3GPP
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project 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:
- GSM and related 2G, 2.5G, and 2.75G 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, including 5G-Advanced
- An evolved IP Multimedia Subsystem developed in an access independent manner
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. It should not be confused with 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2, which developed a competing 3G system, CDMA2000.
The 3GPP administrative support team is located at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute headquarters in the Sophia Antipolis technology park in France.
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.
- The maintenance of the partnership project agreement;
- The approval of applications for 3GPP partnership;
- Take the decision against a possible dissolution of 3GPP.
| Organization | Country/region | Website |
| Association of Radio Industries and Businesses | Japan | |
| Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions | USA | |
| China Communications Standards Association | China | |
| European Telecommunications Standards Institute | Europe | |
| Telecommunications Standards Development Society | India | |
| South Korea | ||
| Telecommunication Technology Committee | Japan |
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 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.
| Organization | Website |
| 5G-ACIA | http://www.5g-acia.org |
| 5G Automotive Association | http://www.5gaa.org/ |
| 5G Americas | http://www.5gamericas.org |
| Deterministic Networking Alliance | https://www.5gdna.org/ |
| 6G Smart Network and Services Industry Association | https://6g-ia.eu/ |
| 5G Slicing Association | https://www.5g-sa.org/ |
| 5G Media Action Group | http://www.5g-mag.com/ |
| Automotive Edge Computing Consortium | https://aecc.org/ |
| Broadband India Forum | http://www.broadbandindiaforum.com/ |
| Cellular Operators Association of India | https://www.coai.com |
| http://www.sae-china.org/ | |
| CTIA | http://ctia.org/ |
| Global Satellite Operators Association | https://gsoasatellite.com/ |
| Global Certification Forum | https://www.globalcertificationforum.org/ |
| Global mobile Suppliers Association | https://gsacom.com/ |
| GSMA | https://www.gsma.com/ |
| IPV6 Forum | https://www.ipv6forum.com/ |
| Next Generation Mobile Networks | https://www.ngmn.org/ |
| Public Safety Communication Europe 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 | Released | 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 |
| Release 4 | 2001-06-21 | Originally called the Release 2000 – added features including an all-IP core network |
| Release 5 | 2002-09-12 | Introduced IMS and HSDPA |
| Release 6 | 2005-09-28 | Integrated operation with Wireless LAN networks and adds HSUPA, MBMS, enhancements to IMS such as Push to Talk over Cellular, GAN |
| Release 7 | 2008-03-13 | Focuses on decreasing latency, improvements to QoS and real-time applications such as VoIP. This specification also focus on HSPA+, SIM high-speed protocol and contactless front-end interface, EDGE Evolution. |
| Release 8 | 2009-03-12 | First LTE release. All-IP network. New OFDMA, FDE and MIMO based radio interface, not backwards compatible with previous CDMA interfaces. Dual-cell HSDPA. UMTS HNB. |
| Release 9 | 2010-03-25 | SAES Enhancements, WiMAX and LTE/UMTS Interoperability. Dual-cell HSDPA with MIMO, Dual-cell HSUPA. LTE HeNB. Evolved multimedia broadcast and multicast service. |
| Release 10 | 2011-06-08 | LTE Advanced fulfilling IMT Advanced 4G requirements. Backwards compatible with release 8. Multi-cell HSDPA. |
| Release 11 | 2013-03-06 | Advanced IP interconnection of services. Service layer interconnection between national operators/carriers as well as third-party application providers. Heterogeneous networks improvements, coordinated multi-point operation. In-device co-existence. |
| Release 12 | 2015-03-13 | Enhanced small cells, Carrier aggregation, MIMO, New and enhanced services |
| Release 13 | 2016-03-11 | LTE-Advanced Pro. LTE in unlicensed, LTE enhancements for machine-type communication. Elevation beamforming / full-dimension MIMO, indoor positioning. |
| Release 14 | 2017-06-09 | Energy efficiency, location services, mission-critical data over LTE, mission-critical video over LTE, flexible mobile service steering, multimedia broadcast supplement for public warning system, enhancement for TV services over eMBMS, massive Internet of things, cell broadcast service |
| Release 15 | 2019-06-07 | First 5G NR release. Support for 5G vehicle-to-x service, IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem, future railway mobile communication system |
| Release 16 | 2020-07-03 | The 5G system – phase 2: 5G enhancements, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, satellite access |
| Release 17 | 2022-06-10 | 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 up to 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, low complexity NR devices, edge computing in 5GC, access traffic steering, switch and splitting support, network automation for 5G, network slicing, advanced V2X service, multiple USIM support, proximity-based services in 5GS, 5G multicast broadcast services, unmanned aerial systems, satellite access in 5G, 5GC location services, multimedia priority service... |
| Release 18 | 2024-06-21 | 5G-Advanced. Introducing further machine-learning based techniques at different levels of the wireless network. Edge computing, evolution of IMS multimedia telephony service, smart energy and infrastructure, vehicle-mounted relays, low power high accuracy positioning for industrial IoT scenarios, enhanced access to and support of network slicing, satellite backhaul in 5G... |
| Release 19 | Target 2025 Q4 | 5G-Advanced. AI/ML Air Interface, Ambient IoT, AI/ML for NG-RAN, SON/MDT, Channel modeling. Enhancements to MIMO, duplex, mobility, NTN, XR, and network energy saving. |
| Release 20 | Target 2027 Q2 | 5G-Advanced and 6G studies. |
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 and core network, but also billing information and speech coding down to source code level. Cryptographic aspects are also specified.