MBS Examples

Introduction

3GPP Release 17 brings Multicast–Broadcast Services (MBS) to the 5G System, based on 5G Core and New Radio. MBS allows the network to select the most suitable among point-to-multipoint (PTM) or point-to-point (PTP) delivery based on requirements set by either service providers or network operators and/or taking into account concurrent user demand.

Additional information can be found at: https://5g-mag.github.io/Getting-Started/pages/5g-multicast-broadcast-services/

About the implementation

This repository contains Docker Compose components to deploy several network functions related to MBS. The detailed usage instructions are available at the Getting Started guides.

Note

Docker images are available for amd64/x86-64 and arm64 based systems.

Some of the components are unmodified Open5GS Network Functions, those are marked with the regular Network Function's name and follow Open5GS' versioning, the latest version available is the v2.7.2.

Network Function	image name	version
AUSF	ghcr.io/5g-mag/ausf	v2.7.2
BSF	ghcr.io/5g-mag/bsf	v2.7.2
NRF	ghcr.io/5g-mag/nrf	v2.7.2
NSSF	ghcr.io/5g-mag/nssf	v2.7.2
PCF	ghcr.io/5g-mag/pcf	v2.7.2
UDM	ghcr.io/5g-mag/udm	v2.7.2
UDR	ghcr.io/5g-mag/udr	v2.7.2

The following components are being developed for MBS and the latest version available is the 0.1.2.

Network Function	image name	version
AMF (with Rel-17 MBS features)	ghcr.io/5g-mag/amf_with_mbs	0.1.2
SMF + MB-SMF	ghcr.io/5g-mag/smf_mb-smf	0.1.2
UPF + MB-UPF	ghcr.io/5g-mag/upf_mb-upf	0.1.2
Test MBS AF/AS	ghcr.io/5g-mag/test_mbs_af_as	0.1.2
gNB (with Rel-17 MBS features)	ghcr.io/5g-mag/gnb_with_mbs	0.1.2
UE (with Rel-17 MBS features)	ghcr.io/5g-mag/ue_with_mbs	0.1.2

Those components are being developed using Open5GS for the Network Functions AMF, MB-SMF and MB-UPF, rt-srsRAN_Project for the gNB and srsRAN_4G for the UE, using the 5mbs branch.

Installing Dependencies

Follow the steps for your distribution and install the docker buildx and docker compose plugins

Downloading

The MBS Docker images can be obtained:

• From the 5G-MAG's GitHub Container Registry and pulled with Docker (docker pull ghcr.io/NAMESPACE/IMAGE_NAME). This step is not needed if you run Docker compose as per the Running section below.
• The docker images can also be obtained by cloning the repository:

  cd ~
  git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/5G-MAG/rt-mbs-examples.git

Building

You can skip this step if you decide to download the images rather than cloning the repository.

Note

This method uses the docker-bake.hcl file and requires docker-buildx-plugin

Important

When building the images, modify the FIVEG_MAG_MBS_VERSION and OPEN5GS_VERSION variables in the .env file to use a specific version.

From the top level directory of the repository run:

  cd rt-mbs-examples
  docker buildx bake

Running

Two different deployments have been created to test this project, internal and external:

• The internal deployment consists of an end-to-end setup consisting of a 5G Core with MBS features, a gNB and a UE. Everything ready to be tested on the internal network using only the components deployed.
• The external deployment consists of only the 5G Core with MBS features. It is configured to accept connections of external gNBs.

First modify the .env file. Change the DOCKER_HOST_IP=<your_host_ip_address> with your machine's IP address, like this DOCKER_HOST_IP=192.168.1.2. This lets the UPF + MB-UPF use your machine's Internet connection to route the traffic using NAT.

To run the Docker images, select either the internal deployment or the external deployment and from the top level directory of the repository:

Internal Deployment

# to use the internal deployment
docker compose -f compose-files/internal/docker-compose.yaml --env-file=.env up -d

# to tear down the internal deployment
docker compose -f compose-files/internal/docker-compose.yaml --env-file=.env down

External Deployment

# to use the external deployment
docker compose -f compose-files/external/docker-compose.yaml --env-file=.env up -d

# to tear down the external deployment
docker compose -f compose-files/external/docker-compose.yaml --env-file=.env down