Third Generation Network ( 3G ), UMTS
Alexander Kukushkin · 2018
After Global System Mobile/Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), the third generation (3G) of mobile network system first appeared in 1999 under the name of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) according to the European approach to 3G standardization. The main radio technology deployed in the UMTS is Wideband Code Division Multiple-Access (WCDMA) whose variants Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time-Division Duplex (TDD) were selected by the European Telecommunications Institute (ETSI) in 1998. The chapter provides a brief summary of the major parameters in radio access technology of WCDMA and some comparisons with GSM. It also provides the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) spectrum allocation for WCDMA. The GSM system is efficient in delivery of voice services over a circuit switch network. The chapter shows the respective position of different type of channels to a layer in the air-interface protocol stack. It illustrates the Radio Resource Control (RRC) states and interstate transitions.