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3GPP

GSM was developed in Europe in the early 1980's and launched commercially in 1991.

See timeline: http://www.gsmworld.com/about-us/history.htm

The current organization responsible for the technical development of GSM (and it's 3G successor UMTS) is 3GPP. They create the Technical Specifications (TS) that GSM/UMTS equipment manufacturers must follow in order to ensure compatibility. In addition, each TS is referenced to a "Release" which is updated every year or so. New Releases offer updates and new features to previous releases. Up until the year 2000 all releases were taken from the year (ex: R99 was released in 1999), but since 2000 it has taken a sequential number format (R4, R5, R6, etc.)

3GPP Releases

All documents and specifications are freely available to download from their web site:

Releases and dates: http://www.3gpp.org/Releases

Numbering schemes: http://www.3gpp.org/Specification-Numbering

Direct FTP download of all specs: http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/latest/

 

Subject of specification series	3G/GSM R99 and later	GSM only (Rel-4 and later)	GSM only (before Rel-4)
General information (long defunct)			00 series
Requirements	21 series	41 series	01 series
Service aspects ("stage 1")	22 series	42 series	02 series
Technical realization ("stage 2")	23 series	43 series	03 series
Signalling protocols ("stage 3") - user equipment to network	24 series	44 series	04 series
Radio aspects	25 series	45 series	05 series
CODECs	26 series	46 series	06 series
Data	27 series	47 series (none exists)	07 series
Signalling protocols ("stage 3") -(RSS-CN)	28 series	48 series	08 series
Signalling protocols ("stage 3") - intra-fixed-network	29 series	49 series	09 series
Programme management	30 series	50 series	10 series
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM / USIM), IC Cards.  Test specs.	31 series	51 series	11 series
OAM&P and Charging	32 series	52 series	12 series
Access requirements and test specifications		13 series (1)	13 series (1)
Security aspects	33 series	(2)	(2)
UE and (U)SIM test specifications	34 series	(2)	11 series
Security algorithms (3)	35 series	55 series	(4)
Evolved UTRA aspects	36 series	-	-