| Edition 23 | 29 September 2026 |
SA5’s 6G management study (TR 32.801-01) is organised into nine features. The three largest, measured by key issues, are autonomous agents, knowledge management and the data management framework.
In 60 seconds
| Feature | Key issues |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Agents | 14 — lifecycle, governance, communication, external exposure |
| Knowledge Management | 12 — representation, exchange, sharing, validation, conflicts |
| Data Management Framework | 11 — lifecycle, discovery, collection, integration |
| Network Digital Twin | 10 — simulation, synchronisation, cross-domain |
| Intent-Driven Management | 8 — natural language, declarative orchestration |
| Energy Efficiency | architectural framework |
| Cloud Aspects | NF lifecycle, observability |
| Closed Loop Automation | context-aware loops, slice management |
| Policy Management | lifecycle, relationship modelling |
Agents and knowledge together account for 26 key issues. That is more than digital twins and intent combined, even though those two were the focus of 5G-Advanced management work.
The Autonomous Agents feature treats management functions as agents that have a lifecycle, need governance and communicate with each other and with external systems. The report looks at existing agent protocols, A2A and MCP, as candidates rather than writing a new one. That matches the choices CT3 faces for the 6G core (Edition 30).
The closest existing base is the closed control loop (CCL) work. In 3GPP Highlights, rapporteurs Stephen Mwanje (Nokia) and Deepanshu Gautam (Samsung) describe Rel-19 CCLs with triggered, historical and escalating loops. Rel-20 adds CCL traceability, so the system can report which loops and tasks it triggered automatically.
Report rapporteur: Pengxiang Xie (ZTE). Work item FS_6G_OAM, WID SP-251653, led by Bahar Sadeghi (AT&T), December 2025 to June 2027. The study grew out of a June 2025 SA5 workshop, which received 18 company position papers.
Still open
The report’s overall direction is autonomous 6G management that stays compatible with 5G management and supports multiple vendors. No feature has an agreed solution yet.
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Sources
Report contents are read from FriendlySpec renders of the draft TRs. Drafts change at every meeting; nothing in a draft TR is agreed until its conclusions are. Key-issue counts are as the report lists them in v0.4.0.