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:3GPP Scope and Objectives, 31 August 2007 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 (IMS) developed in an access independent manner
3GPP is a partnership project whose partners are its Organizational Partners (OPs), which are seven national or regional telecommunication standards organizations, and its Market Representation Partners (MRPs), which are a variety of other organizations. 3GPP organizes its work into three different streams: Radio Access Networks (TSG RAN), Services and Systems Aspects (TSG SA), and Core Network and Terminals (TSG CT).
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 now discontinued 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), which shadowed the 3GPP work to continue the development of a competing 3G system, CDMA2000.
The 3GPP administrative support team (known as the "Mobile Competence Centre") 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.
Together with the Market Representation Partners (MRPs), they 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: Organizational partnersOrganizationCountry/regionWebsite Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB)JapanARIB Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)USAATIS China Communications Standards Association (CCSA)ChinaCCSA European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)EuropeETSI Telecommunications Standards Development Society (TSDSI)IndiaTSDSI (TTA)South KoreaTTA Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC)JapanTTC
Market Representation Partners
The 3GPP Organizational Partners can invite a Market Representation Partner to take part in 3GPP; a Market Representation Partner:
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.
, the Market Representation Partners are: Market representation partnersOrganizationWebsite 5G-ACIAhttp://www.5g-acia.org 5G Automotive Associationhttp://www.5gaa.org/ Deterministic Networking Alliance (5GDNA)https://www.5gdna.org/ 6G Smart Network and Services Industry Association (6G-IA)https://6g-ia.eu/ 5G Slicing Association (5GSA)https://www.5g-sa.org/ 5G Media Action Group (5G-MAG)http://www.5g-mag.com/ Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC)https://aecc.org/ Broadband India Forumhttp://www.broadbandindiaforum.com/ Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)https://www.coai.com (CSAE)http://www.sae-china.org/ CTIAhttp://ctia.org/ Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA)https://gsoasatellite.com/ Global Certification Forum (GCF)https://www.globalcertificationforum.org/ Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)https://gsacom.com/ GSMAhttps://www.gsma.com/ IPV6 Forumhttps://www.ipv6forum.com/International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA)https://www.iala.int/ Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN)https://www.ngmn.org/ Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE) Forumhttp://www.psc-europe.eu/ Small Cell Forumhttps://www.smallcellforum.org/ TCCAhttps://tcca.info/ TD Industry Alliancehttp://www.tdia.cn/ Wireless Broadband Alliancehttp://www.wballiance.com/
Standards
3GPP standards are structured as Releases. Discussion of 3GPP thus frequently refers to the functionality in one release or another.
VersionReleasesReleasedInfoPhase 11992GSM featuresPhase 21995GSM features, EFR codec,Release 961997 Q1GSM features, 14.4 kbit/s user data rate,Release 971998 Q1GSM features, GPRSRelease 981999 Q1GSM features, AMR codec, EDGE, GPRS for PCS1900Release 992000 Q1Specified the first UMTS 3G networks, incorporating a CDMA air interfaceOverview of 3GPP Release 99, Summary of all Release 99 Features. ETSI Mobile Competence Centre, Version xx/07/04Release 42001-06-21Originally called the Release 2000 – added features including an all-IP core networkOverview of 3GPP Release 4, Summary of all Release 4 Features, v.1.1.0 (draft) ETSI Mobile Competence Centre 2004Release 52002-09-12Introduced IMS and HSDPASummary of all Release 5 Features, ETSI Mobile Competence Centre, Version 9 September 2003Release 62005-09-28Integrated operation with Wireless LAN networks and adds HSUPA, MBMS, enhancements to IMS such as Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC), GANOverview of 3GPP Release 6, Summary of all Release 6 Features, Version TSG #33, ETSI Mobile Competence Centre 2006Release 72008-03-13Focuses on decreasing latency, improvements to QoS and real-time applications such as VoIP.Review of the Work Plan at Plenaries #31, 3GPP, SP-060232 3GPP TSG SA#31 Sanya, 13–16 March 2006 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 82009-03-12First 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 92010-03-25SAES Enhancements, WiMAX and LTE/UMTS Interoperability. Dual-cell HSDPA with MIMO, Dual-cell HSUPA. LTE HeNB. Evolved multimedia broadcast and multicast service (eMBMS).Release 102011-06-08LTE Advanced fulfilling IMT Advanced 4G requirements. Backwards compatible with release 8 (LTE). Multi-cell HSDPA (4 carriers).Release 112013-03-06Advanced 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 122015-03-13Enhanced 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)Release 132016-03-11LTE-Advanced Pro. LTE in unlicensed, LTE enhancements for machine-type communication. Elevation beamforming / full-dimension MIMO, indoor positioning. Release 142017-06-09Energy 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 services over eMBMS, massive Internet of things, cell broadcast service (CBS)Release 152019-06-07First 5G NR ("New Radio") release. Support for 5G vehicle-to-x service, IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS), future railway mobile communication systemRelease 162020-07-03The 5G system – phase 2: 5G enhancements, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U), satellite accessRelease 172022-06-10TSG 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 (UAS), satellite access in 5G, 5GC location services, multimedia priority service...Release 182024-06-215G-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 2025-12-125G-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 20Target 2027 Q25G-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 ("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).
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. WGShorthandScopeSpecificationsRAN WG1RAN1Radio Layer 1 (Physical layer)List of specsRAN WG2RAN2Radio Layer 2 and Radio Layer 3 Radio Resource ControlList of specsRAN WG3RAN3UTRAN, E-UTRAN, NG-RAN architecture and related network interfacesList of specsRAN WG4RAN4Radio performance and protocol aspectsList of specsRAN WG5RAN5Mobile terminal conformance testingList 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. WGShorthandScopeSpecificationsSA WG1SA1ServicesList of specsSA WG2SA2ArchitectureList of specsSA WG3SA3SecurityList of specsSA WG4SA4CodecList of specsSA WG5SA5Management, Orchestration and ChargingList of specsSA WG6SA6Application Enablement and Critical Communication ApplicationsList of specs