This means that the technology is fully formed and ready for initial commercial launch.
Previously, 3GPP had frozen R15, the first version of 5G in 2018. The R16 is the enhancements to R15.
It achieves the transition from "working" to "easy to use" around "new capability expansion", "existing capability exploration" and "operation and maintenance". This further enhances 5G's ability to better serve industry applications in three areas: cost reduction and efficiency.
According to China Mobile, R16 can facilitate the development of the following 5G applications:
Introduces new technology for industrial Internet applications with 1 microsecond synchronization accuracy and 0.5-1 millisecond air port latency. End-to-end latency of up to 5 msec and higher reliability with industrial-grade time sensitivity support.
V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) and V2I (vehicle-to-roadside unit) direct communication is supported for Telematics-oriented applications.
Industry-oriented applications introduce a variety of 5G space-port positioning technologies that improve positioning accuracy more than tenfold to the meter level.
Several basic functions of R15 are continuously enhanced in R16, significantly improving cell edge spectral efficiency, switching performance, and the ability to use the cell edge. Make terminals more energy efficient, etc.
——source:cntechpost.com