News

Introduction

ETSI test specifications are as a rule developed according to the well-proven methodology defined in ISO/IEC 9646. The methodology recommends that the test specifications include Test Purposes, Test Descriptions and Test Cases. 

Test Purposes (TP) provide an easy-to-read self-contained description of each test, concentrating on what is to be tested rather than how the actual test may be achieved. They are derived from the relevant base standards and are developed, extensively discussed and approved in a standardization group.

Test Descriptions (TD) provide a detailed specification of the way the test need to be performed. They are developed by testing experts and approved in a standardization group.

Test Cases are written in a programing language that is dedicated for testing. Test cases are developed by testing experts, proven to work well and then formally approved by a standardization group.

Our Role & Activities

The test specifications are written using the languages that are standardized by ETSI TC MTS for that purpose.

Test Description Language (TDL)

TDL may be used both to specify the Test purposes and Test Descriptions. For all information on TDL please look at a dedicated web site tdl.etsi.org/. On the site you will find a TDL webinar, the TDL tutorials and will discover the TDL Open Source project (TOP). 

Testing and Test Control Notation Version 3 (TTCN-3)

TTCN-3 is used to write Test Cases that form ETSI Test Suites. For all information on TTCN-3 please look at www.ttcn-3.org. The dedicated ttcn-3 site will give you up-to-date information on the language itself as well as how and where it is being used.

Standards

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search.

Long Term Evolution (LTE)

Rel-8/Rel-9

UTRA (Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) as a 3rd generation system, with the enhancements provided by High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), for both downlink and uplink, will remain highly competitive for several years. Nevertheless, the industry that has developed the 3GPP technologies, launched a project in Dec. 2004 called Long Term Evolution (LTE) to study requirements for a new air interface called Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA).

Note: The terms LTE and E-UTRA are synonymous, however the radio specifications talk rather about E-UTRA.

The results of this study i.e. the E-UTRA/LTE requirements were documented in Rel-7 3GPP TR 25.913:

Significantly increased peak data rates e.g. 100 Mbps in downlink/50 Mbps in uplink Increased bitrates at the edge of cells assuming current site locations Improved spectrum efficiency e.g. 2-4 x Rel-6 Reduced latency Scaleable bandwidth for a greater flexibility in frequency allocations Reduced capital and operational expenditure including backhaul Acceptable system and terminal complexity, cost and power consumption Support for inter-working with existing 3G systems and non-3GPP specified systems Efficient support of the various types of services, especially from the PS domain (e.g. Voice over IP, Presence) Optimized for low mobile speed but supporting high mobile speed (up to 500 km/h).

Following the definition of the E-UTRA/LTE requirements, the same Rel-7 study produced a 3GPP TR 25.912 "Feasibility study for evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN)" to describe how the radio part of the system could be designed. Corresponding normative E-UTRA/LTE work followed then from Sep. 2006 until March 2009 in Rel-8 specifications.

In parallel to the radio architecture evolution a Study on 3GPP System Architecture Evolution (SAE) was carried out with the objective to develop a framework for an evolution or migration of the 3GPP system to a higher-data-rate, lower-latency, packet-optimized system that supports multiple Radio Access Technologies. The focus of this work was on the PS domain with the assumption that voice services are supported in this domain.
This study resulted in Rel-8 3GPP TR 23.882 and was followed by corresponding normative Rel-8 work.

Although the term "Evolved UTRA" implies a gradual enhancement of the existing 3rd generation UMTS system, it became finally a different radio access technology:

while UMTS started with a focus on circuit-switched data that was then more and more enhanced via shared channels and HSPA into the direction of a packet switched system, LTE is a pure packet-switched system while UMTS was using CDMA, LTE is using OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) in downlink (evolved NodeB (eNodeB) => User Equipment (UE)) and SC-FDMA (Single Carrier- Frequency Division Multiple Access) in uplink (UE => eNodeB)
Note 1: SC-FDMA has lower peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR) than OFDMA which was preferred for an easier UE power amplifier design/a higher efficiency (increased coverage/lower power consumption)
Note 2: SC-FDMA is also called DFT-S-OFDM which indicates that it can be understood as a precoding (by Discrete Fourier transform) plus the same OFDMA that is used in downlink while UMTS (at least FDD and 3,84Mcps TDD) used a channel bandwidth of 5MHz, LTE allows 6 different channel bandwidths: 1,4/3/5/10/15/20MHz while UMTS has an RNC (radio network controler) between NodeB and core network, the functionalities of this network entity are split between eNodeB and core network in LTE => no RNC in LTE => flat/simpler radio architecture

Nevertheless, UMTS/UTRA as well as LTE/E-UTRA use both a 10ms radio frame, both have FDD and TDD modes and LTE/E-UTRA supports full interoperability with UMTS/UTRA and GSM/GERAN/EDGE.

