Resource Management for Reduced Capability New Radio Devices in Beyond 5G Networks: Opportunities and Research Road Map

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 17 introduces the concept of reduced capability devices, known as RedCap devices, to address use cases currently underserved by fifth-generation New Radio (5G-NR) specifications. RedCap devices are particularly tailored for industry-specific applications such as wireless sensors, wearable devices, and video surveillance, which demand better data rate, latency, coverage, and reliability compared to massive machine-type communication (mMTC). These devices also require less energy consumption and reduced complexity compared to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) devices. A key feature of RedCap devices is their minimized configurations, which presents a significant challenge in meeting the quality-of-service (QoS) requirements for the intended use cases of RedCap devices. This challenge necessitates innovative network resource management to facilitate the large-scale integration of RedCap devices beyond 5G networks. The contributions of this paper are threefold. First, it offers an overview of RedCap devices and highlights the inherent challenges of coexistence with 5G. Second, it presents potential networking solutions to enhance the coverage, capacity, and energy efficiency of RedCap devices in coexistence scenarios. Finally, it outlines several new research opportunities to further accelerate the integration of RedCap devices into beyond 5G networks.