Tag: Rel-18

The baseline 5G system was specified within 3GPP Releases 15 and 16, also known as 5G Phase-1 and 5G Phase 2. There are interesting developments within 3GPP, which evolved the system towards Rel-17. More recently, the standardization took the step towards a significant update with the so-called, “5G-Advanced” using Rel-18 for that purpose. This whitepaper provides an overview of the latest development steps along with outlining the main Work- and Study-Items of both 3GPP Rel-17 and Rel-18 within RAN and SA2 work groups.

On the 20th of December 2021, 3GPP SA TSG approved a total of 28 WIs/SIs for the SA2 Rel-18 at the SA plenary meeting #94e. 3GPP Rel-18 is the first release of the 5G-Advanced standard. The approved projects include TSN, NW slicing, support for edge computing, NW automation, location services, AI and ML-based services, XR services to name a few. In this post, we elaborate on each of the approved WI/SI entering 5G-Advanced standardization.

3GPP Rel-18 is the first release of the 5G-Advanced standard. On the 17th of December 2021, 3GPP TSG RAN plenary (3GPP RAN TSG #94e) approved 28 Release-18 projects (i.e., Study- and Work-Items, SI/WI) with the following split among RAN groups: 12 RAN1-led projects, 10 RAN2-led projects, 5 RAN3-led projects, and 1 RAN4-led project. Those topics include AI/ML for NR and NG-RAN, NTN and MIMO enhancements, evolution for sidelink, UAV, RedCap, SON, QoE, XR services, to name a few. In this post, we elaborate on each of the approved projects entering 5G-Advanced standardization.

Like almost everything in Telecom's, Open RAN is complicated. It's not a single idea. It's not a single product or service. It's not an optimization technique or path towards improved efficiency. It’s hardly even an agreed term. Open RAN is essentially 2 foundational ideas: 1) The disaggregation of network functionality from the underlying hardware. 2) The specification of discrete functional blocks having well-defined interfaces. In other words, modularity.

According to 3GPP the prioritization process on Rel-18 features should be completed by the end of 2021 - with the Rel-18 Package Approval scheduled for December 2021. As of now, the decisions are still focused on the Rel-17 schedule. Meanwhile, some Rel-18 Stage 1 studies are underway.