3GPP Standardization

© 3GPP 2012

Peter Schmitt
3GPP TSG CT Chair

3GPP-TCCA Leading Global Mobile Standards-Connection is the Lifeline, 17 September 2024 1

© 3GPP 2024
 3GPP Standardization

3GPP standards environment.

Technical Specification Groups (TSG).
Three stage approach to Features and
Releases.
Rel-19 timeline & feedback from
TSG#105

© 3GPP 2024

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 3GPP Membership

7O rganizational Partners – from Asia,

Europe and North America – determine the
general policy and strategy of 3GPP.

Companies and Organizations have joined

3GPP as Members via one of these OPs.

September 2024 https://www.3gpp.org/about-us/partners

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 The role of 3GPP

Standardization of three generations of cellular. Soon to

be four!

Providing the system description for mobile

telecommunications

This system description is

characterized by a number of
standardized interfaces.

Enabling an interoperable,
multi-vendor approach to
deployment for mass market
economies of scale, without
stifling innovation
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 3GPP standards eco-system
3GPP Organizational Partners
(OPs) The 3GPP Organizational Partners (OP) - 7 Liaisons in/out:
800+ Standards Organizations - from China, Europe, 450 MHz Alliance, AISG, Bluetooth, Broadband Forum (BBF),
companies India, Japan, Korea and the United States. CableLabs, International Special Committee on Radio
Interference (CISPR), CTIA, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)
Participation in 3GPP by companies and Project, Ecma, International, Expert Group for Emergency
Access (EGEA), Eurescom, COST 273, European
organizations becoming Members of one of these Radiocommunications Committee (ERC), Fixed Mobile
7 OPs. Convergence Alliance (FMCA), GCF, Global TD-LTE Initiative
(GTD), GPS Industry Council, GSM Association, HomeRF
Inputs on market requirements may come in to Forum, IDB Forum, IEEE, Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF), IrDA, International Multimedia
the Project via 3GPP Market Representation Telecomunications Consortium (IMTC), Internet Streaming
Partners (MRP). Media Alliance, ISO-ITU expert group, ISO MPEG / JPEG, ITU-T
SG2, JAIN tm (Javatm APIs for Integrated Networks), The Java
Community Process (JCP), Liberty Alliance Project, Metro
There is a lot of additional external liaison Ethernet Forum (MEF), NENA, NGMN (Next Generation
activity…SDOs, Industry bodies, projects… Mobile Networks), oneM2M, OMA (Open Mobile Alliance ),
3GPP Market Representation Open Networking Foundation (ONF), Open IPTV Forum,
Partners (MRPs) Object Management Group (OMG), PCS Type Certification
Review Board (PTCRB), Portable Computer and
5G / 6G Projects Certification Bodies Communications Association (PCCA), Presence and
Availability Management (PAM) Forum, RSA Laboratories,
SDR Forum, Sun Micro Systems Inc., Steerco, SyncML
Initiative, Trusted Computing Group (TCG), TeleManagement
Forum (TMF), TCCA, TIA /TR45, TIA/TR47, ITU, TV-anytime
Forum, Voice eXtensible Mark-up Language (VXML) Forum,
Wi-Fi Alliance, Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), WLAN
Smart Card Consortium, Wireless World Research Forum
(WWRF), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

(Source: extract from https://www.3gpp.org/about-3gpp/15-bodies-with-which-3gpp-has)

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 Technical Specification Groups
TSGs prepare, approve and maintain
the 3GPP Technical Specifications and
Technical Reports. TSG RAN – Radio Access TSG SA – Service and TSG CT – Core Network
Network System Aspects and Terminals
Responsible for the detailed
time frame and management of the RAN1 – Radio Layer 1 CT WG1 - User Equipment -
SA WG1 - Services
work’s progress; (Physical Layer) Core Network Protocols

 Management of work items;

