ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)

IPv6-Based 5G Mobile Wireless Internet; Deployment of IPv6-Based 5G Mobile Wireless Internet

DGR/IP6-0011

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 18-Oct-2018
• Technical Committee: IP6 - IPv6 integration
• Current Stage: 12 - Completion
• Due Date: 31-Oct-2018
• Completion Date: 19-Oct-2018

Standards Content (Sample)

GROUP REPORT
IPv6-Based 5G Mobile Wireless Internet;
Deployment of IPv6-Based 5G Mobile Wireless Internet
Disclaimer
The present document has been produced and approved by the IPv6 Integration (IP6) ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG)
and represents the views of those members who participated in this ISG.
It does not necessarily represent the views of the entire ETSI membership.

2 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)

Reference
DGR/IP6-0011
Keywords
5G, internet, IPv6, mobile
ETSI
650 Route des Lucioles
F-06921 Sophia Antipolis Cedex - FRANCE

Tel.: [phone]  Fax: [phone]

Siret N° 348 623 562 00017 - NAF 742 C
Association à but non lucratif enregistrée à la
Sous-Préfecture de Grasse (06) N° 7803/88

Important notice
The present document can be downloaded from:
http://www.etsi.org/standards-search
The present document may be made available in electronic versions and/or in print. The content of any electronic and/or
print versions of the present document shall not be modified without the prior written authorization of ETSI. In case of any
existing or perceived difference in contents between such versions and/or in print, the only prevailing document is the
print of the Portable Document Format (PDF) version kept on a specific network drive within ETSI Secretariat.
Users of the present document should be aware that the document may be subject to revision or change of status.
Information on the current status of this and other ETSI documents is available at
https://portal.etsi.org/TB/ETSIDeliverableStatus.aspx
If you find errors in the present document, please send your comment to one of the following services:
https://portal.etsi.org/People/CommiteeSupportStaff.aspx
Copyright Notification
No part may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and microfilm except as authorized by written permission of ETSI.
The content of the PDF version shall not be modified without the written authorization of ETSI.
The copyright and the foregoing restriction extend to reproduction in all media.

© ETSI 2018.
All rights reserved.
TM TM TM
DECT , PLUGTESTS , UMTS and the ETSI logo are trademarks of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members.
TM TM
3GPP and LTE are trademarks of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members and
of the 3GPP Organizational Partners.
oneM2M logo is protected for the benefit of its Members. ®
GSM and the GSM logo are trademarks registered and owned by the GSM Association.
ETSI
3 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 4
Foreword . 4
Modal verbs terminology . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 References . 5
2.1 Normative references . 5
2.2 Informative references . 5
3 Abbreviations . 7
4 IPv6-based 5G Mobile Wireless Internet . 9
4.0 Introduction . 9
4.1 IPv6 Transition Strategies in Mobile Networks . 10
4.2 World Wide 5G Initiatives . 11
4.2.0 Introduction. 11
4.2.1 Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) . 11
rd
4.2.2 3 Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . 12
4.2.3 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) . 14
4.2.4 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP) . 15
4.2.5 Focus Group on network aspects of IMT-2020 (FG IMT 2020) . 16
4.3 Best Cases on IPv6 Transition Strategies in Cellular Networks . 17
4.3.0 Introduction. 17
4.3.1 Operators in USA: Example 1 . 18
4.3.2 Operators in USA: Example 2 . 18
4.3.3 Operators in Europe Example 1 . 18
4.3.4 Operators in Europe Example 2 . 18
4.3.5 Operators in Europe Example 3 . 19
4.3.6 Operators in Europe Example 4 . 20
4.3.7 Operators in China: Example 1 . 20
4.3.8 Operators in China: Example 2 . 20
4.3.9 Content Delivery Network Providers Example 1. 21
4.3.10 Content Delivery Network Providers Example 2. 21
4.3.11 Social Media Providers Example 1 . 21
4.3.12 Example of Web Performance Improvement in Cellular Networks using IPv6 . 22
4.4 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) . 25
5 Possible IPv6 Transition Strategies in 5G . 25
6 Lessons Learned . 26
7 Conclusions . 26
Annex A (informative): Authors & contributors . 27
Annex B (informative): Change History . 28
History . 29

ETSI
4 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Trademarks
The present document may include trademarks and/or tradenames which are asserted and/or registered by their owners.
ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
right to use or reproduce any trademark and/or tradename. Mention of those trademarks in the present document does
not constitute an endorsement by ETSI of products, services or organizations associated with those trademarks.
Foreword
This Group Report (GR) has been produced by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) IPv6 Integration (IP6).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.

