Network Operator-Provided 5G Streaming Media and Future Broadcast Services

Abstract

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Beyond the spectral efficiency and throughput improvement for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), 5G brings many new features targeting vertical applications. To leverage the new 5G features and capabilities for media distribution, 5G offers the 5G Media Streaming Architecture (5GMSA), which supports a full set of collaboration scenarios between third-party content providers and mobile network operators (MNOs) with various degrees of integration adapted to the over-the-top (OTT) ecosystem. While the first version of 5GMSA focuses on media delivery over unicast, multicast/broadcast in 5G is one of the key new features currently specified by 3GPP and expected for Release 17. Integration of 5G multicast/broadcast capabilities within 5GMSA is essential to scale up the network capacity for linear contents. With the publication of Digital Video Broadcast-I (DVB-I) in 2020, DVB allows for the delivery of linear television services to internet-connected devices over broadband and broadcast networks. As an access-independent service layer, DVB-I becomes a strong candidate for providing a converging service layer for 5G. This article explores the growing capabilities offered by the 5GMSA, how the multicast/broadcast capabilities will be integrated, and how it will enable the delivery of DVB-I services</i> .