Page 87 - SAMENA Trends - April 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

5G Standards Groups Tweak Process Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

3GPP, the main global body that agree on specific technical parameters 10 or 15 people gathered around to argue
prepares specifications for new wireless is a challenge, and when you remove the or discuss a topic at a faster pace than in
technologies, is experiencing first-hand the ability to meet face-to-face, the time it the bigger meeting, where a chairperson
pitfalls of having to take what historically takes to reach consensus gets longer. oversees the flow and delegates raise their
were productive face-to-face meetings Signals Research Group (SRG) opined in a hands for a chance at the mic. The typical
and do them in an electronic format. report in March that from its perspective, plenary meeting nowadays includes about
The organization, whose participants there are a few pros and cons associated 300 people, where the scope of the work
hail from all corners of the world, started with e-meetings. 3GPP delegates seem and timeline get discussed. Then there
going electronic back when the COVID-19 more willing to compromise on non- are working group meetings where the
shutdown was primarily confined to China. controversial agenda items, and frivolous actual technical discussions take place.
Chinese contributors, including Huawei, comments are reduced because it takes Some group meetings, like the RAN 1 for
are a big part of the work that 3GPP a lot more effort to write an email than example, host 500-600 people. The size
conducts. In February, the 3GPP leadership to stand up, grab a mic and start talking. of these groups has been increasing with
announced that second-quarter meetings, However, “the downside, and it is huge, 5G, due in part to all the new verticals
originally scheduled to be in China, were is that e-meetings are very inefficient looking for new business opportunities
being relocated to other locations. That overall, and it is virtually impossible to and the emergence of more companies
was before meetings for the foreseeable reach agreement on controversial agenda in the supply chain. 3GPP leadership in
future went electronic. The impact of going items,” wrote SRG CEO Michael Thelander. March announced a shift in the timeline
mostly virtual? A meeting that originally Pani said face-to-face meetings are a for some of their releases. The Release
was to last one week stretched into two great way to keep things moving along 16 Stage 3 freeze was pushed back three
as it required a mix of email discussions and eventually reach consensus. “It’s months to June. They had already decided
– hundreds of them – followed by a lot simpler for people to converge that the RAN1 working group meeting in
conference calls, according to Diana when they’re face to face. By email, I can May will primarily focus on Release 16
Pani, senior director of 5G Standards and continue to say no, no, no, no all the time. maintenance items rather than spending
Research at Interdigital. Pani chronicled It’s a lot easier to say no if you don’t see the time on new Release 17 study items, which
the situation in a blog. There are plenty of person face to face,” she said. If you see a were on the docket, according to SRG.
online tools that they and everyone else person face to face, you’re more prone to The important thing is that the Release
can use to accommodate meetings with find ways to compromise. During regular 16 ASN.1 freeze date in June remains
a large audience, but they aren’t doing meetings – before the novel coronavirus unchanged, according to Pali. Some of the
video calls because it takes up so much swept over the world – 3GPP delegates items to be considered for Release 17 are
bandwidth and they experienced a lot of would hold regular coffee breaks, one in related to V2X; satellite communications
connection issues during earlier attempts the morning and one in the afternoon, and to extend coverage to remote areas; AR/
to connect folks all over the globe. Suffice that’s where a lot of the side discussions VR for things like gaming; and operations
it to say, getting hundreds of engineers to took place. There might be a few or up to at higher frequencies, she said.

Switzerland Plans 5G Emissions Monitoring

population from non-ionizing radiation new environmental medical advice center
by maintaining its limits. While noting 5G for non-ionizing radiation. It also plans
can play an important role in digitalization, to simplify and harmonize enforcement,
it said it had taken concerns raised by provide better information for the
some citizens about the technology population, and intensify research on the
into consideration. Going forward, the health effects of mobile communications
Federal Department of Environment, and radiation. The council tasked DETEC
Transport, Energy and Communications with submitting a report providing options
(DETEC) will develop an enforcement for the sustainable design of mobile radio
aid based on test measurements on networks by the end of 2021. In February,
Switzerland’s Federal Council decided adaptive antennas. Until completion, officials denied claims the country
to keep current 5G radiation exposure such antennas will need to be assessed had implemented a national ban on 5G
limits, while unveiling plans to further as conventional. The government also deployments. Swisscom, Sunrise and
monitor the effects of the next-generation decided to implement a range of measures Salt Mobile won 5G radio frequencies in
mobile technology. In a statement, the including further development of radiation February 2019, in an auction which netted
cabinet explained it aimed to protect the exposure monitoring and creation of a CHF380 million ($389 million).

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