Overview of 5G Broadcast and Multicast Services

The demand for access to high-quality live media on handheld devices is increasing at an unprecedented rate. Mobile broadband users are demanding live streaming video content anywhere, anytime and on all their devices. This puts immense pressure on mobile network operators to provide quality services to all their subscribers within the limited radio resources that are available to them. Using a one-to-one dedicated connection to send the same content (for example, Live Sports action) to multiple users results in inefficient spectrum utilisation. Broadcasting/Multicasting allows network operators to offload content from dedicated services to shared services, thereby freeing-up network resources and improving spectral utilisation. This also enables network operators to use their existing infrastructure efficiently, thereby improving their ROI. Though technologies like 3G and LTE also support Multimedia Broadcast Multicast service (MBMS), 5G NR based Broadcast/ Multicast provides better performance as it has improved signal coverage even at cell edges and can also cater to high traffic demands in high mobility scenarios. The latency in 5G is also lower than 3G/LTE, thereby improving the overall end-user experience. In this study, we have done a systematic literature review of 3GPP Broadcast/Multicast services. We present an overview of 5G Broadcast/Multicast technology and discuss some techniques that can be used to optimise resource utilisation and improve user experience. We then present a comparison between 5G and LTE Broadcast/Multicast performance and discuss how 5G Broadcast/Multicast can be used not just for entertainment but also for improving essential aspects of human life like Education, agriculture, and agriculture Public Safety.