The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations, known as the Organizational Partners. These Organizational Partners are
Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB)
Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)
China Communications Standards Association (CCSA)
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI)
Telecommunications Technology Association, Korea (TTA)
Telecommunication Technology Committee, Japan (TTC)
3GPP produces Technical Specifications, to be transposed by relevant Standardization Bodies (Organizational Partners) into appropriate deliverable (e.g., standards).
3GPP Standards Releases
3GPP Release
Released Date
Feature’s Information
Phase 1
1992
Basic GSM Features
Phase 2
1995
GSM Features, EFR Codec
3GPP Rel 96
Q1 1997
GSM Features, 14.4 kbit/s User Data Rate
3GPP Rel 97
Q1 1998
GSM Features, GPRS
3GPP Rel 98
Q1 1999
GSM Features, AMR, EDGE, GPRS for PCS1900
3GPP Rel 99
Q1 2000
First UMTS 3G networks,CDMA air interface
3GPP Rel 4
Q2 2001
3G UMTS features including an all-IP Core Network
3GPP Rel 5
Q1 2002
Introduced IMS and HSDPA
3GPP Rel 6
Q4 2004
HSUPA, MBMS, IMS enhancements
PTT over Cellular, operation with WLAN
3GPP Rel 7
Q4 2007
Improvements in QoS & latency, VoIP, HSPA+
NFC integration, EDGE Evolution
3GPP Rel 8
Q4 2008
Introduction of LTE, SAE, OFDMA, MIMO
Dual Cell HSDPA
3GPP Rel 9
Q4 2009
WiMAX / LTE / UMTS interoperability
Dual Cell HSDPA with MIMO,
Dual Cell HSUPA, LTE HeNB
3GPP Rel 10
Q1 2011
LTE-A,Backwards compatibility with Release 8 (LTE)
Multi-Cell HSDPA (4 Carrier)
3GPP Rel 11
Q3 2012
Heterogeneous networks (HetNet)
Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP)
In device Coexistence (IDC),
Advanced IP interconnection of Services
3GPP Rel 12
Q1 2015
Enhanced Small Cells operation
Carrier Aggregation FDD/TDD carrier aggregation)
3D channel modelling, Elevation Beamforming, massive MIMO
MTC – UE Cat 0 introduced, D2D communication
eMBMS enhancements.
3GPP Rel 13
Q1 2016
LTE-U / LTE-LAA, LTE-M
Elevation beamforming / Full Dimension MIMO
Indoor positioning
LTE-M Cat 1.4 MHz and Cat 200 KHz introduced
3GPP Rel 14
Schedule for 2017
Energy Efficiency, Location Services (LCS)
Mission Critical Data and Video over LTE
Flexible Mobile Service Steering (FMSS)
Multimedia Broadcast Supplement for Public Warning System
enhancement for TV service,Massive Internet of Things
Cell Broadcast Service (CBS)
3GPP Rel 15
Schedule for 2018
Support for 5G Vehicle-to-x service,
IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS),
Future Railway Mobile Communication System
5G Phase 1, New Radio (NR) Non standalone Deployment Specs
