Standards for 5G and Beyond: Their Use Cases and Applications

By Paul Nikolich, Chih-Lin I, Jouni Korhonen, Roger Marks, Blake Tye, Gang Li, Jiqing Ni, Siming Zhang

IEEE 5G Tech Focus: Volume 1, Number 2, June 2017

Abstract

This article provides a high-level overview on several standardization organizations and their efforts to develop communication standards for 5G and beyond. Standard bodies are actively trying to satisfy the diversified requirements set by the current and future Use Cases and Applications. For each subject matter, a roundup of activities and milestones are selected and presented by the experts actively engaged in those standards activities and organizations.

 

1. Introduction

This article begins a series of reports regarding standards activities occurring throughout the standards bodies actively working within the scope of “5G and beyond.” These bodies include but are not limited to the IEEE, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), and ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). The intent of the series is to identify standards relating to 5G, describe the aspects of standardization handled by each body and applications and use cases that will be enabled by those standards. This issue of the standards report will include information from IEEE 802TM, 3GPP, IETF, and ITU-R.

2. IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee

The IEEE 802 Local Area Network/Metropolitan Area Network (LAN/MAN) Standards Committee (generally known as IEEE 802) [1] is comprised of almost 1000 participants which develop 802 standards for networks, mainly at layers 1 and 2 of the Open Systems Interconnection reference model [2]. These standards address networks at a variety of scales, ranging from personal area networks (PANs) to LANs, MANs, and regional area networks (RANs), though none of these terms represent strict size limits.

Nearly the entire portfolio of standards maintained and developed within IEEE 802 underpins current and future advanced packet networks. A unifying connectivity framework is illustrated in Figure 1. 5G will redefine a wide range of industries: immersive entertainment and experiences, safer, more autonomous transportation, reliable access to remote health care, improved public safety and security, smarter agriculture, more efficient use of energy/utilities, more autonomous manufacturing, sustainable cities and infrastructure, digitized logistics and retail.

Due to the broad domain of envisioned 5G applicability, nearly all standards and projects within IEEE 802 have a role in support of 5G development and enabling of the 5G class of services and user experience. A particular subset was identified during the course of IEEE 802’s “5G/IMT-2020 Standing Committee” (International Mobile Telecommunications) [3], which was chartered from February through July 2016. The final report of that committee [4] calls out standards and projects of “possible relevance” to 5G. These are discussed below. The list is organized by the relevant Working Group (WG).

