5G Broadcast delivers linear TV and radio to devices over a one-way, free-to-air signal, with no SIM, subscription or return channel required, reusing LTE/eMBMS radio technology (Long Term Evolution / evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service). It is distinct from 5G Multicast-Broadcast Services (MBS), which is native to the 5G core and NR; see Media delivery over 5G Multicast Broadcast Services: Specifications.
5G-MAG maintains ETSI TS 103 720 itself rather than only tracking it: it undertook the specification's maintenance in 2021, contributing the requirements and fixes that shape each new version, agreed among members on the Kanban board. Current focus:
- ETSI TS 103 720 v1.3.1 (in progress): 3GPP Release 18 update (see "Updates towards ETSI TS 103 720 v1.3.1" below).
- Implementer-driven fixes: bugs, clarification questions and new requirements raised by implementors, in particular 5G-MAG.
- Completed: Release 17 alignment (v1.2.1, 2023).
For the release-by-release detail behind these updates, including the SA4 service-layer work items for TS 26.346, TS 26.347 and TS 26.348, see Release history. For the technical analysis behind these updates, see Media delivery over 5G Broadcast: Technology.
- ETSI TS 103 720: the 5G Broadcast System for linear TV and radio services, maintained by 5G-MAG. It profiles LTE-based 5G Terrestrial Broadcast from 3GPP.
- Versions: v1.1.1 (December 2020, Release 16 baseline) and v1.2.1 (June 2023, Release 17) are published; v1.3.1 (Release 18) is a work item in progress.
- 3GPP specifications: the MBMS and LTE-based 5G Terrestrial Broadcast documents listed under Specifications, with the SA4 service-layer work on TS 26.346, TS 26.347 and TS 26.348.
Specifications
This is a list of specifications in the scope of Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) and LTE-based 5G Terrestrial Broadcast. LTE-based 5G Broadcast reuses the MBMS delivery framework over the LTE radio, including its further-enhanced variant (FeMBMS, Further enhanced Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service). The specifications are filterable below by the function they cover (System specification, Service requirements, Architecture, Radio and interfaces, Core network, RF and devices, Content delivery, Codecs, Public warning, 5GMS and Transport); the Release history page is organised by release instead. ETSI TS 103 720 (see "About ETSI TS 103 720" below) profiles a subset of these and adds broadcast-specific receiver requirements on top. Search matches the specification number, its title and any scope note.
59 of 59 specifications
| Specification | Title | Layer |
|---|---|---|
| ETSI TS 103 720 | 5G Broadcast System for linear TV and radio services; LTE-based 5G terrestrial broadcast systemthe system this whole page profiles; current v1.2.1 (2023-06, Rel-17); a v1.3.1 (Rel-18) work item is open, not yet published | System specification |
| TS 22.101 | Service aspects; Service principles | Service requirements |
| TS 22.261 | Service requirements for the 5G system; Stage 1 | Service requirements |
| TR 23.746 | Study on System Architecture Enhancements to eMBMS for Television Video Service | Architecture |
| TS 23.246 | Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS); Architecture and functional description | Architecture |
| TS 36.300 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2includes the MBMS-dedicated cell mode used for broadcast | Architecture |
| TR 36.976 | Overall description of LTE-based 5G broadcastinformative summary, produced by the normative Release 16 work item | Architecture |
| TR 36.776 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Study on LTE-based 5G terrestrial broadcastthe FS_LTE_terr_bcast study output that identified the gaps met by the Release 16 numerology enhancements | Architecture |
| TS 36.211 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical channels and modulation | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.212 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Multiplexing and channel coding | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.213 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer proceduresscheduler and link adaptation | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.321 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specificationtouched by the Release 19 PMCH Phase 2 work item | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.331 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specificationMIB-MBMS, SIB1-MBMS, MBSFN-AreaInfo and the other broadcast system-information extensions | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.440 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); General aspects and principles for interfaces supporting Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) within E-UTRANthe M1, M2 and M3 interfaces | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 25.446 | MBMS synchronisation protocol (SYNC)used over M1 to keep content time-aligned across the eNBs of an MBSFN area | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.443 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); M2 Application Protocol (M2AP)the MCE-to-eNB control-plane interface, carrying Release 19 PMCH Phase 2 time-interleaving parameters | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.444 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); M3 Application Protocol (M3AP)the MME-to-MCE control-plane interface for MBMS session management signalling | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.413 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); S1 Application Protocol (S1AP)the eNB-to-MME control-plane interface, distinct from the M1/M2/M3 MBMS-specific interfaces | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.133 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Requirements for support of radio resource management | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 36.304 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) procedures in idle moderelevant to SIM-free and Receive-Only Mode reception without an RRC connection | Radio and interfaces |
