Book #3
MARCH 2019

Setting the Standards for theHyper-Connected WorldHARMONISATION OF 5G AND IOT STANDARDS BETWEEN EUROPE AND CHINA

CLOUDNFVFUTURE INTERNET

5G

IoT

MOBILE
INTERNET

IPv6

FIRE

SDN

CENI

EUCHINA: Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World
Harmo ni sati o n o f 5G a nd I o T s ta n da r ds b e t w e e n E u r o p e a n d C h i n a

Author

Disclaimer

Latif Ladid,
Yuming Ge, Xin Guan, Kejun Wei and Song Luo

The information, documentation, and figures contained

Reviewed by:Martin Potts, Jean-Pierre Bienaime,
Georgios Karagiannisin this deliverable are provided by the EXCITING (EUChina Study on IoT and 5G) project consortium under EC
grant agreement 723227 and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the European Commission. The European
Commission is not liable for any use that may be madeof the information contained herein.

Emaillatif.ladid@uni.lu,
geyuming@ritt.cn,
guanxin@ritt.cn,
weikejun@ritt.cn,
luosong@ritt.cn
martin.potts@martel-innovate.com,
jeanpierre.bienaime@5g-ppp.eu,
georgios.karagiannis@huawei.com

Copyright© 2016 - 2019 EXCITING Consortium

Abstract
Europe and China are at the forefront of technological advances in areas related to the Future Internet. While bothparties share common technological objectives, there is
still room for improvement in what concerns bilateral cooperation. The Project EXCITING (EU-China Study on IoT
and 5G) was created to support the development of fa-

Endorsed by:
Dr. Chih Lin I, Chief Scientist,
Wireless Technologies, China Mobile ResearchInstitute, Beijing
31 January 2019
EXCITING WP3 White Paper

vourable conditions for co-operation between the European and Chinese research and innovation ecosystems in
the key strategic domains of IoT and 5G, with a focus on
standardisation and interoperability.
The two prime anchors of standardisation between Europe and China are 3GPP for 5G and oneM2M for IoT.
Both have been initiated by the European standard bodyETSI and include the China Communications Standards
Association (CCSA) as a partner, as well as other world
standardisations bodies (ARIB, ATIS, TSDSI, TTA, TTC)1.
The collaboration between the 5G IA, the 5G Forum China and the AIOTI with the China AII2 adds another dimension of cooperation of joint harmonisation and alignment
in the industry efforts.
In this white paper we review the ongoing standardisation activities related to the Future Internet, 5G and IoT,
and reflect on the need for harmonisation and alignment
between Europe and China.

ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, Japan), ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, USA),TSDSI (Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India), TTA (Telecommunications Technology Association, Korea), TTC(Telecommunication Technology Committee, Japan)
1

2

5G IA (5G Infrastructure), AIOTA (Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation), AII (the Alliance of Industrial Internet, China)

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

2

CLOUDNFVFUTURE INTERNET

5G

IoT

MOBILE
INTERNET

IPv6

FIRE

SDN

CENI

EUCHINA: Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

Table
of

Contents

1. Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2. EU-China Collaboration on the Future Internet  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. Standards for the Future Internet  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1 5G Standardisation Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 IoT Standardisation Bodies  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 3GPP Standardisation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 oneM2M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4. Harmonisation of 5G and IoT Standards in China and Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
6. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31

Figure 1:

Overall 5G Architecture: a) 5G system (5GS); b) 3GPP Option 3  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Table

Figure 2:

3GPP definition of 5G: LTE evolution and New Radio (NR),

FiguresFigure 3:

Main initial 5G deployment options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure 4:Long term migration paths  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Figure 5:

Main migration strategy in Europe From 3GPP NSA Option 3x

Figure 6:

Other possible migration strategy: From 3GPP NSA Option 3x

Figure 7:

NG-RAN and Core Function Splits in 3GPP Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Figure 8:

Overall NG-RAN architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Figure 9:

4G/5G User Plane protocol stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

supporting new usage scenarios [9] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12of

to 3GPP NSA Option 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
to 3GPP NSA Option 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Figure 10: 4G/5G Control Plane protocol stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 11: 5G Core (5GC) functions and interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 12: E2E QoS management and 5GC Slicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Figure 13: 3GPP RAN Support for Network Slicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Figure 14: NG-RAN Slicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Figure 15: Key hierarchy generation in 5GS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Figure 16: E2E Security Enhancement with 5G Evolution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Figure 17: 3GPP NSA Option 3 and SA Option 2 security deployments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Figure 18: 3GPP NSA Option 7 and SA Option 4 security deployments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Figure 19: oneM2M Partnership Project organisation structure  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Figure 20: A use-case-driven approach to set market-driven specifications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Figure 21: oneM2M layered architecture  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Table
of

TablesTable 1:Key IoT challenges and gaps, based on [10] and AIOTI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

3

CLOUDNFVFUTURE INTERNET

5G

IoT

MOBILE
INTERNET

IPv6

FIRE

SDN

CENI

EUCHINA: Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

1

IntroductionT

he Future Internet, the foundation of the Hyper-Connected
World, will be based on two technological concepts: the Fifth
Generation Mobile Communication System (5G) and theInternet of Things (IoT).
Building on advances in technology and system architecturedevelopment, 5G will bring new network and service capabilities
and enable a large variety of new and innovative applications.
Providing an order of magnitude improvement in performancein the areas of capacity, latency, mobility, accuracy of terminal
location, reliability, and availability, 5G presents a huge opportunity
for the digitisation of the economy and the modernisation of allindustry sectors. This transformative potential makes 5G a matterof major societal importance and a subject of high expectations
from economic and political bodies in Europe and globally.
In addition, 5G is regarded a key enabler for the IoT by providing
a platform to connect a massive number of sensors, rendering
devices and actuators with stringent energy and transmission
constraints.
While forecasts vary widely, there is a consensus that the IoT holds
an enormous market potential and that within a few years fromnow there will be tens of billions of IoT devices deployed.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

4

EU-Ch ina Co llabo ratio n o n t he F ut ur e In t e r n e t

2

EU-China Collaborationon the Future InternetH

ome to approximately 25% of the

In September 2015, China and the European

world`s population and generating
34% of the world`s GDP [1], Europe
and China are global champions in the
research, development, and deployment of
the Future Internet. Companies from bothregions dominate the market for mobile
infrastructure equipment: In 2017, Ericsson
and Nokia had a combined market share of
50%, while the two biggest Chinese suppliers,
Huawei and ZTE, held 41% [2]. China held
about 10% of the “5G-essential” IPRs in radio
access, modulation and core networking [3].

Union (EU) signed an Agreement on 5G
to deepen their collaboration research,standardisation, spectrum harmonisation,and the Internet of Things. The objectiveof this Agreement was to ensure that China
and Europe maintain an equivalent level ofindustrial transparency between the twoparties. Under the declaration, China and theEU aimed to reach a consensus on the concept,
basic functionalities, key technologies, andtimeline for 5G.

By 2025, 1.2 billion people worldwide will haveaccess to 5G networks, with China (428 million
subscribers [4]) and Europe (214 million
subscribers [5]) accounting for more than halfof the global subscriber base.

To foster collaboration specifically in thedomain of the IoT, both parties establishedthe EU-China IoT Advisory Group in 2011.
A report published by the Group in 2016[6] listed a number of cooperation items,
including standardisation.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

5

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

3Standards for
the Future Internet
The economic impact of standards has been widely researched, and the potential
benefits of standards are undisputed. Common and open standards ensure theinteroperability of systems, devices, applications, and services, foster innovation,and lower market entry barriers. Effective interoperability guarantees thatconnected devices such as cars, phones, appliances and industrial equipment cancommunicate seamlessly with each other, regardless of manufacturer, operating
system, or other technical components.
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) standardisation is acornerstone of the Digital Single Market Strategy adopted by the European
Commission (EC) to strengthen Europe’s productivity and competitiveness in the
global digital economy. 5G Communications and the IoT are two of the five key ICT
standardisation priorities that have been identified by the EC [7].