  • The IEEE 802.1 WG addresses architecture, internetworking, security, network management, time-sensitive networking, and protocol layers above Layer 2. The WG’s Time-Sensitive Networking Task Group is developing the P802.1CM project that will support time-sensitive networking meeting cellular fronthaul requirements within Ethernet bridged networks. The WG’s OmniRAN Task Group is developing the P802.1CF project to create a Recommended Practice on “Network Reference Model and Functional Description of IEEE 802 Access Network,” which will represent IEEE 802 as a heterogeneous but coherent access network consistent with software defined network (SDN) principles. A new activity in the WG is an IEEE “Industry Connections” activity on “IEEE 802 network enhancements for the next decade” that will assess requirements for IEEE 802 networks in support of advanced usage scenarios outside of the IMT domain as specified in ITU.
  • The IEEE 802.3 WG develops standards for Ethernet, which underpins most of the world’s wired packet networks. Numerous standards and projects in the WG address environments such as data centers, campuses, wide-area networks, and automobiles.
  • The IEEE 802.11 WG develops standards for wireless LANs, many of which are certified as Wi-Fi®. Of particular interest for 5G are IEEE 802.11ad, and the follow-up project P802.11ay, which support extremely high individual throughput in the millimeter-wave bands that are a focus of some 5G interest. The P802.11ax project addresses high aggregate throughput, with high user density, in traditional wireless LAN spectrum. IEEE 802.11ah is optimized for spectrum under 1 GHz, with a focus on Internet of Things (IoT) support.
  • The IEEE 802.15 WG develops standards for a variety of wireless specialty networks. The P802.15.3d project targets 100 Gbit/s throughput in the THz spectrum for switched point-to-point links supporting applications such as data centers, intra-device communication, and backhaul. The P802.15.7 revision project standardizes short-range communications in visible, infrared, and near ultraviolet wavelengths. In addition, a number of standardization projects are developing enhancements to IEEE 802.15.4, which is entitled “IEEE Standard for Low-Rate Wireless Networks” but in fact addresses a wide variety of applications.
  • IEEE 802.15.8 Task Group develops a standard optimized for peer-to-peer communications with fully distributed coordination. Some features include fast discovery without association, group communications with simultaneous membership in multiple groups. It offers the potential of great improvement in the delivery and monitoring of ever growing data service ranging from social networking, gaming, advertisement, emergency communications, and it offers to offload traffic from cellular networks.
  • The IEEE 802.16 WG develops standards for wireless MANs. IEEE 802.16 and 802.16.1 are currently recommended by ITU for use in international 3G and 4G applications per the IMT-2000 IMT-Advanced standards. The P802.16s project is creating an adaptation for smaller frequency bands of interest to the electrical power industry.
  • The IEEE 802.21 WG is developing the P802.21.1 project to address media independent services, such as handover, home energy management system, software-defined radio access networks, radio resource management, and device-to-device communication.

3. Third Generation Partnership Project

The 3GPP unites seven telecommunications standard development organizations, i.e. Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB), Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), China Communications Standards Association (CCSA), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI), Telecommunications Technology Association of Korea (TTA), Telecommunication Technology Committee, Japan (TTC), known as “Organizational Partners” and provides their members with a stable environment to produce the Reports and Specifications that define 3GPP technologies. The project covers cellular telecommunications network technologies and provides complete system specifications. The specifications also provide hooks for non-radio access to the core network and for interworking with Wi-Fi networks. The three Technical Specification Groups (TSGs) in 3GPP are RAN, Services & Systems Aspects (SA), and Core Network & Terminals (CT) [5].

Building upon its success of IMT-2000 (3G) and IMT-Advanced (4G), 3GPP has been devoting its effort to IMT-2020 (5G) development since September 2015. 5G New Radio (NR) is expected to expand and support diverse use case scenarios and applications that will continue beyond the current IMT-Advanced standard [6], for instance, enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) and massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC). eMBB is targeting high data rate mobile broadband services, such as seamless data access both indoors and outdoors, and AR/VR applications; URLLC is defined for applications that have stringent latency and reliability requirements, such as vehicular communications that can enable autonomous driving and control network in industrial plants; mMTC is the basis for connectivity in IoT, which allows for infrastructure management, environmental monitoring, and healthcare applications.

RAN WG1 has been approaching the physical layer design with eMBB services and verticals in mind [7]. Wide bandwidth (e.g. 100MHz below 6GHz and up to 400MHz for Millimeter Wave [high priority: 24.25GHz~29.5GHz]) is the basic method for achieving ultra-high data rates. Many other techniques, such as carrier aggregation, multiple or massive antenna, and Low-density parity-check (LDPC) coding, are also considered for data rate boosting (up to 20Gbps). In a high-mobility scenario (e.g. high-speed train (HST) with velocity up to 500km/h), a higher density of reference symbols (RS) would be flexibly configured for robustness against a faster time-varying channel. In terms of low latency, a smaller periodicity of the slot is preferred, and self-contained slot structure is agreed due to its fast Acknowledgement/Non-Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) for data transmissions. Additionally, 5G NR hopes to support URLLC services and eMBB services simultaneously on one carrier. URLLC is implemented with a higher priority with guaranteed time-frequency resource by puncturing the eMBB services. To summarize, flexible design and configuration of the transmission modes and parameters are the core idea of 5G NR. Moreover, Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) has been developed along with 5G NR as a technical reserve. For IoT services, Narrowband IoT (NB-IOT) (a specification of LTE-Advanced) may be used as a submission to meet the ITU requirements for massive connections. Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), LTE and Wireless LAN Aggregation (LWA) promise more flexible spectrum sharing in future. But due to limited time remaining to complete Rel-15, the initial phase of 5G standards, related normative work about these topics, e.g., non-orthogonal multiple access, and shared/unlicensed spectrum, is put on hold in 5G NR until Phase II and beyond (except for forward compatibility considerations).