LTE-Advanced

Rel-10/Rel-11/Rel-12

Additional spectrum proposed for IMT systems by WRC-07 in 2007 (in 450 MHz band, in UHF band (698-960 MHz), in 2.3-2.4 GHz band, in C-band(3400-4200 MHz)) as well as the ITU-R request for the development of an IMT-Advanced radio interface (Circular Letter of March 2008) triggered developments of the 4th generation of mobile communication systems.

According to ITU-R M.1645 (overall objectives for beyond IMT-2000) and M.2134 (IMT-Advanced requirements) the key features for IMT-Advanced were summarized as follows:

a high degree of commonality of functionality worldwide while retaining the flexibility to support a wide range of services and applications in a cost efficient manner compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks capability of interworking with other radio access systems high-quality mobile services user equipment suitable for worldwide use user-friendly applications, services and equipment worldwide roaming capability enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications (100 Mbit/s for high and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility were established as targets for research)

3GPP was at that time in the phase to complete its Rel-8 LTE WI and it started an early Rel-9 study item (FS_RAN_LTEA, RP-091360) in March 2008 to define in 3GPP TR 36.913 the requirements for a mobile communication system called LTE-Advanced under the following conditions:

LTE-Advanced shall be an evolution of Release 8 LTE system All requirements of LTE of 3GPP TR 25.913 are also valid for LTE-Advanced LTE-Advanced shall meet or exceed IMT-Advanced requirements within the ITU-R time plan

Note: The terms LTE-Advanced and Advanced E-UTRA are synonymous.

3GPP TR 36.913 on "Requirements for further advancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) (LTE-Advanced)" was approved at RAN #40 in June 2008 (still under Rel-8).

The following figure from ITU-R M.1645 illustrates the differences between IMT-2000 (3rd generation) and IMT-Advanced (4th generation):

In addition, the same study started in March 2008 a 3GPP TR 36.912 on Feasibility study for "Further Advancements for E-UTRA (LTE-Advanced)" in order to analyse certain areas in which LTE could be enhanced, e.g.

Support of wider bandwidth: aggregation of multiple component carriers with up to 20MHz bandwidth, Spatial multiplexing: DL up to 8 layers, UL up to 4 layers, Coordinated multiple point transmission and reception: to improve the coverage of high data rates, the cell-edge throughput and/or to increase system throughput Relaying functionality: to improve e.g. the coverage of high data rates, group mobility, temporary network deployment, the cell-edge throughput and/or to provide coverage in new areas

to fulfill and exceed the IMT-Advanced requirements.

This TR 36.912 was approved in Sep.2009 (RAN #45) as Rel-9 TR and further updated at RAN #46 and RAN #47 (March 2010) where the SI was completed.

In Release 10 individual work items were started introducing enhancements of LTE that were discussed in the Rel-9 study item for LTE-Advanced:

Carrier Aggregation for LTE (LTE_CA): Dec.09 - June 11; RP-100661 UL multiple antenna transmission for LTE (LTE_UL_MIMO): Dec.09 - June 11; RP-100959 Enhanced Downlink Multiple Antenna Transmission for LTE (LTE_eDL_MIMO): Dec.09 - March 11; RP-100196 Coordinated Multi-Point Operation for LTE: only a study was started in Rel-10 which completed in Rel-11 and resulted in normative work in Rel-11 with further enhancements in Rel-13 and Rel-15 Relays for LTE (LTE_Relay): Dec.09 - June 11; RP-110911 Latency reduction: WI was stopped as it was not possible to complete this in Rel-10 (it came back a L2 latency reduction in Rel-14 and was completed there) Further enhancements to MBMS for LTE (MBMS_LTE_enh): June 10 - March 11; RP-101244 LTE Self Optimizing Networks (SON) enhancements (SONenh_LTE): March 10 - June 11; RP-101004 Minimization of drive tests for E-UTRAN and UTRAN (MDT_UMTSLTE): Dec.09 - June 11; RP-100360

Note: There is no separate Radio Access Technology "LTE-Advanced". All enhancements of LTE in Rel-10 and beyond are integrated into the LTE specifications as they were developed in Rel-8 and Rel-9.

3GPP contributed to IMT-Advanced project of ITU-R via an early preliminary input from RAN #41 in Sep.2008 (RP-080763) and a final submission including self-evaluation results from RAN #45 in Sep.2009 (RP-090939).

Note: RP-090939 includes RP-090745 which provides the characteristics of LTE-Advanced in a condensed template format.

In Jan. 2012, the Radiocommunication Assembly approved ITU-R Recommendation M.2012 "Detailed specifications of the terrestrial radio interfaces of International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced)" (RP-120005) and confirmed LTE-Advanced as IMT-Advanced radio interface technology.

Note 1: There is only one other IMT-Advanced radio interface technology called "WirelessMAN-Advanced" developed by IEEE).

Note 2: About every 2 years, ITU-R M.2012 is updated by 3GPP with latest enhancements.

