Roadmap & Release Timeline
Where 5G-LENA is heading next on the path to 6G, and when each headline capability landed, shown against the 3GPP standard freezes so you can see how closely the simulator tracks the standard. See the full feature matrix on the Features page.
Legend: ● 5G-LENA release · ◻ 3GPP standard freeze · ◌ planned
The path to 6G
Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), Integrated Sensing & Communication (ISAC), Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) and AI-native networking, tracking the first 3GPP 6G specifications.
Rel-19 completes 5G-Advanced (further MIMO, AI/ML, NTN, positioning); Rel-20 opens the 6G study.
near-RT RIC, xApps and E2 integration; network slicing; sidelink HARQ and multicast/unicast for NR-V2X; inter-RAT MIMO spectrum sharing; directional LBT for NR-U.
5G SDAP layer; real RRC with handover, dual connectivity and advanced mobility; high-throughput / ultra-low-latency RLC.
spatially-consistent and Sionna ray-tracing channels; UL SU-MIMO; HARQ improvements; energy models; Type-II precoding and MU-MIMO; SSB-block transmission and scheduling; near-field models.
Released
QoS framework overhaul: QoS flows and rules with QFI, a single cell ID per gNB and ARFCN-based carrier configuration (TS 38.104). Configurable phased-array angle conventions for Kronecker beamforming, a long-standing RLC UM reassembly fix, and a dead-URL CI check. Compatible with ns-3.47.
Hexagonal wrap-around and multi-ring (up to 5-ring) deployments: realistic edge interference without simulating extra rings, for much faster runs. Resource-assignment matrix, updated RP-180524 indoor/outdoor calibration examples with calibration-regression CI, random TDMA/OFDMA stress-test schedulers, schedulers with fairness memory, and macOS CI. Compatible with ns-3.45.
A major feedback & antenna release: CSI-RS and CSI-IM for channel estimation and interference measurement; multi-panel UE antennas; sub-band CSI feedback with a sub-band-aware scheduler; multiple RI/PMI selection methods (Ideal, Fast, Sasaoka, Maleki); Kronecker (and quasi-omni) beamforming; max-RSRP initial attachment; a reinforcement-learning scheduler via ns3-gym; and NYUSIM & Fluctuating-Two-Ray channels behind a new channel-configuration helper (GSoC 2024). Compatible with ns-3.44.
First 5G-Advanced release: MIMO evolution, network energy saving, XR, AI/ML and NTN enhancements.
Fronthaul control for the O-RAN 7.2x functional split: a limited-capacity fronthaul link with Dropping, Postponing, MCS-optimisation and RB-optimisation methods, coordinated across MAC and high-PHY, and demonstrated with mixed XR, cloud-gaming and VoIP traffic. Compatible with ns-3.42.
NR becomes independent from the ns-3 LTE module, with RLC, RRC, PDCP and EPC migrated in. New CI jobs build without Eigen and against LLVM's libc++ to catch standard-library-specific defects. Compatible with ns-3.42.
MIMO Type-I single-panel codebook supporting up to 32 antenna ports and rank-4, completing the new MIMO model; sub-band down-/up-sampling for much faster simulations with large antenna panels. Compatible with ns-3.42.
New full SU-MIMO model with 3GPP Type-I digital precoding and rank adaptation, plus a major quality overhaul: clang-tidy, spell-check, CMake-format and Python (black/isort) formatting CI jobs. Compatible with ns-3.41.
QoS-aware schedulers (TDMA and OFDMA) that schedule by 5QI requirements, plus a pluggable logical-channel byte-assignment framework with round-robin and GBR-aware QoS algorithms. Compatible with ns-3.39.
New traffic-generator framework: NGMN FTP, video, gaming and VoIP, plus multi-flow 3GPP XR models covering Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Cloud Gaming (pose/control, scene/video and audio/data streams). KPI reproducibility-regression CI, REUSE licensing and clang-format checks. Compatible with ns-3.38.
NR coverage, RedCap, NR-NTN, sidelink enhancements and positioning.
3GPP TR 38.901 spatial channel models (UMi/UMa/RMa/InH/InF) with shadowing and fast fading; hexagonal grids extended to 4th/5th rings for wrap-around calibration; REM SIR/SINR maps with progress reporting; and azimuth-zenith cell-scan beamforming. Compatible with ns-3.36.
Dual-polarised MIMO (DP-MIMO): two downlink spatial streams carried over orthogonal polarisations, with rank adaptation and without link abstraction. Compatible with ns-3.36.
3GPP FTP Model 1 traffic, the start of a growing set of application traffic models. Compatible with ns-3.35.
Sounding Reference Signals (scheduled SRS transmission and reception); SRS-based realistic beamforming; uplink power control for PUSCH, PUCCH and SRS; spectrum notching to blank RBGs across collaborating gNBs; and end-to-end IPv6 support.
First stable release: OFDMA/TDMA with numerologies μ 0–4, HARQ and PF/RR/MR schedulers; 3GPP processing delays (K0/K1/K2); per-cell TDD patterns and per-BWP FDD; a component-carrier/BWP helper with carrier aggregation and FDM of numerologies; NR MAC sub-headers and short BSR; multi-cell configurations; DL/UL REM maps; and ideal cell-scan / direct-path beamforming. Compatible with ns-3.31 and later.
5G phase 2: URLLC, NR-U (unlicensed), V2X sidelink, IAB and positioning.
The first 5G NR release (NSA 2017, SA 2018, completed 2019), the foundation 5G-LENA implements.
First public release of the NR module (split out from the mmWave code): a 3GPP-compliant antenna class, uplink scheduling requests and Rel-15 bearer definitions, with CI unit & system tests from day one.