2020.02.26 – Broadband Forum finalizes two new 5G standards

Broadband Forum finalizes two new 5G standards

Specifications signify a 5G milestone, providing operators with a definitive deployment roadmap

Fremont, California, 26 February 2020: Operators looking to leverage their fixed networks to deliver on the promise of 5G will soon have new tools at their disposal as Broadband Forum wraps up the development of two new standards and delivers on its promise to rapidly support the 3GPP release cycles.

Based on contributions from operators and vendors across the globe and close collaboration with the 3GPP, ‘5G Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) Architecture’ (TR-470) and ‘Access Gateway Function (AGF) Functional Requirements’ (TR-456) build on Broadband Forum’s previous 5G work to provide a practical roadmap to deliver 5G.

“When it comes to deploying 5G, all operators will have different starting points which means any transformation steps need to be independent and not require co-ordination. Deployment flexibility is also needed – and it is these challenges, and more, that TR-470 and TR-456 address.”

TR-470 describes the 5G FMC architecture to provide a high-level guide for network architects and planners, while TR-456 describes the functional requirements of the AGF. The AGF resides between fixed access networks and the 5G core network to support 5G and wireline Residential Gateways, creating a truly converged deployment.

The specifications are completing the approvals process and will be published at Broadband Forum’s other 5G initiatives continue. These include ongoing work to standardize and enhance the transport network to ensure it can meet the demands of 5G, and normative work is also beginning on Broadband Forum’s joint FMC project with 3GPP.

Alongside this, specifications for carrier grade Wi-Fi are in progress, while Broadband Forum’s Device:2 root data model (TR-181), which is used by User Services Platform (USP), is being extended to address 5G Residential Gateways. Broadband Forum’s Open Broadband – Broadband Access Abstraction (OB-BAA) and virtualization of the ONU management and control interface (OMCI) are also smoothing the way to software-driven cloud-based access networks, ensuring fixed networks can scale with the unprecedented amounts of data that 5G will bring.

“Broadband Forums latest specifications are key pieces of the very big jigsaw that must be created and completed to deliver on 5G – and we are working with operators to define those pieces quickly, efficiently, and, most importantly, together as an open collaborative effort, preventing fragmentation and misalignments between stakeholders. The breadth of our ongoing work and how much of that has 5G at its core is significant and the holistic approach we can take is unique to the broadband industry and critical to the ongoing development of 5G.”

For more information about Broadband Forum and its work on 5G, please visit: https://www.broadband-forum.org/projects/5g.

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 About the Broadband Forum

Broadband Forum is the communications industry’s leading open standards development organization focused on accelerating broadband innovation, standards, and ecosystem development. Our members’ passion – delivering on the promise of broadband by enabling smarter and faster broadband networks and a thriving broadband ecosystem.

Broadband Forum is an open, non-profit industry organization composed of the industry’s leading broadband operators, vendors, thought leaders who are shaping the future of broadband, and observers who closely track our progress. Its work to date has been the foundation for broadband’s global proliferation and innovation. For example, the Forum’s flagship TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol has nearly 1 billion installations worldwide.

Broadband Forum’s projects span across 5G, Connected Home, Cloud, and Access. Its working groups collaborate to define best practices for global networks, enable new revenue-generating service and content delivery, establish technology migration strategies, and engineer critical device, service & development management tools in the home and business IP networking infrastructure. We develop multi-service broadband packet networking specifications addressing architecture, device and service management, software data models, interoperability and certification in the broadband market.

Our free technical reports and white papers can be found at https://www.broadband-forum.org.

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For more information about the Broadband Forum, please go to https://www.broadband-forum.org or follow @Broadband_Forum on Twitter. For further information please contact Brian Dolby on +44 (0) 7899 914168 or brian.dolby@proactive-pr.com or Jayne Brooks on +44 (0) 1636 704 888 or jayne.brooks@proactive-pr.com.