RAN WG2 is in charge of the Radio Interface architecture and protocols [8]. The new functionalities of the control plane include the following: on-demand system information delivery to reduce energy consumption and mitigate interference, two-level (i.e. Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Medium Access Control (MAC)) mobility to implement seamless handover, beam based mobility management to accommodate high frequency, RRC inactive state to reduce state transition latency and improve UE battery life. The new functionalities of the user plane aim at latency reduction by optimizing existing functionalities, such as concatenation and reordering relocation, and RLC out of order delivery. In addition, a new user plane AS protocol layer named as Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) has been introduced to handle flow-based Quality of Service (QoS) framework in RAN, such as mapping between QoS flow and a data radio bearer, and QoS flow ID marking.

RAN WG3 is responsible for the design of overall RAN architecture and interfaces. The completed study [9] introduced many new features, such as two-level (i.e. Central Unit and Distributed Unit) RAN architecture to enable flexible and low-cost deployment, non-standalone architecture to support LTE and NR dual connectivity, RAN slicing to support CN selection and mobility, NR multi-connectivity to realize high throughput and ultra reliability, context awareness to accelerate content delivery, etc. In April 2017, a functional split between Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) and Radio Link Control (RLC) is agreed, and F1 (i.e. front-haul) is named as the interface.

RAN WG4 deals with radio performance and protocol aspect on a system level [10], meaning it is closely correlated with the RAN WG1/2 specifications. The main 5G topics involve the definition of NR spectrum (i.e. NR operating bands and LTE-NR Dual-Connectivity band combinations), co-existence study if any, general design aspects (such as channel/transmission bandwidth configuration, spectrum utilization, sub-carrier spacing), LTE/NR tight interworking, radio frequency (RF) feasibility for the base station (BS) and the User Equipment (UE), and Radio Resource Management (RRM) procedures, etc. The NR RF requirements are being separately defined for below and above 6GHz. For below 6GHz, the LTE enhanced Active Antenna Systems (eAAS) specifications should be reused, unless new issues are discovered. When it is in the beam domain and above 6GHz, traditional conductive testing may be unsuitable and Over-the-Air radiated testing are actively discussed among member companies.

RAN WG5 is responsible for the development of the specification of conformance testing at the Radio interface (Uu) for the UE [11]. The test specifications are based on the requirements defined by other 3GPP RAN working groups such as RAN WG4 for the radio test cases, and RAN WG2 and CT WG1 for the signaling and protocols test cases. Complementing RAN4 focus on both sub 6GHz and above 6GHz NR bands, RAN5 will develop a detailed conformance and testing methodology to address special needs of NR especially in the high band as an entirely new test methodology is needed to be developed for conformance testing over the air. The early technical objective of RAN WG5, as related to 5G NR, will provide conformance test specifications for the Rel-15 5G-NR requirements to cover RF, demodulation, RRM and positioning test cases for 5G-NR requirements defined in RAN4, the AS protocol test cases for 5G-NR defined in RAN2 as well as NAS and IMS protocol test cases for 5G-NR defined in CT and SA.

