3GPP Introduction

　　3GPP was established in December 1998 with the signing of the 3rd Generation Partnership Program Agreement by a number of telecommunications standards organization partners. The initial scope of 3GPP's work was to develop globally applicable technical specifications and technical reports for third-generation mobile communication systems. The third generation of mobile communication systems is based on the developed GSM core networks and the wireless access technologies they support, mainly UMTS. Subsequently, the scope of 3GPP's work was improved with the addition of research and standards development for the UTRA Long-Term evolution system. At present, there are ETSI in Europe, ATIS in the United States, TTC in Japan, ARIB in Japan, TTA in Korea, TSDSI in India and CCSA in China as 7 organizational partners (OP) of 3GPP. Currently, 3GPP has more than 550 independent members and 13 market partners (MRPS), including the TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance (TDIA), the TD-SCDMA Forum, and the CDMA Development Group (CDG).

　　In the organizational structure of 3GPP, the Project Coordination Group (PCG) is the highest management body and is responsible for overall coordination work on behalf of the OP, such as responsible for 3GPP organizational structure, schedule, work allocation, etc. The technical aspects are carried out by the Technical Specifications Group (TSG). At present, 3GPP is divided into 3 TSGS (previously 5 TSGS, CN and T were merged into CT, GERAN was withdrawn), which are respectively TSG RAN (wireless access network), TSG SA (service and system), TSG CT (core network and terminal). Each TSG is subdivided into working groups (WG), each with specific tasks, and there are currently 16 WG's. For example, TSG RAN is divided into RAN WG1 (Wireless Layer 1), RAN WG2 (Wireless Layer 2 and Layer 3), RAN WG3 (wireless network architecture and interface), RAN WG4 (radio frequency performance), RAN WG5 (terminal conformance test) and RAN WG6 (GERAN Wireless protocol) six working groups.

　　3GPP membership consists of 3 categories: Organizational partners, Marketing Representative Partners and individual members. 3GPP's organizational partners include seven standardization organizations: ETSI in Europe, ARIB in Japan, TTC in Japan, TTA in Korea, ATIS in the United States, TSDSI in India and CCSA in China. The 3GPP Market Representative Partners are not official standardization organizations, they are institutional organizations that provide market advice and consensus to 3GPP. The addition of the TD-SCDMA Technology Forum brings the number of partners represented in the 3GPP Partner Program market to six, including: Gsma, UMTS Forum, IPv6 Forum, 3G Americas, The Global Mobile Suppliers Association.