ETSI
5 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
1 Scope
The present document outlines the motivation for the deployment of IPv6-based 5G Mobile Internet, the objectives, the
technology guidelines, the step-by-step process, the benefits, the risks, the challenges and the milestones.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] Alcatel-Lucent Strategic White Paper (April 2015): "464XLAT in mobile networks IPv6 migration
strategies for mobile networks".
[i.2] IETF RFC 6342 (December 2011): "Mobile Networks Considerations for IPv6 Deployment".
[i.3] ETSI GR IP6 006: "Generic migration steps from IPv4 to IPv6".
[i.4] NGMN Alliance (version 1.0): "NGMN 5G White paper", 17 February 2015.
[i.5] 3GPP TR 22.891 (V14.1.0): "Feasibility Study on New Services and Markets Technology
Enablers; Stage 1 (Release 14)", September 2016.
[i.6] 3GPP TR 22.861 (V14.0.0): "Feasibility Study on New Services and Markets Technology
Enablers for Massive Internet of Things; Stage 1 (Release 14)", June 2016.
[i.7] 3GPP TR 22.862 (V14.0.0): "Feasibility Study on New Services and Markets Technology
Enablers - Critical Communications; Stage 1 (Release 14)", June 2016.
[i.8] 3GPP TR 22.863 (V14.0.0): "Feasibility Study on New Services and Markets Technology
Enablers - Enhanced Mobile Broadband; Stage 1 (Release 14)", June 2016.
[i.9] 3GPP TR 22.864 (V14.0.0): "Feasibility Study on New Services and Markets Technology
Enablers - Network Operation; Stage 1 (Release 14)", June 2016.
[i.10] 3GPP TR 23.799 (V0.5.0): "Study on Architecture for Next Generation System (Release 14)",
December 2016.
[i.11] ETSI TS 123 501 (V15.2.0): "5G; System Architecture for the 5G System (3GPP TS 23.501
version 15.2.0 Release 15)".
[i.12] ETSI TS 123 502 (V15.2.0): "5G; Procedures for the 5G System (3GPP TS 23.502 version 15.2.0
Release 15)".
[i.13] 3GPP TR 33.899 (V0.2.0): "Study on the security aspects of the next generation system
(Release 14)", May 2016.
ETSI
6 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
[i.14] 3GPP TR 38.913 (V0.3.0): "Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next Generation Access
Technologies (Release 14)", March 2016.
[i.15] Recommendation ITU-R M.2083 (September 2015): "IMT Vision - Framework and overall
objectives of the future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond".
[i.16] ITU-R report M.2135 (December 2009): "Guidelines for evaluation of radio interface technologies
for IMT-Advanced".
[i.17] IETF RFC 3316 (April 2003): "Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) for Some Second and Third
Generation Cellular Hosts".
[i.18] IETF RFC 7084 (November 2013): "Basic Requirements for IPv6 Customer Edge Routers".
[i.19] IETF RFC 7066 (November 2013): "IPv6 for Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
Cellular Hosts".
[i.20] IETF RFC 6434 (December 2011): "IPv6 Node Requirements".
[i.21] IETF RFC 7278 (June 2014): "Extending an IPv6 /64 Prefix from a Third Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP) Mobile Interface to a LAN Link".
[i.22] IETF RFC 7445 (March 2015): "Analysis of Failure Cases in IPv6 Roaming Scenarios".
[i.23] IETF RFC 6459 (January 2012): "IPv6 in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Evolved
Packet System (EPS)".
[i.24] IETF RFC 4213 (October 2005): "Basic Transition Mechanisms for IPv6 Hosts and Routers".
[i.25] IETF RFC 1918 (February 1996): "Address Allocation for Private Internets".
[i.26] ITU-T, Study Group 13, TD 208 (PLEN/13): "Report on Standards Gap Analysis", December
2015.
NOTE: Available at http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/imt-2020/Documents/T13-SG13-151130-TD-
PLEN-0208%21%21MSW-E.docx.
[i.27] R, Chandler and ARIN staff: "The introduction of IPv6 to the 3GPP Standards and Mobile
Networks", ARIN wiki, last modified on 20 June 2015.
NOTE: Available at https://getipv6.info/display/IPv6/3GPP+Mobile+Networks.
[i.28] IETF RFC 3633 (December 2003): "IPv6 Prefix Options for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) version 6".
[i.29] IETF RFC 3769 (June 2004): "Requirements for IPv6 Prefix Delegation".
