5G-MAG tracks standardisation of avatar communications and the associated immersive voice and audio in 5G systems: the Avatar Representation Format (ARF), an MPEG format for interoperable 3D avatars, MPEG-I Scene Description integration, and Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS), the 3GPP immersive audio codec used alongside them. For how avatar communication works, see the Technology page. Check the Standards repository for the current status of this work as it develops.
- Avatar representation: ISO/IEC 23090-39 (ARF), placed in scenes with ISO/IEC 23090-14 (MPEG-I Scene Description).
- Real-time transport: TS 26.114, TS 26.506 and TS 26.264, with draft-ietf-avtcore-rtp-avatar.
- Immersive audio: the IVAS specifications, TS 26.250 to TS 26.258.
- By release: Release 18 creates TS 26.264 and the IVAS specifications; Release 19 adds avatar calls to TS 26.264 and produces TR 26.813; the Release 20 work plan lists FS_Avatar_Ph2_MED and AvCall_Ph2-MED.
Specifications
The MPEG, 3GPP and IETF deliverables behind avatar communications, filterable by the role they play. Search matches the specification number, its title and any scope note.
ISO/IEC 23090-39 (ARF) defines interoperable storage, carriage and animation of 3D avatars, and is designed to work with MPEG-I Scene Description (ISO/IEC 23090-14; see the XR Media & 3D Scenes: Specifications page for the full Scene Description treatment, including the avatar extension in clause 8.3 of the second edition). See the Technology page for the ARF data model and end-to-end procedure.
IVAS is the 3GPP immersive voice and audio codec developed by working group SA4. Its deliverables span the general overview, the fixed- and floating-point C code, test material, the detailed algorithmic description (including the RTP payload format and SDP parameters used to negotiate the codec in a session), rendering, error concealment, and jitter buffer management.
17 of 17 specifications
| Specification | Title | Layer |
|---|---|---|
| ISO/IEC 23090-39 | Coded representation of immersive media; Part 39: Avatar representation format (ARF)interoperable storage, carriage and animation of 3D avatars; storage containers are ISOBMFF (ISO/IEC 14496-12) and Zip-based (ISO/IEC 21320-1) | Avatar representation |
| ISO/IEC 23090-14 | Coded representation of immersive media; Part 14: Scene descriptionsecond edition, ISO/IEC 23090-14:2025 (2025-11); its clause 8.3 defines the MPEG_node_avatar extension and annex H the reference avatar | Scene placement |
| ISO/IEC 23090-14 Amd 1 | Support of MPEG-I audio, scene understanding and other extensionsAmendment 1 to the second edition; final draft (FDAM 1, 2026-05-01). The avatar extension and the reference avatar are in clause 8.3 and annex H of the second edition | Scene placement |
| TS 26.264 | IMS-based AR Real-Time Communicationavatar calls over the IMS data channel: ARF container and profile requirements (clause 5.6), the avatar animation data channel (clause 6.3.2), network animation and rendering (clause 7.3.2) and the three animation modes (annex A.2.3); V19.4.1 | Real-time media transport |
| TS 26.114 | IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS); Multimedia Telephony; Media handling and interaction | Real-time media transport |
| TS 26.506 | 5G Real-time Media Communication Architecture (Stage 2)the stage-2 architecture for RTC over 5G | Real-time media transport |
| draft-ietf-avtcore-rtp-avatar | RTP Payload Format for Avatar Representation Format (ARF) Animation StreamIETF work in progress (Internet-Draft, version 02 of August 2026), not a 3GPP or MPEG deliverable; defines RTP payload structures for the animation stream of ISO/IEC 23090-39 (draft-ietf-avtcore-rtp-avatar-02 sections 1 and 5.4) | Real-time media transport |
| TS 26.250 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); General overview | Immersive audio |
| TS 26.251 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); C code (fixed-point) | Immersive audio |
| TS 26.252 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); Test sequences | Immersive audio |
| TS 26.253 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); Detailed Algorithmic Description including RTP payload format and SDP parameter definitions | Immersive audio |
| TS 26.254 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); Rendering | Immersive audio |
| TS 26.255 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); Error concealment of lost packets | Immersive audio |
| TS 26.256 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); Jitter Buffer Management | Immersive audio |
| TS 26.258 | Codec for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS); C code (floating-point) | Immersive audio |
| TR 26.813 | Avatar Representation and Communication | Studies |
| TR 26.928 | Extended Reality (XR) in 5Gincludes avatar and presence use cases | Studies |
Specifications by role
The standardisation spans MPEG (avatar representation and scene placement) and 3GPP/IETF (real-time transport and immersive audio). The table groups the key specifications by the part of the system they govern; see the Technology page for how these pieces fit together.