3.1 5G Standardisation Bodies
The essential responsibility for defining the
global 5G standard lies with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Seven major
Standards Developing Organisations (SDOs)from Europe, Asia, and North America areassociated with the project. A variety of committees, task groups and working groups areactive within - and between - the major standardisation and regulatory bodies: 3GPP, BBF,
ETSI, IEEE, ITU-T, ITU-R, CEPT3, and, in addition,
there are a large number of forums and 5G
research and promotion initiatives.

In China, international standards in thefield of ICT are mainly formulated by the
CCSA (China Communications Standards
Association), which was established in 2002.
The membership of the CCSA includes
operators, chip and system manufacturers,
universities and other companies.
The CCSA contributes to the global standardisation of 5G through its memberships in 3GPP,
the ITU, and other international initiatives andorganisations. Furthermore, it collaborates
with the SDOs of Japan and Korea within the
CJK (China Japan Korea) group.

3GPP (3rd Generation partnership Project), BBF (Broadband Forum), ETSI (European Telecommunications
Standards Institute), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), ITU-T (International Telecommunication
Union-Telecommunication), ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union - Radiocommunication), CEPT
(Conférence Européenne des Postes et des Télécommunications)
3

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

6

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

The IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group was establishedin 2013 by the Ministry of Industry and Information
Technology (MIIT), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and the Ministry of Scienceand Technology (MOST). It is the major platform topromote 5G research in China, with its core objectives
being to aggregate the power of industry-academiaresearch-application cooperation in mobile communication, promoting 5G technology research, standards
formulation, industrial development, and international cooperation. Its members include leading operators, equipment manufacturers, chip / instrument
enterprises, universities, and research institutes in thefield of mobile communications. The IMT-2020 (5G)
Propulsion Group was initially composed of Chinese
entities and is now open to foreign companies. Important foreign companies such as Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel, NTT DoCoMo and Keysighthave joined the group.
Several organisations in China are involved in thestandardisation of Smart Mobility/Intelligent Transport Systems and therefore have an interest in thespecification and development of 5G technology forthese applications. Two prominent organisations are
the Telematics Industry Application Alliance (TIAA) andthe China ITS Industry Alliance (C-ITS).

In Europe, ETSI produces standards for ICT, which areglobally applicable and adopted by many countries
worldwide. Being one of the principal members of
the 3GPP, its more than 25 Technical Committees andWorking Groups contribute to the definition of the
global 5G standard.
Another major contributor to standardisation in Europe is the 5G Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP), the5G collaborative research programme established under the umbrella of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme. The 5G-PPP was initiated by the
EU Commission for the public side, the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA) representing the private sidewith a wide range of stakeholders including equipment manufacturers, telecommunication and satellite
operators, vertical industries, SMEs, universities andresearch institutes.
The 5G-PPP aims at fostering industry-driven research, monitored by business-related, technological
performance and societal KPIs. Its objective is to deliver solutions, architectures, technologies and standards for a ubiquitous next-generation communication
infrastructure.
In 2015, the 5G-PPP and the IMT-2020 Promotion
Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the objective to strengthen communication and cooperation in the areas of 5G concepts,
spectrum planning, international standards and 5G
experiments, and to promote the formation of consensus between the two regions.
Other initiatives that are focusing on the promotionof 5G in Europe and globally are the 5G Automotive
Association (5GAA) and the 5G Alliance for Connected
Industries and Automation (5G-ACIA). The 5GAA has
been established to connect the telecommunicationindustry and vehicle manufacturers to develop endto-end solutions for future mobility and transport services. The 5G-ACIA has been established to serve as
the central and global forum for addressing, discussing, and evaluating relevant technical, regulatory, andbusiness aspects with respect to 5G for the industrial
domain.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

7

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

3.2 IoT Standardisation Bodies
IoT is expected to comprise tens of billions of networked devices, high-performance networks, andpowerful data processing facilities which will generate, transport, and process huge amounts of data andthus enable new applications and services that willtransform industry and society.

In Europe, ETSI’s Technical Committee SmartM2M,
develops specifications for requirements, functionalarchitecture, and interface descriptions for a standardised M2M platform. SmartM2M is also addressing
IoT standardisation gaps identified by the European
Commission’s Large Scale Pilot projects.

Addressing very diverse applications and use cases,
and utilising a variety of hardware and software technologies, IoT is an extremely complex structure. Unlike 5G, which started from one specific application,i.e. mobile communications, and which can build on
a global standardisation framework and process thathas been refined for more than 15 years, the IoT has
no such common background. Consequently, the IoT
standardisation ecosystem is much more fragmented. In 2016, there were more than 600 standards related to the IoT [7].

In analogy to the 5G-PPP, the AIOTI was initiated by
the European Commission in 2015 as a result of European and global IoT technology and market developments. Currently, the AIOTI has more than 190 members from industry and academia.

A global initiative aiming to ensure the most efficient
deployment of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications systems and the IoT is oneM2M. Launched in2012, oneM2M adopted the successful 3GPP partnership model. Its main objective is to develop technicalspecifications for a common M2M Service Layer thatcan be embedded within various hardware and software to connect the wide range of devices worldwide
with M2M application servers. oneM2M comprises
fourteen partners including ETSI, CCSA, and six otherleading ICT SDOs as well as representatives of different industry sectors including Telematics and intelligent transportation, Healthcare, Utilities, Industrial
automation, and Smart homes.
In addition to oneM2M there are several committees,task and working groups active within and between
the major standardisation and regulatory bodies suchas 3GPP, BBF, ETSI, IEEE, ITU-T and, in addition, a large
number of forums and IoT research and promotion
initiatives, such as AIOTI, IoT Forum and AII.

The AIOTI aims to create and master sustainable innovative European IoT ecosystems in the global context
to address the challenges of IoT technology and applications deployment, which include standardisation, interoperability and policy issues, in order to accelerate
sustainable economic development and growth in the
new emerging European and global digital markets.
Within the AIOTI, its Working Group 03 identifies and,
where appropriate, makes recommendations to address existing IoT standards, analyses gaps in standardisation, and develops strategies and use cases.

In China, the field of IoT standard development isvery complicated. National SDOs, industrial associations and alliances are all involved, but have different
technology priorities. Some SDOs spans over multiple
levels of work and there is some overlapping amongorganisations.
At the national level, China has initially established amulti-tier collaborative working mechanism for the
standardisation of IoT. Since 2010, NDRC, China’s National Standardisation Committee and related authorities have successively established the National IoT
Standards Promotion Group, the National IoT BasicStandards Working Group, and IoT Industrial Standards Application Working Groups.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

8

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

The IoT National Standards Promotion Group guides
the set-up and planning of the national IoT standard
system, as well as coordinating project establishment,
drafting, revision and implementation of national
standards for basic and applied fields of IoT; The IoT
Basic Standards Working Group organises the drafting of the basic and common national standards for
IoT, under which there are 3 project teams working on
general activities, coding and identification, and information security. The project team members are composed of domestic standards organisations such as
standardisation technical committees or standardisation associations that are engaged in IoT technology.
Within the IoT Industry Application Standards Working Group, there are several specific working teams
including public security, transportation, medical
treatment, agriculture, forestry and environmental
protection. They are responsible for developing andimplementing related industrial standards.
At present, China has set up more than 200 national
standard projects, working on general standards forwork guidelines, terminology, architecture, interface
general requirements, identification and security,common standards of sensors, radio frequency identification, network enhancement, information fusion,
application support, etc. and industrial networking
and other industry application standards for agriculture, security, transportation, modern forestry, medical care, home furnishing, M2M and tourism.
At the industrial level, the industrial SDOs have theirdifferent priorities. They usually build on existing industrial standards to tailor them to the specialised
and individualised needs for different sectors.
Multiple industrial standards organisations including
the CCSA TC10, the China National Information Technology Standardisation Network (NITS), the Standardisation Working Group on Sensor Networks (SWGSN),
SAC/TC426, ITS China and TC260 are working on IoT.

