- The study: TR 26.870 V0.6.1, Study on Media Aspects for 6G System (3GPP SA4, Release 20).
- Status: a draft; only the findings on AI traffic characteristics are written so far.
- 5G-MAG's part: the traffic of AI media services, measured with the 6G AI Traffic Characterization Testbed.
What the study covers
TR 26.870 studies media-related aspects for 6G mobile networks, to improve existing services and support new ones. It aims to meet the 6G system requirements developed in TR 22.870 and captured by TS 22.270, in alignment with the SA2 architecture study, TR 23.801-01 (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 1).
Its work is organised in seven work topics. The consolidated findings are collected per topic (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7).
| Work topic | Covers | Findings |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Media Delivery Architecture | The media delivery architecture; multi-component media services | To be completed (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.2; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.2) |
| 2. 6G media | 2D video codecs; media traffic characteristics; AI services and formats; end-to-end service quality | Initial findings on AI traffic characteristics; the rest to be completed (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.3; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.1; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.3) |
| 3. Media aspects related to SA2 topics | AI for 6G; integrated sensing and communication | To be completed (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.4; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.4) |
| 4. Media for ubiquitous access | To be completed (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.5; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.5) | |
| 5. Trusted and private communication for media | Trusted real-time media communication; preservation and verification; multimodal and multi-source association | To be completed (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.6.2.2; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.6.2.3; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.6.2.4; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.6) |
| 6. Software and asset management | To be completed (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.7; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.7) | |
| 7. Real-time communication system enhancements | No findings clause yet (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.8; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7) |
AI traffic characteristics
Traffic characteristics of media services are relevant to the design of 6G radio and service architectures. For AI media services, the study obtains them itself, with a framework in its annexes: annex B describes a testbed that makes the measurements, annex D defines the test scenarios, network profiles and metrics, and annex C sets out the methodology, the assumptions on AI traffic, the results and the conclusions (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 6.3.3.1; TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause C.1). Annex E is a temporary annex on the network emulator. The characteristics documented in annex C are intended as input to the SA2 study of the system impacts of AI traffic (Key Issue 19 in TR 23.801-01 V0.9.0 clause 5.19, which includes studying "the potential system impacts based on the characteristics of AI traffic") and to the corresponding RAN studies (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clauses 6.3.1.1 and 6.4.1.1).
The study records five initial findings, one per assumption of annex C: AI traffic is uplink heavy in some scenarios, including the agentic ones (clause C.4); it is bursty and its delay requirement varies within one application (C.5); round-trip delay determines responsiveness, and connection establishment contributes significantly (C.6); traffic varies within one application (C.7); and some traffic is structured in tokens (C.8). Two notes qualify them: the uplink behaviour of agentic scenarios is attributed to retransmitted context, which is for further study, and the test setup does not include QUIC or persistent connections. The findings are to be updated as more measurement results become available (TR 26.870 V0.6.1 clause 7.1).
The testbed
What it measures and how, and how to run it.
Results
The measurements behind each finding.
5G-MAG inputs to 6G
Contributions to the 3GPP 6G workshops.
Sources for this page
- At a glance: TR 26.870 V0.6.1, cover; clause 7 (clauses 7.2 to 7.7 carry only editor's notes).
- What the study covers: TR 26.870 V0.6.1, clause 1; work topics and their sub-clauses from clause 6; findings from clauses 7.1 to 7.7.
- AI traffic characteristics: TR 26.870 V0.6.1, clauses 6.3.1.1, 6.3.3.1, 6.4.1.1 and 7.1, with its editor's note and NOTEs; annexes B to E for the framework.