Walt, All - 3GPP2 (Third Generation Partnership Project-2)
I was looking for some information on last week's meetings in Vancouver and stumbled upon this URL 3gpp2.org ,which currently sends you over to tiaonline.org
Unfortunately, the documents I would like to read (see doc list on the latter URL) are password protected. Does anyone on the board have access? There is available a pretty good summary of project's formation and objectives, as shown below:
Background:
Third-generation (3G) wireless technology is of great interest to the telecommunications industry
and 15 contributions were submitted by the June 30, 1998, deadline to the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) for proposed radio transmission technologies (RTTs) under the
International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) process. Concurrent with the ITU
process, TIA has been addressing domestic issues associated with 3G technologies through two
major efforts: TIA has become an active proponent of the Third-Generation Partnership Project
number 2 (3GPP 2); and TIA also is urging convergence of technology through its 3G ad hoc
group under the Wireless Communications Division.
3GPP 2 is an effort spearheaded by the International Committee of the American National
Standards Institute's (ANSI) board of directors to establish a 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) for
evolved ANSI/TIA/EIA-41, "Cellular Radiotelecommunication Intersystem Operations" networks
and related RTTs. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) initiated the
concept for a 3GPP at the beginning of 1998. ETSI approached TIA and Committee T1,
sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), in March of this
year with an initial proposal to join the 3GPP effort.
Members of the ANSI board were concerned that the ETSI proposal was too limiting, and as a
result, established a 3G ad hoc committee to examine how all standards development
organizations (SDOs) could be involved. In June, a meeting was held between this ANSI ad hoc
group and a delegation from ETSI in Seattle to further discuss how the 3GPP could
accommodate all industry participants. The original ETSI proposal focused on global system for
mobile (GSM) communications technology. After a July 10 follow-up meeting in London, ETSI
announced its unwillingness to include other "non-GSM" technologies in its proposal. As a result,
the ANSI ad hoc group recommended a similar proposal for the creation of 3GPP 2 and then
presented it to TIA's Wireless Communications Division 3G ad hoc group. The 3GPP 2 proposal
was presented to a larger audience in August, and the position was refined.
It was decided that ANSI's ad hoc committee needed to present the 3GPP 2 proposal to both
TIA's and Committee T1's standards-formulating groups and to other regional SDOs. A
presentation and explanation of the 3GPP 2 proposal was made by the ANSI ad hoc delegation
to the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC) and the Association of Radio Industries
and Business (ARIB) in Japan and the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) in
Korea, September 1-3.
Both Japan and Korea SDOs were receptive to the proposal and announced that they will
consider joining the effort. In early September, TR-45, Mobile and Personal Communications
Committee, reviewed the presentation and decided to endorse TIA's involvement in the effort.
Subsequently, TIA and ANSI met with ETSI on September 25 and presented its proposal for
3GPP 2.
The 3GPP proposal, originally presented by ETSI to Committee T1 and TIA and other national
SDOs, encourages the development of a joint technical committee at the international level which
would handle pre-ITU and interregional specification work for IMT-2000 RTTs and related
network specifications.
ANSI's response to the ETSI proposal was the creation of the 3G partnership as a multilateral
collaboration among national and regional SDOs to facilitate the development of globally
applicable technical specifications for 3G mobile systems based on the evolution of the two
globally deployed mobile architectures: GSM/Mobile Application Part (GSM/MAP) and
ANSI/TIA/EIA-41. The work is to be accomplished cooperatively to facilitate the development
of timely ITU IMT-2000 recommendations.
This cooperation may result in either complete specifications or in agreed technical elements,
which the participating SDOs may submit to the ITU through their normal national or regional
processes. This latter form of cooperation builds on the agreements and history of pre-ITU
standardization cooperation in the development of network Recommendations on signaling,
transmission and maintenance subjects fostered by the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC)
and as has been expanded on in GSC and RAdio STandardizaion (RAST) agreements and
resolutions among many of the Participating Standards Organizations now discussing the formation
of 3GPs.
Participating SDOs will have the right to submit 3GP technical specifications for approval and
publication as standards, or parts of standards within their home national or regional processes.
The partnership is a new way of working among the existing organizations. It addresses the
industry's need to produce globally applicable specifications without altering the national or
regional scope of existing standards organizations.
The proposed 3G partnership is structured into two projects:
1.3GPP 1: Global specifications for GSM/MAP network evolution to 3G and the UTRA
RTT.
2.3GPP 2: Global specifications for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41 network evolution to 3G and global
specifications for the RTTs supported by ANSI/TIA/EIA-41.
Additionally, it is recognized that related work spanning the two families is being undertaken
outside of the partnership projects:
Harmonization and consolidation of similar wideband code division multiple access air
interface specifications as pre-standardization work to feed into ITU Radiocommunication
Sector (ITU-R) Study Group (SG) 8 Task Group (TG) 8/1; and
Network-network interface specifications - The 3GP will support the resolutions of the
May 1998 GSC ad hoc meeting with ITU-Telecommunication Sector (ITU-T) SG11 on
IMT-2000 calling for collaboration in the area of networking 3G mobile systems.
However, it is expected that the actual specification will be developed in ITU-T SG11.
ANSI initially proposed the establishment of one 3GPP as an overall umbrella activity, but the
ANSI 3G ad hoc recognized that ETSI has led global discussions for work focused on item 1
above. TIA in the United States is the home organization for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41, and TIA has
already moved to open global discussions focused on item 2. Even if not done under a single
organizational structure, these two efforts have agreed to cooperate in the development and
support of the technical objectives in the above bulleted items and have similar operating
procedures so future convergence of work activities is facilitated.
The ANSI group believes the definition of 3GP rules and procedures, whether through one
organizational structure or two independent but interconnected activities among many of the same
participants, should be developed with agreement of all participating SDOs. These rules and
procedures should address the development of specifications and of other candidate input to the
ITU for the four work areas defined above. In a separate document, the ANSI 3G ad hoc group
provided its suggested additions and modifications to the procedural framework suggested by
ETSI. This procedural framework includes clarification of voting procedures, information-sharing
rules, common criteria for evaluation of resultant specifications, intellectual property rights, etc.
3G Ad Hoc Group
The TIA WCD 3G ad hoc group has met frequently since the board of directors approved it to
continue to facilitate harmonization of technologies in the United States. The 3G ad hoc group has
three task groups: TG 1, Harmonization; TG 2, Government Partnership; and TG 3, Spectrum
Issues. TG 1 continues to identify potential areas of harmonization for 3G by examining the output
documents of the standards-formulating groups. TG 2 had a successful first meeting in which
representatives from seven government agencies attended and agreed to bring their questions
about 3G to the group. TG 3 is developing a position on how the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) could provide additional spectrum for IMT-2000. Additionally, TG 3 will
provide input to the FCC on how new spectrum could be allocated in the future for 3G use.
For more information, contact Dan Bart at (703) 907-7703 or dbart@tia.eia.org.
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