For example, the CCSA is working on, and developing,
related technical standards such as ubiquitous networks, IoT and sensor networks, architectures, interfaces, identification and security. The SWGSN is working on the standardisation of terminology of sensor
networks, communication and information interactions, interfaces, security, identification, and application standardisation. The industry standard organisations are all open to foreign companies, where foreigncompanies can be formal members, or observers. At
present, several foreign large and medium-sized enterprises are actively involved.
At the Alliances level, to enhance cooperation fromproduction, research to application of the industrial
Internet, and jointly promote the standardisation, industrialisation and internationalisation of the industrial Internet, the Alliance of Industrial Internet (AII)
was established in 2016. As an open organisation, theAII has more than 900 members now, 7% of which areforeign companies. It is an important communication
platform for domestic and foreign companies in thefield of the industrial Internet. In addition, the AII hassigned an MoU with the IIC of the US to promote thecooperation between industrial Internet architecture,
test beds and standardisation. An MoU between the
AII and the AIOTI - facilitated by EXCITING - was signed
in November 2018.
China is also becoming increasingly active in international standardisation, leading and participating tomore and more standards. China joined other countries to set up oneM2M, to provide a common platform for communication service providers to ensurethat the IoT devices can be interconnected worldwide.
A research group for IoT and Smart Cities has been
set up under ITU-T SG20, to promote the standardisation of the IoT end-to-end architecture and interoperability mechanisms for applications and data sets
adopted by different vertical industry sectors. China
has also actively promoted the establishment of the
ISO/IEC JTC1Working Group for Sensor Networks under the International Standardisation Working Group,
to promote multiple sensor network communication
technology standards.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

9Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

3.3 3GPP Standardisation
5G Definitions and Standard updates
5G Wireless is defined by the 3GPP Release 15 (R15)and later releases (R16, 17, etc.) of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and New Radio (NR) mobile communication
systems. It is thus an LTE advanced pro evolution anda NR technology that adds to existing networks in a
3GPP Non-Stand Alone (NSA) or 3GPP Stand Alone(SA) architecture configuration. 3GPP will propose its
standards to be adopted by ITU, being compliant with
the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)for 2020 and beyond (ITU IMT 2020), which expands
and supports diverse usage scenarios and applications
with respect to current mobile network generations,purposed primarily for voice, mobile internet and video experience.

The Next Generation Radio Access Network(NG-RAN) represents the newly defined radio accessnetwork for 5G, and provides both NR4 and LTE radio
access, see Figure 1.
An NG-RAN node (i.e. base station) is either:• A gNB5 (i.e. a 5G base station), providing NR user
plane and control plane services; or• An ng-eNB6, providing LTE/E-UTRAN7 services towards the User Equipment (UE).

The 5G System (5GS) consist of NG-RAN and 5G Core
Network (5GC), as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Overall 5G Architecture: a) 5G system (5GS)

NG-RAN in relation to the 5G System

3GPP Option 3 | LTE-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC)

NG

S1-U

S1-U

NG

NG

NG

NG-RAN

Xn

en-gNB(NR)

S1

en-gNB
(NR)
X2

X2

Xn

ng-eNB (eLTE)

S1

S1

gNB (NR)
Xn

S1-U

X2-U
NG

gNB (NR)

S1-U

S1

Xn
NG

EPC

Standardisedinterface

E-UTRANNG

NG(Other vendors)(Other vendors)

5GC

Standardised andunified interface

MME/S-GW

MME/S-GW(Other vendors)(Other vendors)(Other vendors)(Other vendors)

AMF/UPFAMF/UPF

X2

ng-eNB (eLTE)

eNB (LTE)eNB (LTE)AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function)
UPF (User Plane Function)
MME (Mobility Management Entity)
S-GW (Serving Gateway)
EPC (Evolved Packet Core)

NR (New Radio)gNB (5G base station)
6
ng-eNB (Next generation eNodeB)
7
E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access)4
5EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

10

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

The NG RAN operates in both so-called “Stand-Alone” (SA) operation and “Non-Stand-Alone” (NSA) operation.
In SA operation, the gNB is connected to the 5G Core Network (5GC); in NSA operation, NR and LTE are tightly
integrated and connect to the existing 4G Core Network (EPC), leveraging Dual Connectivity (DC) toward theterminal. In a DC architecture, a Master Node (MN) and a Secondary Node (SN) concurrently provide radio
resources towards the terminal for an enhanced end-user bit rate (speed or throughput).
Moreover, 3GPP has defined the following architecture configurations on top of the first option above:

Option 2: NR gNB connected to 5GC

Option 5: LTE ng-eNB connected to 5GC

In this option, the gNBs are connected to the 5GC
through the NG interface. The gNBs interconnect
through the Xn interface.

In this option, the ng-eNBs are connected to the 5GC
through the NG interface. The ng-eNBs interconnect
through the Xn interface. Essentially this option allows
the existing LTE radio infrastructure (through an upgrade to the eNB) to connect to the new 5G Core.

Option 3: Multi-RAT8 DC with EPC
In this option, commonly known as LTE-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), a UE is connected to an eNB thatacts as a Master Node (MN) and to an en-gNB that acts
as a Secondary Node (SN). An en-gNB is different froma gNB in that it only implements part of the 5G basestation functionality, which is required to perform SN
functions for EN-DC. The eNB is connected to the EPC
via the S1 interface and to the en-gNB via the X2 interface. The en-gNB may also be connected to the EPC
via the S1-U interface and to other en-gNBs via the
X2-U interface. Note that the en-gNB may send UP9 to
the EPC either directly or via the eNB.
Option 4: Multi-RAT DC with the 5GC and NR as
MasterIn this option, a UE is connected to a gNB that acts as
a MN and to an ng-eNB that acts as an SN. This option requires the 5G Core to be deployed. The gNB isconnected to 5GC and the ng-eNB is connected to thegNB via the Xn interface. The ng-eNB may send UP to
the 5G Core either directly or via the gNB.

Option 7: Multi-RAT DC with the 5GC and E-UTRA
as MasterIn this option, a UE is connected to an ng-eNB that acts
as a MN and to a gNB that acts as an SN. The ng-eNB
is connected to the 5GC, and the gNB is connected to
the ng-eNB via the Xn interface. The gNB may send UP
to the 5GC either directly or via the ng-eNB.

Family of usage scenarios
The family of usage scenarios for IMT-2020 and beyond for 5G include: 1) “Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)” addressing human-centric use cases
for access to multimedia content, services and data;
2) “Ultra-reliable-low latency communications(URLLC)” with strict requirements, especially in termsof latency and reliability; and 3) “Massive machinetype communications (mMTC)” for a very large
number of connected devices and typically transmitting a relatively low volume of non-delay-sensitive
information.

RAT (Radio Access Technology)
UP (User Plane)

89EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

11

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

3GPP 5G Roadmap
As illustrated in Figure 2, the completion of the first
5G phase (Phase 1 or Release 15, R15) of the NR
Access technology was achieved in June 2018, in its
NSA configuration [9]. The SA option was finalised in
September 2018. The 3GPP R15 supports eMBB andsome elements of URLLC, e.g. flexible numerology andreduced scheduling interval.
Both LTE and NR use orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) as the waveform. LTE uses
a fixed numerology of 15 kHz sub-carrier spacing(SCS) and operates below 6 GHz. The new 5G radio isfor all spectrum options. To this end, 5G supports a

2014
RAN

2015

2017

2016

2018

2019

Rel-15Rel-14Rel-13flexible numerology, which consists of different Sub
Carrier Spacing (SCS), nominal Cyclic Prefix (CP), andTransmission Time Interval (TTI), or scheduling interval,
depending on bandwidth and latency requirements.
At higher SCS, the symbol duration decreases, andhence also the length of a slot. The slot is the basic
frame structure at which most physical channels andsignals repeat. In NR, slots can be complemented bya “mini-slot” based transmissions to provide shorterand more agile transmission units than slots. In LTE
and NR a slot comprises 14 OFDM symbols, whichleads to a slot length of 1 ms at 15 kHz SCS.

