A Survey on Multicast Broadcast Services in 5G and Beyond

Abstract

Increased usage of video consumption along with a host of new services such as software download over wireless networks, group communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications have created a need for support of Multicast Broadcast Services (MBS) in wireless networks. While the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is defining its own mechanism for MBS support in Fifth Generation (5G) system, supplementing the native 5G MBS support with non-3GPP Broadcast Networks may bring additional advantages. A unique characteristic of the 3GPP 5G System (5GS) architecture is the existence of a converged core, capable of supporting diverse access technologies, 3GPP and non-3GPP access technologies in a uniform manner. The 5GS also supports multiple integration points for non-3GPP access networks. These may be utilized for its integration with non-3GPP broadcast networks such as non-3GPP satellite access networks and digital terrestrial broadcast networks enabling it to harness them for multicast broadcast service delivery. In this article, we review the upcoming 3GPP 5G MBS standards along with some of its limitations. We also present state of the art standardization initiatives towards convergence of non-3GPP broadcast networks with the 5GS including our proposals submitted to standards organizations.