Driven ultimately by diversified applications, 5G is envisioned to fulfill various extreme requirements [12] relying on the end-to-end (E2E) slicing from the Core Network (CN) to RAN then to the air interface. It is now at the midpoint of this exciting and challenging journey, where the Study Items (SI) phase was just completed in March 2017 and the Work Item (WI) phase is initiated with detailed objectives in [13]. The first release of 5G specifications was initially expected to make an appearance in June 2018, aiming at commercialization in 2020. However, an intermediate milestone was agreed for the early completion of the Non-standalone 5G NR specification by March 2018. In NSA mode, the connection is anchored in LTE while 5G NR carriers are used to boost data rates and reduce latency. Meanwhile, 3GPP has reinstated its commitment to complete the standalone specification by September 2018. Specifically, NR is connected to 5G-CN (Option 2 in Section 7.1 in [9]) in standalone mode.

Service and System Aspects 2 (SA2) is in charge of developing network standardization, including the main entities, functions and exchange information flows. SA2 has completed the study on Next Generation Core Network (NGCore) [14] dating from November 2015 to November 2016. The work item phase has started and is expected to produce specifications on 5G system architecture and procedures at the end of 2017. There have been totally 13 key issues and corresponding solutions being identified. The new core network architecture is equipped with several new features, including Control plane/User plane split, service based architecture, network slicing identification/selection/function sharing and isolation, on-demand mobility management, flow-based Quality of Service (QoS) management and in-band QoS control. In March 2017, Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), a logically independent function, has been introduced to support flexible deployment, operation, and maintenance of diverse network slices. SA1 has completed the definition and specification on 5G service requirements. SA3 has completed a study from security’s perspective, specifically on the solution to deal with new threats from massive IoT access and RRC inactive state. SA5 is running concurrent studies from the network management’s perspective, one of which is to define Management and Orchestration (MANO) to enable efficient management of infrastructure and network slices for business operations.

4. Internet Engineering Task Force

The IETF [15] primarily develops the core Layer-3 and higher protocols for the Internet and Intranets. It has existed as a formal Standards Development Organization (SDO) since early 1986, but the first standards and request for comments (RFC) date to as early as the late 1960s. Some of the notable IETF produced standards include the Internet Protocol version 4 and 6 (IPv4 and IPv6), Domain Name System (DNS), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

The IETF work is not specific to fixed or wireless networks, or what stands for 5G. It is all about the Internet. However, on the wireless domain, especially the 3GPP has adopted a great number of IETF protocols in their cellular system architecture along the years. IETF and 3GPP maintain close liaison relationship to track technical topics [16] [17]. The fifth generation of the 3GPP system architecture i.e., the “5G” starting from Rel-14 will again take a step closer to a common All-IP system.

From the IETF point of view, 5G has not yet initiated any new major work items that could be labeled 5G specific. However, there are several ongoing work items that will be relevant to the forthcoming 5G system architecture. Furthermore, there has been a number of “side meetings” or “Bar Birds of a Feather (BoFs)” trying to identify and initiate new protocol work the past few IETF meetings. It is becoming clearer that 5G as a cellular system architecture does not actually require domain specific IETF protocol work, rather the solutions align largely with generic developments of Internet technologies. This progress is fueled by the wide adoption of data center technologies, network function virtualization, system-wide separation of control and data planes, and moving all multimedia applications to common web-based technologies for the cellular system architecture, already part of the deployments prior to 5G.

The following non-exhaustive list highlights some working groups and areas that are of relevance within IETF when it comes to prominent 5G topics:

  • Routing area, which develops routing protocols (e.g., BGP, OSPV), key technologies for transport networks (such as MPLS and MPLS-TP), and recently also a great deal of data center and network virtualization related technologies. The following three areas are examples of potential interest for 5G: Deterministic Networking (DetNet WG) for time-sensitive and ultra-reliable networking at layer-3, Service Function Chaining (e.g., SFC WG), and various virtual private network technologies (e.g., BESS WG). These protocols and technologies could form the foundation for the 5G Radio Access Network landline transport networks, new network services platforms, and most likely for the network slicing concept. Deterministic Networking and slicing are examples of instrumental technologies enabling URLLC demanding applications such as self-driving cars, augmented reality and industry & vehicular automation.
  • Internet area is the home for IP and IP mobility. The importance of IPv6 (e.g., 6MAN WG) is undeniable due its “unlimited” address space and suitability for multiple access/multi-homing (e.g., Homenet WG) allowing a practically infinite number of connected devices for end-users. IP mobility has always been of interest in cellular networks, and 5G is not an exception. End-users are accustomed to seamless roaming within one access technology and recently also across different access technologies without interruption in connectivity or application usability. IETF has long worked on distributed, non-centralized, mobility architectures with separated control and user planes (e.g., DMM WG), which shares similarities to the forthcoming 3GPP 5G system architecture. Another potential domain of work within mobility is the location/identifier split based solutions pioneered by the Host Identity Protocol (HIP).
  • Applications and the Real-time area have been one of the most active areas within IETF when it comes to 3GPP defined cellular system architecture, mainly due to the importance of SIP, content distribution, web-based voice and multimedia/communication applications. This is likely to continue and further driven by the IoT work and MTC that have been identified as one of the key 5G services.
  • Transport area will again be of interest since traditionally there are subtle differences on transport protocol behavior when used over wired or wireless networks. There is the queuing part, multiple access solutions (e.g., MPTCP WG), and new transport protocols challenging the dominance of TCP that should be on the radar for 5G (e.g., QUIC WG). The work on new transport protocol is primarily driven by the desire to provide better end-user experience while accessing web-based services (e.g., quicker loading of content after the “first click”). Another prominent area relates to active in-band performance monitoring and OAM when there is a need to understand the exact behavior of a given data path and finding bottlenecks in a transport network or in a complex composed service in a data center (e.g., IPPM WG).
  • Security area never loses its importance. On a specific topic related to envisioned 5G services the security solutions for the IoT application domain are of extreme importance (e.g., ACE WG). The massive number of connected IoT devices creates a lucrative platform for distributed denial of services. From the end-users point of view, addressing privacy concerns is one of the topical areas critical to all IETF security work. 

5. ITU-R Working Party 5D

The mission of the ITU-R Sector is, inter alia, to ensure rational, equitable, efficient and economical use of the radio-frequency spectrum by all radiocommunication services, including those using satellite orbits, and to carry out studies and adopt recommendations on radiocommunication matters. This mission lies within the broader framework of the purposes of ITU, as defined in Article 1 of the ITU Constitution and is, in particular, to "maintain and extend international cooperation among all the Member States of the Union for the improvement and rational use of telecommunications of all kinds".

The specific role of ITU-R within the framework of this mission is as follows. ITU-R shall:

  • Effect allocation of bands of the radio frequency spectrum, the allotment of radio frequencies and the registration of radio frequency assignments and of any associated orbital position in the geostationary satellite orbit in order to avoid harmful interference between radio stations of different countries;
  • Coordinate efforts to eliminate harmful interference between radio stations of different countries and to improve the use made of radio-frequencies and of the geostationary-satellite orbit for radio communication services [18].

ITU-R Working Party 5D is responsible for the overall radio system aspects of the terrestrial component of IMT systems. IMT is comprised of IMT-2000, IMT-Advanced and now the under-development IMT-2020. IMT covers typical mobile broadband cellular systems currently in deployment and the future development of mobile systems including 5G, providing a range of service capabilities for the three main usage scenarios of mMTC, URLLC, and eMBB.  These service capabilities may be provided over a set of schemes ranging from narrowband to broadband IMT-based technologies.

The original goal of IMT was to provide access to a wide range of telecommunication services supported by fixed and mobile telecommunication networks. This has been outlined in a number of ITU-R Recommendations, starting with Recommendation ITU-R M.687 and elaborated in others over the years, including the vision Recommendations ITU-R M.1645 and M.2083. However, the capabilities of IMT technologies have proven to be applicable to specific industries in wide-ranging environments.

