 3
          as the role of e-meetings is further explored   36 new technical specifications and  5 new technical reports  Freeze
          – beyond the current situation.                                                               Rel-16
                                               More than 5000 documents approved in 114 meetings since the end of 2018  ASN.1
          Nevertheless, our experience so far                                                           Freeze
          confirms that these remote meetings   4 feasibility studies undertaken to investigate functional evolutions in
          are far from ideal for the delegates and I   the control plane and the user plane
          for one hope that 3GPP can resume the   Miscellaneous Rel-16 enhancement/optimization of the existing protocol suit
          F2F meetings in a near future. All of the

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          06      3GPP Highlights newsletter
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