The evolution of 3GPP (the 3rd Generation Partnership Project) standards has made tremendous progress with 5G. Initial 5G has targeted three main use cases enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency (URLLC), and massive IoT, new verticals were added in later releases. To further enhance 5G capabilities, 5G Advanced builds on the 5G baseline defined by 3GPP in Releases 15, 16, and 17.
3GPP Release 18 is the starting point of 5G Advanced. 5G Advanced will enhance network performance and add support for new applications and use cases such as the metaverse, Redcap devices, and the joint communication and sensing (JCAS) within the same system or network. The journey to enhance the network performance with AI/ML, applying AI/ML for indoor positioning and AI/ML area to support network energy saving has just started and to be enhanced in Release 19 and beyond.
Several of the 5G advanced technology components can be seen as starting point to some of the 6G building blocks. For example, AI/ML will play an important role in the fully data-driven architecture of 6G.
This presentation provides an overview of 3GPP journey towards 5G advance and 6G technologies.