[i.30] IETF RFC 7755 (February 2016): "SIIT-DC: Stateless IP/ICMP Translation for IPv6 Data Center
Environments".
[i.31] Internet Society Deploy360 (June 2014): "Case Study: T-Mobile US Goes IPv6-only Using
464XLAT".
NOTE: Available at http://www.internetsociety.org/deploy360/resources/case-study-t-mobile-us-goes-ipv6-only-
using-464xlat/.
[i.32] NANOG 61 (June 2014): "464XLAT: Breaking Free of IPv4", C. Byrne.
NOTE: Available at https://www.nanog.org/sites/default/files/wednesday_general_byrne_breakingfree_11.pdf.
[i.33] IETF RFC 6877 (April 2013): "464XLAT: Combination of Stateful and Stateless Translation".
[i.34] APNIC 34, IPv6 at Verizon Wireless, August 2012.
NOTE: Available at https://www.apnic.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/vzw_apnic_13462152832-2.pdf.
[i.35] IETF RFC 6674 (July 2012): "Gateway-Initiated Dual-Stack Lite Deployment".
ETSI
7 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
[i.36] IPv6 council meeting at Nokia Antwerp, Belgium (May 2016): "Telenet Update", C. Wuyts.
NOTE: Available at https://www.ipv6council.be/IMG/pdf/03_IPv6_Council_-_Telenet_Update_-_may2016.pdf.
[i.37] IPv6 Council ( May 2016): "IPv6 in eir", R. Chandler.
NOTE: Available at https://www.ipv6council.be/IMG/pdf/05_eir-ipv6-v4.pdf.
th
[i.38] 4 Technical GRNOG Meeting (2 December 2016): "IPv6 for COSMOTE GR", G. Manousakis.
NOTE: Available at https://www.grnog.gr/4th-technical-meeting/?lang=en.
[i.39] IETF RFC 6333 (August 2011): "Dual-Stack Lite Broadband Deployments Following IPv4
Exhaustion".
[i.40] IETF RFC 6346 (August 2011): "The Address plus Port (A+P) Approach to the IPv4 Address
Shortage".
[i.41] IETF RFC 6555 (April 2012): "Happy Eyeballs: Success with Dual-Stack Hosts".
[i.42] P. Saab: "Facebook IPv6 Strategy", Keynote speech at V6 World 2015 "Unleashing the Power"
Conference, 17 March 2015.
[i.43] IETF RFC 5549 (May 2009): "Advertising IPv4 Network Layer Reachability Information with an
IPv6 Next Hop".
[i.44] Lightreading, 2015: "Facebook: IPv6 Is a Real-World Big Deal", G. Brown.
NOTE: Available at http://www.lightreading.com/ethernet-ip/ip-protocols-software/facebook-ipv6-is-a-real-
world-big-deal/a/d-id/718395.
[i.45] ACM MobiCom'16, October 03-07 2016, New York City, USA: "A case for faster mobile web in
cellular IPv6 networks", U. Goel, M. Steiner, MP. Wittie, M. Flack, S. Ludin.
NOTE: Available at https://origin-www.moritzsteiner.de/papers/Mobicom_IPv6.pdf.
[i.46] ETSI GR IP6 008: "IPv6-based Internet of Things Deployment of IPv6-based Internet of Things".
[i.47] 5GPP (V1.0): "5G Vision: The 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership: the next generation of
communication networks and services", February 2015.
3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project
th
5G 5 Generation
5G-PPP 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership
AMF Access and Mobility Function
APN Access Point Names
APNIC Asia Pacific Network Information Centre
AUSF AUthentication Server Function
BGP Border Gateway Protocol
CDN Content Delivery Network
CGN Carrier Grade NAT
CG-NAT Carrier-Grade NAT (Network Address Translation)
CLAT Customer-side transLATor
CORE Core Network
CP Control Plane
CSFB Circuit Switched FallBack
DN Data Network
DNS Directory Name Server
DS Dual-Stack
EPS Evolved Packet System
ETSI
8 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
FG Focus Group
FTTH Fiber To The Home
GET HTTP GET used to request data from a specified resource
GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
HLR Home Location Register
H-PCF Home-PCF
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
ICT Information and Communications Technology
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem
IMT International Mobile Telecommunications
IoT Internet of Things
IP Internet Protocol
IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4
IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6
IPVS IP Virtual Server
ISP Internet Service Provider
ITU-R International Telecommunication Union - Radiocommunication Sector
ITU-T International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector
LAN Local Area Network
MAN Metropolitan Area Network
MN Mobile Node
MNG Mobile Network Gateway