Recommendation ITU-R M.2083 describes the framework and overall objectives of IMT systems for the year 2020 and beyond and describes IMT-2020’s envisaged usage scenarios covering applications such as smart cities, smart homes, m-health, m-education, connected cars, connected industrial automation, wearables, etc. These usage scenarios and applications are currently under development in various segments of industry, government, and academia, thereby providing for a very fast-paced growth. These services often raise stringent requirements on throughput, reliability, latency, mobility, the number of concurrently connected devices, and energy efficiency among others.

It is important to properly understand the needs of these “vertical” industries as well as to disseminate vital information for governments and regulators on the role these industries play in the future development of the connected society vision of IMT-2020. Therefore, WP 5D has embarked upon collecting information on the use of terrestrial IMT networks by other industries with the objective of publishing one or more Reports on this topic.

In particular, a Report currently under development encompasses relevant use cases including a description of the applications as well as any available technical and operational system characteristics such as throughput, bandwidth, typical deployment scenarios, latency, reliability, energy efficiency, and mobility. WP 5D notes that these technical and operational characteristics might have a range of values that need to be properly captured.  This Report, titled “The use of terrestrial component of International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) by industry sectors” is scheduled to be completed by October 2018 [19].

6. Other IEEE Standards Activities

In addition to the IEEE 802 family of standards, the IEEE has several other standards activities that are applicable to 5G use cases. For instance, the IEEE P1913 [20] Working Group is working on highly advanced future-oriented Quantum Communications, while the IEEE P1914 [21] Working Group is developing a standard for next generation “fronthaul” interface. There are many other standard related activities (see 5g.ieee.org/standards) within the IEEE that may also fall within the broad scope of 5G.

7. Conclusion

The global connectivity industry must leverage and invest in the participation of a wide array of standards development organizations and standards projects/activities to create the standards they will need to deploy the complex communications, command and control infrastructures to support the 5G vision.  The investment in manpower and intellectual capital is significant, but it is one that has proven to provide an excellent return based on the tremendous historical success of connectivity standards. This article examines the contributions of a few of the key players in this domain, but there are many more that exist that will undoubtedly be key players.

References

  1. IEEE 802 LMSC Overview & Guide [Online]. Available: http://www.ieee802.org/IEEE-802-LMSC-OverviewGuide-06-Oct-2016-v2.pdf
  2. Open Systems Interconnection in general [Online]. Available: ISO/IEC 7498-1:1994
  3. IEEE 802 5G/IMT-2020 Standing Committee [Online]. Available: http://www.ieee802.org/Stand_Com/5G/.
  4. IEEE 802 EC 5G/IMT-2020 Standing Committee Report [Online]. Available: https://mentor.ieee.org/802-ec/dcn/16/ec-16-0119-01.pptx .
  5. About 3GPP [Online]. Available: http://www.3gpp.org/about-3gpp/about-3gpp.
  6. IMT Vision – Framework and overall objectives of the future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond
  7. 3GPP TR 38.802 Study on New Radio (NR) Access Technology, Physical Layer Aspects (release 14)
  8. 3GPP TR 38.804 Study on New Radio Access Technology, Radio Interface Protocol Aspects (release 14)
  9. 3GPP TR 38.801 Study on New Radio Access Technology, Radio Access Architecture and Interfaces (release 14)
  10. 3GPP TR 38.803 Study on New Radio Access Technology, RF and co-existence (release 14)
  11. R5-173041, New work item proposal: UE Conformance Test Aspects – 5G/NR
  12. 3GPP TR 38.913 Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next Generation Access Technologies (release 14)
  13. RP-170847, New WID on New Radio Access Technology.
  14. 3GPP TR 23.799 Study on Architecture for Next Generation System (release 14)
  15. A Tao of IETF: A Novice’s Guide to the Internet Engineering Task Force, Paul Hoffman, Editor [Online]. Available:  https://www.ietf.org/tao.html.
  16. IETF Liaison Managers [Online]. Available: https://www.ietf.org/liaison/managers.html.  
  17. [Online]. Available:  http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Information/IETF-Dependencies/
  18. ITU-R Mission Statement [Online]. Available: http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/information/Pages/mission-statement.aspx.
  19. ITU-R WP5D,” Report ITU-R M.[IMT.BY.INDUSTRIES] - The use of terrestrial component of International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) by industry sectors”, http://www.itu.int/md/R15-WP5D-C
  20. IEEE P1913.1TM,” Draft Standard for Software-Defined Quantum Communication”, https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/1913.html
  21. IEEE P1914.1™, “Standard for Packet-based Fronthaul Transport Networks”, https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/1914.1.html

