5G-Advanced Overview
Summary
5G-Advanced refers to the 5G evolution defined in 3GPP Releases 18 and beyond. This chapter illustrates 5G-Advanced schedule, the main topics included in the specifications, and the expected benefits and use cases. 5G-Advanced Release 18 includes a large variety of different improvements for better positioning accuracy. The solution that seems to have the most potential for a real step change in accuracy is the carrier phase positioning. Release 18 continues to extend 5G towards new vertical use cases with some directions. Further, the area of network automation is progressing with AI/ML for NG-RAN addressing data collection enhancements and signaling support within existing NG-RAN interfaces and architecture. The AI/ML optimization cases, covered in Release 18, followed by earlier studies in Release 17, are network energy saving, load balancing, and mobility optimization. The chapter concludes with an outlook for 6G.