I know what I did Last Summer

I know what I did Last Summer

A Quick Update on 5G / NR and our Near-Term Benchmark Study Plans

09/06/2016 | 18 pages


With three Signals Ahead reports in the works, but nothing ready to publish, we decided to crank out a Signals Flash to serve as a hearty appetizer for our upcoming feast of benchmark studies and 5G / NR updates.

Upcoming Signals Ahead Reports. Over the next several months, we’ll be publishing Signals Ahead reports on the following topics:

  • Uplink CA and uplink 64-QAM Benchmark Study
  • 5G / NR Update (3GPP RAN Plenary #73 – New Orleans)
  • 4×4 MIMO Benchmark Study
  • Video Telephony (QCI=2 versus QCI=8) Benchmark Study
  • 5G / NR Update (Joint RAN Workshop – Reno, NV)
  • 5G / NR Update (3GPP RAN Plenary #74 – Vienna, Austria)

FOMA 2.0. We revisit some of our earlier published thoughts on all of the non-3GPP activities pertaining to 5G / NR and their implications on the standardization process, not to mention the potential quality of the finished product.

Evolving Requirements. The basic performance requirements of 5G / NR are fairly well known but there still remains a lot of uncertainty regarding some of the finer details. For example, some of the better known performance characteristics may not be required [or achievable] in all circumstances. We discuss.

3GPP Interworking. In addition to LTE and 5G/NR having interworking, there is also interworking within the 3GPP standards body. We discuss the implications and shed some light on some recent scheduling decisions.

Decisions, Decisions. The standardization process is awash with key decisions so we focus specifically on some of the architecture-related decisions that are being made as well as where there is divergent views among the leading operators when it comes to their preferred migration strategy.

VoLTE Update. We share some brief thoughts on the problem of one-way audio, how it can impact the user experience, and what operators are doing to quantify and ultimately solve the problem.