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5G Broadcast - TV, Radio and Emergency Alerts

Deployment Profiles

warning

This documentation is currently under development and subject to change. It reflects outcomes elaborated by 5G-MAG members. If you are interested in becoming a member of the 5G-MAG and actively participating in shaping this work, please contact the Project Office

Overview​

A receiver profile is a named set of capabilities (radio features, protocols, codecs, and delivery methods) that a device is expected to support in order to receive LTE-based 5G Broadcast services in a given deployment. This page sets out the capabilities such a profile groups together. For the parameter values observed in actual deployments, see Operational Parameters in Use, which also defines receiver Profile A and Profile B. The "Profile A" example on this page and the receiver profiles on that page use similar names but are described from different angles: required capabilities here, observed values there. Read the two together.

warning

The profile below is a work-in-progress example, not a finalised conformance profile. It reflects capabilities discussed by 5G-MAG members and may change.

Standardised receiver categories (ETSI TS 103 720)​

Alongside the deployment-oriented example profile below, ETSI TS 103 720 v1.2.1 (which profiles 3GPP Release 17) defines three normative receiver categories. These are signalled through MBMS Feature Values in the User Service Description and set out which subcarrier spacings (SCS) a receiver must support. They are the standardised reference points against which a deployment profile should be checked.

Feature valueCategoryMandatory SCS
27LTE-based 5G Broadcast Base Receiver1.25 kHz mandatory; other SCS optional
28LTE-based 5G Broadcast Main ReceiverAll SCS: 15, 7.5, 2.5, 1.25 and 0.37 kHz
305GMS via LTE-based 5G Broadcast ReceiverMain Receiver plus 5GMS requirements
  • Base Receiver is the minimum profile, aimed at fixed indoor reception using the 1.25 kHz numerology.
  • Main Receiver must support all five numerologies and is the target for mobile and portable devices.
  • 5GMS Receiver adds the 5G Media Streaming requirements on top of the Main Receiver.

The published v1.2.1 does not include specific frequency bands: its clause 8 (Spectrum and Frequency Bands, informative) notes that 3GPP work on frequency bands was ongoing and defers them to a future revision. The 3GPP Release 18 band additions (such as Band 108, 470 to 698 MHz) and the Release 19 PMCH enhancements are therefore expected in a later ETSI TS 103 720 version. For the release-by-release mapping, see Standards: 5G Broadcast - TV, Radio and Emergency Alerts.

5G Broadcast Receiver Profile A (example)​

Bands and bandwidth​

The supported bandwidths for LTE-based 5G Broadcast are 6, 7 and 8 MHz.

The supported spectrum is a subset of operating band 108 (the UHF band 470 to 698 MHz for LTE-based 5G terrestrial broadcast), defined as a standalone downlink-only (SDO) band in Table 5.5H-1 of 3GPP TS 36.101, first included in the Release 18 version. The published ETSI TS 103 720 v1.2.1 does not define operating bands; its clause 8 defers specific band configurations to a future revision.

Radio​

Implementation of radio aspects in devices shall follow clause 7.3 (Access Stratum receiver requirements) of ETSI TS 103 720 and support the following radio-layer capabilities:

  • MBMS-dedicated cells for 100% MBMS allocation
  • Subcarrier spacings: 1.25 kHz, 2.5 kHz and 15 kHz.
  • Service continuity for roaming/border situations
  • Multiple services with different Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) within a carrier
  • Support of MCS 1-26 (according to Table 7.1.7.1-1A. in 3GPP 36.213 18.2.0)
  • Support for dual antenna reception
  • Support of diversity reception with multiple antennas
  • Multi-threading of 5G Broadcast and unicast, i.e. using unicast at the same time when receiving on 5G Broadcast

Interfaces and protocols​

This subsection covers the delivery methods and transport protocols a Profile A receiver is expected to support. Devices' interfaces shall support the following delivery methods (according to 3GPP 26.346 18.0.0):

  • MBMS Transparent Delivery Method
  • MBMS Download Delivery Method

Devices shall support the following protocols (according to 3GPP 26.346 18.0.0):

  • RTP (over transparent delivery method)
  • DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP)
  • TS over IP (MPEG-2 Transport Stream over IP; over transparent delivery method)
  • HLS (HTTP Live Streaming; over transparent delivery method)
  • FLUTE (File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport)
  • ROUTE (Real-time Object delivery over Unidirectional Transport; over transparent delivery method)

The following functionalities shall be supported:

  • Service announcement (according to 3GPP 23.246 18.0.0)
  • Bootstrap.multipart file (according to 3GPP 26.346 18.0.0)
  • MBMS-URL (according to 3GPP 26.347 18.0.0)

Codec​

A Profile A receiver is expected to decode the following audio, video, and container formats:

  • Audio: HE-AAC aacPlus, enhanced aacPlus, AC-3, AAC
  • Video: H.264 High profile
  • Video: H.265 (HEVC)
  • Video: H.266 VVC
  • CMAF, mp4, ISO BMFF
  • MPEG-2 TS

Miscellaneous​

This subsection covers the remaining operational modes and functions. Devices shall support:

  • Free-to-air (FTA) mode
  • Receive-only-mode (ROM)
  • Multi-Frequency Network (MFN) support
  • Single Frequency Network (SFN) support
  • Service discovery strategy: 1. MBMS-URL, 2. Bootstrap.multipart file, 3. Service announcement
  • Public Warning System (PWS) support (according to clause 7.6 of ETSI TS 103 720)

In case Time-Frequency-Interleaving (TFI) and co-existence of legacy broadcast and 5G Broadcast in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band are introduced in Release 19, both functionalities shall be supported. TFI interleaves a signal across time and frequency to improve robustness, and UHF co-existence lets 5G Broadcast share spectrum with legacy terrestrial broadcast. Both items are conditional on Release 19 outcomes and are not yet finalised; check the current status against the 5G-MAG work and ETSI TS 103 720 before relying on them. See Operational Parameters in Use for the values observed today.