Rel-16
11-15/06/2018

Completion of New Radio (NR) Access Technology(including URLLC specifics)

LTE-Adv Evolution
03/18 | Opt. 3 09/18 | Opt. 2

NonStandalone

5G NR = 5G New RadioeMBN = enhanced Mobile broadband
URLLC = Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications
mMTC = massive Machine Type Communications(NSA-NR)

Stand
alone

(SA-NR)

Phase 1

R15

NR Framework• Waveform & Channel Coding• Frame Structure, Numerology• Native MIMO
• Flexible Duplex
Spectrum• 600MHz to 52.6GHz

2020

Architecture• UL&DL Decoupling• CU-DU Split• e2e Slicing( Others: uRLLC )1Q 2020
ASN.1(Phase II, R16)

GlobalLaunch03/19 | Opt. 7/4/5

Full IMT-2020
NR

NR

Phase 2

R16
NR Improvement• New Multiple Access• eMBB Enhancement• Self-Backhaul

Spectrum• Up to 100GHz

Vertical Digitalization• uRLLC• mMTC• D2D/ V2X• Unlicensed

Figure 2: 3GPP definition of 5G: LTE evolution and New Radio (NR), supporting new usage scenarios [9]By using higher numerologies in NR, the slot duration
decreases, which is beneficial for lower latencies. The
intention of NR is to support a mix of numerologies on
the same carrier. A more profound URLLC analysis canbe found, e.g., in [10].

The second 5G phase (Phase 2 or Release 16, R16),
supporting usage scenarios, including URLLC andmMTC, will be frozen in Q1 of 2020, or later [9].

RAT (Radio Access Technology)
9UP (User Plane)8

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

12

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e tSpectrum
5G NR is expected to increase spectrum efficiency
and support contiguous, non-contiguous, and muchbroader channel bandwidths than available to current
mobile systems. 5G NR will be the most flexible way
to benefit from all available spectrum options from
400 MHz to 90 GHz, including licensed, shared accessand license-exempt bands, FDD and TDD10 modes,
including Supplementary Uplink (SUL), LTE/NR uplinksharing (ULS), and narrowband and wideband Carrier
Components (CC).
A multi-layer spectrum approach is required to address such a wide range of usage scenarios and requirements• The «Coverage and Capacity Layer» relies on spec-

trum in the 2 to 6 GHz range (e.g. C-band) to deliver
the best compromise between capacity and coverage.

• The «Super Data Layer» relies on spectrum above 6

GHz (e.g. 24.25-29.5 and 37-43.5 GHz) to address specific use cases requiring extremely high data rates.

• The «Coverage Layer» exploits spectrum below 2

5G reference architecture and migration
strategies
The most likely initial deployment options are illustrated in Figure 3.
3GPP Option 3x (NSA LTE plus NR with EPC) is theconfiguration that, most likely, more carriers (network
operators) will adopt, due to minor investments fortheir initial 5G deployment, and so it is by the local
players in Australia. It supports eMBB and FWA11 usage
scenarios and Voice over IP (VoIP) over LTE (VoLTE) or
Circuit Switch Fall Back (CSFB) to earlier network releases (3G, 2G).
The 3GPP Option 2 (SA NR with 5GC) is initially adopted by only a few carriers globally. For taking full advantage from it, a wide coverage rollout is needed, as
the interoperation with 4G/EPS is less efficient. Initial
partial coverage rollouts may be more suitable for enterprise or overlay deployments. In the long round, it
will support all scenarios (eMBB, URLLC, mMTC), plus
other functionalities than Option 3x, such as Network
Slicing and Voice over NR (VoNR).

GHz (e.g. 700 MHz) providing wide-area and deep
indoor coverage.

5G networks will leverage the availability of spectrum
from these three layers at the same time, and administrations are expected to make available contiguous
spectrum in all layers in parallel, to the greatest extent
possible.

10

FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), TDD(Time Division Duplex)
11

FWA (Fixed Wireless Access)Figure 3: Main initial 5G deployment options
EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

13

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

The medium-long term migration path of 5G networks is illustrated in Figure 4. Ultimately,
all networks will converge to a 3GPP Option 2 architecture configuration (SA NR with 5GC).

Figure 4: Long term migration paths

The middle term migration strategies are basically two, depending on the carriers’ spectrum availability for
deploying the NR:

1

From deployed 3GPP Option 3x (NSA LTE + NR with EPC) to 3GPP Option 7 (NSA eLTE + NR with 5GC).
The reasons to go for that are: Leverage 4G (LTE/EPC) installed base; NR rollout driven by better service (notcoverage); and evolved LTE (eLTE) for all wide area coverage and all use cases. The draw backs are: Full Dual
Stack eNB/ng-eNB in LTE RAN to EPC/5GC; LTE RAN upgrades to eLTE; and required Interworking between
LTE and NR. UE availability is also, currently, questionable. The migration scenario is shown in Figure 5.

NR
LTE

EPC

(Other vendors)

EPC

NR

(Other vendors)

LTE

LTE

NR
(e)LTE

5GC Added
LTE Evolves

NR

5GC

(e)LTE(Other vendors)Standardised andunified interface

Figure 5: Main migration strategy in Europe From 3GPP NSA Option 3x to 3GPP NSA Option 7

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

14

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

2

From deployed 3GPP Option 3x (NSA LTE + NR with EPC) to 3GPP Option 4 (NSA NR + eLTE with
5GC). This choice is driven by the availability of low band NR (<3 GHz, <1 GHz for rural). The 5G services
are launched with LTE+NR NSA on EPC, the NR and 5GC rollout are driven by needs of 5G coverage;
outside the NR coverage, 5G services may be provided by 3GPP LTE NSA Option 4 with 3GPP Option 5(SA eLTE with 5GC). The interworking between eLTE and NR is also required. The migration scenario isshown in Figure 6.

(Option 5)(e)LTE

EPC(Other vendors)

EPC

NR
NR
(e)LTENR(Other vendors)

LTE

NR coverage

LTE

NR
NR
(e)LTE

5GC(Other vendors)Standardised andunified interface

Figure 6: Other possible migration strategy: From 3GPP NSA Option 3x to 3GPP NSA Option 4

As in previous mobile system generations, 3GPP
defines a clear functional split between the AccessNetwork (NG-RAN) and Core Network (5GC) withthe overall 5G System architecture defined in the
3GPP “System architecture for the 5G system; Stage2”, 3GPP TS 23.501 v.15.2.0. and a more convenient
overview of the AN and CN functions in the 3GPP
“Procedures for the 5G System; Stage 2”, 3GPPTS 23.502 v.15.2.0. The two network domains are
separated by a standardised interface (N2 and N3)
defined in a set of specifications, with the ”NG-RAN;
NG general aspects and principles”, 3GPP TS 38.410
v.15.0.0. as the overarching specification whichenable multi-vendor RAN – CN deployments. Also, thisinterface has been now unified, meaning that all next
generation accesses (trusted/untrusted fixed/mobile
3GPP access points) must support this interface.

