Standardisation
In the present section of the 5G-EPICENTRE website, the consortium aims to share the activities and actions performed during the project’s lifecycle on the Standardisation era, while provide also an overview of the Standardisation on the 5G/6G landscape.
5G-EPICENTRE as an R&I project, emphasizes the successful deployment and commercialization of its platform solution aims to showcase the great opportunities and knowledge outputs on standardization aspects. The 5G/6G standards are which mainly are linked to the analysis of existing standards and the contribution to standardisation via a liaison with standardisation committees.
The scope of the present section is to present in a conherent way, the contributions of 5G-EPICENTRE deployments in the standardization era. Our purpose is to raise awareness among the stakeholders of the project, such as SDOs, policymakers, and the overall PPDR community (SMEs and start-ups, as well as developers who focus on the development of PPDR services).
Moreover, the timeline of the 3GPP for the TSG Rel-19 is available here and the IMT-2020 schedule is available here.
Standardisation Landscape Overview
5G is the latest robust commercial mobile network technology, with the emergence and active research of the 6G era. More specifically, 5G networks offer wireless connections with enhanced effectiveness, higher speeds, and increased dependability than its preceding generations, while aims to serve a vast variety of use cases, for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). Since its inception, 5G networks focus on significant research and development efforts and advancements, both in the industry and in academia, aiming to re-establish a global standard that can be implemented uniformly across different countries and regions, with potentially diverse technological backgrounds.
As far as the current standardisation developments on 5G and 6G networks are concerned, the 3GPP is preparing to develop next generation of global communications specifications for 6G, after the successful completion of the 5G specifications.
ITU, 3GPP, IEEE and ETSI represent the major leading standardisation bodies when it comes to the standards definitions, requirements, and advancements for 5G technology. The Working Groups of these organizations determine the technological criteria, frequency ranges, and other elements that fall within the scope of 5G networks.
Main Standards within 5G-EPICENTRE Context
In this sub-section, we provide the standards which are considered the most relevant and critical within the context of the project and the overall success of the developments and the deployments of PPDR solutions from the 5G-EPICENTRE Testbeds and the Platform. More specifically, the most relevant standards are the following:
3GPP TSG Radio Access Network (RAN)
The 3GPP TSG Radio Access Network (RAN) Technical Specifications Groups (TSGs) are responsible for the definition of functions, requirements, and interfaces of the Radio Access. The six WGs provide physical layer specifications, interface specifications among layers, interfaces between RAN and core network, RF and RRM performance requirements, conformative testing and standardisation. The 3GPP TSG Radio Access Network (RAN) is responsible for the technical coordination of the specification work done in the following Working Groups: RAN1 – Radio Layer 1 (Physical layer) RAN2 – Radio layer 2 and Radio layer 3 Radio Resource Control.
Within the 5G-EPICENTRE context, the definitions requirements and specifications for the RAN have been implemented for the ADS is actively contributing to the introduction of Air-To-Ground (ATG) and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) features and may also reuse in that frame what will be discovered in the context of the 5G-EPICENTRE project, to ensure the PPDR-specific needs and requirements are well taken into account within the UCs and Experiments conducted. In addition, ALB has been monitoring the activities of the TSG RAN, especially concerning 5G RAN functional splitting.
3GPP TS 122 179 [V17.1.0 (Release 17) and V14.3.0 (2017-05)]
The present document covers requirements for Mission Critical Push To Talk (MCPTT) service (represented by the term, MCPTT Service). The MCPTT Service can be used for public safety applications and also for general commercial applications (e.g., utility companies and railways). The specifications contained within the present document can also form the basis for a non-mission critical Push To Talk service (called a PTT service).
Within the context of the 5G-EPICENTRE platform development, MCPTT access time is defined as the time between when an MCPTT User requests to speak and when this user gets a signal to start speaking and it does not include confirmations from receiving users, as defined by the 3GPP Technical Specification (TS 122 179. Section 6.14). Moreover, the definitions of the following KPIs a) MCPPT Access Time, b) End-to-end MCPTT Access time, c) Mouth-to-ear latency and d) Late call entry time were used for the definitions of the UC1.
