3GPP TR 26.870 - Study on Media Aspects for 6G System (Release 20)

Document Overview

This is an early-stage Technical Report (v0.0.1) establishing the framework for studying media-related aspects in 6G mobile networks. The document is in skeleton form, defining the structure and scope for investigating media opportunities and gaps in the context of 6G systems.

Scope and Objectives

The study aims to:

• Support 6G studies in other working groups with media-related aspects
• Identify media-related industry trends from operators, third-party providers, and verticals that may impact 6G media architectures
• Improve existing services and support new services to meet 6G system requirements
• Build upon service requirements from SA1 (TR 22.870, TS 22.abc) and architectural enhancements from SA2 (TR 23.801-01)

The conclusions will form the basis for further detailed studies and normative work.

Document Structure

Section 4: Preliminaries

The document establishes three foundational areas:

1. Assumptions - Common architecture assumptions based on SA2 decisions and existing functions from earlier generations
2. Requirements - Architectural and media-related requirements from SA1, including associated use cases
3. Existing Media Services - Review of media services from 4G and 5G, assessing their relevancy and deployment status

Section 5: New Trends and Expected Services

This section will identify media-related industry trends from:
- Operators
- Third-party providers
- Verticals

These trends will inform the impact on 6G media architectures.

Work Topics (Section 6)

The study defines five initial work topics, each structured with:
- Description
- Key Issues
- Context and External Factors
- Potential Solutions
- Mapping of Issues to Solutions
- Conclusions

Work Topic #1: Media Delivery Architecture

Focus on architectural aspects of media delivery in 6G systems.

Work Topic #2: 6G Media

Investigation of new media capabilities and services specific to 6G.

Work Topic #3: Media Aspects Related to SA2 Topics

Coordination with SA2 architectural work to ensure media aspects are properly addressed.

Work Topic #4: Media for Ubiquitous Access

Addressing media delivery across diverse access scenarios in 6G.

Work Topic #5: Trusted and Private Communication for Media

Security and privacy considerations for media services.

Work Topic #X: [Placeholder]

Additional work topics to be defined.

Consolidated Findings and Recommendations

• Section 7 will consolidate findings from all work topics
• Section 8 will provide recommendations for follow-up work
• Annex A will collect supplementary background information for selected work topics

Key References

The study builds upon:
- TR 22.870: Study on 6G Use Cases and Service Requirements
- TR 23.801-01: Study on Architecture for 6G System Stage 2
- TS 22.ABC: 6G System Requirements (to be replaced with normative specification)
- TS 26.501: 5G Media Streaming (5GMS) architecture
- TS 26.506: 5G Real-time Media Communication Architecture

Current Status

This is the initial skeleton version (0.0.1) from February 2026, SA4#135. All technical content sections contain editor's notes indicating that detailed content is yet to be developed. The document establishes the framework for comprehensive study of media aspects in 6G systems, with work to be populated in subsequent versions.