MNO Mobile Networks Operator
NAT Network Address Translation
NEO Network Operations
NGMN Next Generation Mobile Network
OAM Operations, Administration, and Maintenance
PCF Policy Control Function
PDN Packet Data Network
PDP Packet Data Protocol
PGW Packet data network GateWay
PLAT Provider-side transLATor
PLT Page Load Time
PPP Point to Point Protocol
RAT Radio Access Technologies
RFC Request For Comments
RTT Round Trip Time
RUM Real User Monitoring
SDN Software Defined Networking
SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node
SMF Session Management Function
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TD Temporary Document
TM Forum Tele Management Forum
TSG RAN Technical Specifications Group Radio Access Network
TWAG Trusted Wireless LAN Access Gateway
UDM Unified Data Management
UE User Equipment
UP User Plane
VoIP Voice over IP
VoLTE Voice over Long Term Evolution
V-PCF Visited-PCF
VPN Virtual Private Network
WI Work Item
WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
ETSI
9 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
4 IPv6-based 5G Mobile Wireless Internet
4.0 Introduction
The fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) will address the demands and business contexts of 2020 and beyond.
Moreover, it is expected that:
1) the future European society and economy will strongly rely on 5G infrastructure;
2) its impact will go far beyond existing wireless access networks with the aim for communication services,
reachable everywhere, all the time, and faster; and
3) 5G technology will be adopted and deployed globally in alignment with developed and emerging markets'
needs.
According to [i.47], several key drivers and disruptive capabilities will help the adoption and deployment of 5G
globally.
In particular, regarding the key drivers, 5G will ensure user experience continuity in challenging situations such as high
mobility (e.g. in trains), and very dense or sparsely populated areas, and journeys covered by heterogeneous
technologies. At the same time 5G will be the key enabler for the Internet of Things (IoT) by providing a platform to
connect a massive number of sensors, rendering devices and actuators with stringent energy and transmission
constraints, see Figure 1. In addition, new mission critical services will be deployed, requiring very high reliability,
global coverage and/or very low latency, which are up to now handled by specific networks, typically public safety, will
become natively supported by the 5G infrastructure.
Moreover, it is expected that 5G will integrate networking, computing and storage resources into one programmable
and unified infrastructure, which will allow for an optimized and more dynamic usage of all distributed resources, and
the convergence of fixed, mobile and broadcast services. This unification will also enable 5G to support multi tenancy
models, enabling operators and other players to collaborate in new ways.
5G will leverage on the cloud computing concepts and will stimulate paving the way for virtual pan European operators
relying on nationwide infrastructures.
Another important key driver is that 5G is being designed to be a sustainable and scalable technology. This can be
realized by firstly, the telecom industry will stimulate and work towards a drastic energy consumption reduction and
energy harvesting. Moreover, sustainable business models for all Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
stakeholders will be enabled by cost reductions through human task automation and hardware optimization.
One of the most important key drivers is that 5G will create an ecosystem for technical and business innovation. This
will be enabled by the fact that network services will rely more and more on software, the creation and growth of start-
ups in the sector will be encouraged. Furthermore, the 5G infrastructures will provide network solutions and involve
vertical markets such as automotive, energy, food and agriculture, city management, government, healthcare, smart
manufacturing, public transportation, water management.
ETSI
10 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)

