ETSI has established a new Industry Specification Group (ISG) focused on Multiple Access Techniques (MAT) for 6G mobile systems. The group aims to build industry consensus on numerous multiple-access techniques based on 3GPP specifications.
The ISG MAT will explore candidate techniques such as Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA), Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA), Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), and Rate-Splitting Multiple Access (RSMA) that enhance the transmission efficiency across parameters such as spectrum efficiency, power consumption, latency and user fairness. Relevant deployment environments considered in the ISG MAT are indoor hotspot, urban macro (e.g., High Demand Density areas), and rural settings. The ISG MAT will concentrate on downlink multiple access techniques for the physical layer of the 3GPP radio interface.
ETSI launched the ISG MAT on 15-16 January 2025, at a meeting in London attended by 24 participants from industry, academia, and government administrations. The group elected its leadership with Dr. David Vargas from the BBC as chair, Prof. Bruno Clerckx from Imperial College London, and Dr. Stephen Wang from VIAVI Solutions as vice chairs.
“Multiple Access Techniques are at the core of mobile technology development and are considered as a key technology to enhance the radio interface for IMT-2030 systems,” said Vargas. “We are excited to launch the ISG MAT and bring together industrial and academic members and play a crucial role in accelerating the development of advanced Multiple Access Techniques for 6G mobile systems.”
Scope and areas of activities:
- Use cases, deployment scenarios, key performance indicators, and evaluation methodology
- Study of transmitter and receiver processing structures including complexity aspects
- Study of physical layer procedures
- Study of link level and system level performance
- Study of potential specification impact and gaps of new multiple access techniques
- Proof-of-concepts, prototypes, and field trials
The new ETSI Group will deliver reports to 3GPP and other relevant industry bodies in their 6G standardization activities. It will contribute to the development of 6G as a pervasive general-purpose communication system connecting humans and machines across a wide range of use cases. This initiative aligns with the evolving needs of future wireless networks, which are expected to support – amongst others – new interactive immersive experiences and overcome the challenges of connectivity in High Demand Density areas. It will also provide more efficient and reliable media delivery (live and on-demand) over mobile networks at scale.