The NG-RAN supports inter cell radio resource
management (RRM), radio bearer (RB) control,
connection mobility control, radio admission control,
measurements configuration and provisioning, anddynamic resources allocation.
The 5GC is responsible for non-access stratum(NAS) security and idle state mobility handling; user
equipment (UE) IP address allocation and protocol
data unit (PDU) control, and mobility anchoring and
PDU session management.
The functional split between the NG radio and core
domains is shown through Figure 7, where the multivendor implementation (equipment from different
vendors) of the corresponding functions is also
illustrated.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

15

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

Figure 7: NG-RAN and Core Function Splits in 3GPP Standard

Figure 8: Overall NG-RAN architecture

Both the user plane and control plane architectures
for NG-RAN follow the same high-level architecture
scheme, as depicted in Figure 8. Figure 9 and Figure 10
show the 3GPP 4G and 5G protocol stacks for user
and control plane, respectively. The two systems, withsimilar architecture, also use the same protocols,
except for the Service Data Adaptation Protocol(SDAP). The SDAP has been introduced in 5G for flow
based QoS, as described in the following sections. It
provides mapping between QoS flows and data radio
bearers and marking QoS flow ID (QFI) in both DL andUL packets. There is a single SDAP entity for each PDU
session (GTP Tunnel).

In 4G, the non-access stratum (NAS) supports mobility
management (MM) functionality and user plane
bearer activation, modification and deactivation;
it is also responsible of ciphering and integrity
protection of NAS signalling. In 5G, NAS-MM supports
registration management functionality, connection
management functionality and user plane connection
activation and deactivation; as well as ciphering andintegrity protection of NAS signalling. NAS-Session
Management (SM) is responsible for user plane PDU
Session Establishment, modification and release; it istransferred via the AMF, and transparent to the AMF.

As in the previous 3GPP network releases, the NG-RAN and 5GC have crystal clear boundaries, regardless theimplementation. Hence security risks in NG-RAN are manageable as in previous RAN generations. In Australia, theHuawei equipment are only in the access part of the network. The core network is provided by other vendors,such as, for example, Nokia and Ericsson.
EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

16

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

Application
IP

IP

4G

Relay

Relay

PDCP

GTP-U

PDCP

GTP-U

GTP-U

GTP-U

RLC

RLC

UDP/IP

UDP/IP

UDP/IP

UDP/IP

MAC

MAC

L2

L2

L2

L2

L1

L1

L1

L1

L1

L1

LTE-UuS1-U

UE

eNodeB

S5/S8a

PDN GWCoreandRAN Standardised
unified interface

Application

SGi

Serving GW

PDU Layer

5G

PDU Layer
Relay

SDAP

Relay

5G UP

5G UP

Encapsulation

SDAP

GTPU

GTPU

PDCP

PDCP

UPD/IP

UDP/IP

UDP/IP

UDP/IP

RLC

RLC

MAC

MAC

L2

L2

L2

L2

L1

L1

L1

L1

L1

L1

UE

gNodeB

Encapsulation

UPF

N3

UPF

N9

N6

Figure 9: 4G/5G User Plane protocol stack

4G

NAS

NAS

Relay

RRC

S1-AP

PDCP

RRC
PDCP

S1-AP
SCTP

RLC

RLC

IP

IP

MAC

MAC

L2

L2

L1

L1

L1

LTE-Uu

UE

SCTP

L1
S1-MMEeNodeB

MME

Core

and
RAN Standardised
unified interface
NAS-SM

5G

NAS-SM
Relay

NAS-MM

NAS-MM
Relay

5G-AN
Protocol
Layer

5G-AN
Protocol
Layer

NG-AP

NG-AP
SCTP

SCTP

IP

IP

L2

L2

L1
UE

5G-AN

N11

N11

L1
N2

AMF

N11

SMF

Figure 10: 4G/5G Control Plane protocol stack

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

17

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

5G core and slicing
The 5G core (5GC) supports many new enabling network technologies. Among other fundamental technology
components, as depicted in Figure 11, the 5GC is characterised by a layered and service oriented architecture,with control plane (CP) and UP split, and interfaces to subscription, state and policy data. Moreover, the 5GC
supports: User plane session continuity, while the terminal moves across different access points; interworking
with untrusted non-3GPP access; a comprehensive policy framework for access traffic steering, switching andsplitting; and wireless-wireline convergence.
Figure 11: 5G Core (5GC) functions and interface

DataData

PolicyPolicyDataData

SessionSession
DataData

Subscription
Subscription
DataData

5G Core5G CoreControl
Control
PlanePlaneIMS IMS

5G-Uu
5G-Uu

(N3IWF-UP)(N3IWF-UP)

Non-3GPP
Non-3GPP(untrusted)(untrusted)

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

AMF
= Access= Access
andandMobility
Mobility
Management
Management•AMF
UPF= User= User
Plane
Plane
Function
Function•UPF
NSSF= Network= Network
Slice
Slice
Selection
Selection
Function
Function•NSSF
SMF= Session= Session
Management
Management
•SMF
UDM
UDM
=
Unified=Unified
Data
Data
Management
Management•= Policy= Policy
Control
Control
Function
Function•PCFPCF
AUSF= Authentication= Authentication
ServerServerFunction
Function•AUSF= Data= DataNetwork
Network(External)(External)•DNDN= Application= Application
Function
Function•AF AF

Y2 Y2
5G Core5G CoreUserUser
PlanePlane

Multi-accessMulti-access
EdgeEdge
ComputingComputing
(MEC)
(MEC)

StandardisedStandardised
and andunifiedunifiedinterfaceinterface

The separation of control and user planes provides
deployment flexibility and independence. The distribution of core functionality, especially user plane
functions, closer to the radio nodes, i.e. at the edgeof the network, enables the placement of applicationsin the proximity of the end-user, reducing transport
network load and latency. The service based architecture – including the related Network Repository Function (NRF) for 5GC control plane functions – allows
flexible addition and extension of network functions.
Slicing and related Network Slice Selection Function(NSSF) enable a flexible assignment of users to different network slice instances that may be tailoredto different use cases. The 5GC also supports unified
subscriber management, authorisation and authentication functions.

The NG-RAN is not aware of any end user data: as in earlier network generations, all user plane and signalling
traffic is transparently forwarded to the 5GC throughsecure tunnels and third party security gateways, asdetailed in the next session.
Other fundamental 5G enabling technologies, end toend, are: Flow based QoS, with a much higher levelof granularity than LTE, which is limited to the bearer service concept (single pipe between terminaland core network); multi-connectivity, where the 5G
device can be connected simultaneously to 5G, LTE,and WiFi, offering a higher user data rate and a much
more reliable connection; terminal assisted Network
Slicing, and E2E network management and orchestration, with in-built support for cloud implementationand edge computing. The 5G flow based QoS and slicing concept are illustrated in Figure 12. The NG-RAN
and UE are only Slice and QoS aware. Slices consistingof chains of virtual network functions (VNFs) are supported by the 5GC only.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

18

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

3GPP for terminal (UE) assisted network slicing defines a new parameter denoted as Single-Network Slice
Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI). Each S-NSSAI assists the network in selecting a network slice
instance. The S-NSSAI is composed by the following attributes:• Slice/Service Type (SST): 1 (eMBB), 2 (URLLC), 3 (MIoT) are the standardised values for roaming; operator
specific settings are also possible;• A Slice Differentiator (SD): Tenant ID, for further differentiation during the NSI selection.