| TS 23.003 | Numbering, addressing and identification | Core network |
| TS 23.122 | Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) functions related to Mobile Station (MS) in idle mode | Core network |
| TS 23.401 | General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) accessthe EPS/E-UTRAN architecture that MBMS and 5G Broadcast are built on | Core network |
| TS 29.274 | 3GPP Evolved Packet System (EPS); Evolved General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol for Control plane (GTPv2-C); Stage 3 | Core network |
| TS 29.281 | General Packet Radio System (GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol User Plane (GTPv1-U) | Core network |
| TS 36.101 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and receptiondefines operating Bands 107, 108, 112 and 113 | RF and devices |
| TS 36.104 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Base Station (BS) radio transmission and receptionnetwork-side counterpart to TS 36.101 for the same bands | RF and devices |
| TS 36.306 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio access capabilitiesincludes the CAS-muting capability introduced in Release 19 | RF and devices |
| TS 36.102 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception for satellite accesscovers the Release 19 geosynchronous-satellite broadcast band | RF and devices |
| TS 36.108 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Satellite Access Node radio transmission and receptionSatellite Access Node requirements, including LTE-based 5G broadcast operation over a geosynchronous satellite | RF and devices |
| TS 36.181 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Satellite Access Node conformance testing | RF and devices |
| TS 36.307 | Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Requirements on User Equipments (UEs) Supporting a release-independent frequency band | RF and devices |
| TS 26.346 | Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS); Protocols and codecs | Content delivery |
| TS 26.347 | Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS); Application Programming Interface and URL | Content delivery |
| TS 26.348 | Northbound Application Programming Interface (API) for Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) at the xMB reference point | Content delivery |
| TS 29.116 | Representational state transfer over xMB reference point between Content Provider and BM-SC | Content delivery |
| TS 24.116 | Stage 3 aspects of system architecture enhancements for TV services | Content delivery |
| TS 24.117 | TV service configuration Management Object (MO) | Content delivery |
| TS 23.041 | Technical realization of Cell Broadcast Service (CBS) | Public warning |
| TS 29.168 | Cell Broadcast Centre interfaces with the Evolved Packet Core; Stage 3 | Public warning |
| ETSI TS 102 900 | Emergency Communications (EMTEL); European Public Warning System (EU-ALERT) using the Cell Broadcast Service | Public warning |
| OASIS CAP v1.2 | Common Alerting Protocolthe alert message payload format carried over Cell Broadcast Service | Public warning |
| TS 26.501 | 5G Media Streaming (5GMS); General description and architecturefor hybrid unicast/broadcast delivery | 5GMS |
| TS 26.511 | 5G Media Streaming (5GMS); Profiles, Codecs and Formats | 5GMS |
| TS 26.512 | 5G Media Streaming (5GMS); Protocols | 5GMS |
| TS 26.116 | Television (TV) over 3GPP services; Video profilesV19.0.0, Release 19, SA4; H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC operation points for TV video delivered to 5G Broadcast/MBMS clients | Codecs |
| TS 26.401 | General audio codec audio processing functions; Enhanced aacPlus general audio codec; General descriptionV19.0.0, Release 19, SA4; the HE-AAC/enhanced aacPlus audio codec | Codecs |
| ETSI TS 102 366 | Digital Audio Compression (AC-3, Enhanced AC-3) StandardV1.4.1 (2017-09); the AC-3 audio codec; co-published with EBU | Codecs |
| IETF RFC 3550 | RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applicationsbase RTP spec; the page names RTP as a delivery-method protocol but the base transport RFC was missing, unlike TCP/TLS/HTTP already listed here | Transport |
| IETF RFC 6726 | FLUTE - File Delivery over Unidirectional Transportobsoletes RFC 3926; base FLUTE spec named by the page but previously missing here | Transport |
| IETF RFC 8216 | HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)base HLS spec named by the page but previously missing here; informational status, not standards-track | Transport |
| IANA IPv4 Multicast Addresses | IPv4 Multicast Address Space Registryallocation of the IPv4 multicast addresses used for MBMS user-plane delivery over M1 | Transport |
| IANA IPv6 Multicast Addresses | IPv6 Multicast Address Space Registrythe IPv6 equivalent | Transport |
| IETF RFC 6335 | IANA procedures for the management of the Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry | Transport |
| IETF RFC 9110 | HTTP Semantics | Transport |
| IETF RFC 8446 | The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3 | Transport |
| IETF RFC 793 | Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) | Transport |
| IETF RFC 7323 | TCP Extensions for High Performance | Transport |
| IETF RFC 8200 | Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification | Transport |
MBMS network interfaces
MBMS has three named network interfaces, distinct from the M1-M8 reference points used in 5G Media Streaming (see Media Streaming and Advanced Media Delivery: Specifications).
| Interface | Specification | Plane | Connects |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | TS 25.446 (SYNC) | User plane | MBMS-GW to eNB |
| M2 | TS 36.443 (M2AP) | Control plane | MCE to eNB |
| M3 | TS 36.444 (M3AP) | Control plane | MME to MCE |
About ETSI TS 103 720 - 5G Broadcast System for linear TV and radio services
ETSI TS 103 720 introduces the 5G Broadcast System and its associated features. LTE-based 5G Broadcast is a profile of existing 3GPP specifications that addresses all requirements of a 5G Broadcast System, defining the functions, reference points and receiver categories needed to deploy linear television and radio services, among others.