In order to obtain a more complete view of the delay between a UE and the application server we measure the service access time. This measure will characterize the time between a request is sent to the server and this request is processed and answered. According to TS 122.179. MCPTT Access Time shall be less than 300 ms for 99% of all MCPTT requests. Also, the Access Time cannot be less than the network RTT, for that, we consider the same optimal value as network RTT.
E2E Access Time is defined as the time between the moment a user requests to speak and when the user gets the signal to start speaking, including MCPTT call establishment and acknowledgment from receiver(s) user. To obtain a more complete view of the delay between a UE and the application server we measure the service access time. This measure will characterize the time between a request is sent to the server and it is processed and answered. According to TS 122.179, MCPTT Access Time shall be less than 1000 ms, when both users are under the coverage of the same network. Since the procedure requires at least two RTT and allocate resources at the server, we consider as an optimal value an MCPTT E2E less than 250 ms.
3GPP TS 23.501 and 3GPP TS 23.502 [V16.6.0 (Release 16)], 29.513 and 29.514
The 3GPP TS 23.501 standard describes the System architecture for the 5G System (5GS). More specifically, it defines the Stage 2 system architecture for the 5G System, which provides data connectivity and services. This specification covers both roaming and non-roaming scenarios in all aspects, including interworking between 5GS and EPS, mobility within 5GS, QoS, policy control and charging, authentication, and in general 5G System-wide features e.g. SMS, Location Services, and Emergency Services.
In addition, the 3GPP TS 23.513 standard describes Policy and Charging Control (PCC) signaling flows and QoS parameter mapping. Overall the standard provides the specifications over the alternate service-based interfaces and their relationship with the flow level signalling in 5G system. The present specification also describes the PCC reference architectures for non-roaming and roaming scenarios in 5G system. Moreover, the document describes the specifications for the mapping of QoS parameters at AF, PCF, SMF and MB-SMF, the session binding at PCF, and the QoS flow binding at SMF and MB-SMF, the PCF addressing, as well as the Race condition handling. The 3GPP TS 29.514 entitled “5G System; Policy Authorization Service; Stage 3” defines the Policy Authorization Service of the 5G System, for the architecture as described in the 3GPP TS 23.501. The Stage 2 definition and related procedures for the Npcf Policy Authorization Service are specified in 3GPP TS 23.502 and 3GPP TS 23.503. The Technical Realization of the Service Based Architecture and the Principles and Guidelines for Services Definition are specified in 3GPP TS 29.500 and 3GPP TS 29.501. The Policy Authorization Service is provided by the Policy Control Function (PCF). This service creates policies as requested by the authorized AF for the PDU Session to which the AF session is bound.
Within the context of the 5G-EPICENTRE platform development, 5G has been conceived to allow verticals to interact more naturally with the network’s control plane. According to 3GPP standards 3GPP TS 23.501 and 3GPP TS 23.502, Network Applications can act on the control plane of the 5G Core (5GC) as (or via) Application Functions (AFs). As such, via the corresponding 3GPP interfaces, and through the Network Exposure Function (NEF), NetApp s can i) influence traffic policies and routing decisions; ii) remotely trigger specific UEs’ actions; iii) request the execution of services provided by the Location Managament Function (LMF); or iv) gather from, and share with the network any kind of data and analytics via the Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF).
In the framework of 5G-EPICENTRE and with ADS, ONE and NEM as technology validators, a demonstration of QoS management leveraging 5G functionalities has been achieved. This has been possible thanks to the interaction with ATH’s 5GC, and UMAs Radio Access Network (RAN). This project achievement provides a value chain to secure network conditions for the most demanding vertical services, those associated with the PPDR sector. It offers a way to allocate specific resources to those verticals identified as PPDR.
The 5G-EPICENTRE uses the definitions and specifications of the above-mentioned standards TS 29.513 and TS 29.514 to follow and meet the best practices on the QOS and policies authorization.
ETSI TS 129 522 [V17.6.0 (2020-07)]
The present standard on “5G Network Exposure Function Northbound APIs” describes the specification of the protocol for the NEF Northbound interface between the NEF and the AF. The NEF Northbound interface and the related stage 2 functional requirements are defined in 3GPP TS 23.502, 3GPP TS 23.316, 3GPP TS 23.288] and 3GPP TS 23.548.
