5G Framework
The timeline shows where we are today in relation to 3GPP releases and the International Telecommunication Union – Radiocommunications Sector’s (ITU-R) timeline to approve a first version of the 6G standard.The major focus for 2023 has been completing work and finalizing Release 18, which is the first official release supporting 5G Advanced. Release 18 aims to drive a balanced 5G evolution across key technology areas while also taking into consideration the ways 5G Advanced will evolve in Release 18, Release 19, and beyond. This evolutionary approach has led to many study items being defined and set up as work items in later releases. Major topics covered in Release 18 include MIMO enhancements, in particular for uplink and mobility scenarios, NR-Light (RedCap) evolution, evolved duplexing, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) data-driven designs. The MIMO enhancement uplink improvement aims to improve the user experience when trying to upload content in crowded locations, a common pain point for customers. And RedCap looks to provide a low-power solution for devices like sensors and wearables.In parallel to the work being done in Release 18, the first plenary meeting was held in June 2023 to discuss the package of projects that will be included in Release 19. This package will be approved at the December ’23 RAN plenary (RAN #102) with a target timeframe of 18 months for the duration of Release 19. The primary focus of Release 19 will be 5G-Advanced, and again, this release will be all about balance between short-term fixes and long-term feature development, mobile broadband evolution versus the expansion of vertical use cases, and device evolution versus network evolution. Release 19 is important because it will also serve as a bridge to 6G. Release 20 is anticipated to be the first official release to include 6G study items, but there is strong interest in initiating some studies sooner for important topics like channel modeling for 7-24 GHz and integrated sensing and communications (ISAC).An initial list of topics for consideration for Release 19 was drafted in June and further narrowed down at the RAN plenary in September 2023. After the September meeting, seven items were identified for RAN Working Group 1 (RAN1), five for RAN Working Group 2 (RAN2), and three for RAN Working Group 3 (RAN3). The full list of all items and more details can be found in the RAN chair’s guidance RP-231540.