Quick access
- Kanban - ETSI TS 103 720
- ETSI JTC Broadcast - Work Item towards v1.3.1
- ETSI TS 103 720 v1.2.1 06-2023
- ETSI JTC Broadcast - Work Item towards v1.2.1
- ETSI TS 103 720 v1.1.1 12-2020
Version history at a glance
The table summarises the version-to-Release-to-status mapping; the sections below give the detailed changes for each version. The work-in-progress items for each new version are discussed and agreed among members on the Kanban - ETSI TS 103 720 board (linked once here and under Quick access).
| Version | Date | 3GPP Release | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| v1.1.1 | 12-2020 | Rel-16 baseline | Published |
| v1.2.1 | 06-2023 | Rel-17 | Published |
| v1.3.1 | in progress | Rel-18 | Work item open |
Updates towards ETSI TS 103 720 v1.3.1
5G-MAG is now conducting the updates towards the new version of the specification. In 2024, it kicked off the new work item to update the specification according to 3GPP Release 18. The ETSI work item (WKI_ID 72978) scope lists extensions in 3GPP Release 18, bug fixes and clarifications, support for DVB-I over 5G Broadcast aligned with ETSI TR 103 972, band support for receivers including Band 108 (UHF), 5G Broadcast as a PWS improvement, deployment guidelines on concurrent support of 5G Broadcast and 5G Unicast, support for 3GPP Service URLs, deployment receiver profiles including a RAN-only profile, and low-latency distribution.
The additions, discussed and agreed among members on the Kanban board, include:
- Extensions in 3GPP Rel-18 to address additional use cases and scenarios;
- Identified bugs or at least clarification questions from implementors of ETSI TS 103 720, in particular by 5G-MAG;
- New requirements identified by 5G-MAG;
- Extensions to DVB-I to support 5G Broadcast;
- Band support for receivers including Band 108 (UHF);
- 5G Broadcast as an improvement to the Public Warning System (PWS);
- Deployment Guidelines on concurrent support of 5G Broadcast and 5G Unicast;
- Support for 3GPP Service URLs;
- Deployment receiver profiles including a RAN-only profile;
- Low-latency distribution;
- Potential support of other improvements identified in the timeline of the work item.
Updates towards ETSI TS 103 720 v1.2.1
5G-MAG completed the 3GPP Release 17 updates for ETSI TS 103 720 v1.2.1 in 2023. The additions, discussed and agreed among members on the Kanban board, included:
- Bug fixes, clarifications and upgrade to 3GPP Rel-17 specification
- Adding receiver requirements for consistent network planning including requirements on demodulation performance
- Adding PMCH bandwidths of 6, 7 and 8 MHz (30, 35 and 40 PRB) for deployment in broadcast UHF spectrum, based on 3GPP RAN work items; no specific frequency bands are included (ETSI TS 103 720 V1.2.1 clauses 4.3.2 and 8)
- Support of 5GMS (5G Media Streaming) over eMBMS with reference to 3GPP TS 26.501 including hybrid use cases
- Codecs and Formats with reference to 5GMS in 3GPP TS 26.511
- Support for public warning and emergency alerts based on cell broadcast services.
ETSI TS 103 720 v1.2.1, clause 10, defines four receiver categories: the Base Receiver, the Main Receiver, 5GMS via LTE-based 5G Broadcast and the Emergency Alerts Receiver. Table 10.1-1 assigns MBMS Feature Values, which signal the capability, to the first three:
| Feature value | Category | Mandatory SCS |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | LTE-based 5G Broadcast Base Receiver | 1.25 kHz mandatory; other SCS optional |
| 28 | LTE-based 5G Broadcast Main Receiver | All SCS (15, 7.5, 2.5, 1.25, 0.37 kHz) |
| 30 | 5GMS via LTE-based 5G Broadcast Receiver | Not specified; clause 7 plus the 5GMS receiver requirements |
The v1.2.1 specification PDF and its work item are linked under Quick access above. For the capabilities each category is aimed at, see Deployment Profiles.
Publication of ETSI TS 103 720 v1.1.1
5G-MAG undertook the maintenance of ETSI TS 103 720 in 2021. The initial version (v1.1.1) was published in December 2020 (ETSI TS 103 720 V1.2.1, History). The features below are those listed in the current version (v1.2.1, clause 4.2.1); the v1.1.1 text itself is unverified:
-
Support of Free-to-Air (FTA) and Receive-Only Mode (ROM) services.
-
Network dedicated to linear TV/radio, using supplemental downlink channels and spectrum.
-
Single Frequency Network (SFN) deployments with distances larger than cellular sites
-
Support for mobility scenarios (e.g. up to 250 km/h) for cars, with external antennas.
-
Support for common streaming distribution formats such as Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), Common Media Application Format (CMAF) and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS).
-
Support for IP-based services such as IPTV or ABR multicast.
-
Support for different file delivery services such as scheduled delivery or file carousels.
Related
- Media delivery over 5G Broadcast: Release history
- Media delivery over 5G Broadcast: Technology
- DVB-I Services over 5G: Specifications
- Media delivery over 5G Multicast Broadcast Services: Specifications
- Content Delivery Protocols and Tools: Specifications
- Standardisation: how 5G-MAG processes feedback on the specifications it maintains and tracks