LTE-Advanced Pro

Rel-13 and above

 All enhancements of LTE of Rel-13 and beyond (if not related to 5G) are running under the trademark "LTE Advanced Pro", for example:

Rel-13 (Sep.14-Dec.15, ASN.1 freeze: March 16): Narrowband Internet of Things (IOT) Further LTE Physical Layer Enhancements for MTC Dual Connectivity enhancements for LTE
Extension of Dual Connectivity in E-UTRAN Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA) using LTE Elevation Beamforming/Full-Dimension (FD) MIMO for LTE Indoor Positioning enhancements for UTRA and LTE Further Enhancements of Minimization of Drive Tests for E-UTRAN Enhanced LTE Device to Device Proximity Services Multicarrier Load Distribution of UEs in LTE Support of single-cell point-to-multipoint transmission in LTE Enhanced Signalling for Inter-eNB Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) for LTE RAN enhancements for extended DRX in LTE LTE-WLAN Radio Level Integration and Interworking Enhancement,
LTE-WLAN RAN Level Integration supporting legacy WLAN RAN aspects of Application specific Congestion control for Data Communication Base Station (BS) RF requirements for Active Antenna System (AAS),
SON for AAS-based deployments Dedicated Core Networks RAN Aspects of RAN Sharing Enhancements for LTE Radiated requirements for the verification of multi-antenna reception perf. of UEs UE core requirements for uplink 64 QAM LTE DL 4 Rx antenna ports  Rel-14 (Dec.15-March 17, ASN.1 freeze: June 17): Enhancements of NB-IoT Further enhanced MTC for LTE Flexible eNB-ID and Cell-ID in E-UTRAN Enhanced LAA for LTE Support for V2V services based on LTE sidelink, LTE-based V2X Services Enhancements on Full-Dimension (FD) MIMO for LTE Downlink Multiuser Superposition Transmission for LTE SRS (sounding reference signal) switching between LTE component carriers Further Indoor Positioning Enhancements for UTRA and LTE Uplink Capacity Enhancements for LTE eMBMS enhancements for LTE L2 latency reduction techniques for LTE Further mobility enhancements in LTE Voice and Video Enhancement for LTE Enhanced LTE-WLAN Aggregation (LWA), Enhanced LTE WLAN Radio Level Integration with IPsec Tunnel (eLWIP) Enhancements of Dedicated Core (DECOR) Networks for UMTS and LTE LTE Measurement Gap Enhancement Requirements for a new UE category with single receiver based on Cat.1 for LTE Performance enhancements for high speed scenario in LTE 4 receiver (RX) antenna ports with Carrier Aggregation for LTE downlink (DL) Multi-Band Base Station testing with three or more bands Radiated perf. requirements for the verification of multi-antenna reception of UEs

Note: For Rel-15 and onwards, LTE related specifications even carry the 5G logo as they were part of the SRIT IMT-2020 input (see 5G page for further explanation).

Rel-15 (March 17-June 18, ASN.1 freeze: Sep.18): Further NB-IoT enhancements Even further enhanced MTC for LTE Enhancements to LTE operation in unlicensed spectrum V2X phase 2 based on LTE Further enhancements to Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) Operation for LTE UE Positioning Accuracy Enhancements for LTE Enhancements for high capacity stationary wireless link and intro of DL 1024 QAM Bluetooth/WLAN measurement collection in LTE Minimization of Drive Tests Quality of Experience Measurement Collection for streaming services in E-UTRAN UL data compression in LTE Increased number of E-UTRAN data bearers Further video enhancements for LTE Shortened TTI and processing time for LTE, Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication for LTE LTE connectivity to 5G-CN Enhanced LTE Support for Aerial Vehicles Enhancing LTE CA Utilization UE requirements for network-based CRS interference mitigation for LTE UE requirements for LTE DL 8Rx antenna ports Enhancements of BS RF and EMC requirements for Active Antenna System Rel-16 (June 18 - June 20, ASN.1 freeze: June 20): Additional enhancements for NB-IoT Additional MTC enhancements for LTE DL MIMO efficiency enhancements for LTE Even further mobility enhancement in E-UTRAN Support for NavIC Navigation Satellite System for LTE Further performance enhancement for LTE in high speed scenario LTE-based 5G terrestrial broadcast

And a number of work items driven by LTE & NR:

5G V2X with NR sidelink Multi-RAT Dual-Connectivity and Carrier Aggregation enhancements (LTE, NR) Optimisations on UE radio capability signalling – NR/E-UTRA Aspects eNB(s) Architecture Evolution for E-UTRAN and NG-RAN Introduction of capability set(s) to multi-standard radio specifications Rel-17 (June 20 - March 22, ASN.1 freeze planned for June 22): Additional enhancements for NB-IoT and LTE-MTC NB-IoT/eMTC support for Non-Terrestrial Networks Additional LTE bands for UE categories M1/M2/NB1/NB2 Further LTE Carrier Aggregation combinations New bands and bandwidth allocation for 5G terrestrial broadcast

And a number of work items driven by LTE & NR:

Further Multi-RAT Dual-Connectivity enhancements Support for Multi-SIM devices for LTE/NR Enhanced eNB(s) architecture evolution for E-UTRAN and NG-RAN Enhancement of data collection for SON (Self-Organising Networks)/MDT (Minimization of Drive Tests) in NR standalone and MR-DC (Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity) Further RRM enhancement for NR and Multi-RAT-Dual Connectivity NR and Multi-RAT-Dual Connectivity measurement gap enhancements User Plane Integrity Protection support for EPC connected architectures High power UE (power class 2) for EN-DC Band combinations for concurrent operation of NR/LTE Uu bands/band combinations and one NR/LTE V2X PC5 band LTE/NR spectrum sharing in LTE band 40/NR band n40 Simultaneous Rx/Tx band combinations for NR Carrier Aggregation/Dual Connectivity, NR Supplemental Uplink and LTE/NR Dual Connectivity Further band combinations for Dual Connectivity LTE/NR Rel-18 (March 22 - December 23, ASN.1 freeze planned for March 24): IoT (Internet of Things) NTN (non-terrestrial network) enhancements Introduction of LTE TDD band in 1 670 to 1 675 MHz

And a number of work items driven by LTE & NR:

In-Device Co-existence (IDC) enhancements for NR and MR-DC Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) for NG-RAN Further enhancement of data collection for SON (Self-Organizing Networks)/MDT (Minimization of Drive Tests) in NR standalone and MR-DC (Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity) BS/UE EMC enhancements for NR and LTE Further RF requirements enhancement for NR and EN-DC in frequency range 1 (FR1) Support of intra-band non-collocated EN-DC/NR-CA deployment Further enhancements on NR and MR-DC measurement gaps and measurements without gaps

LTE specifications can be found under: 3GPP TS 36.-series specifications (if only LTE is affected) or 3GPP TS 37.-series specifications (if also other radio access technologies like UMTS or GERAN or NR are covered in this specification), e.g. stage 2 in 3GPP TS 36.300.

3GPP TS 21.201 provides a list of all specifications related to the 4th generation (including core network EPC (Evolved Packet Core) and system aspects). The 4G network architecture is described in 3GPP TS 23.003

Introduction

Capacity limitations of 2nd generation mobile communication systems, an increasing demand for the support multimedia services (not mainly voice) and higher data rates as well as the request for a world wide mobile communication system triggered the introduction of a 3rd generation under the ITU-R umbrella IMT-2000 (see requirements in ITU-R M.1034 and ITU-R M.1457).

Among the terrestrial systems of IMT-2000 family the most successful 3rd generation mobile cellular technology was developed by 3GPP^TM under the name Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS^TM).

NOTE 1: There are/were also other names used for this system: Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA), 3GSM, ...).
NOTE 2: In the second half of the 1990s different regional proposals for the 3rd generation were developed based on CDMA (e.g. in ETSI SMG); their harmonization led to the foundation of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and finally to UMTS.

UMTS is offering greater spectral efficiency than GSM^TM and has 2 modes:

an FDD mode (Frequency Division Duplex) where uplink (user equipment UE => UTRA network = UTRAN) and downlink (UTRAN => UE) communication are separated in the frequency domain via different frequency bands; this mode is also called Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) or Direct Spread CDMA; a TDD mode (Time Division Duplex) where uplink (UE => UTRAN) and downlink (UTRAN => UE) communication are separated in the frequency domain via different time slots; note: The 3.84Mchip/s option was also called TD-CDMA or HCR (high chip rate) TDD.

Both modes use direct sequence CDMA (code division multiple access) to separate the different users, i.e. each symbol of one user is multiplied by a user specific spreading code.
With this CDMA technique multiple users can transmit in the same (larger) band and the decoder, knowing the user's spreading code, can pick up the data of this user. The data of other users appears as noise in this decoding process.
Using a wide frequency band makes the system inherently resistant to many of the aspects of radio communication which plague narrow band systems, such as bursty noise, multipath reflections, and other interfering transmissions.

Both modes were originally (in the first release: Release 99) defined with a 10ms radio frame divided into 15 slots, a chiprate of 3,84Mchips/s and a channel spacing of 5MHz (note: GSM has just a channel spacing of 200kHz).

In terms of maximum user bit rates the requirements of the first UMTS release were (according to ETSI TR 101 111):

Rural Outdoor: at least 144 kbit/s (goal to achieve 384 kbit/s), max. speed: 500 km/h Suburban Outdoor: at least 384 kbps (goal to achieve 512 kbit/s), max. speed: 120 km/h Indoor/Low range outdoor: at least 2Mbps, max. speed: 10 km/h

It is desirable that the definition of UTRA should allow evolution to higher bit rates.

In the 2nd release (Release 4) a further TDD option with 1,28Mchips/sec and 1,6MHz channel spacing was developed for China (but may be deployed also elsewhere), called TD-SCDMA or LCR (low chip rate) TDD. In Release 7 (5th release), a further TDD option with 7,68Mchips/sec and 10MHz channel spacing was developed; called VHCR (very high chip rate) TDD.