Standardised andunified interface

UDM

Slice/QoS
aware only

NSSAI

NG-RAN
(NR)

NSSF
NSSAI

NRF
NSSAI

5GC

SMF

AMF
NSSAI

N2
UE
NSSAI

N3

NR
N1

NSSAI

(Up to 8 S-NSSIs)(QoS)

Slice AUPFPDU Session  S-NSSAI

DNN#A

SMF
UPF

(QoS)

Slice/QoS
Control(E2E)

Slice B

DNN#B

QoS (IP) Flows
UDM = Unified Data Management NSSF = Network Slice Selection Function NRF = Network Repository Function

Figure 12: E2E QoS management and 5GC Slicing

The Network Slice Selection Assistance Information(NSSAI) consists of a collection of S-NSSAIs. Maximum
eight S-NSSAIs may be sent in signalling messages
between the UE and the Network. The NSSAI isconfigured (Configured NSSAI) in the UE per PublicLand Mobile Network (PLMN) by the Home PLMN
(HPLMN).
The terminal uses the Requested NSSAI (UE) during
the Registration Procedure and the Allowed NSSAI,
received from the Access and Mobility Function (AMF),
within its Registration Area (RA). The RA allocated by
the AMF to UE has homogeneous support of network
slices. The 5GC supports AMF level slicing per UE
type, and SMF and UPF level slicing per Service or per
Tenant, based on S-NSSAI and DNN.
IP Flows are mapped onto QoS Flows, which aremapped onto one or more data radio bearers (DRBs).
DRBs are associated to one PDU Session, which ismapped onto one S-NSSAI. The S-NSSAI is mapped

onto one Network Slice Instance (NSI), i.e. one Network
Slice; and the NSI is mapped onto a single Data
Network Name (DNN). However, it is not true the viceversa, as described in the following text. This is how
5G handles the 5G flow based QoS within a given NSI.
The NG-RAN is aware of the slice at PDU Session level,
because the S-NSSAI is included in any signalling
message containing PDU Session information. Preconfigured slice enabling in terms of NG-RAN functions
is implementation dependent. An example of NG-RAN
slicing is depicted in Figure 14. The medium access
control (MAC) scheduling – based on radio resource
management (RRM) policy related to the servile levelagreement (SLA) in place, between communication
service provider and tenant, for the supported slice
and QoS differentiation within the slice – is vendor
dependent. The 5GC has full control of slice and QoS
management, end to end (E2E).

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

19

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

Figure 13: 3GPP RAN Support for Network Slicing

PDU Session

5GC
Control(E2E)

Slice BS-NSSAIQoS (IP) FlowsRAN-NRT

GTP-U

Slice A

NG-RANPDU-Sessions

CU

CU

High Level Split(3GPP R15 selected )Slice/QoS
aware
scheduling

DU

RAN-RT

DU

Low Level Split(eCPRI)RF
5G(SA) UE

Figure 14: NG-RAN Slicing

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

20

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

5G security aspects
5G System security is based on the well-establishedand proven 4G/EPS security, which has been further
enhanced. NAS security and keying hierarchy are as
in 4G. NAS security is established via the 3GPP Authentication and Key Agreement between NAS entities in UE and CN (AMF). Figure 15 shows the 5GS
keying hierarchy, which is comparable to 4G for thefunctionality towards the RAN, i.e. all keys for the Access Stratum (AS = RAN or AN) are derived from the
NAS security parameters inside the Core Networkand signalled the RAN. The main new model of the 5GS
is on how the security functionality is decomposed anddistributed inside the Core Network. This enables alsothat the globally unique 5G Subscription Permanent
Identifier (SUPI, which is comparable to the IMSI12 of
earlier system generations) is always signalled encrypted via the RAN towards the CN. It is decrypted by
the home-PLMN and delivered from there to the serving Core Network for any user service, management
and regulatory purposes. In contrast to earlier systemgenerations, where the IMSI was used in the RAN forrecovering from network failures and enabled thereby certain attacks, the 5G System never exposes the
SUPI to the RAN nor does it transfer it in clear via theradio. Further, 3GPP 5G Release 15 adds an option to
perform user plane integrity protection between UE
to gNB. And, in 3GPP Release 16, security algorithms
use up to 256-bit keys, see Figure 16.

Figure 15: Key hierarchy generation in 5GS

Figure 16: E2E Security Enhancement with 5G Evolution

4G

5G

Support of UP Encryption

Expose User ID in initial Access

128-bit keys

UP and CP support Both
Encryption and Integrity Protection

Permanent User ID
Encrypted All time

128-bit keys & 256-bit keys
e.g.

NAS: ciphering,
integrity

UE

RRC: ciph., int.
UP: ciph., int.

L=256

AMF

L=256

gNB
L=128

Enhanced

Security Algorithm

Privacy Protection

R15 Enhancement

12

Stronger

Enhanced

User Data Protection…

R16 Enhancement

IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity)
EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World21

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

Also, as in 4G, the transport network layer within the
RAN and between RAN and core network domains isprotected using IPSec tunnels. Examples of security
deployment scenarios for 3GPP NSA Option 3x (whichis the same as with 4G) and SA Option 2, NSA Option
7 and NSA Option 4, architecture configurations areillustrated in Figure 17 and Figure 18, respectively. As
shown in the figures, here with 3GPP Option 2 as an
example, the 5G system RAN related transport adopts
the same means as 4G and, therefore, for this aspect, it
has the same level of security as 4G and as 3GPP Option
3x. The Security GateWay (SeGW) is a 3rd party product.

In summary, it can be concluded that the 5G RAN
security level is at the same or higher level thanfor 4G, depending on deployment options, and isfully under operator control. 3GPP aims at ensuring
the security of data transmission. The Packet Data
Convergence Protocol (PDCP) encryption in the RAN(downlink), and UE (uplink), ensures security over the
air interface. Carriers ensure the security of Intranet
transmission (transport network layer connecting theaccess and core network equipment. The application
layer ensures the security of services.

NG-RAN

Option 3

BBU(CU&DU)

S1-U
IPSec Tunnel

SeGW

X2
I PS ec T unnel(3rd party)
Standardisedinterface

BBU

LTE

EPC

Regional DC (POC1)

NG-RAN

Option 2

BBU(CU&DU)

N2/N3-C/U
IPSec Tunnel

SeGW

Xn

5GC

I PS ec T unnel

BBU(CU&DU)

Standardised andunified interface(3rd party)
Regional DC (POC1)

Figure 17: 3GPP NSA Option 3 and SA Option 2 security deployments(The Security Gateway (SeGW), Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and 5G Core Network (5GC) are 3rd party equipment, e.g. from Nokia or Ericsson)

NG-RAN

Option 7

BBU(CU&DU)

N2/N3-U
IPSec Tunnel

SeGW

Xn
I PS ec T unnel(3rd party)
Standardised andunified interface

BBU

eLTE

5GC

Regional DC (POC1)

NG-RAN

Option 4

BBU(CU&DU)

N2/N3-C/U
IPSec Tunnel

SeGW

Xn
I PS ec T unnel

eLTE

BBU

(3rd party)
Standardised andunified interface

5GC

Regional DC (POC1)

Figure 18: 3GPP SA Option 7 and SA Option 4 security deployments(The Security Gateway (SeGW), Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and 5G Core Network (5GC) are 3rd party equipment, e.g. from Nokia or Ericsson)

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

22

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

3.4 oneM2M
oneM2M brings together several major ICT Standards
Developing Organisations (SDOs) around the world,
namely ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TIA, TSDSI, TTA and
TTC. These SDOs, referred to as Partners Type 1,
share the common objective of developing common
standards for the Internet of Things Service Layer
across different industry segments. Partners Type 1,
have made a great effort to achieve a much-needed
convergence in the IoT standards landscape throughceasing developing own IoT standards. Instead,they contribute in promoting the oneM2M effort
through publication of oneM2M specifications as own
standards, de-facto ensuring a global and institutionalreach for oneM2M.

In addition to these SDOs, several fora and industry
alliances working on IoT related topics joined
oneM2M where they play an important contributingrole in shaping oneM2M specifications and ensuring
a coordinated approach. Referred to as Partners
Type 2, their list includes: the Broadband Forum,
Global Platform, etc.
Currently there are 200 active members in oneM2M.
All share the vision of specifying an IoT Service Layer,
a layer that sits between applications and networks
and expose functions needed by IoT applications
across different industry segments. As opposed toproprietary approaches, oneM2M specifications development is open and contribution driven, meaning
the industry at large can influence the direction of thespecifications, therefore market deployments.

