3GPP

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations, known as the Organizational Partners. The initial scope of 3GPP was to make a globally applicable third-generation (3G) mobile phone system specification based on evolved Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) specifications within the scope of the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 project of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The scope was later enlarged to include the development and maintenance of:^[1]

• GSM and related "2G" and "2.5G" standards including GPRS and EDGE
• UMTS and related "3G" standards including HSPA
• LTE and related "4G" standards
• An evolved IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) developed in an access independent manner

3GPP standardization encompasses Radio, Core Network and Service architecture.^[2] The project was established in December 1998 and should not be confused with 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), which specifies standards for another 3G technology based on IS-95 (CDMA), commonly known as CDMA2000.^[3] The 3GPP support team (also known as the "Mobile Competence Centre") is located at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) headquarters in Sophia-Antipolis (France).^[4]

History

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project initiative eventually arose from a strategic initiative between Nortel Networks and AT&T Wireless. In 1998 AT&T Wireless was operating an IS-136 (TDMA) wireless network in the United States. In 1997 Nortel Networks' Wireless R&D center in Richardson, Texas, the wireless division of Bell Northern Research had developed a vision for "an all Internet Protocol (IP)" wireless network that went under the internal name "Cell Web". As the concept progressed, Nortel launched the industry vision as "Wireless Internet". AT&T Wireless, poised to evolve its network in the United States, took a strong interest in Wireless Internet and its promise of Internet Protocol (with Nortel Networks as the potential supplier). Within 12 months or so, AT&T launched a global initiative that they named "3GIP", a third generation wireless standard that was "natively" Internet Protocol based.^[5] Initially, principal participants included British Telecom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, and Nortel Networks, but were eventually joined by NTT DoCoMo, BellSouth, Telenor, and Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and others.^[6] A 3GIP standards forum was instituted and standards began to be developed. The forum progressed into the 2000 time frame, up until AT&T Wireless and British Telecom formed a strategic "partnership project" to facilitate "global roaming" between U.S. and European markets. With this business arrangement, GSM, the prevailing European standard was adopted as the basis of AT&T Wireless' network evolution for North America. Very specifically, this included the deployment of GSM data capabilities, i.e. GPRS, EDGE, and its evolution to UMTS. With this, the original acronym "3GIP" morphed into "3GPP", a "3rd Generation Partnership Project" for defining the next generation wireless network that was fundamentally capable of supporting Internet Protocol based wireless communications. 3GPP became the industry standards forum that defined UMTS and more recently LTE.

Organizational Partners

The seven 3GPP Organizational Partners are from Asia, Europe and North America. Their aim is to determine the general policy and strategy of 3GPP and perform the following tasks:

• The approval and maintenance of the 3GPP scope;
• The maintenance of the Partnership Project Description;
• Take the decision to create or cease a Technical Specification Groups, and approve their scope and terms of reference;
• The approval of Organizational Partner funding requirements;
• The allocation of human and financial resources provided by the Organizational Partners to the Project Co-ordination Group;
• Act as a body of appeal on procedural matters referred to them.

Together with the Market Representation Partners (MRPs) perform the following tasks:

• The maintenance of the Partnership Project Agreement;
• The approval of applications for 3GPP partnership;
• Take the decision against a possible dissolution of 3GPP.

3GPP Organizational Partners

Organization	Base region
Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB)	Japan
Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)	USA
China Communications Standards Association (CCSA)	China
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)	Europe
Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA)	Korea
Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC)	Japan
Telecommunications Standards Development Society India (TSDSI)	India

Market Representation Partners

The 3GPP Organizational Partners can invite a Market Representation Partner to take part in 3GPP, which:

• Has the ability to offer market advice to 3GPP and to bring into 3GPP a consensus view of market requirements (e.g., services, features and functionality) falling within the 3GPP scope;
• Does not have the capability and authority to define, publish and set standards within the 3GPP scope, nationally or regionally;
• Has committed itself to all or part of the 3GPP scope;
• Has signed the Partnership Project Agreement.

As of November 2013 the Market Representation Partners are:

Market Representation Partners

Organization	Website
IMS Forum	imsforum
TD-Forum	tdscdma
GSA	gsacom
GSM Association	gsmworld
IPV6 Forum	ipv6forum
UMTS Forum	umts
4G Americas	4gamericas
TD SCDMA Industry Alliance	tdscdma
InfoCommunication Union	icu
Small Cell Forum (formerly Femto Forum)	smallcellforum
CDMA Development Group	cdg
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)	coai
Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN)	ngmn
TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA)	tcca

Standards

3GPP standards are structured as Releases. Discussion of 3GPP thus frequently refers to the functionality in one release or another.