Figure 1: 5G Key drivers and disruptive capabilities, copied from [i.47]
Moreover, with the rapid development of the 5G network infrastructure, and as well as other technology enablers such
as IoT, mobile Internet, cloud computing, Software Defined Networking (SDN), virtualization, smart home and Internet
of vehicles, there is a consensus between different stakeholders that the demand of Internet is no longer limited to the
exhausting IP address, but extends to the end-to-end interconnection and permanently stable IP address. Moreover, it
has a higher requirement for the security, management, maintenance as well as the operation of the next generation
Internet. One of the main challenges associated with the above is associated with how gradually to stop IPv4, deploy
st
IPv6 in full scale and start using the Internet of the 21 century.
4.1 IPv6 Transition Strategies in Mobile Networks
Currently several IPv6 transition strategies can be identified. The main IPv6 transition strategies that are being
discussed by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), see e.g. [i.1] are listed below. More details on mobile networks
considerations for IPv6 deployment are described in [i.2], see also clause 4.2.5 of the present document.
• IPv4 only: delays the introduction of IPv6 to a later date and remain an all-IPv4 network. Over the long term,
it is expected that this transition strategy will lead to problems and increased costs for the MNO. Due to the
increase in traffic, see 5G requirements, there will be an increased demand for IP addresses and on using NAT
in the carriers' network, denoted as Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (CG-NAT). In particular, all
traffic to and from the Internet will have to pass CG-NAT. Furthermore, growth in bandwidth demand can
only be handled with increased CG-NAT capacity, which has a higher cost. It means that the MNO is unable
to benefit from the increasing ratio of IPv6-to-IPv4 Internet traffic. This mechanism works only for
DNS-based applications and IPv4-only.
• Coexistence of IPv4 and IPv6: requires the use of a dual-stack, introducing IPv6 in the network next to IPv4.
For a MNO, this approach is a less desirable option because dual-stack networks are more complex to deploy,
operate, and manage. Furthermore, this option also requires an address management solution for both IPv4 and
IPv6 addresses.
ETSI
11 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
• IPv6 only: introduces IPv6 in the network and remove IPv4 completely. This approach can provide benefits
for a MNO, because IPv6-only networks are simpler to deploy, operate, and manage. Moreover, an address
management solution is required only for IPv6 addresses. Therefore, this option has no impact on scale,
charging, and roaming because only a single bearer with a single stack is required. However, the problem with
this approach is that many UE (User Equipment) devices, websites, and applications still only work on IPv4.
When moving to an IPv6-only network may lead to inferior service for MNO customers, resulting in customer
dissatisfaction.
• Enhanced IPv6 only + NAT64: in addition to offering IPv6 only, also IPv4 is offered as a service over IPv6
for DNS-based applications. For the MNO, benefits from the advantages of the IPv6 only strategy and at the
same time, there is no impact on scale, charging, and roaming as only a single bearer with a single stack is
required. DNS64 (Domain Name System 64) also embeds IPv4 Internet destinations in IPv6 addresses.
However, non-DNS applications are not supported and will be broken, which could result in a lower quality
service for the operator's customers.
• Enhanced IPv6 only + 464XLAT: this strategy benefits from the advantages provided by the IPv6 only +
NAT64 solution and at the same time it solves the drawback associated with the support of non-DNS
applications. In particular, For IPv4-only, non-DNS applications, IPv4 packets are translated to IPv6 packets
by the UE and subsequently are translated back to IPv4 packets by a central CG-NAT64, which is deployed
behind the PGW (PDN Gateway).
More details on the IPv4 to IPv6 transition are provided in ETSI GR IP6 006 [i.3].
4.2 World Wide 5G Initiatives
4.2.0 Introduction
This clause briefly describes main world wide 5G initiatives. Currently, only the 5G initiatives and architectures
proposed by Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) Alliance, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership 5G-PPP and the Focus Group on
network aspects of IMT-2020 (FG IMT 2020) are briefly presented.
4.2.1 Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN)
NGMN alliance (https://www.ngmn.org/home.html) is a mobile telecommunication association that consists of mobile
operators, vendors, manufacturers and research institutes. The main objective of the alliance is to ensure the successful
commercial launch of existing and future mobile broadband networks through a roadmap of technology and user trials.
NGMN was founded by major operators in 2006 and can be considered as an open forum that evaluates candidate
technologies in order to develop a common view for current and for next evolution of wireless networks. The alliance
supports and cooperates with standards organizations like 3GPP, TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum) - and the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and provides them with requirements coming from mobile
operators.
The 5G architecture developed by NGMN is shown in Figure 8 of [i.4]. It consists of:
1) 5G devices that can be of any type, from a wearable device up to a car or robot;
2) different Radio Access Technologies (RATs); and
3) the following four layers:
- end to end management and orchestration layer;
- business application layer that consists of use cases, business models and value proposition;
- business enablement layer that consists of library of modular network functions and value enabling
capabilities;
- infrastructure resources layer that consists of access nodes, central and edge cloud nodes, and networking
nodes.
ETSI
12 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
rd
4.2.2 3 Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
rd
The 3 Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) started several activities in defining the 5G Next Generation
Network/System, which focus on the network and the next generation access technologies for the radio.
The 3GPP Next Generation Network/System work is split in three releases: Release 14, Release 15 and Release 16.
The time line for the three releases is shown in Table 1.
The three-stage methodology as defined by ITU-T, is applied in 3GPP:
• Stage 1 is an overall service description from the user's standpoint.
• Stage 2 is an overall description of the organization of the network functions to map service requirements into
network capabilities.
• Stage 3 is the definition of switching and signalling capabilities needed to support services defined in stage 1.
Table 1: Time line for Release 14, 15 and 16 on Next Generation Networks/Systems
Release Stage 1 freeze Stage 2 freeze Stage 3 freeze
Release 14 June 2016 September 2016 March 2017
Release 15 June 2017 December 2017 June 2018
Release 16 December 2018 June 2019 December 2019