Authors


Paul Nikolich has been serving the data communications and broadband industries developing technology, standards, intellectual property and establishing new ventures as an executive consultant and angel investor since 2001. He is an IEEE Fellow and has served as Chairman of the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee since 2001. As 802 Chairman he provides oversight for 75 active 802 standards and the 50+ concurrent 802 activities in wired and wireless communications networking. 802 has over 750 active members and manages relationships between IEEE 802 and global/regional standards bodies such as ISO, ITU, ETSI, regulatory bodies and industry alliances.   He is a member of the IEEE Computer Society Standards Activities Board and active leader in the IEEE, the IEEE Computer Society and the IEEE Standards Association. He is a partner in YAS Broadband Friends LLC and holds several patents, serves on the boards of directors and technology advisory boards of companies developing emerging communications technology along with being a board member of the University of New Hampshire’s Broadband Center of Excellence. Mr. Nikolich has held technical leadership positions at large and small networking and technology companies (e.g., Broadband Access Systems, Racal-Datacom, Applitek, Motorola, Analogic). In 1978&79 he received a BS in Electrical Engineering, a BS in Biology and a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, N.Y (now the NYU Tandon School of Engineering).

Chih-Lin I received her Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. She has been working at multiple world-class companies and research institutes leading the R&D, including AT&T Bell Labs; Director of AT&T HQ, Director of ITRI Taiwan, and VPGD of ASTRI Hong Kong. She received the IEEE Trans. COM Stephen Rice Best Paper Award, is a winner of the CCCP National 1000 Talent Program, and has won the 2015 Industrial Innovation Award of IEEE Communication Society for Leadership and Innovation in Next-Generation Cellular Wireless Networks. In 2011, she joined China Mobile as its Chief Scientist of wireless technologies, established the Green Communications Research Center, and launched the 5G Key Technologies R&D. She is spearheading major initiatives including 5G, C-RAN, high energy efficiency system architectures, technologies and devices; and green energy. She was an Area Editor of IEEE/ACM Trans. NET, an elected Board Member of IEEE ComSoc, Chair of the ComSoc Meetings and Conferences Board, and Founding Chair of the IEEE WCNC Steering Committee. She was a Professor at NCTU, an Adjunct Professor at NTU, and currently an Adjunct Professor at BUPT. She is the Chair of FuTURE 5G SIG, an Executive Board Member of GreenTouch, a Network Operator Council Founding Member of ETSI NFV, a Steering Board Member of WWRF, the ComSoc Rep of IEEE 5G Initiative, a member of IEEE ComSoc SDB, SPC, and CSCN-SC, and a Scientific Advisory Board Member of Singapore NRF. Her current research interests center around “Green, Soft, and Open”.

