Introduction:

ITU-R WP5D is working on a preliminary draft of a report that addresses the capabilities of IMT-2020 to distribute multimedia content such as video, audio, text and graphics, including support for real-time multimedia interactive applications. The new report also addresses the capabilities of IMT-2020 user devices and base stations to support such multimedia communications with low latency and wider transmission bandwidth.  It complements Report ITU-R M.2373 on “Audio-visual capabilities and applications supported by terrestrial IMT systems,” which addresses the capabilities of IMT systems for delivering audio-visual services to the consumers and also covers some aspects of production of audio-visual content.

Multimedia applications include network video, digital magazine, digital newspaper, digital radio, social media, mobile TV, digital TV, touch media, etc., that are enabled by IMT-2020 technologies. Beyond the traditional media service, the new media application not only supports accurate delivery of content, but also supports real-time interaction and real-time uploading of user-generated content. The users can be both consumers and producers of new media content.

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Editor’s Note:

Ultra low latency is needed to support almost any type of multimedia applications.  In particular, the URLLC performance requirements must meet those specified in ITU-R M.2410 –Key requirements related to the minimum technical performance of IMT-2020 candidate radio interface technologies.  The current version of IMT 2020 (ITU-R M.2150) doesn’t meet the M.2410 ultra low latency requirement of <1ms in the data plane and <10msec in the control plane.  Until 3GPP Release 16 URLLC in the RAN spec is completed and performance tested, we don’t expect any serious use of 5G for multimedia applications.

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Applications for multimedia content include but are not limited to:

–                 audio-visual applications,

–                 network video applications,

–                 digital online magazine applications,

–                 digital online newspaper applications,

–                 internet radio applications,

–                 social media applications,

–                 mobile internet TV applications,

–                 touch media applications,

–                 online information distribution applications,

–                 on-demand video applications

–                 imaging and audio distribution applications

–                 content dissemination applications

–                 file delivery application

_                 Real time uploading of multimedia content

_                 Electronic classroom presentation technology

_                 Full motion video conferencing

This report covers the application of IMT technology to the specific applications mentioned above. For details of applications of the Broadcasting service for multimedia, please refer to the list of ITU‑R Recommendations and ITU-R Reports below.

Relevant ITU-R Recommendations and Reports:

• Recommendation ITU-R BT.1833 – Broadcasting of multimedia and data applications for mobile reception by handheld receivers
• Recommendation ITU-R BT.2016 – Error-correction, data framing, modulation and emission methods for terrestrial multimedia broadcasting for mobile reception using handheld receivers in VHF/UHF bands
• Recommendation ITU-R M.2083 – Framework and overall objectives of the future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond
• Recommendation ITU-R M.2150 – Detailed specifications of the terrestrial radio interfaces of International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020) 
• Report ITU-R BT.2049 – Broadcasting of multimedia and data applications for mobile reception
• Report ITU-R BT.2295 – Digital terrestrial broadcasting systems
• Report ITU-R M.2373 – Audio-visual capabilities and applications supported by terrestrial IMT systems

Multimedia Use cases:

• Ultra-high-definition multimedia content
• Virtual reality (VR) panoramic video
• Augmented Reality (AR)
• Entertainment live streaming
• Live eCommerce (use of live webcast technology to carry out new sales methods)
• Smart venue (new viewing experiences at live events or activities)
• Live streaming production and distribution of events

IMT-2020 capabilities for real-time multimedia interaction and media content uploading:

Interactive multimedia allows the user to control, combine and manipulate a variety of media types, such as text, computer graphics audio and video materials, animation and virtual reality.

To enable interactive task completion during voice conversation, IMT-2020 is capable of supporting low-delay speech coding for interactive conversational services (refer 3GPP TS22.261, 100 ms, one-way mouth-to-ear).

Table 1. below (from 3GPP TS 22.261 Table 7.1-1.) gives a capability example of IMT-2020 to support high data rate and traffic density scenario for an interactive audio and video application in indoor hotspot.

Table 1.  High data rate and traffic density scenario of IMT-2020 for an interactive audio and video  application

Conclusions:

This report (in progress) summarizes various capabilities of terrestrial component of IMT-2020 for Multimedia communications.   Multimedia is an immersive technological way of presenting information that combines audio, video, images, and animations with textual data. Multimedia applications include network video, digital magazine, digital newspaper, digital radio, social media, touch media, etc., and can be easily enabled using IMT-2020. New emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are becoming key technologies to upgrade the traditional multimedia industries.

The IMT-2020 capabilities can support the evolving interactive multimedia communication with the capabilities not only broader bandwidth, higher data rate, but also lower latency and higher reliability.

The typical technologies are flexible and dynamic resources allocation, uplink enhancement e.g. UL MIMO, UL Carrier Aggregation and Dual connectivity, and related architecture improvement, which can connect the user to a high-definition video, real-time multimedia interaction virtual world on their mobile device.

Live events with high definition and ultra-high definition content can be streamed via IMT-2020 radio network with higher throughput. HD and UHD content (e.g. news, sport event) can be real-time produced and on demand distributed to mobile devices without any interruptions through IMT-2020 higher user experienced data rate and low latency. The entertainment industry will hugely benefit from IMT-2020 wireless networks, which are expected to enable HD virtual reality games with a better real-time interactive gaming experience, and high dynamic range video streaming without interruption. Cloud AR and Cloud VR with HD or UHD video can be supported with higher user experienced data rate and low latency supported by IMT-2020.  It is foreseeable that with the support of IMT-2020 technology, it will gradually bring consumers more amazing virtual experiences.

References:

Evaluating Multimedia Protocols on 5G Edge for Mobile Augmented Reality

https://www.routledge.com/5G-Multimedia-Communication-Technology-Multiservices-and-Deployment/Bojkovic-Milovanovic-Fowdur/p/book/9780367561154

https://www.rcrwireless.com/20220413/5g/what-is-the-5g-multimedia-priority-service-mps

IMT 2020.SPECS approved by ITU-R but may not meet 5G performance requirements; no 5G frequencies (revision of M.1036); 5G non-radio aspects not included