In order to comply with the standard, the 3GPP TS 29.522 version 15.5.0 Release 15 has been used as a reference in order to be aligned in terms of standardisation with ETSI TS 129 522 V15.5.0 (2020-01)This has also been exploited in order to identify any existing API definitions (data models), implementations and processes that could potentially satisfy the requirements of the selected experimentation scenarios.
More specifically, the 5G-EPICENTRE snbAPI provides a communication channel between the SDN controller and the application layer, and more specifically, the applications that wish to connect to the infrastructure. In general, this component provides a high-level API between the two layers, thus simplifying the access to network functionalities. The snbAPI is typically implemented following a REST (Representational State Transfer) architecture, whereas its design and implementation is based on the various SDN use cases and application-specific requirements.
The Aveiro testbed utilises the endpoints provided by Network Exposure Function Northbound APIs; Stage 3 provided by 3GPP, with the full documentation of the API is aligned with ETSI TS 129 522 V15.5.0. (2020-01).
ETSI GR NFV-MAN 001 [V1.2.1 (2021-12)]
The present standard describes the management and orchestration framework for the provisioning of Virtualised Network Function (VNF), and the related operations, such as the configuration of the VNFs and the infrastructure these functions run on.
The objectives are to explain this framework, and the management and orchestration, identify topics that could serve in later gap analysis against current standards, identify best practices and provide guidance on how to address identified new topics. The focus of the present document is on aspects of management and orchestration that are specific to NFV.
Within the context of the 5G-EPICENTRE platform development, the NFV-MANO high-level architectural reference framework as defined by the ETSI Industry Specification Group for NFV was implied. Along with implementation guidelines, were accommodated by the underlying 5G-EPICENTRE platform for the provided services.
ETSI GR NFV-IFA 029 [V3.3.1 (2019-11)]
The present standard is the 3rd Release of the ETSI ISG NFV, Group Specification on Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) describing the updates on the architecture, with emphasis on the enhancements of the NFV architecture towards “Cloud-native” and “PaaS”.
Within the context of the 5G-EPICENTRE platform development, the standard updates seem to add complexity to the NFV-MANO architecture, this shift promises substantial optimizations to ETSI-compliant NFVMANO systems. The standard is widely used in the technical developments of PPDR services and is used for the definitions and requirements of 5G-EPICENTRE. More specifically, it provides the No concrete conclusion has been drawn on the ideal mapping of CISM to the NFV-MANO reference architecture for the deployment of the cloud native infrastructure on top of the NFVI, hence allowing the NFV-MANO underlay to act as a resource orchestrator to allocate resources to K8s-managed clusters. In this way, both VI and VNF/CNF deployment, scaling and management can be automated to a significant extent.
Furthermore, 5G-EPICENTRE extended the testbeds with the capacity to support MANO of both container-based and VM-based VNFs through K8s plug-ins, allowing the platform to adapt to the needs of heterogeneous work environments. Our implementation hence supports backward compatibility, making it easier to map the NFV-MANO architectural stack, augmented with CISM functionality, to K8s.
ETSI GS NFV-SWA 001 [V1.1.1 (2014-12)]
The present standard elaborates Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) Architecture.
In the context of the 5G-EPICENTRE the standard was used on the definitions of the functions and the software architecture, as well as the interfaces as part of the NFV overall architecture. In addition, the specific standard provides the main supporting infrastructure required, the overall orchestration for the functional requirements, and the best practices for NFV Design.
ETSI ZSM (Zero-touch network and Service Management)
ETSI GS ZSM 001 [V1.1.1 (2019-10)]
The ETSI GS ZSM 001 defines requirements on the zero-touch E2E (End-to-End) network and service management. Scenarios will be documented and used to derive the requirements. The requirements will also be considered for the work on the topics Zero-touch network and Service Management (ZSM) reference architecture [1], ZSM End to end management and orchestration of network slicing [i.7], and ZSM Inter management domain lifecycle management [i.8].