In Release 14, the stage 1 study [i.5] has been initiated by 3GPP SA1 which focuses on a feasibility study on new
services and markets technology enablers associated with the 5G Next Generation Network/System and it identifies the
use cases to be considered by 3GPP in this area. This 3GPP SA1 study describes 74 use cases. The potential service
requirements and as well as the potential operational requirements related to each of these use cases are briefly
described.
As a result of the 3GPP TR 22.891 study [i.5], 3GPP SA1 started four other study documents that provide more details
on use cases and requirements in the following areas:
• Massive Internet of Things [i.6].
• Critical communications [i.7].
• Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) [i.8].
• Network Operations (NEO) [i.9], which focuses on how 3GPP network operators can support network
operations such as network slicing, multi-network connectivity, network capability exposure.
The Release 14 Stage 2 activities focus on the 3GPP Study on Architecture for Next Generation System and are driven
by 3GPP SA2 and are documented in 3GPP TR 23.799 [i.10]. The 3GPP Release 15 Stage 2 specifications started in
2017 and are documented in ETSI TR 123 501 [i.11] and ETSI TS 123 502 [i.12].
The Release 14 security activities are driven by 3GPP SA3 and are focusing on the study on the security aspects of the
next generation system, which is documented in 3GPP TR 33.899 [i.13].
In addition to the above, 3GPP Technical Specifications Group Radio Access Network (TSG RAN) focuses on
3GPP TR 38.913 [i.14] and it will be focusing on a new approved work item that aims to develop a new radio access
technology to meet the use cases defined in 3GPP TR 38.913 [i.14].
3GPP TR 38.913 [i.14] is a study of the scenarios and requirements for next generation access technologies taking into
account the ITU-R IMT-2020 requirements [i.15] and [i.16]. The families of the usage scenarios for IMT 2020 and
beyond included in 3GPP TR 33.899 [i.13] are:
• enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB);
• massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC);
• Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC).
ETSI
13 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
The Non-Roaming 5G System Architecture in reference point representation defined in 3GPP TR 23.799 [i.10] and
ETSI TS 123 501 [i.11] is provided in Figure 2.
Control Plane
User Plane
Figure 2: Non-Roaming 5G System Architecture in reference point representation,
based on ETSI TS 123 501 [i.11]
The reference points used in the 5G System Architecture are the following ones:
• N1: Reference point between the User Equipment (UE) and the Control Plane (CP) functions.
• N2: Reference point between the RAN and the CP functions.
• N3: Reference point between the RAN and the User Plane (UP) functions.
• N4: Reference point between the CP functions and the UP (User Plane) functions.
• N5: Reference point between the CP functions and an Application Function.
• N6: Reference point between the UP functions and a Data Network (DN).
• N7: Reference point between the Session Management function (SMF) and the Policy Control function (PCF).
• N7r: Reference point between the Visited-PCF (V-PCF) and the Home-PCF (H-PCF).
• N8: Reference point between Unified Data Management (UDM) and Access and Mobility Management
function (AMF).
• N9: Reference point between two Core User Plane Functions (UPFs).
• N10: Reference point between UDM and SMF.
• N11: Reference point between AMF and SMF.
• N12: Reference point between AMF and Authentication Server function (AUSF).
• N13: Reference point between UDM and AUSF.
• N14: Reference point between two AMFs.
• N15: Reference point between the PCF and the AMF in case of non-roaming scenario, V-PCF and AMF in
case of roaming scenario.
ETSI
14 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
• N16: Reference point between two SMFs, (in roaming case between V-SMF and the H-SMF).
4.2.3 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
The mission of the IETF is to make Internet work better by producing high quality, relevant technical documents that
influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet. IETF is specifying the IPv4 and IPv6 protocol suites
which are documented in several RFCs (Request for Comments). Moreover, IETF is providing recommendations on the
IPv4 - IPv6 transition, for details see ETSI GR IP6 006 [i.3]. In addition to this IETF is also providing guidelines for
operators and other mobile cellular stakeholders on how to apply and use IPv6 in mobile cellular systems.
In particular, the main RFCs that provide considerations for IPv6 deployment in mobile networks are listed below:
• Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) for Some Second and Third Generation Cellular Hosts [i.17].
• Basic Requirements for IPv6 Customer Edge Routers [i.18].
• Mobile Networks Considerations for IPv6 Deployment [i.2].
• IPv6 in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Evolved Packet System (EPS) [i.23].
• IPv6 Node Requirements [i.20].
• IPv6 for Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Cellular Hosts [i.19].
• Extending an IPv6/64 Prefix from a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Mobile Interface to a LAN
Link [i.21].
• Analysis of Failure Cases in IPv6 Roaming Scenarios [i.22].
A summary of the recommendations provided on IETF RFC 6342 [i.2] and IETF RFC 6459 [i.23] that focus on IPv6 in
