3GPP

3rd Generation Partnership Project

Abbreviation	3GPP
Formation	1998
Type	Standards organization
Region served	Worldwide

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. Its best known work is 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 and HSPA+
• LTE and related 4G standards, including LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro
• 5G NR and related 5G standards
• An evolved IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) developed in an access independent manner

3GPP is a consortium with seven national or regional telecommunication standards organizations as primary members ("organizational partners") and a variety of other organizations as associate members ("market representation partners"). The 3GPP organizes its work into three different streams: Radio Access Networks, Services and Systems Aspects, and Core Network and Terminals.^[2]

The project was established in December 1998 with the goal of developing a specification for a 3G mobile phone system based on the 2G GSM system, within the scope of the International Telecommunication Union's International Mobile Telecommunications-2000, hence the name 3GPP.^[3] It should not be confused with 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), which developed a competing 3G system, CDMA2000.^[4]

The 3GPP headquarters (known as the "Mobile Competence Centre") is located at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute headquarters in the Sophia Antipolis technology park in France.^[5]

History[]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

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.^[6] Initially, principal participants included British Telecom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, and Nortel Networks, but were eventually joined by NTT DoCoMo, BellSouth, Telenor, Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and others.^[7] 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.

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.

The Organizational Partners are:^[8]

Organizational Partners

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

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 June 2021, the Market Representation Partners are:^[8]

Market Representation Partners

Organization	Website
5G-ACIA	http://www.5g-acia.org
5G Automotive Association	http://www.5gaa.org/
5G Americas	http://www.5gamericas.org
5G Deterministic Networking Alliance (5GDNA)	https://www.5gdna.org/
5G Infrastructure Association	https://5g-ppp.eu/association/
5G Media Action Group (5G-MAG)	http://www.5g-mag.com/
Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC)	https://aecc.org/
Broadband India Forum	http://www.broadbandindiaforum.com/
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)	https://www.coai.com
China Society of Automotive Engineers (CSAE)	http://www.sae-china.org/
CTIA	http://ctia.org/
EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA)	https://www.esoa.net/
Global Certification Forum (GCF)	https://www.globalcertificationforum.org/
Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)	https://gsacom.com/
GSMA	https://www.gsma.com/
IPV6 Forum	https://www.ipv6forum.com/
Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN)	https://www.ngmn.org/
Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE) Forum	http://www.psc-europe.eu/
Small Cell Forum	https://www.smallcellforum.org/
TCCA	https://tcca.info/
TD Industry Alliance	http://www.tdia.cn/
Wireless Broadband Alliance	http://www.wballiance.com/

Standards[]

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

Version[9]	Released[10]	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 codec, EDGE, GPRS for PCS1900
Release 99	2000 Q1	Specified the first UMTS 3G networks, incorporating a CDMA air interface[11]
Release 4	2001 Q2	Originally called the Release 2000 – added features including an all-IP Core Network[12]
Release 5	2002 Q1	Introduced IMS and HSDPA[13]
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[14]
Release 7	2007 Q4	Focuses on decreasing latency, improvements to QoS and real-time applications such as VoIP.[15] 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	2015 Q1	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)[16]
Release 13	2016 Q1	LTE in unlicensed, LTE enhancements for Machine-Type Communication. Elevation Beamforming / Full-Dimension MIMO, Indoor positioning.[17] LTE-Advanced Pro.
Release 14	2017 Q2	Energy Efficiency, Location Services (LCS), Mission Critical Data over LTE, Mission Critical Video over LTE, Flexible Mobile Service Steering (FMSS), Multimedia Broadcast Supplement for Public Warning System (MBSP), enhancement for TV service, massive Internet of Things, Cell Broadcast Service (CBS)[18]
Release 15	2018 Q2	First NR ("New Radio") release. Support for 5G Vehicle-to-x service, IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS), Future Railway Mobile Communication System[19]
Release 16	2020 Q3	The 5G System - Phase 2: 5G enhancements, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U), Satellite access[20]
Release 17	2022 Q1	TSG RAN: Several features that continue to be important for overall efficiency and performance of 5G NR: MIMO, Spectrum Sharing enhancements, UE Power Saving and Coverage Enhancements. RAN1 will also undertake the necessary study and specification work to enhance the physical layer to support frequency bands beyond 52.6GHz, all the way up until 71 GHz. TSG SA groups focused on further enhancements to the 5G system and enablers for new features and services: Enhanced support of: non-public networks, Industrial Internet of Things, edge computing in 5GC, access traffic steering, switch and splitting support, network automation for 5G, network slicing, advanced V2X service, devices having multiple USIMs, proximity-based services in 5GS,5G multicast-broadcast services, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), satellite access in 5G, 5GC location services, Multimedia Priority Service...

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

The documents are made available without charge on 3GPP's web site. The Technical Specifications 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 (such as authentication, confidentiality) are also specified.

Specification groups[]

The 3GPP specification work is done in Technical Specification Groups (TSGs) and Working Groups (WGs).^[21]

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

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

• GERAN (GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network):

The closure of GERAN was announced in January 2016.^[22] The specification work on legacy GSM/EDGE system was transferred to RAN WG, RAN6. RAN6 was closed in July 2020 (https://www.3gpp.org/news-events/2128-r6_geran).

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 December 2020, 3GPP is composed of 719 individual members.^[23]

Specification work is done at WG and at TSG level:^[24]

• 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:^[25]

• 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.

See also[]

• List of mobile phone generations
• 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
• LoRaWAN
• Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (TISPAN)
• Open Mobile Alliance
• Service layer
• European Telecommunications Standards Institute

References[]

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
• LTE-3GPP.info: online 3GPP messages decoder fully supporting Rel.15