ETSI GS ZSM 002 [V1.1.1 (2019-08)]
The present standard defines and describes the reference architecture for the end-to-end Zero-touch network and Service Management (ZSM) framework based on a set of user scenarios and requirements documented in ETSI GS ZSM 001. The reference architecture employs a set of architectural principles and a service-centric architectural model to define at a high level a set of management services for zero-touch network and service management.
In addition, it defines means of management service integration, communication, interoperation, and organization, with the definition of normative provisions for externally visible management services, defined as part of the reference architecture, as well as recommendations for their organization.
ETSI GS ZSM 005 and ETSI GS ZSM 007 [V3.3.1 (2019-11)]
The present standard elaborates on the means of automation of Zero-touch network and Service Management (ZSM). The standard explores different existing means or approaches to achieve automation. Based on the standard, the means involved in technical developments for 5G may exist at different levels of management and managed systems, e.g. at the service and network management level, at the managed network function level and at the managed network level for autonomous optimization.
The above-mentioned standards were used fo the design of 5G-EPICENTRE platform closely adheres to the Zero-touch network and Service Management. The standardization process for ETSI ZSM is still in its early stages, with preliminary specifications based on a high level of abstraction.
All the means utilized within the developments of the 5G-EPICENTRE were compliant with the standards, to contribute in value to achieve the ZSM goals. More specifically, the core results of the standards were elaborated to address all the required standardization activities, including the open-source and the requirements for automation purposes, at different levels of managed and management systems for the end-to-end testing verification and validation of the PPDR solutions, both for the UCs and the 3rd Parties Experimentation.
Brief on 5G-EPICENTRE’s standardisation activities
5G-EPICENTRE partners participated in the following ETSI Plugtest events, and is planning to participate in the future editions of the same Plugtests:
- 1st ETSI FRMCS Plugtests, 14-18 June 2021, remote event.
- 6th ETSI MCX Plugtests, 08-19 November 2021, UMA, hybrid event.
- 2nd ETSI FRMCS Plugtests, 16-20 May 2022, remote event.
- 7th ETSI MCX Plugtests, 07-11 November 2022, UMA (Co-organised by 5G-EPICENTRE project).
- 3rd ETSI FRMCS Plugtests, 03-07 July 2023, Paris (France).
- 8th ETSI MCX Plugtests, 09-13 October 2023, UMA, (Co-organised by 5G-EPICENTRE project).
In addition, other standardization-related events are the following:
- In the context of the 5G-EPICENTRE project, ATH/HPE demonstrated the integration of ADS and NEM’s MCX over the N5 interface of the 5GC in a 5G SA system, in compliance with ETSI standards. Such integration was also demonstrated at the ETSI Plugtests event at UMA in Summer 2022. I am attaching the joint press release that the involved partners published that time (managed by ADS).
- TETRA/5G Demo at SIRESP bootcamp event.
- TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) has been the key standard for communications in the public safety sector since the mid-1990s, providing dependable voice and data services. However, the limitations of TETRA networks are becoming increasingly apparent in the last few years, especially the limited data speed, difficult integration of data-driven applications and poor scalability.
- For these reasons, migrating from TETRA to 5G can offer important advantages, and is increasingly seen as a key requirement to meet the growing demands of critical communications infrastructures. The migration process will probably take years, but during this period operations must continue without any breaks or disruptions. Coexistence and interoperability of TETRA and 5G technologies will be key to enable this transition.
- HPE, Altice Labs and OneSource were present at the SIRESP Bootcamp event, between 20th and 24th November 2023, in Portimão, Portugal, and demonstrated a relevant TETRA-Private 4G/5G integration scenario, based on 2 federated HPE-Athonet Private 4G/5G/IMS networks (tactical bubbles) operating in different frequency bands and one relaying to the other, including a connection of the first one to a TETRA radio and a military radio, on one side, and to a Altice/MEO SIP trunk (public network) on the other. This scenario, built with HPE-Athonet technology, enabled the connectivity between legacy narrowband (LMR/PMR/TETRA, military radios) voice-based technology to wideband 3GPP-based Private networks and then to the public network from Altice/MEO.
