TSG#28 Highlights

| TSG CT | TSG SA | TSG RAN | 

Previous Highlights: TSG#27 | TSG#26 | TSG#25 | TSG#24 | TSG#23 | TSG#22
 TSG#21 | TSG#20 | TSG#19 | TSG#16 | TSG#15

Welcome!

Welcome to the latest edition of TSG Highlights! The aim is to provide you with a concise summary of the decisions and actions of the most recent 3GPP Technical Specification Group meetings held in June 2005 in Quebec, Canada.

3GPP has four  TSGs: CT (Core Networks and Terminals); RAN (Radio Access Network); SA (Services and Systems Aspects) and GERAN (GSM EDGE Radio Access Network). This summary reports on the first three of these, as GERAN meetings take place separately from the other TSGs.

Please note, these summaries to do not constitute formal, approved reports of the meetings – they are opinions only and also may not be complete. They are offered for guidance only.

TSG CT (Core Network and Terminals)

TSG CT#28 meeting approved altogether 362 CRs on 3GPP releases R99 - Rel-6.

CT Meeting schedule for 2005 - 2006 was approved in CP-050259.

Formal declaration of Rel-6 freezing was requested from SA plenary #28.
 

Release 6 status

No new specifications were presented for approval or for information.

Release 6 extensions:

Also Rel-6 corrections are still foreseen, e.g.

Release 7 status

No new specifications were presented for approval or for information.

New and revised WIDs:

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 CT work organisation

All CT WGs have revised their ToR and all were approved

LSs from CT to other 3GPP groups

(CSI) IOT in 3GPP (CP-050257)

LSs with groups outside 3GPP

Profile for CS-IMS interworking (CP-050256 -> TISPAN)

Short CR summary

R99 CRs:

Rel-4 CRs:

Rel-5 CRs:

Some specific Rel-6 work items:

Rel-7 work items that have already become active:

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TSG-RAN (Radio Access Network)

TSG RAN meeting #28 took place in Quebec, Canada. The meeting started at 8:00 on Wednesday 1st June 2005 and finished on Friday 3rd at 14:30. 107 participants were registered and 222 documents were submitted.

The relation of WG1 and WG4 was debated, in particular on the subject of the definition of new measurements. An off line discussion between the chairmen and other interested parties concluded that past misunderstandings can be avoided with a better coordination of the chairmen during the co-located meetings. Additionally, the Terms of Reference of WG4 presented 3 months were reviewed, deemed satisfactory and formally approved

Change requests

The approved Change Requests (CRs) to TSG RAN specifications are summarized in the following table:

Release

WG1

WG2

WG3

WG4

 WG5

Total

Release 99

 

 

 

 2

  

2

Rel-4 CRs (Rel-4 excluding Cat A)

 2 (2)

 

 

 1

  

3 (2)

Rel-5 CRs (Rel-5 excluding Cat A)

26 (24)

38 (38)

41 (41)

20 (19)

 221

347 (343)

Rel-6 CRs (Rel-6 excluding Cat A)

56 (53)

106 (94)

110 (105)

37 (33)

 30

339 (315)
Rel-7 CRs (Rel-7 excluding Cat A)   1 (1) 2 (2) 10 (10)   13 (13)

Total CRs (Total excluding Cat A)

84 (79)

145 (133)

154 (148)

70 (64)

 251 (251)

704 (675)

 

Liaison with other groups

A LS was received from ECC PT1 (RP-050289) informing that it is studying proposals to use the 1900-1920 MHz and 2010 - 2025 MHz bands as an FDD uplink paired with the 2.6 GHz band center gap (2570- 2620 MHz). ECC PT1 asks 3GPP for its view and comments. A WI based on these frequency arrangements was proposed (RP-050353), but not approved as these arrangements are not yet agreed by ECC PT1 and there is no formal request from that group either. Concerns related to 3GPP having specified TDD on those bands following the allocation from ITU-R for IMT-2000 were expressed, but should be raised at ECC.

CT WG1 sent a liaison asking for advice on the feasibility of Interoperability Testing of IMS features in RAN WG5 (RP-040294). Some companies opposed the idea of having IOT in 3GPP, and noted that RAN WG5 expertise is on conformance testing. TSG RAN didn't agree a position on this, and since it involves other TSGs, the issue was discussed in TSG SA.

 

Reports of WGs on R99, Rel-4, Rel-5 and closed Rel-6 Work Items

A proposal to make possible the early implementation of the DSAC and Network Sharing Rel-6 features in Release 5 had been presented in RAN WG2. This WG assessed that there are no technical hurdles for doing so, but there were views against the procedure. In the case of DSAC, the rationale for the request is a recommendation from Japanese authorities to be able to apply access class barring to a specific domain (CS or PS). TSG RAN didn't conclude on this, since it involves also TSG CT, the debate was continued in TSG SA (RP-050175, RP-050335)

There was a long discussion on a CR agreed by RAN WG2 for the SIR target setting for downlink power control (RP-050346). It was objected that the solution agreed focus one particular case, and it can actually have a negative impact on different services. The solution however was favoured by the majority of companies, noting that the benefits of other methods have not been proved and the CR is supported by most manufacturers. The CR was finally approved.