Figure 19: oneM2M Partnership Project organisation structure

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

23

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e tOpen and contribution driven approachto set standards

Members of oneM2M keep the specifications
and open source aligned

As opposed to proprietary approaches, oneM2M
specifications development is open and contribution
driven, meaning the members can influence the direction of the specifications. In addition, oneM2M maintains a list of liaisons with other fora and standards
initiatives, to ensure complementary approaches.

Despite not chartered to build open source, the roleof open source in the ICT industry cannot be underestimated in helping market uptake and fostering adeveloper community. Members of oneM2M have
driven open source implementations according to
oneM2M specifications in several established open
source initiatives such as OCEAN13, Linux Foundation,
Eclipse Foundation14. In addition, ATIS and its members developed a lightweight oneM2M client targeted
for device quick prototyping and deployments.

To seek efficiency and expedite time to market for
oneM2M specifications, the work is being handled
by different working groups who actually develop
the output specifications. The Technical Plenary coordinates between the working groups, oversees the
progress and manages the work program. The list ofworking groups is as follows: Requirements, Architecture, Protocols, Security, Management Abstractionand Semantics, Testing.

Interoperability testing for shorter time
to market
oneM2M believe in running code and interoperable products. 2 plugtests are organised every year where engineers
get together and test their products against each other andin accordance to test specifications. Regular interoperability
testing events are a real asset.

As these events are always held in the week prior
to a Technical Plenary meeting, they allow immediate feedback to the oneM2M working
groups where the issues discovered
can be addressed very quickly.

A use case driven approach to IoT standards
Use cases are a great way to express real world scenarios. Once properly described, they are used toderive requirements for the IoT service layer. It is
however important to recognise that IoT is about use
case proliferation, therefore the specifications should
be built to address the need of multiple use cases including the ones we did not even think of at the timeof the specification. To achieve this endeavour, usecases are used to derive service requirements which
in turn drive guidelines (referred to as Technical Reports in Figure 20) and interoperability specifications(referred to as Technical Specifications in Figure 20).

This is a key element to the stability ofthe oneM2M platform.

OCEAN (OCEAN Protocol:
https://oceanprotocol.com/#why)
13

Eclipse Foundation(https://www.eclipse.org/org/foundation/)
14

Figure 20: A use-case-driven approach to set market-driven specifications

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World24

Standards fo r the Fut ur e In t e r n e t

oneM2M’s Horizontal architecture
Figure 21 provides the oneM2M layered
architecture approach. Since day one,
oneM2M considered IoT as a largely
distributed system where application levelprocessing could happen at the device,
the gateway, the edge or the central cloudlevel. Taking into account this market
fact, the architecture looks the same fordevice, gateway or cloud deploymentsof oneM2M. As depicted in Figure 21, theService Layer is the glue between the
network and applications. It value is in
offloading applications from handlingaspects such as protocol conversion,different network types, data collection,
security, device management, etc. With
oneM2M applications can access all thosefunctions from the oneM2M Service
Layer, helping therefore the application
developers focus predominantly on theapplication business logic, defacto the usecase implementation.

Figure 21: oneM2M layered architecture

The oneM2M Release 2 set of specifications can be found at:
http://www.onem2m.org/technical/partner-transpositions
They are also endorsed as ITU-T Y.4500.X series:
https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-Y/en

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

25

Harmo nisat io n o f 5G an d Io T S tan dar ds in C hin a an d E ur o p e

4Harmonisation of 5G and IoT Standards
in China and Europe
Acknowledging the need for global standards
and building on the experience from 3G and
4G standardisation, the global wireless communications community collaborates within
the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
to define the 5G standard.
While both the EU and China have their dedicated 5G research initiatives and promotion
groups as well as deployment plans and technology roadmaps they appear to adopt thesame concept of a unified 5G core standard,a set of clearly defined KPIs plus a number ofkey technologies for connectivity. Through thecollaboration of both regions’ standardisation
bodies in 3GPP, the exchange between theirmajor 5G technology initiatives, and the global orientation of their major communicationequipment manufacturers a considerable degree of harmonisation is being achieved. The
same can be said with respect to IoT where
the world’s major SDOs are cooperating within
oneM2M.
In the past, the global standardisation process
was sometimes hampered by national solo efforts, typically to protect a certain market or
gain dominance, which resulted in products
never reaching economies of scale, or making
it to the market at all. To improve this situation, it was recognised that harmonisation ofstandards between different SDOs was a useful thing to attempt.
This has resulted in parties involved in standardisation employing a different approach topush their interests, i.e. by actively participat-

ing in, and contributing to, the work of the
major SDOs. Leading global manufacturers ofcommunications equipment no longer try todefine dedicated local standards but rather argue their case for introducing certain elements
into 3GPP standards, such as Huawei’s “Polarcode” technology for 5G channel coding. Thiscan be seen as a more open and collaborative approach, where standards will be agreed,
based on the merit of the contributions.
In the IoT domain, China has increasingly engaged in international standardisation bodies
during the past years and made numerous
contributions that have been adopted as global standards15.
Another successfully practised approach is tooccupy key positions within the SDO Technical Committees and Working groups, with
3GPP being one example [3]. Harmonisationof standards developed by different SDOs has
therefore become less of an issue; instead,harmonisation has to be achieved within thestandardisation process.
Of course, there may, and will still be differences between regions/markets, for instancein terms of implementation, development anddeployment priorities, and technology choices.
Standards typically define many different options and thus leave many freedoms to implementers. The harmonisation of interoperability processes with a view to achieving thehighest possible level of interoperability istherefore essential16.

Examples are the international standard ITU-T Y.2068 on the functional framework and capabilities of the IoT
led by CAICT, and the approval of the ISO/ IEC 30141 project jointly promoted by the Wuxi IoT Industry ResearchInstitute and the China Electronics Standardisation Institute15

The subject of interoperability harmonisation is addressed by a second white paper published by the EXCITING
project
16

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

26

Harmo nisat io n o f 5G an d Io T S tan dar ds in C hin a an d E ur o p e

A proven approach to achieve interoperability isthrough joint trials, large pilots, and dedicated interop
events (“plug-tests”).
The 5G standardisation process provides an example
for different development priorities: Unlike the 3GPP
which foresees the development of 5G for high-speed
communications (enhanced Mobile Broadband eMBB) and the IoT (massive Machine Type Communications - mMTC) in different phases, China advocatesequal priorities for both application cases. Europe,with its focus on involving vertical industries, including Industry 4.0, in the development process, appears
to be more in line with China here, targeting the deployment of full 5G (eMBB, mMTC, URLLC) by 2020.
Thirdly, countries or regions may make different technology choices, which again cannot be addressed
through harmonisation measures for standards but
for interoperability processes. Two examples of suchchoices are shown below, focusing on the NB-IoT (Narrowband -IoT) and ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems):
Following a decision of the MIIT in June 2017 all
1
major Chinese operators began deploying NBIoT for low-power, wide-area IoT services in the
country [8]. While NB-IoT has also been adopted
by major European operators, their counterpartsin the United States mainly opted for LTE-M. Although NB-IoT is currently not part of the 5G
technology, 3GPP has a clear migration path tointegrate NB-IoT features into 5G in the next twoto three years.
2

While field trials of both IEEE 802.11p-based DSRC
(Dedicated Short Range Communication) and CV2X (Cellular – Vehicle to everything) have been
conducted in Shanghai and other cities, the creation of a C-V2X WG in the IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion
Group indicates a preference for cellular solutions
for future vehicular communication applications.
In 2016, the China Academy of Telecommunication Technology had advocated the adoption of
LTE-V17, a TD-LTE (time-division LTE) based solution for V2X, and the MIIT named V2X one of thecore scenarios for 5G in China. The same year,
the MIIT approved the 5905-5925MHz frequency
range for LTE-V2X testing and research in China.