Version[7]	Released[8]	Info
Phase 1	1992	GSM Features
Phase 2	1995	GSM Features, EFR Codec,
Release 96	1997 Q1	GSM Features, 14.4 kbit/s User Data Rate,
Release 97	1998 Q1	GSM Features, GPRS
Release 98	1999 Q1	GSM Features, AMR, EDGE, GPRS for PCS1900
Release 99	2000 Q1	Specified the first UMTS 3G networks, incorporating a CDMA air interface[9]
Release 4	2001 Q2	Originally called the Release 2000 - added features including an all-IP Core Network[10]
Release 5	2002 Q1	Introduced IMS and HSDPA[11]
Release 6	2004 Q4	Integrated operation with Wireless LAN networks and adds HSUPA, MBMS, enhancements to IMS such as Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC), GAN[12]
Release 7	2007 Q4	Focuses on decreasing latency, improvements to QoS and real-time applications such as VoIP.[13] This specification also focus on HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Evolution), SIM high-speed protocol and contactless front-end interface (Near Field Communication enabling operators to deliver contactless services like Mobile Payments), EDGE Evolution.
Release 8	2008 Q4	First LTE release. All-IP Network (SAE). New OFDMA, FDE and MIMO based radio interface, not backwards compatible with previous CDMA interfaces. Dual-Cell HSDPA. UMTS HNB.
Release 9	2009 Q4	SAES Enhancements, WiMAX and LTE/UMTS Interoperability. Dual-Cell HSDPA with MIMO, Dual-Cell HSUPA. LTE HeNB.
Release 10	2011 Q1	LTE Advanced fulfilling IMT Advanced 4G requirements. Backwards compatible with release 8 (LTE). Multi-Cell HSDPA (4 carriers).
Release 11	2012 Q3	Advanced IP Interconnection of Services. Service layer interconnection between national operators/carriers as well as third party application providers. Heterogeneous networks (HetNet) improvements, Coordinated Multi-Point operation (CoMP). In-device Co-existence (IDC).
Release 12	Planned to March 2015	Enhanced Small Cells (higher order modulation, dual connectivity, cell discovery, self configuration), Carrier Aggregation (2 uplink carriers, 3 downlink carriers, FDD/TDD carrier aggregation), MIMO (3D channel modeling, elevation beamforming, massive MIMO), New and Enhanced Services (cost and range of MTC, D2D communication, eMBMS enhancements)[14]
Release 13	Planned to March 2016	LTE in unlicensed, LTE enhancements for Machine-Type Communication. Elevation Beamforming / Full-Dimension MIMO, Indoor positioning[15]

Each release incorporates hundreds of individual standards documents, each of which may have been through many revisions. Current 3GPP standards incorporate the latest revision of the GSM standards.

The documents are available freely on 3GPP's Web site. While 3GPP standards can be bewildering to the newcomer, they are remarkably complete and detailed, and provide insight into how the cellular industry works. They cover not only the radio part ("Air Interface") and Core Network, but also billing information and speech coding down to source code level. Cryptographic aspects (authentication, confidentiality) are also specified in detail. 3GPP2 offers similar information about its system.

Specification groups

The 3GPP specification work is done in Technical Specification Groups (TSGs) and Working Groups (WGs).^[16]

There are four Technical Specifications Groups, each of which consists of multiple WGs:

• GERAN (GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network): GERAN specifies the GSM radio technology, including GPRS and EDGE. It is composed of three working groups.

WG	Shorthand	Scope	Specifications
GERAN WG1	GERAN1	Radio Aspects	List of specs
GERAN WG2	GERAN2	Protocol Aspects	List of specs
GERAN WG3	GERAN3	Terminal Testing	List of specs

• RAN (Radio Access Network): RAN specifies the UTRAN and the E-UTRAN. It is composed of five working groups.

WG	Shorthand	Scope	Specifications
RAN WG1	RAN1	Radio Layer 1 specification	List of specs
RAN WG2	RAN2	Radio Layer 2 and Radio Layer 3 RR specification	List of specs
RAN WG3	RAN3	Iub Iur and Iu specification - UTRAN O&M requirements	List of specs
RAN WG4	RAN4	Radio performance and protocol aspects (system) - RF parameters and BS conformance	List of specs
RAN WG5	RAN5	Mobile terminal conformance testing	List of specs

• SA (Service and System Aspects): SA specifies the service requirements and the overall architecture of the 3GPP system. It is also responsible for the coordination of the project. SA is composed of six working groups.

WG	Shorthand	Scope	Specifications
SA WG1	SA1	Services	List of specs
SA WG2	SA2	Architecture	List of specs
SA WG3	SA3	Security	List of specs
SA WG4	SA4	Codec	List of specs
SA WG5	SA5	Telecom Management	List of specs
SA WG6	SA6	Mission-critical applications	List of specs

• CT (Core Network and Terminals): CT specifies the core network and terminal parts of 3GPP. It includes the core network - terminal layer 3 protocols. It is composed of five working groups.