Maximum commonality between FDD and TDD variants is assured by a single set of higher layer protocols and shared physical layer parameters, as far as possible. A flexible radio protocol allows multiplexing of several services (speech, video, data...) on a single carrier. Real-time and non-real-time services are catered for by configurable quality of service parameters (delay, bit error probability, frame error ratio). The architecture allows for point-to-point and also point-to-multipoint services (broadcast, multicast).
And full interoperability (e.g. handover of voice calls) with GSM/GERAN/EDGE is also ensured.

UMTS was originally specified for operation in bands in the 2 GHz range (see 3GPP TS 25.101). Subsequently, it was extended to operate in a number of other bands, including those originally reserved for 2nd generation (2G) services.

UMTS was and still is continuously enhanced over several releases (also in parallel to developments of the 4th generation) e.g. by:

high-speed download packet access (HSDPA) in Rel-5: see 3GPP TS 25.308 enhanced Uplink for FDD (also called HSUPA = high speed uplink packed access; or EDCH = enhanced dedicated channel) in Rel-6: see 3GPP TS 25.319: if combined with 16QAM: up to 11 Mbit/s higher order modulations (16QAM in UL in REL-7, 64QAM in DL in Rel-7, in UL in Rel-11) Multiple Input Multiple Output Antennas (MIMO) in Rel-7 Dual-Cell HSDPA (DC-HSDPA) operation on adjacent carriers in Rel-8: if combined with 64QAM: up to 42 Mbit/s; if combined with MIMO: up to 84 Mbit/s MIMO with 64QAM for HSUPA in Rel-11: up to 34.5 Mbit/s 4 carrier HSDPA in Rel-10 (non-contiguous in Rel-11) 8 carrier HSDPA (8C-HSDPA) in Rel-11: up to 336 Mbit/s Dual carrier HSUPA (DC-HSUPA) in Rel-13: up to 23 Mbit/s

NOTE: The peak data rate figures above are given in ITU-R M.1457 for FDD.

Other enhancement areas were e.g. Home NodeBs, Machine Type Communication (MTC), Self Optimizing Networks (SON), WLAN interworking, Indoor Positioning, Active Antenna Systems (AAS), interference mitigation (a number of them were common WIs with the 4th generation in order to cater for commonalities and interworking).

From June 2016 onwards, UMTS was further developed/maintained by 3GPP TSG RAN WG6 ("GERAN and UTRAN radio and protocol") regarding its physical layer and layer 2/3 aspects. In June 2020 3GPP TSG RAN WG6 was closed and from this time onwards, this UMTS mainentance is carried out by 3GPP TSG RAN.

The radio related UMTS specifications are specified in 3GPP TS 25.-series specifications. See also ETSI standards search.

E.g. physical layer general description (3GPP TS 25.201); UTRAN stage 2 (3GPP TS 25.300), Radio interface protocol architecture (3GPP TS 25.301), UTRAN over all description (3GPP TS 25.401). 3GPP TS 21.101 provides a list of all 3rd generation specifications (including core network and system aspects). The overall network architecture of the 3rd generation can be found in 3GPP TS 23.002.

Harmonised Standards for IMT-2000

The terrestrial technologies of the IMT-2000 family are specified by the 3GPP^TM and 3GPP2 partnership projects, and by ETSI.

Radio equipment for the European market has to be conform to the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) which sets requirements on safety, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and effective use of the radio spectrum. Compliance to these requirements can be shown by compliance with so called Harmonised Standards.

Requirements for safety are available from CENELEC. ETSI provides input to the CENELEC standardization process.

Based on the European Commission Mandate M/536, ETSI has developed Harmonised Standards to enable radio equipment of the IMT-2000 family to be placed on the European market under the Radio Equipment Directive (RED). This addresses all IMT-2000 technologies that may potentially be deployed in Europe, not just those specified by ETSI and 3GPP.

The standards are developed and maintained by a joint Task Force within ETSI, known as TFES - there is one exception, EN 301 908-10, which is maintained by ETSI technical committee DECT.

TFES is open to all ETSI members. As its activities take account of the work of other standards and specification groups, participants in those groups are welcome to contribute to the work. If an interested party is unable to participate through an ETSI membership, the TFES chair can extend an individual invitation.

Introduction

The capacity limitations, the quality issues and the limitations to rather national mobile communication standards of the first analogue mobile communication systems led to the development of a 2nd generation of digital cellular mobile communication systems.

ETSI SMG developed with GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) a second-generation digital cellular radio access technology for Europe that became a worldwide success and that is still operating today.

Over time this system was further evolved under the umbrella acronym GERAN (GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network):

High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE)

and integrated into 3GPP^TM. GERAN was also the name of the 3GPP Technical Specification Group that was responsible for the development and maintenance of this system until June 2016. Afterwards, GERAN was further developed/maintained in 3GPP TSG RAN WG6 ("GERAN and UTRAN radio and protocol") and in June 2020 3GPP TSG RAN WG6 was closed and from this time onwards, GERAN mainentance is carried out by 3GPP TSG RAN.

The Technical Specifications which together comprise a 3GPP^TM system with a GSM/EDGE radio access network are listed in 3GPP TS 41.101.

