Networking

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the primary body for developing technology specifications for cellular networks. It self-organises through its Working Groups coordinated by the Chairs of the Technical Specifications Groups (TSGs).

3GPP TSG SA WG5 - Telecom Management has the role of specifying the requirements, architecture and solutions for provisioning and management of the network (RAN, CN, IMS) and its services. The WG defines charging solutions in alignment with the related charging requirements developed by the relevant WGs, and specifies the architecture and protocols for charging of the network and its services.

The WG ensures its work is also applicable to the management and charging of converged networks, and potentially applicable to fixed networks.

To achieve the specification work pertinent to the provisioning, charging and management of the network and its services, this WG coordinates with other 3GPP WGs and all relevant SDOs.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the primary body for developing technology specifications for cellular networks. It self-organises through its Working Groups coordinated by the Chairs of the Technical Specifications Groups (TSGs).

3GPP TSG SA WG4 Codec deals with the specifications for speech, audio, video, and multimedia codecs, in both circuit-switched and packet-switched environments. Other topics within the mandate of SA WG4 are: quality evaluation, end-to-end performance, and interoperability aspects with existing mobile and fixed networks (from codec point of view).

An evolution of the overall 3GPP system is required to ensure competitiveness in a long-term time frame. 

This Technical Specification marks such an evolutionary path from 3GPP Release 8 through to Release 16. 

TS 22.278 V16.2.0, Service Requirements for the evolved packet system (EPS), compiles requirements to ensure EPS can cope with the rapid growth in IP data traffic and demanding requirements for new multimedia type applications in terms of performance and quality, delivered to the user, while at the same time enabling cost-effective deployment and operation. 

The Evolved Packet System is characterised by:

• Reduced latency.
• Higher user data rates equating to broadband performance.
• Improved system capacity and coverage.
• Lower operational costs.

The TS describes high-level requirements in terms of user and operational aspects; basic capabilities; multi-access and seamless mobility; performance requirements for EPS; security and privacy; charging aspects. 

Last update: June 2019

This 3GPP work item under SA1 for Release 17 is aimed at identifying more specific 5G service requirements for cyber-physical control applications in vertical domains, 5G service requirements on enhancements for cyber-physical control applications in vertical domains, and new 5G service requirements for specific aspects with respect to the Rel-16 baseline. 

By specifying further cyberCAV Stage 1, the work focuses on:

• Industrial Ethernet integration, which includes time synchronisation, different time domains, integration scenarios, and support for time-sensitive networking(TSN).
• High-level requirements for network operation and maintenance in 5G non-public networks for cyber-physical control applications in vertical domains. 
• Positioning with a focus on vertical directions/dimensions for Industrial IoT. 

Work in eCAV may be updated to reflect further progress of FS_eCAV (TR 22.832; SP-190092), such as non-public network, further aspects of network operation and maintenance in 5G non-public networks, and network performance requirements descried in FS_eCAV. 

• Rapporteurs and Supporting Members (SIMs): The Rapporteur of eCAV Stage 1 840041 (SP-190310) is Siemens AG. EU SIMs include the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), Volkswagen AG and Fraunhofer IIS alongside EU and global supply-side companies. 
• Related work: The work item is based on corresponding studies in Rel-17, especially FS_eCAV, and the assessment of respective mechanisms by individual members and relevant cyber-physical control and automation industry organisations, such as 5G-ACIA (Alliance for Connected Industry and Automation). 

3GPP TR 22.832 identifies further Stage 1 potential 5G service requirements for cyber-physical control applications in vertical domains. It describes specific use cases aimed at clarifying and motivating these additional service requirements for Release 17. With respect to the Rel-16 baseline, this Technical Report identifies more specific requirements or additional requirements for closely-related additional functionality to improve the applicability of 5G systems to vertical domains. 

Aspects addressed are:

• Industrial Ethernet integration, which includes time synchronisation, different time domains, integration scenarios, and support for time-sensitive networking (TSN).
• Non-public networks, non-public networks as private slices, and further implications on security for non-public networks (NPN).
• Network operation and Maintenance in 5G non-public networks for cyber-physical control applications in vertical domains.
• Enhanced QoS monitoring, communication service and networks diagnostics.
• Communication service interface between application and 5G systems, e.g. information to the network for setting up communication services for cyber-physical control applications and corresponding monitoring.
• Network performance requirements for cyber-physical control applications in vertical domains.
• Positioning with focus on the vertical dimension for Industrial IoT.
• Device-to-device/ProSe communication for cyber-physical applications in vertical domains.

The section on 'merged potential service requirements', e.g. industrial Ethernet integration; NPNs; network operations and maintenance; positioning and device to device/ProSe communication, also relates to the common requirements mapping driven by a sub-set of 3GPP Market Representation Partners, namely: 5G Infrastructure Association (5G-IA), 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), 5G-ACIA (Alliance for Connected Industry and Automation) and Public Safety Communications Europe (PSCE). This wrork is supported by H2020 project Global5G.org. 

3GPP TS 22.104 for Release 16 (V16.2.0) provides Stage 1 normative service requirements for 5G systems, in particular service requirements for cyber-physical control applications in vertical domains.

• Key definitions: Cyber-physical systems are defined as systems that include engineered, interecting networkd of physical and computational components. Control applications are defined as applications that control physical processes. 
• High-level requirements: Communication services supporty cyber-physical control applications need to be ultra-reliable. In some cases, end-to-end latency must be very low. For cyber-physical control applications, communication supports operation in diverse vertical industries, such as industrial automation and energy automation. 