Jouni Korhonen Ph.D, is a Principal R&D Engineer with Nordic Semiconductor, where he is focusing on cellular IoT. Previously Jouni was a Distinguished Engineer with Broadcom working on Ethernet-based base station architectures, Ethernet-based fronthaul networks, and time-sensitive networking. Jouni was instrumental forming the IEEE P1914.3 Radio over Ethernet Task Force (formerly IEEE P1904.3 RoE TF) and has been chairing and actively contributing to the standard development from the beginning. In past Jouni has also been heavily involved with IPv6, DNS and other core network signalling matters in 3GPP. He also held multiple leadership position within IETF along the years and is still an active contributor with 38 published RFCs to date. Jouni also holds 56 granted patents. His research interests include the Internet at large, IPv6 and 3GPP system architecture evolution. 

 

Roger Marks (Fellow, IEEE, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) of EthAirNet Associates is a research and standardization engineer in wireless and wired networking. A PhD physicist, he founded the IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access in 1998 and has chaired that group since inception, simultaneously serving on the IEEE 802 Executive Committee. He is serves as Technical Editor of two standardization projects on local addressing in the IEEE 802.1 Working Group, as Vice Chair of the IEEE 802.11 Working Group's Advanced Access Network Interface Standing Committee, and as a member of the IEEE-SA Registration Authority Committee.

 

 

Blake Tye is a senior manager for the next generation and standards group at Intel Corporation. In this capacity, she oversees various initiatives focused on technology advocacy and spectrum strategy. Tye also supports aspects of Intel’s engagement with industry coalitions such as the Wireless Broadband Alliance, CBRS Alliance, Global mobile Suppliers Association and MulteFire Alliance. Prior to Intel, Tye worked at Qualcomm Inc., where she directed technology demonstration programs in emerging markets, with focus areas in China and mobile health. She also holds a Master’s in International Management from the University of California San Diego’s School of Global Policy & Strategy as well as degrees in international relations and Spanish literature from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Gang Li (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) is a senior researcher of Green Communication Research Center of China Mobile Research Institute, and working on 5G RAN architecture, interface and signaling. He had been working for Lucent technologies from 2003 to 2008. He received the M.E. degree from Sichuan University in 2003.

 

 

 

Jiqing Ni received the PhD degree, in communication and information system, from the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China, in 2013. His study topics were related to cooperative communications and LTE key technologies. From Sep. 2011 to Aug. 2012, he visited the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering of University College London (UCL) to study physical layer security with optimization tools. Since graduation, he has been with the Green Communication Research Center, China Mobile Research Institute. Now he is focusing on 5G physical layer key technologies, including new waveform, control channel design, flexible duplex etc. He is also a 3GPP RAN1 delegate from China Mobile.

 

Siming Zhang received the dual BEng degrees with the highest Hons. from the University of Liverpool (UK) and Xi’an JiaoTong and Liverpool University (XJTLU, China) respectively in 2011. She obtained her M.Sc with distinction and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Bristol (UK) in 2012 and 2016. She then joined China Mobile Research Institute and currently works on research areas ranging from Massive MIMO and mmWave, channel measurements and modeling, conductive testing and prototype development. She has been an active member of the IEEE Communications Society and IEEE Young Professionals. She serves as the Associate Managing Editor of the IEEE 5G Tech Focus. She is the co-lead on the PoC project in the NGMN Trial and Testing Initiative. She is the TPC for IEEE ISCC2017. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding achievements during her study and her career.

 

Editor: Anding Zhu

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IEEE Future Networks Tech Focus Editorial Board

Rod Waterhouse, Editor-in-Chief
Mithun Mukherjee, Managing Editor
Imran Shafique Ansari
Anwer Al-Dulaimi
Stefano Buzzi
Yunlong Cai
Zhi Ning Chen
Panagiotis Demestichas
Ashutosh Dutta
Yang Hao
Gerry Hayes
Chih-Lin I
James Irvine
Meng Lu
Amine Maaref
Thas Nirmalathas
Sen Wang
Shugong Xu
Haijun Zhang
Glaucio Haroldo Silva de Carvalho