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search.

Our Role & Activities

Global System for Mobile communication (GSM)

The technology behind the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM^TM) uses Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) modulation a variant of Phase Shift Keying (PSK) with Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signalling over Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) carriers. The physical layer is specified in 3GPP TS 45.001 and the logical channels in 3GPP TS 45.002. The channel coding is specified in 3GPP TS 45.003 and the modulation is specified in 3GPP TS 45.004.

Although originally designed for operation in the 900 MHz band, it was soon adapted for 1800 MHz. The introduction of GSM into North America meant further adaptation to the 800 and 1900 MHz bands. Over the years, the versatility of GSM has resulted in the specifications being adapted to many more frequency bands to meet niche markets. A full list can be found in 3GPP TS 45.005.

GSM has a channel spacing of 200kHz and was designed principally for voice telephony, but a range of bearer services was defined (a subset of those available for fixed line Integrated Services Digital Networks, ISDN), allowing circuit-switched data connections at up to 9600 bits/s. At the time of the original system design, this rate compared favourably to those available over fixed connections. However, with the passage of time, fixed connection data rates increased dramatically. The GSM channel structure and modulation technique did not permit faster rates, and thus the High Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD) service was introduced in the GSM Phase 2+.

In the course of the next few years, the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) was developed to allow aggregation of several carriers for higher speed, packet-switched applications such as always-on internet access. The first commercial GPRS offerings were introduced in the early 2000s.

Meanwhile, investigations had been continuing with a view to increasing the intrinsic bit rate of the GSM technology via novel modulation techniques. This resulted in Enhanced Data-rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), which offers an almost three-fold data rate increase in the same bandwidth.

The combination of GPRS and EDGE brings system capabilities into the range covered by the International Telecommunication Unions IMT-2000 (third generation) concept.

GSM radio technology is specified in the 3GPP TS 45.-series specifications. The overall GSM network architecture is described in 3GPP TS 23.002 and a complete list of Technical Specifications for GSM systems is given in 3GPP TS 41.101.

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search.

High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD)

The standard GSM^TM circuit-switched connection offers a data rate much too low for sophisticated web browsing and the transfer of large files, and as early as 3GPP Release 96 of the GSM specifications it was realized that a significant increase in speed could be obtained by aggregating two or more channels into a single, grouped, circuit-switched connection.

The specifications (3GPP TS 22.034 requirements, 3GPP TS 23.034 architecture) allow for up to four channels to be combined, giving 57.6 kbit/s (or 38.4 kbit/s in the USA). The service is known as High Speed Circuit Switched Data, HSCSD.

Since the four channels are tied up in a circuit-switched connection, the network operator was likely to charge an HSCSD call at a considerably higher rate than a simple, single channel call, and so the service was never enormously popular. HSCSD has been largely replaced by the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), which are more versatile, offer higher data rates, and are more economical.

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search. 

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), adds packet-switched functionality to GSM^TM, which is essentially circuit switched. GPRS is the essential enabler for always-on data connection for applications such as "web browsing" and "Push-to-Talk over Cellular".

GPRS was introduced into the GSM specifications in 3GPP Release 97 and usability was further upgraded in Releases 98 and 99. It offers faster data rates than plain GSM by aggregating several GSM time slots into a single bearer, potentially up to eight, giving a theoretical data rate of 171 kbit/s. Most operators do not offer such high rates, because obviously if a slot is being used for a GPRS bearer, it is not available for other traffic. Also, not all mobiles are able to aggregate all combinations of slots.

The 'GPRS Class Number' indicates the maximum speed capability of a terminal, which might be typically 14 kbit/s in the uplink direction and 40 kbit/s in the downlink, comparable with the rates offered by wireline dial-up modems at that time.

Mobile terminals are further classified according to whether or not they can handle simultaneous GSM and GPRS connections: class A = both simultaneously, class B = GPRS connection interrupted during a GSM call, automatically resumed at end of call, class C = manual GSM / GPRS mode switching.

Further data rate increases have been achieved with the introduction of EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution).

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search.

Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE)

As its name suggests, EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) is an enhancement of the GSM^TM radio access technology to provide faster bit rates for data applications, both circuit- and packet-switched. As an enhancement of the existing GSM physical layer, EDGE is realized via modifications of the existing layer 1 3GPP specifications TS 45.000 rather than by separate, stand-alone specifications.

The increased data rate is accomplished by a new modulation technique (8PSK as opposed to GSM/GPRS's GMSK, yielding a three-fold increase in bit rate for an identical symbol rate) coupled with new channel coding, resulting in improved spectral efficiency. This is important, because it allows EDGE to be introduced piecemeal into existing GSM networks without disrupting the frequency reuse plan of the existing deployment.

In fact, to cater for the potentially increased sensitivity to noise in marginal coverage areas, EDGE uses a combination of 8PSK and GMSK, to give a balanced improvement in bit rate under virtually all radio conditions. The four coding schemes of GPRS are increased to nine in EDGE, and new segmentation techniques can radically improve throughput by permitting the coding scheme to be changed on the fly in case of retransmission of a segment in rapidly changing radio conditions. In addition, the packet window size increased to 1024 compared with the 64 for GPRS, resulting in more robust transmission and reception.