CT WG3 - Interworking with
 Technical Co-ordination; RAN2 – Radio Layer 2 and SA WG2 - System
External Networks & Policy
Radio Layer 3 RRC Architecture and Services
 Proposal and approval of work items within and Charging Control
the agreed scope and terms of reference of
the TSG RAN3 – UTRAN/E-UTRAN/NG-
SA WG3 - Security and CT WG4 - Core Network
RAN Architecture and Related
Privacy Protocols
TSG Chair is responsible for the overall Network Interfaces
management of the technical work
SA WG4 - Multimedia
within the TSG and its Working Groups. RAN4 – Radio Performance
Codecs, Systems and
CT WG6 - Smart Card
and Protocol Aspects Application Aspects
Services
WG Chair is responsible for the overall
management of the technical work RAN5 – Mobile Terminal SA WG5 - Management,
within the WG and its sub-groups. Conformance Testing Orchestration and Charging

3GPP Project Coordination Group SA WG6 - Application

(PCG) and OP group are management RAN AH1 – TSG RAN ITU-R
Ad Hoc
Enablement and Critical
groups (See ‘About/PCG’ section of the Communication Applications

website) © 3GPP 2024

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 Work Schedule driven by technical meetings

New work is initiated by member

companies as Work Items, via Tdocs
at meetings
Work Items are prioritised and
allocated time for discussion during
meetings
3GPP member companies may
contribute to any work item, on
equal terms
3GPP seeks consensus on all
technical matters (but has
mechanisms if consensus cannot be
reached)
The Release deadline is respected.
Unfinished work is deferred to a later
release

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 Releases, Features & Work Items
TAKEAWAY:
Release-based work
Multiple releases are maintained in parallel We divide the work into Work Items
 Releases are major packages of Features (There is a new 3GPP that will bring features into a study (TR)
Release ~ every 18 – 24 months) and/or a specification (TS) in a given
 A strong commitment to time-lines guarantees reliable planning Release.
and time-to-market
 The Work plan is built-up of Work Items that deliver the Features
A Work Item is built up in multiple
 Work Items: Work Item Descriptions.
• WI may cover more than one specification
• WI may cover more than one TSG or WG
• WI Description document exists for each WI Number of specifications (frozen Releases)
2000
1800
Work Items are a specification task defined in terms of the 1600
following principal parameters: 1400
 title; 1200
 intended output (i.e. Technical Specifications or Technical Reports);
1000
 impact on other Technical Specifications and Technical Reports;
800
 technical scope, including the field of application of the intended output;
 impact on other 3GPP Work Items; 600
 the schedule of tasks to be performed; 400
 the identities of the supporting Individual Members; 200
 the identity of the Work Item Rapporteurs. 0

See the 3GPP Work Plan for details of features:

 http://www.3gpp.org/Work-Plan © 3GPP 2024

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 Three stage approach to Features, through
Releases

RAN
Stage 1
time

SA1 Release
Requirements: content
Overall service Requirements
definition
description from the
user’s standpoint.

Stage 2
Architecture: Overall
description of the
organization of the
network functions to
map service
requirements into
SA2 SA3 SA4 SA5 SA6 RAN
Architecture Security Media OAM Apps/MC
network capabilities. WGs
Stage 3
Protocols: The definition
of switching and
signalling capabilities
needed to support CT – Protocols & Coding
services defined in
Stage 1.

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 Bringing the work into the groups

3GPP Specifications and Reports:

Use Case diversity
• High or Low data rates Requirements 21 series
• Higher user mobility 3GPP Working Groups Service aspects ("stage 1") 22 series
• Improved coverage Technical realization ("stage 2") 23 series
Overall SystemGoals Signalling protocols ("stage 3") - user
• Enable new business equipment to network 24 series
• Greater efficiency Radio aspects 25 series
• More flexibility – not one-size-fits-all
CODECs 26 series
Pre-Standards R&D Data 27 series
• Test beds
Signalling protocols ("stage 3") -(RSS-
• 3GPP MRP Papers and Vision
CN) and OAM&P and Charging
• Regional initiatives
• IMT process (ITU) (overflow from 32.- range) 28 series
Signalling protocols ("stage 3") - intra-
fixed-network 29 series
Programme management 30 series
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM / USIM),
IC Cards. Test specs. 31 series
OAM&P and Charging 32 series
Security aspects 33 series
UE and (U)SIM test specifications 34 series
Security algorithms 35 series
LTE (Evolved UTRA), LTE-Advanced, LTE-
Advanced Pro radio technology 36 series
Multiple radio access technology
aspects 37 series
© 3GPP 2024

