UMTS Releases

The specification of UMTS is done in phases. Specifications are grouped into “Releases”. A mobile system can be constructed based on the set of all specifications which comprise a given Release. Each new Release adds new functionalities to the system.

So far 3GPP has issued the following Releases:

• UMTS Release 99¹
  
  • Based on GSM,
    • Backward compatible with GSM,
    • Interoperation between UMTS and GSM;
  • Definition of the UTRAN
  • UTRA
    • UMTS FDD (W-CDMA)
• UMTS Release 4
  
  • Seperation of user data flows and control mechanisms,
  • UMTS TDD Time Division CDMA (TD-CDMA),
    • High data rate UMTS TDD with 3.84 Mchips/s,
    • Narrowband TDD with 1.28 Mchips/s;
  • Position location functionality;
• UMTS Release 5
  
  • End-to-end packet switching based on IP (IMS),
  • Downlink data rate of over 10 Mbit/s (HSDPA),
  • GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN);
• UMTS Release 6
  
  • IMS "Phase 2" (IMS Messaging, conferencing and Group Management),
  • High Speed Uplink (HSUPA)
  • Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS)
  • WLAN interworking
• UMTS Release 7
  
  • Enhanced uplink, other spectrum,
  • Multiple Input Multiple Output antennas (MIMO),
  • IMS Emergency call handling.

¹The first release is based on the year of publication(1999). Later on, 3GPP just gave them a sequence number.