The implementation of EDGE is summarized in 3GPP^TM 3GPP TR 10.59  (later called 3GPP TR 50.059) - essentially a catalogue of Change Requests which introduced EDGE functionality into the existing specifications, for 3GPP Release 98. TR 10.59 / TR 50.059 has not been transposed into an official ETSI publication because it does not meet the necessary criteria. It remains, however, a very useful reference document.

EDGE is compatible with the North American cellular system, ANSI IS136.
A variant of EDGE, called 'EDGE Compact', would permit deployment in less than 1 MHz of spectrum; however, it was not felt interesting for US operators and was never implemented.

Other than providing improved data rates, EDGE is transparent to the service offering at the upper layers, so it is possible to apply EDGE on top of High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) and also on top of GPRS (which is then called EGPRS for Enhanced GPRS).

By way of illustration, the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) can offer a data rate of 115 (and a theoretical data rate of 171) kbit/s whereas EDGE on top of GPRS can increase this theoretical data rate to 384 kbit/s. This is comparable with the rate for early implementations of Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) of the 3rd generation of UMTS and a reason why EDGE is considered to be the bridge between the 2nd and the 3rd generation of mobile communication systems.

The list of the published ETSI standards on EDGE includes the same specifications of GSM (TS 43-, 44- and 45-Series, TS 51.010 for and 51.021, etc.).

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search.

Introduction

The Experiential Networked Intelligence Industry Specification Group (ENI ISG) is defining a Cognitive Network Management architecture, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and context-aware policies to adjust offered services based on changes in user needs, environmental conditions and business goals. It therefore fully benefits all networks, including 5G networks, by providing automated service provision, operation, and assurance, as well as optimized slice management and resource orchestration. ENI has also launched Proof of Concepts (PoCs) aiming to demonstrate how AI techniques can be used to assist network operation including 5G.

The use of Artificial Intelligence techniques in the network will solve problems of future network deployment and operation.

Our Roles & Activities

ENI focuses on improving the operator experience, using closed-loop AI mechanisms based on context-aware, metadata-driven policies. This enables the ENI system recognize and incorporate new and changed knowledge, and hence make actionable decisions. This model gives recommendations to decision-making systems, such as network control and will interact with management systems, to adjust services and resources offered based on changes in user needs, environmental conditions and business goals.

ENI has published the first version of the System Architecture with Context Aware Policy Management, Categorization on Networks using AI Intent aware network Architecture, Data mechanisms, Evaluation of Categorization, functional concepts, Prominent control loop Architectures & Artificial intelligent mechanisms. Two versions of the Proof of Concept (PoC) Framework and three versions of the Use Cases, Requirements and Terminology in Release 2. A second version of the System Architecture has been published recently.

The System Architecture is being specified, with a new published version 2 including a high-level architecture using details of AI decision techniques. ENI has opened new work-items to collect release 3 of the Use cases, Requirements, and terminology, and a revised work item on categorization for AI application to Networks. ENI is also working on reports on the measuring of Evaluation of Classification, Intent knowledge within the Architecture and Data mechanisms, Data telemetry.

The Architecture is summarise as two control loops using AI modelling. Data Gathered is Passed via an optional API, Normalised and processed in a number of AI Analysis Functional Blocks, which may be recursive and interactive using an inner loop. The Actionable decision is then de-normalised and passed back to the network using the same optional API in reverse.

High Level Functional Architecture

The ENI System Architecture may be shown in various classes of operation. From less capable legacy systems Class 1 option 1 to fully interactive AI systems Class 3 option 2.

Classes and modes of operation

ENI has launched a continuing Proof of Concepts activity. A PoC review team was created and tasked with reviewing incoming proposals. The PoC review activity is supported by Vodafone, TIM, China Telecom, PT, Redhat, Samsung and Huawei. Each PoC Team proposal shall address at least one goal relevant to ENI, related with an ENI Use Case, an ENI Requirement or the suitability of the ENI System Architecture aspect. The output of each PoC project shall contribute to the completion of the version 2 specifications within ISG ENI, with the publication of the revised PoC Framework the proof of reference points between equipment is added. To improve the output of the work items the alignment with existing activities is required. Each PoC proposal will provide proof of the technical feasibility of ENI within the Industry. Proof of Concept (PoC) proposals are called for in line with the approved PoC framework. With the publication of the revised PoC Framework the proof of reference points between equipment is added.

Specifications

A full list of related specifications in the public domain is accessible via the ENI committee page.

Blog

News, comments and opinions from ETSI’s ENI Industry Specification Group   Subscribe to blog

The direct link to refer to this blog is https://www.etsi.org/newsroom/blogs/blog-eni

Introduction

The pivotal deployment of 5G and network slicing has triggered the need for a radical change in the way networks and services are managed and orchestrated. In particular there is a need to handle:

the increase in the overall complexity resulting from the transformation of networks into programmable, software-driven, service-based and holistically managed architectures, and the unprecedented operational agility required to support new business opportunities enabled by technology breakthroughs, such as Network Slicing.