WG	Shorthand	Scope	Specifications
CT WG1	CT1	MM/CC/SM (lu)	List of specs
CT WG2	CT2	closed
CT WG3	CT3	Interworking with external networks	List of specs
CT WG4	CT4	MAP/GTP / BCH/SS	List of specs
CT WG5	CT5	OSA (Now transferred to OMA)
CT WG6	CT6	Smart Card Application Aspects	List of specs

The 3GPP structure also includes a Project Coordination Group, which is the highest decision-making body. Its missions include the management of overall timeframe and work progress.

Standardization process

3GPP standardization work is contribution-driven. Companies ("individual members") participate through their membership to a 3GPP Organizational Partner. As of April 2011, 3GPP is composed of more than 370 individual members.^[17]

Specification work is done at WG and at TSG level:^[18]

• the 3GPP WGs hold several meetings a year. They prepare and discuss change requests against 3GPP specifications. A change request accepted at WG level is called "agreed".
• the 3GPP TSGs hold plenary meetings quarterly. The TSGs can "approve" the change requests that were agreed at WG level. Some specifications are under the direct responsibility of TSGs and therefore, change requests can also be handled at TSG level. The approved change requests are subsequently incorporated in 3GPP specifications.

3GPP follows a three-stage methodology as defined in ITU-T Recommendation I.130:^[19]

• stage 1 specifications define the service requirements from the user point of view.
• stage 2 specifications define an architecture to support the service requirements.
• stage 3 specifications define an implementation of the architecture by specifying protocols in details.

Test specifications are sometimes defined as stage 4, as they follow stage 3.

Specifications are grouped into releases. A release consists of a set of internally consistent set of features and specifications.

Timeframes are defined for each release by specifying freezing dates. Once a release is frozen, only essential corrections are allowed (i.e. addition and modifications of functions are forbidden). Freezing dates are defined for each stage.

The 3GPP specifications are transposed into deliverables by the Organizational Partners.

Deployment

3GPP systems are deployed across much of the established GSM market.^[20][21] They are primarily Release 6 systems, but as of 2010, growing interest in HSPA+ and LTE is driving adoption of Release 7 and its successors. Since 2005, 3GPP systems were seeing deployment in the same markets as 3GPP2 systems (for example, North America^[22]). With LTE the official successor to 3GPP2's CDMA systems, 3GPP-based systems will eventually become the single global mobile standard.

See also

• Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)
• 3GPP Long Term Evolution
• Evolution to 3G
• IP Multimedia Subsystem
• 3GP
• 3GPP2 - The 3GPP's counterpart in the CDMA2000 sphere.
• GSM services
• Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (TISPAN)
• Open Mobile Alliance
• Service layer
• European Telecommunications Standards Institute

References

1. 3GPP Scope and Objectives, 31 August 2007
2. About The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
3. 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2
4. Mobile Competence Centre
5. "3G.IP Mission Statement". 3G.IP. 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-08-31. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
6. "3G.IP Membership List". 3G.IP. 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-08-31. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
7. Releases
8. 3GPP Specifications - Releases (and phases and stages)
9. Overview of 3GPP Release 99, Summary of all Release 99 Features. ETSI Mobile Competence Centre, Version xx/07/04
10. Overview of 3GPP Release 4, Summary of all Release 4 Features, v.1.1.0 (draft) ETSI Mobile Competence Centre 2004
11. Summary of all Release 5 Features, ETSI Mobile Competence Centre, Version 9 September 2003
12. Overview of 3GPP Release 6, Summary of all Release 6 Features, Version TSG #33, ETSI Mobile Competence Centre 2006
13. Review of the Work Plan at Plenaries #31, 3GPP, SP-060232 3GPP TSG SA#31 Sanya, 13–16 March 2006
14. "Highlights of 3GPP Release 12". Retrieved 20 November 2014.
15. "Release 13 priorities". Retrieved 20 November 2014.
16. Specification Groups
17. 3GPP membership
18. 3GPP TR 21.900 Technical Specification Group working methods
19. ITU-T Recommendation I.130
20. GSM/3G Fast Facts. GSM Suppliers' Association, 10 December 2006
21. Resources: 3G/UMTS Commercial Deployments, Table listing commercially launched 3G/UMTS networks based on WCDMA technology, UMTS Forum
22. Cingular to Deliver 3G Wireless Broadband Services, Press Release, Cingular Wireless, MediaRoom 30 November 2004

External links

• 3GPP website
• 3GPP Standards List of Acronyms & Terminology
• 3GPP freely published, detailed technical specifications
• 3GPP releases descriptions
• ETSI GSM UMTS 3GPP Numbering Cross Reference
• TS/TR
• specification numbering
• Tool for visualizing multiple inter-related 3gpp standards
• Tool for visualizing, decoding, encoding network protocol messages defined by 3gpp