Content for TR 38.918 Word version: 18.1.0

3.1 Terms 3.2 Symbols 3.3 Abbreviations 4.1 Background 4.2 Study Item Objective
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1 Scope p. 8

The present document contains the findings of the Study on 5G NR UE full stack testing of network slicing and the proposed test procedures.

2 References p. 8

The following documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of the present document.

References are either specific (identified by date of publication, edition number, version number, etc.) or non-specific.
For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
For a non-specific reference, the latest version applies. In the case of a reference to a 3GPP document (including a GSM document), a non-specific reference implicitly refers to the latest version of that document in the same Release as the present document.

[1]

TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".

[2]

TS 38.323: "NR; Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification".

[3]

TS 38.321: "NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification".

[4]

TS 38.322: "NR; Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification".

[5]

TS 38.331: "NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol Specification".

[6]

TS 38.508-1: "5GS;User Equipment (UE) conformance specification; Part 1: Common test environment".

[7]

TS 23.501: "System Architecture for the 5G System; Stage 2".

[8]

TS 23.503: "Policy and Charging Control Framework for the 5G System; Stage 2".

[9]

TS 24.501: "Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for 5G System (5GS); stage 3".

[10]

TS 24.526: "UE policies for 5G System (5GS); Stage 3".

[11]

TS 23.003: "Numbering, addressing and identification".

[12]

TS 38.521-4: "NR; User Equipment (UE) conformance specification; Radio transmission and reception; Part 4: Performance requirements".

[13]

TS 38.521-1: "NR; User Equipment (UE) conformance specification; Radio transmission and reception; Part 1: Range 1 Standalone".

3 Definitions of terms, symbols and abbreviations p. 8

3.1 Terms p. 8

For the purposes of the present document, the terms given in TR 21.905 and the following apply. A term defined in the present document takes precedence over the definition of the same term, if any, in TR 21.905.

3.2 Symbols p. 9

Void

3.3 Abbreviations p. 9

For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in TR 21.905 and the following apply. An abbreviation defined in the present document takes precedence over the definition of the same abbreviation, if any, in TR 21.905.

4 General p. 9

4.1 Background p. 9

5G Network Slicing is one of the most distinctive features provided by 5G NR and is key to meet diversified services requirements in 5G era. With the introduction of 5G network slicing technology, operators will be able to provide network capabilities with different functional characteristics, which will provide e.g. "exclusive" network for users with different KPI requirements to ensure a high-quality of service and meet differentiated scenario requirements. 5G network slicing can also help to achieve the goal of improving the efficiency of network resource utilization, optimizing the network construction investment of operators, and building a flexible and agile 5G network.

The user experience resulting from the use of 5G network slicing is critical for commercial success, and therefore testing the operation of 5G network slicing is necessary to ensure consistent predictable behaviour. To enable testing the 5G UEs supporting network slicing as they are used in the field the application layer at the device side needs to be included in the testing, as URSP based network slice selection and traffic routing procedures are based on traffic descriptor components (see TS 24.526) passed on by the application layer to the UE protocol stack. The traffic descriptor components that are passed onto the UE protocol stack to be used as a base for the network slice selection when a specific application requests a PDU session are configured within the device. There is a strong industry demand to define the test methods and test procedures that include the full related UE application layer in the testing of the network slice selection functionality for 5G UE supporting network slicing.

4.2 Study Item Objective p. 9

The technical objectives of this study item are:

To study how to define test procedures that will allow the full protocol stack testing of a 5G NR UE supporting network slicing. The test procedures for full protocol stack testing of the network slicing functionality, e.g. how the UE uses configurations matching UE application to traffic descriptor components to select S-NSSAI, will be provided.
To study how to define test procedures that will allow the service performance testing of a 5G NR UE supporting network slicing. The test procedures for performance testing of the network slicing service, e.g. application layer throughput and latency, will be provided.