These new deployments come with an extreme range of requirements, including massive seemingly infinite capacity, imperceptible latency, ultra-high reliability, personalized services with dramatic improvements in customer-experience, global web-scale reach, and support for massive machine-to-machine communication.

Full end-to-end automation of network and service management has become an urgent necessity for delivering services with agility and speed and ensuring the economic sustainability of the very diverse set of services offered by Digital Service Providers. The ultimate automation target is to enable largely autonomous networks which will be driven by high-level policies and rules; these networks will be capable of self-configuration, self-monitoring, self-healing and self-optimization without further human intervention. All this requires a new horizontal and vertical end-to-end architecture framework designed for closed-loop automation and optimized for data-driven machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.

The ETSI ZSM (Zero-touch network and Service Management) group was formed in December 2017 with the goal to accelerate the definition of the required end-to-end architecture and solutions.

Our Roles & Activities

The ISG ZSM group works to strengthen the collaboration the relevant standardization bodies, open-source projects and fora in order to promote the adoption of and alignment with the ZSM architecture and solutions to ensure automated end-to-end network and service management can be achieved.

The relevant standardization bodies, open-source projects and fora in order to promote the adoption of and alignment with the ZSM architecture and solutions to ensure automated end-to-end network and service management can be achieved.

We have just embarked on an exciting journey towards the automation transformation that will help operators meet user expectations for service agility and create new business opportunities. End-to-end automation is a “big deal” and represents the industry’s coming years journey. The use of AI/ML will evolve incrementally. Findings from real deployments and operational experience need to be fed into the specification work.

The ISG ZSM encourages the creation of Proof of Concepts (PoCs) to demonstrate the viability of ZSM implementations. The results and lessons learned from the ZSM PoCs will be channelled to the ISG ZSM specification work. In its specification work, the ISG will take into consideration also feedback and findings from real deployments and operational experience.

Specifications

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ZSM committee page.

Blog

ZSM Blog   Subscribe to blog

The direct link to this Blog is https://www.etsi.org/newsroom/blogs/blog-zsm

Introduction

Augmented Reality (AR) is the ability to mix in real-time spatially-registered digital content with the real world surrounding the user.

AR technologies and applications play an essential role in the development of “Smart Factories” or the “Industry 4.0” and are key for the success of “Smart Cities” and “Smart Home”. Mobility, retail, healthcare, education, tourism, and public safety are other examples of domains where AR will bring significant value. AR is also seen as an important technical enabler for the advent of the Metaverse.

The boundaries between digital and physical worlds are blurring and therefore AR as the tie between both worlds is quickly developing into a new phase of enabling context-rich user experiences that combine sensors, wearable computing, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. That capability offers a unique opportunity of value creation. AR technology will bring significant transformation to many areas of our economies in terms of productivity, competitiveness as well as the provision of new and innovative services for end-consumers.

The possibilities of using AR technology are manifold. AR applications will be deployed at different scales; at room scale, office, factory, city or even world scale. Applications may be used both indoor and outdoor, encountering various scene conditions and changing environments. To adapt to these different environments, AR applications need to rely on adequate methods to keep aligned and registered with the real world (e.g., by image markers, point clouds, 3D models). Considering large scale deployment, AR applications will need to distribute data and computing into the network and will benefit from the low latency, large bandwidth, and EDGE facilities of 5G networks and broadband networks. So, the need for transparent and reliable interworking between different AR components is key to the successful roll-out of such services.

Our Roles & Activities

There are various categories of AR applications but presenting digital information aligned with the real world implies the use of a set of common components offering functionalities such as tracking, registration, pose estimation, localization, 3D space mapping, and data injection.

ETSI is working on the definition and refinement of a framework for the interoperability of Augmented Reality (AR) components, systems, and services. The AR framework defines an overall high-level architecture, and describes key components and interfaces required for an AR solution.

The development of such a framework will allow components from different providers to interoperate through defined interfaces. This will in turn avoid the creation of vertical siloes and market fragmentation and enable players in the eco-system to offer part(s) of an overall AR solution.

Through its work, our Industry Specification Group (ISG) Augmented Reality Framework (ARF) will address the following goals:

To ensure that Augmented Reality services and platforms are easier to design, deploy and operate taking into account the availability of 5G networks To enable the development of high-performance Augmented Reality components which are portable between different hardware vendors, different providers of software solutions and platforms To achieve co-existence of legacy and proprietary platforms whilst enabling an efficient migration path to fully interoperable platforms

The ISG acknowledges the work of relevant standardization bodies and open-source communities already developing technical specifications or solutions for AR and bases its activities on previous work done in this area, e.g. by collecting use cases developed by the AR community or by referencing already defined AR components. The ISG will ensure consistency with other activities in ETSI with regards to IoT, edge computing and 5G.

Specifications

A list of ETSI related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ARF committee page.