Technical specification 22.104 (V16.2.0) describes aspects related to:

• End-to-end service performance requirements and network performance requires regarding these end-to-end service performance requirements.
• Support for LAN-type services specific to industrial/high-performance use cases. Related Ethernet functionalities include, for example, those in IEEE 802.1Qbv.

Related work and specifications for 3GPP Release 17: It is important to note that additional potential new requirements are under development also for Rel-17, including 3GPP TS 22.104 V17.0.0 (2019-06). At the time of publication on STANDICT.eu, Rel 16 TS V16.2.0 was under change control. 

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the primary body for developing technology specifications for cellular networks. It self-organises through its Working Groups coordinated by the Chairs of the Technical Specifications Groups (TSGs).  Core Network and Terminals (CT) has four active working groups.

TSG CT1 (MM/CC/SM [lu]) is responsible for the 3GPP specifications that define the User Equipment - Core network L3 radio protocols and Core network side of the Iu reference point.

Specifically, CT1 is responsibility for:

CT1 also has maintenance responsibility of older versions of the specifications under its responsibility.

3GPP TS 22.104 (V17.0.0) addresses a challenging class of vertical applications, namely cyber-physical control applications, which require very high levels of communication service availability.  In some cases, they require very low end-to-end latencies. 
Real-time Ethernet is one of the established wireline communication technologies for cyber-physical control applications, and this specification identifies requirements that 5G systems must meet to support real-time Ethernet.

This specification provides new Stage 1 requirements based on the input from relevant stakeholders of the respective vertical domains. Its focus is mostly on factories of the future and electric power distribution. 

TS 22.104 for Rel-17 describes, among other aspects:

• Performance requirements.
• Clock synchronisation requirements.
• Positioning requirements.
• Ethernet applications. 

Related work: It is important to note the co-existing specifications for Rel-16, that is, TS 22.104 V16.2.0. 

IoT devices represent a wide variety of non-traditional devices that are increasingly implemented in organizations due to the numerous benefits. These unique devices often pose a security challenge due to the limited size and lack of innate security making them difficult to secure with traditional security controls and methodologies. It is a combination of these factors that has rendered many devices vulnerable to attacks like the Mirai botnet. The IoT Working Group's mission is dedicated to understanding relevant use cases for IoT deployments and defining actionable guidance for security practitioners to secure their IoT ecosystem. This includes outlining best practices for securing IoT implementations, identifying gaps in standards coverage for IoT security, and identifying threats to IoT devices and implementations.

Business role models in 2G, 3G and 4G have centred on relationships between MNO (mobile and network operators) and subscribers and between MNOs, e.g. roaming, RAN sharing.

5G is bringing about the shift towards enterprise business role models, with MNOs providing a network or network resources for use in enterprise. Depending on the degrees of ownership and management in enterprise, trust relationships are bringing additional requirements on the 5G system.

The focus of Business Role Models for Network Slicing (BRMNS) is on normative requirements that enable the 3GPP system to adequately support diverse business role models for network slicing by drawing on TR 22.830, which studies several use cases and their potential requirements.

Key objectives include:

• Additional control to 3rd parties.
• Security relationships.
• Constraints on network slice operation to better serve business needs.
• Non-public network access to MNO spectrum.

BRMNS (SP-180773; UI: 180015) is a completed 3GPP SA1 (services) for Release 16 (Q1-2 2020).

Rapporteur: Nokia. Supporting individual members: Nokia Shanghai Bell; NTT Docomo; Siemens AG; Sennheiser; ETRI (Electronics and Research Institute), Tencent; OEC.

5G Security enhancement against false base stations (FS_5GFBS) focuses on the potential threats and privacy issues associated with false base station scenarios.

Its main objective is to identify potential solutions for mitigating risks caused by a false base station.

SP-180690 fills several gaps in Release 15, such as solutions for RCC idle mode from AS security perspective with regard to UE detection of rogue gNBs. Rel-15 which studied such solutions but did not include them in normative work.

FS_5GFBS is a 3GPP SA3 (Security) item for Release 16 (Q1-2 2020).

Rapporteur: Apple. Supporting individual members: Vodafone; T-Mobile; InterDigital; CAICT; Lenovo; Motorola Mobility; vivo; OPPO; AT&T; China Mobile; BT; Samsung; NIST; Deutsche Telekom; Qihoo 360; Huawei; Hisilicon; Ericsson; Intel; ZTE and Orange.

5G capabilities, e.g. high performance, long distance access, mobility and security are needed for 5G services in multiple market segments spanning residential, office, enterprise and factory that require functionalities similar to Local Area Networks (LANs).

3GPP TR 22.821 (feasibility study) is the basis for standardisation work on LAN Support for 5G. This Technical Report focuses on 5GLAN management, support of IEEE 802.1 functionalities for general Ethernet, support of TSN related functionalities for deterministic Ethernet, support of direct and indirect access to 5GLAN type service, support of UE mobility.

The objective of 5GLAN is to develop normative service requirements for 5G system to support 5G-LAN type services. Specifically, it focuses on:

• General service requirements to enable 5G LAN-type services (connections, support for IP and Ethernet, service continuity, discovery).
• 5GLAN connection and management.
• 5G private virtual network.
• 5GLAN service authorisation.
• Mobility and service continuity for 5G LAN-type service.
• Ethernet enhancements.
• Indirect communication for 5G LAN type service.
• Service exposure for 5G LAN-type service.
• Security, isolation and privacy.

This normative work fills gaps in 3GPP TR 22.261.

5GLAN is under 3GPP SA1 (Services) as features and related studies for Release 16 (Q1-2 2020).

Rapporteur: KPN. Supporting individual members: InterDigital; Huawei; Siemens; Nokia; ETRI; Vodafone; Qualcomm; LG Electronics; Intel; Verizon; China Mobile.