22/01/2020

On January 9, 2020, China’s first batch of 5G standards was released in the “5G Standards Release and Industry Promotion Conference” held by CCSA in Beijing. The standards relate to core networks, wireless access networks, carrier networks, antennas, terminals, security, electromagnetic compatibility and other fields. The full names of the standards can be found in the annex.

CCSA, as the major government-led communication standards developer and the 3GPP partner in China, has converted 16 standards for 5G from 3GPP standards into Chinese sector standards, among which 14 were released at this meeting. CCSA also revised the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network standards, developed two 5G EMC standards, launched six 5G network operation support standard projects, and carried out research on WDM-PON for 5G fronthaul. All the work is to meet the needs of constructing 5G non-standalone networks, support the research and development of 5G base stations and terminal equipment, and ensure the operation of 5G networks.

The first batch of 5G standards has basically satisfied the core requirements of 5G networks while more 5G-related standards are expected to be developed to further improve China’s 5G standard system. According to their work plan, CCSA will put more emphasis on industry application and network security in the future. In terms of industry application, CCSA is promoting the application and implementation of 5G standards, attempting to integrate 5G with emerging fields such as smart homes, smart cities, telemedicine, distance education, automatic driving, virtual reality, etc. At present, CCSA has cooperated with standardization organizations in the fields of automobile, household, medical, transportation, cryptography and others by establishing standard working groups, signing cooperation agreements and holding seminars. As for network security, CCSA will focus more on solving new problems related to service modes, privacy protection, threat environments and network security brought about by interconnected application scenarios, diversified terminal access, mobile edge computing, network slicing technology, etc.

 

SESEC Observation:

By the end of 2019, China has issued 5G commercial licenses and allocated 5G frequency bands to four state-owned network operators (China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Broadcasting), built up more than 130,000 base stations for 5G, and started to provide 5G commercial service to customers. In order to support the rapid development of the 5G commercial application, China is bound to speed up to improve its 5G standard system. This means that China will not only invest more in 3GPP standardization work and enable a faster transformation of 3GPP standards but will also initiate more 5G standard projects concerning 5G application in vertical industries and network security. In addition, as the only choice for 5G communication networks currently in China, these standards are very likely to be adopted by the Telecommunication Equipment Admittance Testing, which will determine if a 5G telecommunication product can be sold on the Chinese market. European stakeholders should actively participate in or pay close attention to CCSA’s standardization work to a gain a more favorable and competitive position.

 

Annex: First batch of Chinese 5G standards

  1. 5G Mobile Communication Networks – General Technical Requirements for Core Networks
  2. 5G Mobile Communication Networks – Technical Requirements for Core Network Functions
  3. 5G Mobile Communication Networks – Testing Methods for Core Network Functions
  4. 5G Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Networks (Phase I) -General Technical Requirements for Wireless Access Networks
  5. 5G Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Networks (Phase I) – Technical Requirements and Testing Methods for NG Interfaces
  6. 5G Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Network (Phase I) – Technical Requirements and Testing Methods for Xn/X2 Interfaces
  7. 5G Fronthaul Part 1: General – N×25Gbit/s Wavelength Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Network (WDM-PON)
  8. 5G Fronthaul Part 2: PMD – N×25Gbit/s Wavelength Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Network (WDM-PON)
  9. 5G Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Networks – Technical Requirements for Passive Antenna Arrays (< 6GHz)
  10. 5G Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Networks – Testing Methods for Passive Antenna Arrays (< 6GHZ)
  11. 5G Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Networks (Phase I) – Technical Requirements for Enhanced Mobile Broadband Terminal Equipment
  12. 5G Mobile Communication Networks -Technical Requirements for Security
  13. Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Networks – Part 17: 5G Base Station and its Supporting Equipment – Technical Requirements and Testing Methods for Electromagnetic Compatibility
  14. Digital Cellular Mobile Communication Networks – Part 18: 5G User Equipment and Supporting Equipment – Technical Requirements and Testing Methods for Electromagnetic Compatibility