3GPP SA2 architecture and functions for 5G mobile communication system

The on-going development of Fifth Generation (5G) mobile communication technology will be the cornerstone for applying Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to various fields, e.g., smart city, smart home, connected car, etc. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which has developed the most successful standard technologies in the mobile communication market such as Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), is currently carrying out the standardization of both 5G access network system and 5G core network system at the same time. Within 3GPP, Service and System Aspects Working Group 2 (SA2) is responsible for identifying the main functions and entities of the network. In December 2016, the 3GPP SA2 group finalized the first phase of study for the architecture and main functions of 5G mobile communication system under the study item of Next Generation system (NextGen). Currently, normative standardization is on-going based on the agreements made in the NextGen Phase 1 study. In this paper, we present the architecture and functions of 5G mobile communication system agreed in the NextGen study