Radio technology beyond LTE 38 series

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 5G Releases
Release15: The work on new radio (nr) and the 5G system (5GS)
jointly addressed the urgent subset of needs for early commercial
deployments.
Release16: Met all identified 5G use cases, to allow a full 3GPP
IMT-2020 submission to ITU-R.
Release 17: Enhances the earlier 5G work, meeting more
'vertical' industry needs, specifying NR operation in unlicensed
bands, NR MIMO, V2-everything.
Release 18: Brought a balanced evolution in terms of Mobile
broadband evolution versus further vertical domain expansion;
Immediate versus longer-term market needs; Device evolution
versus network evolution.
Introduced 5G-Advanced as a mid-generational marker
(covers Rel-18, 19, 20).
Release 19: The current focus of the groups. Due for completion
in 2025…improving performance and meeting the needs raised
from 5G commercial deployments.
Release 20: Further 5G Advanced content. Stage-3 freeze
envisaged Mar. 2027.
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TSGs 2023 2024 2025 2026
#99 #100 #101 #102 #103 #104 #105 #106 #107 #108 #109 #110 #111 #112
Mar. Jun. Sep. Dec. Mar. Jun. Sep. Dec. Mar. Jun. Sep. Dec. Mar. Jun.

SA1 Stage 1 80% 100%

TAKEAWAY:
RAN Rel-19 RAN Content RAN4
workshop def. content def.

Initial functionalities are

SA Rel-19 St.2 Content subject to a process of
Workshop approval
‘filtering’ before stage 2
Stage 2 (SA2, SA6,…) Normative begins
RAN1

RAN Completion (RAN2/3/4core) RAN4_Perf

Stage 3 (CT & SA)

ASN.1 & Open APIs

© 3GPP 2024
Note: All starting dates are indicative Now 12
 Rel-19 Status
SA1 (Stage 1)
 Studies : 14 studies – stable for long, All studies completed
 Normative : 25 tasks, including “miniWIDs” - All normative work completed
SA2, SA6 (Stage 2)
 SA & RAN Content defined at TSG#101 & 102
 Studies: 24 studies (against 23 at previous TSG)
 Normative: 62 items (against 44 at previous TSG) Scale:
RAN WG mega-meetings attract 2000
 RAN1, 2, 3, 4 content definition completed by TSG#103 participants.
 RAN studies: 10 studies (against 8 at previous TSG),
 RAN Core: 42 items (against 20 at previous TSG) Plenaries average 600.
 RAN Perf: 26 items (against 19 at previous TSG)

TAKEAWAY:
SA 3/4/5 & CT (mostly Stage 3)
 SA3, SA4, SA5: 51 studies (was 51);
You should commit to ALL
 SA3, SA4, SA5: normative 26 items (was 20);
three stages of this
 CT WG: 4 study (was 3);
 CT WG: normative: 62 items (was 27); started in this quarter
process
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 Rel-19 WI of possible interest to TCCA (1/3)
Rel-19 is the 7th Release introducing MC features, not counting Railway
functionalities, which started in 2G
Stage 3 - detailing communication between nodes
Enhanced Mission Critical Location Management (enhMCLoc)
 To define protocol aspects of MC (Mission Critical) Location management in alignment with Stage 2 TS 23.280, in particular, instantiating
the MC Location Client and MC Location server and their associated interfaces within a dedicated Stage 3 specification.
 To develop, at protocol level, MC location procedures specified in Stage 2, but currently lacking corresponding Stage 3
e.g. -procedures that enable an MC user to subscribe/de-subscribe/re-subscribe to, and be promptly notified of, the location of other
MC users of interest.
- procedures for recording and reporting history of defined location events
 Support of gyroscope/accelerometers
NB:
CT aspects of enhanced application layer support for location services The content of a Work
 Support of Geofencing Item could be subject to
 Support of history tracing request or playback
 Support location QoS improvement
added complexity as it
 Support location information exposure goes through the three
 Support of location services for multiple User Equipment (USIMs/UEs) sharing the same location stages

