A smooth evolution path to a standardized 5G hybrid model

A smooth evolution path to a standardized 5G hybrid model

By Christele Bouchat and Manuel Paul, Work Area Directors of the Wireless-Wireline Convergence Work Area at Broadband Forum

5G’s ascent to the upper ranks of the connectivity food chain is allowing mobile technology to finally catch up with the demands and price points of fixed line services. But despite the buzz touting 5G’s impact on our handheld devices, it is not an exclusively mobile technology.

The convergence of wireless and wireline networks will provide a seamless 5G experience no matter how consumers are connected, delivering on the technology’s many promises – from better and differentiated QoE and network quality, to advances in the IoT and AI fields.

That’s not just great news for users but also for operators. 5G is an opportunity to converge the fixed and mobile side of their networks. This opens the door to seamless wireline or wireless access connectivity from residential and single or multi-tenant business locations, radically altering users’ network experience. It will enable operators to provide a uniform experience to their customers irrespective of the access or appliance they are using.

Even better news for operators is that Broadband Forum’s Wireless-Wireline Convergence (WWC) Work Area, in cooperation with 3GPP, has been busy laying the groundwork for that to happen. Devised in 2017 to address the needs of operators so they could leverage their assets with combined subscriber offerings with a converged core, new Broadband Forum specifications this year have advanced this mission significantly.

More options and value for operators

WWC standards bring more options and value to converged, fixed and mobile operators so they can deploy 5G technology confidently. The work provides the opportunity to make more effective and efficient use of wireless and wireline network assets, while simultaneously creating the potential for new and improved converged services.

Phase 2 of the Broadband Forum specification development work builds on the foundations of Broadband Forum’s Phase 1 specifications to expand the deployment options, enhance functionalities, and unlock more value from the 5G system.

Specifically, this year, three new specifications have been released: TR-456 Issue 2 ‘Access Gateway Function Functional Requirements’, TR-470 Issue 2 ‘5G Wireless Wireline Convergence Architecture’, and TR-124 Issue 7 ‘Functional Requirements for Broadband Residential Gateway Devices’.

Together they provide operators with new 5G deployment options, including 5G hybrid access using wireline and LTE or NR. The specifications also provide the service capabilities of the network for operators, while offering more opportunities to transition from a legacy to 5G network.

During phase 2, the Forum interacted and collaborated with 3GPP to fine-tune some aspects of WWC in 3GPP Release 16 specifications. As part of the maturing of the specs, during Phase 2, an open source software reference implementation for 5G-RG (OB-5GWWC) was launched named Broadband Forum’s Open Broadband 5G-RG project.

Smooth evolution path

Broadband Forum’s WWC work has delivered multi-session and enhanced authentication support for legacy Residential Gateways that do not have any 5G capability. Multi-session will enable the same user to connect to multiple service networks, while previously the user was limited to a single data network. The work delivers a preview of what will be possible with 5G-Residential Gateways.

Operators can leverage innovation and common procedures specified by Broadband Forum that result in enhanced customer experience across available access network assets, and this specification development will ensure a smooth evolution path to a standardized 5G hybrid model.

While Phase 2 was successfully completed and published during the first half of the year, progress now continues in the WWC Work Area with the Phase 3 specifications addressing the value-added services beyond connectivity. These enhancements would be for hybrid access using the 5G-RG supporting the split of non-IP traffic on multi-access and multi-path sessions. Leveraging other features from the 5G Toolkit, this phase of work ties into our ongoing collaboration with 3GPP directed towards its 3GPP Release 18 specification work and delivery.

Phase 3 is currently delivering key specifications including WT-457 (FMIF Functional Requirements) and WT-458 (CUPS for 5G Fixed Mobile Convergence), both of which expand the deployment options for 5G WWC. The group is also working on enabling IMS-based Voice support for 5G-RGs, with work on the architecture and a profile for residential voice, converging legacy voice services onto the 5G system.

We also move to unlocking the full potential of the 5G-RG as we expand the capabilities of the network to achieve an end-to-end integration with devices located behind 5G-RGs. Phase 3 will better bridge the world between the home and the network, allowing for more advanced service offerings with differentiated QoE end-to-end. This important phase of work is opening up the next chapter and delivering on Broadband Forum’s overall vision.