27/09/2019

The 49th general meeting of Wireless Communication Technical Committee (TC5) of CCSA (China Communications Standards Association) was held in Qingdao on August 13, 2019. 12 industry standards (drafts for approval) on 5G communication went through the review and were passed at the general meeting, including:

  • General Technical Requirements for 5G Wireless Access Networks and Core Networks
  • Technical Requirements and Testing Measurements for Equipment (under 6GHz) in Base Station, NG Interfaces, Xn/X2 Interfaces, and for Passive Antenna Arrays (6GHz)
  • Technical Requirements for eMBB Terminal devices, for Core Network Functions, and for Security

So far, the first batch of 5G communication industry standards development work has been completed on schedule.

China’s 5G standardization work mostly takes place on the platform of 3GPP, which is a global project for the standardization of communication technology. 3GPP has completed the 5G NR NSA standards in December 2017 and 5G NR SA standards in June 2018, which marks the completion of the first stage of standardization work for 5G with all functions. According to the 5G standard development plan published by 3GPP, the second phase of 5G standards needs to be developed within this year, and a complete set of 5G standards is expected to be finalized by 2020.

In China, the main player of 5G standardization is CCSA/TC5. The 12 industry standards reviewed this time all stem from 3GPP standards, some of which went through selective modifications according to the 3GPP rules while maintaining the important technical parameters. In addition, CCSA is also planning to convert all the 3GPP R15 standards into its association standards.

With the deepening of China’s participation in 3GPP and the expansion of its influence in recent years, more Chinese technologies are being used as a reference by 3GPP to draft standards, which not only further promotes China’s participation in 3GPP standardization work, but also stimulates China’s adoption of 3GPP standards. Thus, the strengthened coordination in 3GPP will greatly reduce the differences in standards between China and Europe and promote the cooperation between both sides in the 5G industry.

The General Meeting also witnessed the approval of the following:

  • 27 industry standards drafts for review, including “Technical Requirements for Passive Indoor Distribution Systems with Monitoring and Positioning Functions”
  • 21 industry standards proposals, including Technical Requirements for Core Networks of 5G for the Internet of Things, for 5G Multi-Mode Digital Indoor Distribution Systems, for 5G Mobile Communication Network Slicing Security, and for Digital Indication of Wireless LAN Air Access Technology
  • 10 research proposals, including “Research on Radiation Efficiency of 5G Mobile Communication Passive Antenna Arrays”,
  • 7 research project conclusions including “Research on Intelligent Classification Standard of Mobile Communication Networks and on the Application of Intelligent Slicing of 5G Core Networks.