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NEWS IN BRIEF

REL-17 A PRIORITY AS F2F TIME PROVES ELUSIVE

The September Technical Specification During TSG#93-e, the conditions and Release 17 has been the Covid-19 release,
Group (TSG) e-meetings (#93-e) have timing for a return to physical meetings produced in the middle of a worldwide
agreed that the freeze date for the were discussed and the decision taken that pandemic. With its completion now in
Release-17 set of features will remain the all 3GPP meetings will continue to be held sight, it will stand as a tribute to how
major focus in the working groups until the remotely, extending to the first quarter we can adapt and flourish in such
end of the first quarter of 2022. of 2022. challenging times.
Release 18 will soon come under the Although e-meetings are not the ideal This article is adapted from a 3GPP
spotlight, with agreement on its content environment for the delegates to work website news story, September 22, 2021
due in December (TSG#94-e). However, together, they are proving to be effective.
apart from that prioritization process, the
TSG#93-e meetings have agreed that
the start of full-on Release 18 work can 2021 2022 2023 2024
only begin once Release 17 has reached Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
its functional freeze date – the date from TSG#94-e TSG#95-e TSG#96 TSG#97 TSG#98 TSG#99 TSG#100 TSG#101 TSG#102 TSG#103
Sep.
Mar.
Jun.
Mar.
Mar.
Sep.
Dec.
Jun.
Dec.
Dec.
which only essential corrections to Rel-17
the specifications are permitted - Rel-17 Protocol
Stage 3
Coding
in March 2022. Freeze (ASN.1, OPENAPI)
Freeze
With the Release 18 work ramping up from Rel-18 Rel-18 Rel-18 Rel-18
Stage 2
Protocol
Package
Q2 2022 onwards, a clear timeline (content) Functional Stage 3 Coding
Freeze
Freeze
is approved for a functional freeze date Approval Freeze (ASN.1, OPENAPI)
of the first 5G-Advanced release,
TM
in December 2023.
LIFETIME ACHIEVER GETS HIS AWARD
Stephen Hayes has been granted the 3GPP
Lifetime Achievement Award, nominated
by his peers and approved by the Project
Coordination Group (3GPP PCG), the
leadership group in the project.
The award serves not only as recognition of
Stephen Hayes’ contribution to 3GPP, but it
is also a tribute to his natural empathy and
ability to motivate his colleagues towards the
fulfilment of common goals.
He accepted the award, to the collective delight of the 500+ delegates
attending a Joint 3GPP TSG plenary e-session, on September 16, 2021.
The full story is online here: www.3gpp.org/news-events

3GPP’s MRPs:

Thanks to the 3GPP Market Representation
Partners for their continued support and
generous inputs to each edition of
3GPP Highlights.