Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia are essentially the most lively corporations contributing to 5G 3GPP standardization (Analyst Angle)

There have been almost 300,000 written contributions for 5G UE-related applied sciences.
Three massive community distributors (Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia) have been main in each the variety of contributions and accepted contributions for 5G applied sciences to The third Technology Partnership Venture (3GPP). That is significantly the case with requirements associated to Consumer Gear (UE) specs and functionalities which are developed beneath RAN1, RAN2, RAN4, RAN5, SA2, SA3, and CT1 Working Teams (WGs). The listing of the highest 20 most lively corporations inside 5G 3GPP requirements is listed within the desk under:
Prime 20 Ranked by Whole Contributions | Permitted Contributions | Whole Contributions | Firm Class |
Huawei | 15,266 | 43,753 | Incumbent Infrastructure Vendor (Finish-to-Finish) |
Ericsson | 11,601 | 36,375 | Incumbent Infrastructure Vendor (Finish-to-Finish) |
Nokia | 7,553 | 23,112 | Incumbent Infrastructure Vendor (Finish-to-Finish) |
Qualcomm | 5,523 | 18,471 | Chipset |
Samsung | 3,548 | 16,464 | Incumbent Infrastructure Vendor (Finish-to-Finish) |
ZTE | 3,415 | 15,291 | Incumbent Infrastructure Vendor (Finish-to-Finish) |
Intel | 2,151 | 10,770 | Chipset |
LGE | 1,396 | 10,139 | Handset/UE Vendor |
CATT | 1,934 | 9,792 | Authorities/Establishment/SDO/Lecturers |
vivo | 1,205 | 8,367 | Handset/UE Vendor |
MediaTek | 1,848 | 7,766 | Chipset |
OPPO | 818 | 6,728 | Handset/UE Vendor |
NTT DOCOMO | 1,848 | 6,664 | Community Service Supplier |
CMCC | 1,823 | 6,362 | Community Service Supplier |
Apple | 955 | 5,183 | Handset/UE Vendor |
Lenovo | 997 | 3,950 | Handset/UE Vendor |
InterDigital | 456 | 3,756 | R&D |
Xiaomi | 297 | 2,475 | Handset/UE Vendor |
Rohde & Schwarz | 1,758 | 2,192 | Community/UE Testing Vendor |
NEC | 461 | 2,135 | Incumbent Infrastructure Vendor (Finish-to-Finish) |
Relaxation | 12,906 | 39,149 | Others |
Grand Whole | 77,759 | 278,894 | Others |
Standardization is crucial within the cellular trade for selling innovation, large-scale infrastructure deployment, compatibility, interoperability, and establishing techniques that work globally. 3GPP is the trade affiliation defining mobile requirements. It operates on a consensus foundation method with hundreds of corporations contributing to Technical Specs (TSs) for numerous normal releases and generations.
Contributions Associated to Consumer Gear
ABI Analysis has chosen contributions related to the terminal side of 5G as a result of it’s a important innovation area, with technical developments permitting these new varieties of providers to materialize. There have been almost 300,000 written contributions for 5G UE-related applied sciences obtained by 3GPP, representing about 80% of complete contributions, displaying sturdy curiosity from the availability chain to advertise innovation with their Analysis and Growth (R&D) outcomes.
Contributors embody community infrastructure distributors (e.g., Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, ZTE, and NEC), chipset distributors (e.g., Qualcomm, Intel, and MediaTek), community service suppliers (e.g., CMCC, NTT DOCOMO, and AT&T), UE suppliers (e.g., vivo, OPPO, Apple, and Xiaomi), and authorities/establishment/Requirements Growth Group (SDO)/tutorial our bodies (e.g., CATT, ETRI, Fraunhofer HHI, GSMA, and 5GAA), R&D corporations (e.g., InterDigital), software program/testing distributors (e.g., Rohde & Schwarz, Anritsu, and Keysight Applied sciences), and a few vertical corporations (e.g., Siemens and Mitsubishi). There have been greater than 400 corporations collaborating from the trade in 3GPP standardization; nonetheless, only some corporations are persistently lively in driving 3GPP 5G requirements. Community infrastructure distributors are considerably extra lively than every other firm classes.
RAN1 (i.e., the bodily layer of radio interface), RAN2 (i.e., the radio interface structure and protocols), RAN4 (i.e., the Radio Frequency (RF) elements in UE), and SA2 (i.e., the general 3GPP system structure) are a very powerful WGs impacting all the cellular trade and receiving huge curiosity when it comes to submitted contributions or offline discussions. That is very effectively anticipated as these WGs are the house of many of the normative and foundational TSs of 5G 3GPP requirements. These normative TSs are sometimes the goal of the vast majority of Requirements Important Patents (SEPs) declared by numerous stakeholders.
Though counting contributions just isn’t sufficient to acknowledge leaders in influencing 3GPP standardization processes, it’s nonetheless a key aspect in figuring out the lively contributors to those requirements, as a primary step of figuring out innovation. To reveal the additional hyperlinks from participation to materials affect, we have to break down the small print of contributions, their density, the strengths of the TSs focused, and the complete report of conferences, which might be difficult to finish for an entire database. Sooner or later, ABI Analysis will examine the connection between 3GPP contributions and the database of SEPs, which can present extra indications for understanding expertise improvements.
Key Takeaways
- Counting contributions alone is inadequate to determine leaders in 3GPP standardization processes. Nonetheless, it’s a essential step in recognizing lively contributors and figuring out innovation.
- Greater than 400 corporations from the trade have participated in 3GPP standardization; nonetheless, solely a handful of corporations are persistently lively in driving 3GPP 5G requirements.
- Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia have, up to now, been main in each the variety of complete and accepted contributions for 5G applied sciences to 3GPP.
- Community infrastructure distributors are considerably extra lively than every other firm classes, adopted by handset distributors, chipset distributors, community service suppliers, and authorities analysis establishments.
- UE-related WGs (i.e., RAN1, RAN2, RAN4, RAN5, SA2, SA3, and CT1) take 80% of complete contributions. RAN1, RAN2, RAN4, and SA2 are a very powerful WGs, impacting all the cellular trade and receiving huge curiosity.
Gu Zhang is a Principal Analyst within the 5G community infrastructure staff, specializing in expertise and strategic developments throughout the mobile infrastructure worth chain. Her analysis features a broad spectrum of subjects, together with improvement methods of future RAN applied sciences, 5G-Superior, 6G, 3GPP developments, mobile requirements, patented and Open RAN.