5GS enhancement on QoS monitoring enhancement

 The SMF needs to know whether the NG RAN support QoS monitoring. The QoS monitoring capability configuration and transfer within
5GC need to be supported.
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 Rel-19 WI of possible interest to TCCA (2/3)

Stage 3 - detailing communication between nodes

CT aspects of railways specific enhancements to mission critical service
 Enable modifying the criteria for determining the participants during an ongoing ad hoc group emergency alert within single or
multiple MC systems
 Enable modification of ad hoc group call criteria by an authorized user involving single or multiple MC systems
 Enable release of an ad hoc group call by an authorized user
 Enable floor revoke by the authorized user
 Update user profile configuration data and service configuration data
 Other minor railways specific enhancements

CT aspects of Vehicle Mounted Relays Phase 2

 For instance the solution whereby the relay node consists of a UE co-located with a full gNB, with the gNB in the relay
establishing N2 (Control plane) and N3 (user plane) interface to an AMF (Access and Mobility Function) and UPF (User Plane
Function) residing in the 5GC over a PDU (Packet Data Unit) session or PDU sessions. It is called MWAB (Mobile gNB with
Wireless Access Backhauling) and consists of a UE component (MWAB-UE) and a gNB component (MWAB-gNB) in stage

MPS for IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) Messaging and SMS services
 In addition to Multimedia Priority Service (MPS) for MMTEL (Multi-media Telephony) voice/video calls and MPS for DTS (Data
Transport Service), Rel-19 TS 22.153 has been updated to support authorized MPS Service Users with priority for messaging
services in periods of network congestion during which normal commercial messaging services are degraded
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 Rel-19 WI of possible interest to TCCA (3/3)

Stage 3 - detailing communication between nodes

CT aspects of Proximity-based Services in 5GS Phase 3

• The CT WGs work will be based on to be developed normative work by SA WGs (for 5G ProSe L3 multi-hop UE-to-UE relay and
5G ProSe multi-hop UE-to-Network relays) and potential input received from RAN WGs regarding 5G ProSe layer-2 multi-hop
UE-to-Network relays

CT aspects of application enablement for AIML services

• The Rel-19 normative work on application enablement for Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning (AIML) services (AIML_App)
is being progressed in SA6 by introducing architecture requirements, functional architecture model, and corresponding
solutions that are relevant to the definition of the application layer support for AIML enablement. The conclusions of the study
are captured in 3GPP TR 23.700-82. TSG-SA meeting SA#104 approved the "AIML_App" work item as specified in SP-241008
and normative stage 2 work is currently under development.

CT aspects of Core Network Enhanced Support for Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML)
• Core Network Enhanced Support for Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) in order expand the scope of network AI
services to leverage AI/ML technologies to enable 5GC and Air interface Intelligence by providing network automation and
improving the efficiency of the 5G network architecture see study TR 23.700-84

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 Concluding Thoughts
Standardization of interfaces enables an interoperable approach to
deployment.
They are a primary condition for the creation of a multi-vendor environment.
The 3GPP processes are complex, but you are not alone & in each group
there are helping hands.

Release 19 is ongoing, with stage 2 and stage 3 work underway. Completion

in September 2025.
Work Items reflect the intended functionality. If the work impacts more than
one TSG there is a Work Item for each TSG (Stage)
At the completion of a release (Freeze date) there is a cross-check on
whether the features described by the Work Items are consistent, across the
Technical Specifications.
Maintenance is performed for Release 18 and before.
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 Thank you!

Peter Schmitt
TSG CT Chair
CCSA
[email protected] www.3gpp.org
© 3GPP 2024

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