Standards body the 3GPP detailed 24 new projects for its Release 17 specification, which will bring new features to 5G and define the second phase of deployments across the globe.

In a blog, 3GPP RAN chair Balazs Bertenyi said the planned features will make the specification “perhaps the most versatile release in 3GPP history”. Highlights include the group’s first effort to address multi-SIM capabilities, and work to bring multicast to 5G for public safety and venue applications.

Projects also include moves to improve the ability of mobile devices to communicate directly with one another; a study to define requirements for new XR and cloud gaming applications; work to extend 5G to mmWave bands as high as 71GHz; and targeted improvements in Massive MIMO, power efficiency, satellite communication and IoT.

In a separate blog, Qualcomm Europe VP of technical standards Lorenzo Casaccia highlighted work on something called NR-Light, which he said will enable “a new class of devices” more capable than those running on current IoT specifications, but which offer different features over less bandwidth than 5G.

“For example, NR-Light can occupy just 10MHz or 20MHz of bandwidth and deliver 100Mb/s of downlink and 50Mb/s of uplink throughput, making it a suitable technology for use cases such as high-end wearables or industrial IoT cameras and sensors.”

Approved at a meeting in Spain last week, the 3GPP projects are set for completion in H2 2021.