RAN WG4 had not been able to agree on a size for the Maximum Active Set for EDCH, there were proposals for sizes of 3 to 6 links ((RP-050179). A vote on this may be necessary at next TSG RAN, given the dead-end in the WG. A paper was presented with a trade off, but it involved an undesirable impact on R99 services (RP-050348). It will however be input to next WG4 as support for the discussion.

For the first time, RAN WG5 reported to this TSG (RP-050361). The report of the MCC Task Force 160, developing UE conformance test cases for protocol and signalling in TTCN, was approved (RP-050261). The Terms of Reference of the task force were approved also (RP-050263).

The following new TS from RAN WG5 was approved:

In line with the request from last TSG RAN, RAN WGs had produced and agreed the CRs for the feature removal activity. 9 features were proposed for clean up in Rel-5 onwards, in addition to TGPL2 which had been removed 3 months ago. All the CRs were approved without objections.

There was some debate on how should RAN WG5 implement the feature clean up, given that the group keeps the tests for all Releases in a single document (RP-050361). The choice is either to remove the tests for these features, and any reference to them as a parameter to other tests, or to leave the test with a mention so as they are only applicable for R99 and Rel-4. The second option was preferred, but noting that some of these features may not even have associated tests.

 

Release 6 open items and beyond

The WI Improved minimum performance requirements for HSDPA UE categories 7 & 8 is 90% completed, it was agreed to close it. A CR is approved introducing the majority of the new requirements (RP-050183)

The WI UMTS 2600 is completed, the CRs from RAN WG3 and WG4 for the introduction of the new band were approved. The missing CR to 25.331 will be presented at next meeting (RP-050184)

The following TR was approved:

The WI RAB support enhancement, covering the support for voice over IMS, is completed. The CRs were approved, and the TR below was also presented and approved:

New scenarios for the MBMS performance requirements WI have been presented in RAN WG4, at a risk of delaying the overall completion. It was asked that the completion of the current work is prioritized, but according to the proponents the new scenarios are a must for a reliable MBMS service. RAN WG4 will have to confirm such criticality and, if needed, propose a new date of completion (RP-050191).

It was agreed to re-start the work on MIMO. There was agreement that the feature will be part of the Long Term Evolution, but the gains for Rel-7 WCDMA were contested. As a way forward, a period of 6 months is allowed for companies to show the benefits of MIMO in Rel-7 (RP-050334).

The following Work and Study Items were approved:

The following Testing Work Items were approved:

 

Long term evolution

A Joint WGs meeting took place the 30-31 May, same venue as TSG RAN #28. The joint meeting completed the majority of work on the requirements for the LTE, which are recollected in the following TR approved by TSG RAN:

A number of Ad Hoc meetings are organized for the next 3 months, to advance in the physical aspects (WG1), radio interface protocol architecture (WG2) and architecture (WG3 & SA WG2) (RP-050379)

 

TSG-SA (Service and System Aspects)

Release 6 is essentially completed.  The overall status can be found in SP-050381.  Exceptions were granted for I-WLAN charging and the closure of several CT issues.  Companies are invited to comment on the preliminary list of Rel 6 functionality found in SP-050407.  This will form the basis for the MCC description of Rel 6.

An initial decision is to be made at SA#29 as to the functional contents of Rel 7.  SA1 is expected to complete the majority of the stage 1 work for Rel 7 by SA#29 and to provide sufficient status on those items not completed that an initial decision on Rel 7 inclusion/exclusion can be attempted.  Please note that the final determination of Rel 7 contents cannot be made until we understand the implied stage 2 and 3 impacts.  It was noted that many of the items currently being studied are likely outside of the expected time frames for Rel 7, however it is currently too early to start discussions of Rel 8 contents.

TSG CT and TSG RAN are requested to proceed with specifying DSAC (Domain Specific Access Control) within Rel 6 in a form which allows implementation in earlier Releases.  It is not however to be specified as part of an earlier release.   TSG-CT and TSG RAN are requested to investigate whether network sharing can be specified within Rel 6 in a form which allows implementation in earlier releases. A decision on how to handle network sharing is expected at SA#29.

There was little agreement in the area of IOT except that the actual testing was outside the scope of 3GPP.  RAN5 is requested to provide expert advice on options for producing test specifications that could meet faster time-to-market requirements than we currently meet with the production of traditional conformance tests.  This request is documented in SP-050408.  TSG CT and TSG RAN are requested to evaluate the output from this analysis and provide their input so that a more informed discussion can occur at SA#29.

It was considered premature to limit the LTE or SAE work with respect to applicable frequency bands or by geographic deployment scenarios. TSG SA agreed that the backward compatibility to legacy systems needs to be considered in the LTE and SAE work, while also respecting the performance goals of the LTE / SAE work. The study of backward compatibility is encouraged in the LTE / SAE work, taking into account the cost of this on the performance goals of the work.  It was noted that the relationship between the various evolution WIDs is complex and they do not always map well.  There is also functionality defined in AIPN that is not currently being addressed in SA2.  This fuzziness is normal in the early phases of evolution work.  It is expected that the work items will be updated as necessary as the work progresses and the relationships become clearer.