mobile networks and in the 3GPP EPS, respectively, is provided below.
The main mobile networks considerations for IPv6 deployment described in IETF RFC 6342 [i.2] are the following
ones:
• Due to the fact that mobile service providers are willing to conserve their available IPv4 pool while deploying
IPv6 it implies that there is a need for network address translation in mobile networks. Mobile networks can
make use of the IETF dual stack model specified in IETF RFC 4213 [i.24].
• Placement of NAT functionality in mobile networks: Two types can be considered, for private IPv4 address
pool management, the centralized and distributed models:
- The distributed model archives a good operation efficiency, since each Mobile Network Gateway (MNG)
can manage its own NET10 pool [i.25], and reuse the available private IPv4 pool avoiding the issues
associated with the non-unique private IPv4 addresses for the MNs without additional protocol
mechanisms. The MNG is the Mobile Node (MN)'s default router, which provides IP address
management. Furthermore, the distributed model also augments the "subscriber management" functions
at an MNG, such as readily enabling NAT session correlation with the rest of the subscriber session state.
- By using the centralized IP address management the mobile service providers can continue their legacy
architecture by placing the NAT at a common node. Moreover, the centralized model can also achieve
private IPv4 address reuse but it needs additional enhancements, such as additional protocol extensions
to differentiate overlapping addresses at the common NAT and as well as to integrate with the policy and
billing infrastructure.
• IPv6-only mobile network deployments: This deployment model is can be considered to be feasible in the LTE
(Long Term Evolution) architecture for a mobile network operator's own services and applications. However,
the following considerations need to be taken into account:
- existing MNs still expect IPv4 address assignment;
- roaming, which is unique to mobile networks, requires that a provider support IPv4 connectivity when its
(outbound) users roam into a mobile network that is not IPv6- enabled;
- a provider needs to support IPv4 connectivity for (inbound) users whose MNs are not IPv6-capable;
ETSI
15 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
- IPv6-IPv4 interworking is necessary for IPv6-only MNs to access the IPv4 Internet.
• Fixed-Mobile Convergence: Fixed and mobile networks impose different requirements on the IPv6
deployments. IETF RFC 6342 [i.2] shows that harmonization of functions may be possible across the access
networks. However, the service provider's core network is perhaps better-suited for converged network
architecture. Similar gains in convergence are feasible in the service and application layers.
The key conclusions derived in IETF RFC 6459 [i.23] regarding the use of IPv6 in 3GPP EPS are the following ones.
The 3GPP network architecture and specifications define appropriate PDP context types that enable IPv4 and IPv6
connections. A Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context is the equivalent of a virtual connection between the User
Equipment (UE) and a Packet Data Network (PDN) using a specific gateway.
It is important that main 3GPP mobile network entities, such as the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and the
Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) are supporting the IETF dual stack model and connectivity.
Regarding devices and applications it is recommended that while they are being upgraded to support IPv6, they can start
leveraging the IPv6 connectivity provided by the networks while maintaining the ability to fall back to IPv4.
4.2.4 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP)
The 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (https://5g-ppp.eu/) has been initiated by the European Commission
and industry manufacturers, telecommunications operators, service providers, SMEs and researchers. The main
objective of 5G-PPP is to deliver solutions, architectures, technologies and standards for the ubiquitous next generation
communication infrastructures of the coming decade. The 5G-PPP initiative stimulates the development of a shared
vision for the next generation of communications infrastructure beyond 2020, which include actions for leveraging 5G
research to improve competitiveness and innovation in order to stimulate economic growth and more job creation in
other industrial sectors.
The 5G-PPP brings a long term commitment from both the private and the public actors to invest in achieving these
objectives and the PPP will play a key role in formulating the research and innovation priorities to be supported in
European Horizon 2020 research and development programme.
The 5G architecture developed by 5G-PPP is shown in Figure 3. It consists of RATs that can support Device to Device,
Moving Networks, Massive Machine Communications using Wireless Access, Wireless front haul, Wired front haul
and backhaul. Moreover, in addition to RATs, the 5G architecture can support internet of things (ephemeral) networks.
An aggregation network, which forms the core network, provides local, regional, national connectivity between the
RATs, the ephemeral network and the Internet. The aggregation network consists of centralized functions and
Operations Administration and Management (OAM) functions.
ETSI
16 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)