| Role | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Avatar representation | ISO/IEC 23090-39 (ARF) |
| Scene placement | ISO/IEC 23090-14 (MPEG-I Scene Description) |
| Real-time media transport | TS 26.114, TS 26.506, TS 26.264, draft-ietf-avtcore-rtp-avatar |
| Immersive audio | TS 26.250 to TS 26.258 (IVAS) |
What TS 26.264 states
TS 26.264 V19.4.1 (IMS-based AR Real-Time Communication, Release 19) specifies avatar calls over the IMS data channel.
- Clause 5.6.1: "An AR-MTSI Rx client that supports avatars shall support the ARF container in both ISO BMFF and ZIP formats." The same clause notes: "The ARF specification is still under development. Some details may change."
- Clause 6.3.2: "The data channel sub-protocol shall be identified as “3gpp-ar-animation” and included in the dcmap attribute of the SDP for the corresponding data-channel m-line." Also: "Each 3gpp-ar-animation data channel message shall contain ARF animation units pertaining to exactly one animation sample." and "No compression scheme is defined for animation samples."
- Clause 6.4.2: the integration of ARF avatars in a scene uses the MPEG_node_avatar extension of ISO/IEC 23090-14.
- Clauses 5.6.2.2 and 5.6.3.2: the 3D and 2D avatar simple profiles, designated by the URNs "urn:3gpp:avatar:profile:3d:simple" and "urn:3gpp:avatar:profile:2d:simple".
- Annex A.2.3: "Three avatar animation modes are defined for avatar call over the IMS data channel:" sender-centric, where "the sender UE animates and renders its avatar representation before sending it to the receiving UE as 2D video"; receiver-centric, where "the receiving UE animates and renders the sender UE’s avatar representation"; and network-centric, where "the MF animates and renders the sender UE’s avatar representation before sending it to the receiving UE as 2D video."
What TR 26.813 states
TR 26.813 V20.0.0, clause 1: "The present document documents formats for representing and animating Avatars." It adds: "It also provides recommendations on the integration of Avatars in 3GPP services and enablers for immersive communications and the Metaverse." The work plan lists two studies on it: FS_AVATAR (Release 19, complete, March 2025) and FS_Avatar_Ph2_MED (Release 20, complete, September 2026).
Release by release
- Release 18: IBACS creates TS 26.264, with the AR-MTSI client (TR 21.918 clause 14.6); IVAS_Codec creates the IVAS specifications TS 26.250 to TS 26.258 (clause 17.10); ISAR adds split rendering formats to TS 26.253 and TS 26.258 (clause 14.4).
- Release 19: AvCall-MED adds avatar calls to TS 26.264: ARF base avatars, 3D and 2D avatars, data channel animation messages, SDP and data channel avatar negotiation with sender, network or receiver side rendering, and the Mbar_Management service of the Base Avatar Repository (TR 21.919 clause 12.4). FS_AVATAR produces TR 26.813. IVAS_Codec_Ph2 adds the fixed-point code TS 26.251 and updated conformance in TS 26.252 (clause 11.3).
- Release 20 (work plan of 28 September 2026): FS_Avatar_Ph2_MED, a study on TR 26.813 (100%, finish 9 September 2026); AvCall_Ph2-MED, Avatar Communications phase 2, on TS 26.264 (WID SP-260910, 0%, planned finish 3 March 2027); AIML_IMS-MED, Media aspects for AI/ML in IMS services, which also lists TS 26.264 (100%, finish 6 June 2026). No Release 20 version of TS 26.264 was available to check what changed.
The change requests behind each release are in the Release history.
Related
- Conversational Avatar Communication: Release history
- Conversational Avatar Communication: Technology
- XR Media & 3D Scenes: Specifications
- Real-time Media Communication (RTC): Specifications
- Standardisation: how 5G-MAG submits feedback and requirements to SDOs