Although the workshop between 3GPP and TISPAN ended with an agreement for TISPAN to reuse 3GPP IMS specifications, there is some evidence that divergence is still occurring.  Companies are urged to coordinate internally and work to ensure that such divergences are avoided.  A similar discussion is also occurring with respect to the SA5 specifications and the TISPAN OSS architecture.

Work on interference tolerence in airplanes should be coordinated between GERAN and UTRAN.  Any final recommendation must include cross-technology interference issues.

Nick Sampson (Orange) won the run-off round for the 3rd SA vice-chair position with 61% of the votes.  As agreed in PCG, Nick is automatically appointed by the PCG. Congratulations Nick!

TSG SA agreed to trial the use of zip only tdocs at SA#29.  Based upon the experience from this trial, SA#29 will decide if use of PDFs should be permanently discontinued.

TSG-SA has the overall responsibility for system coordination and release planning.  In order to improve the coordination aspects in TSG SA., TSG SA agreed to adopt several working practices currently being practiced in other TSGs.  These include:


The TSG-SA management team was tasked with implementation of these changes and appropriate guidance will be communicated to TSG-SA and WGs.  Please note that these changes are not retroactive, however a WG can choose to apply them to already approved WIDs if so desired.

Some Administrative Reminders:

Activities by WG:

The following are the actions requested by TSG SA for the SA WGs.  Note that the supporting companies are still required to introduce the appropriate contributions into the WGs to ensure that the actions occur.

SA1:

Provide either completed stage 1 specifications or status information on those features which are candidates for Rel 7 inclusion. 

The CSI stage 1 (22.279) was not approved.  SA1 is requested to update the stage 1 specification with respect to the plenary comments (i.e., alignment between stage 1 and stage 2 on supplementary services, clean-up of combinational call/session terminology) and bring in for approval at SA#29.

SA1 requested to add a definition for SCUDIF into 21.905.

The stage 1 CR on OSA service brokering was finally approved (SP-050394) primarily by moving the controversial issue to "for further study".  Further discussion of this topic may occur in CT5.

SA3 is considering CRs enabling the use of GBA (Generic Bootstrap Architecture) to be used with 2G SIMs.  This provides a lower level of security than GBA with USIM.  SA1 must however decide for which services this lower level of security will be allowed.

IMS Local Services is now taken out of the stage 2 specfications.  It shall be removed from the stage 1 specifications if it still exists.

SA2:

The work items for the Galileo Feasibility Study and for IMS Local Services were removed. 

The CSI stage 2 (23.279) was not approved.  This was primarily a knock-on effect since the stage 1 was not approved.  SA2 is requested to update the stage 2 specification if needed (due to stage 1 impacts) and bring in for approval at SA#29.  Even though not formally approved, the stage 2 is currently considered sufficiently stable for stage 3 work to proceed.

The WID for an identification of communication services in IMS was approved (SP-050392).  This widens the scope of the WID to analyze the need for and alternatives to the communications service identifier, however the use of a communications service identifier is recognized as the current SA2 working assumption.

The WID for Voice Call Continuity (SP-050393) was approved with the original dates reinstated.  However, SA2 is asked to revise the WID dates if it becomes apparent that the indicated dates cannot be met.

Concerns were expressed on the balance of work (between evolution work and Rel 7 work) and also the imposition of artificial restrictions limiting the use of parallel and ad-hoc sessions.  No agreement could be reached however, so the SA2 management is requested to use its judgment to ensure that the principles of balance and efficiency are respected when allocating meeting time and planning schedules (hopefully, this statement is politically correct enough to satisfy everybody).

It was noted that although the responsibility for workplan coordination is still officially part of the SA2 charter, this task has effectively been transferred to SA and that future coordination should be done in the SA plenary.

SA3:

TSG SA endorsed a request to allocate 40k Euro for expert review of the UEA2/UIA2 algorithms.  This request has been forwarded to the PCG for electronic decision.

SA4:

TSG SA approved the use of Raptor as the single mandatory MBMS FEC. 

TSG SA approved two technical reports from Global Analysis (SP-050253, SP-050254) allowing the payments to be made for the work.

The Raptor FEC CR to TS 26.346 was approved, however SA4 is requested to split the coder and decoder annex into two separate annexes so that the distinction between normative and non-normative is clear.

SA5:

TSG SA endorsed the SA5 plan for synchronized election of new WG and SWG officials in Sept 2005.

The SA5 exception for I-WLAN charging (SP-050282) was approved.

There is currently an inconsistency between the CT3 and SA5 on the use of Diameter subsessions.  The CT3 solution on the Gx interface currently uses subsessions.  The SA5 SWGB solution for the Gy interface does not use them.  This leads to an inconsistency in the Gx over Gy work.  Given that the CT3 work is more progressed, SA5 SWGB is requested to consider the issue and see what can be done to resolve this issue.  This issue is described in SP-050364.  An exception request for CT was endorsed SP-050368 in case alignment work was needed in CT.