Figure 3: 5G Architecture, copied from [i.47]
4.2.5 Focus Group on network aspects of IMT-2020 (FG IMT 2020)
The Focus Group on network aspects of IMT-2020 (FG IMT 2020) (http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/imt-
2020/Pages/default.aspx) has been established in May 2015, by its parent ITU-T Study Group 13, having as main goal
to analyse how emerging 5G technologies will interact in future networks as a preliminary study into the networking
innovations required to support the development of 5G systems. In December 2015, the FG IMT 2020 received an
extension to its lifetime, having the following specific tasks and areas of work:
• Explore demonstrations or prototyping with other groups, notably the open-source community.
• Enhance aspects of network softwarization and information-centric networking.
• Continue to refine and develop the IMT-2020 network architecture.
• Continue to study fixed-mobile convergence.
• Continue to study network slicing for the front haul/backhaul network.
• Continue to define new traffic models and associated aspects of Quality of Service (QoS) and operations,
administration and management applicable to IMT-2020 networks.
An important outcome of the FG IMT 2020 activities is that the ITU-T standardization activity group will be able to
prioritize the alignment of 5G deliverables with those of ITU-R, ensuring that standardization work on the network
aspects of 5G is informed by the progression of its radio-transmission systems.
The 5G architecture developed by FG IMT-2020 is depicted in Figure 3 of TD 208 [i.26]. This architecture consist of
four main layers:
1) Applications;
2) Control plane that includes the Network & Service Orchestration and the Unified Control;
3) The data plane includes RATs, front haul/backhaul, transport networks and convergent data functions; and
4) The Integrated Network and Service Management that influences and manages also all the other three layers.
ETSI
17 ETSI GR IP6 011 V1.1.1 (2018-10)
4.3 Best Cases on IPv6 Transition Strategies in Cellular
Networks
4.3.0 Introduction
This clause describes several best cases on IPv6 strategies that have been successfully applied in cellular systems. There
are few initiatives that are monitoring and documenting the IPV6
...