On 5 January 2018, China’s National Development andReform Commission (NDRC) issued a draft Strategy
for Innovation and Development of Intelligent
Vehicles (“Draft Strategy”) for public comment. The
public consultation was closed on 20 January 2018;as of today results are not known. Visions set out in
the Draft Strategy include that 90% of the highways
in China’s big cities will be covered with LTE–V2X by
2020 and 5G by 2025.
Although primarily a matter of regulation, harmonisation of the radio spectrum across countries and regions is of major importance. In the case of 5G, theonly bands that have been commonly identified for 5G
use are the 3.4 - 3.6 GHz and 24.25 - 27.5 GHz bands.
However, the Chinese Government is supposed tofree up the 3.6-4.2 GHz for future 5G allocation, but
has not yet made a final decision on the availability of
the upper band [9].
Several key IoT challenges and gaps identified by AIOTI and ETSI (see Table 1) can be jointly addressed toconsolidate EU-China common views by cooperating
and solving these challenges.

17

LTE-V is now a global 3GPP standard

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

27

Harmo nisat io n o f 5G an d Io T S tan dar ds in C hin a an d E ur o p eTable 1: Key IoT challenges and gaps, based on [10] and AIOTI

DomainGaps

IoTArchitecture• Multiplicity of IoT HLAs, platforms and discovery mechanisms

Connectivity• Fragmentation of the standardisation landscape• Large number of heterogeneous & competing communications andnetworking technologies

Integration/
Interoperability• Global-level standards (international vs. regional level)• Fragmentation due to competitive platforms and standards

Device/Sensor
Technology• Quality assurance and certification• Device modularity

Service andapplications• Data interoperability: lack of easy translation mechanisms between different

Applications
Management• Usability• Applications tailored to individual needs: evolution, flexibility of the

Security / Privacy• Privacy and security issues can be a blocking factor for user’s acceptance and

Deployment• Safety• Deployment tools

Regulation• Regulations for frequency harmonisation and usage

Business• Collaboration between vertical domains, silo-ed applications• Lack of a reference for business cases and value chain model to guide choices

specific models. Need of a global and neutral data model. Seamless interworking between data systems• Interoperable processing rules: lack of definition for advanced analysis andprocessing of sensor events and data to interpret the sensor data in an
identical manner across heterogeneous platforms• APIs to support application portability among devices/terminals• Specific solutions at Service Layer to enable communications between theplatforms (e.g., plugins to oneM2M platform)

components• Harmonised Identification• Interoperability between IoT HLAs, platforms and discovery mechanisms
prevent large scale deployments. Security and privacy are addressed on an
isolated basis for part of the applications• Lack of highly secure and trusted environments• Liability for data privacy

for deployment• Lack of knowledge about potentialities of IoT among decision makers, users
Societal• Green Technologies• Ethics. Transparency and choice for citizens• Not everything should be smart

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

28

Harmo nisat io n o f 5G an d Io T S tan dar ds in C hin a an d E ur o p e

AIOTI – AII cooperation
In 2017 the H2020 EXCITING project stimulated theinitiation of the cooperation between the Alliance for
IoT Innovation (AIOTI) and the Alliance of Industrial
Internet (AII).
AII is established by the China Academy of Information
and Communications Technology (CAICT) with joint
efforts of the industrial sectors, which is under the
support and guidance of the Ministry of Industry andInformation Technology (MIIT). Industrial Internet
is an important part of and a key instrument in
the transformation and upgrading of advanced
manufacturing industry in China and abroad, is amajor component in the strategic layout for “China
Manufacturing 2025” and “Internet + Collaborative
Manufacturing” Initiatives. The purpose of AII is
to facilitate exchanges and in-depth cooperation
among related entities, promote alignment between
demand and supply as well as share of knowledge forcomplementing advantages to make solid efforts forthe industrial Internet sector to move forward andprovide effective solutions to enterprises.

After negotiations that took place between AIOTI
and AII, common topics of interest were found andan AIOTI - AII Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
was signed on 8th November 2018, at the Wuzhen IoT
Summit, China.
The key goal of this cooperation is to promote thedevelopment of a digital economy by preventing
fragmentation and harmonising various aspects inthe field of IoT. In particular, it is expected that AIOTI
and AII will cooperate on the following activities:• Standardisation• Promotion of interoperability by harmonisingreference architectures• Identification and exchange of good practices• Collaboration on projects implementing topics ofjoint interest (test beds)

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

29

CLOUDNFVFUTURE INTERNET

5G

IoT

MOBILE
INTERNET

IPv6

FIRE

SDN

CENI

EUCHINA: Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

5

Conclusion
In this whitepaper we reviewed the ongoing standardisation activities
related to the Future Internet, in particular 5G and IoT, with a focus
on harmonisation between Europe and China.
Being at the forefront of technological advances in areas related to the
Future Internet, Europe and China are playing particularly importantroles in the global standardisation process. While both parties are
deeply involved in the global standardisation process through their
participation in all relevant standardisation bodies and initiatives, thecentralisation of power in China enables fast decisions for or against
a particular technology as well as effective implementation, with NBIoT being a prominent example. In what appears to be a departurefrom the past strategy of defining distinctively local standards, China
now embraces global standards and influences their definition
through active participation of government and industry in relevant
standardisation bodies and initiatives.
In the domain of IoT considerable work in terms of coordinationand harmonisation remains to be done, not only between Europe
and China but on a global scale, with security and privacy, semanticinteroperability, and radio spectrum allocations being prominent
examples.
To further increase the level of harmonisation of standards between
Europe and China an open and transparent exchange of information
through mutual participation in research and standardisation
activities would be beneficial.
Several key IoT challenges and gaps identified by AIOTI and ETSI
can be jointly addressed to consolidate EU-China common views bycooperating and solving these challenges.
As far as openness and transparency on the research side areconcerned, improvements have been made over the past years.
However, certain limitations still exist concerning the participationof non-Chinese companies in Chinese 5G initiatives and theparticipation of non-EU companies in EU 5G initiatives, which leaves
room for improvement.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

30

CLOUDNFVFUTURE INTERNET

5G

IoT

MOBILE
INTERNET

IPv6

FIRE

SDN

CENI

EUCHINA: Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

6

References
1

K. Amadeo, „World’s Largest Economy: 2017 Results, How It’s Measured“,
The Balance, 05 March 2018. [Online].
https://www.thebalance.com/world-s-largest-economy-3306044.

2

Telecom Lead, „Huawei gains in mobile infrastructure market as Ericsson, Nokia lost
share“, Telecom Lead, 13 03 2018. [Online].
http://www.telecomlead.com/telecom-statistics/ericsson-closes-the-gap-in-mobileinfrastructure-market-share-with-huawei-82888.

3E. Lee, „Telecom Services, The Geopolitics of 5G and IoT“, Jefferies Group LLC, 2017.

4

5

Calum Dewar, „5G in China: Outlook and regional comparisons“, GSMA/CAICT,
https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/research/2017/06/5g-in-china-outlook-and-regionalcomparisons/627/, 28 June 2017.
GSMA, „The Mobile Economy Europe 2017“, 2017. [Online].
Available: https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/europe/.

6

China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT), European
Commission – DG CONNECT, EU-China Joint White Paper on the Internet of Things
Technology), Hrsg., January 2016.

7

European Commission, „ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market“,
19.4.2016.

8

B. Perez, “China Mobile scrambles to catch up after supporting wrong ‘internet of things’
standard”.

9

T. Tjelta, „Spectrum for 5G“, in a 5G IA presentation at EUCNC 2017, Oulu, 2017.

10

ETSI, „SmartM2M - IoT LSP use cases and standards gaps, ETSI TR 103 376 v1.1.1“,ETSI, 2016.

EU-CHINA : Setting the Standards for the Hyper-Connected World

31