3GPP TR 21.900 V8.2.0 (2008-03)
`
`Technical Report
`
`3rd Generation Partnership Project;
`Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects;
`Technical Specification Group working methods
`(Release 8)
`
`GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR
`MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
`
`R
`
`
`
`The present document has been developed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP TM) and may be further elaborated for the purposes of 3GPP.
`
`
`The present document has not been subject to any approval process by the 3GPP Organisational Partners and shall not be implemented.
`
`This Specification is provided for future development work within 3GPP only. The Organisational Partners accept no liability for any use of this Specification.
`Specifications and reports for implementation of the 3GPP TM system should be obtained via the 3GPP Organisational Partners' Publications Offices.
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`Keywords
`GSM, UMTS, methodology
`
`
`
`3GPP
`
`Postal address
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`3GPP support office address
`650 Route des Lucioles - Sophia Antipolis
`Valbonne - FRANCE
`Tel.: +33 4 92 94 42 00 Fax: +33 4 93 65 47 16
`
`Internet
`http://www.3gpp.org
`
`Copyright Notification
`
`No part may be reproduced except as authorized by written permission.
`The copyright and the foregoing restriction extend to reproduction in all media.
`
`© 2008, 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TTA, TTC).
`All rights reserved.
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`3GPP
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`Contents
`
`Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................ 5
`Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
`1
`Scope ........................................................................................................................................................ 6
`1A References ................................................................................................................................................ 6
`2
`Definitions and abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 6
`3
`General responsibilities of the Support Team .......................................................................................... 7
`3.1
`Specifications, meetings and liaisons ................................................................................................................... 7
`3.2
`Registration of code points ................................................................................................................................... 7
`4
`Handling of Specifications ....................................................................................................................... 8
`4.0
`Numbering scheme ............................................................................................................................................... 8
`4.0A
`Version nomenclature ......................................................................................................................................... 10
`4.0B
`Releases ............................................................................................................................................................... 11
`4.1
`Overview ............................................................................................................................................................. 11
`4.1.1
`General ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
`4.1.2
`Role of the rapporteur ................................................................................................................................... 13
`4.2
`Characteristics of a specification ........................................................................................................................ 13
`4.3
`Characteristics of a major version of a specification ......................................................................................... 13
`4.4
`Characteristics of a version of a specification .................................................................................................... 14
`4.5
`(void) ................................................................................................................................................................... 14
`4.6
`Change Request regime ...................................................................................................................................... 14
`4.6.1
`Change Requests ........................................................................................................................................... 14
`4.6.2
`Change Request forms .................................................................................................................................. 15
`4.6.3
`Contents of Change Requests ....................................................................................................................... 17
`4.6.4
`Handling of the Change Requests ................................................................................................................. 17
`4.6.5
`Updating and release of new versions of the specifications ......................................................................... 18
`4.6.6
`Other changes to specifications .................................................................................................................... 18
`4.7
`"Freezing" of specifications ................................................................................................................................ 19
`4.8
`"Closing" of specifications ................................................................................................................................. 19
`4.9
`"Withdrawing" of specifications ......................................................................................................................... 19
`4.10
`Release control .................................................................................................................................................... 19
`4.10.1
`Creation of a new Release version of a specification ................................................................................... 19
`4.10.1.1
`With no technical changes compared to the previous Release ............................................................... 19
`4.10.1.2
`When introducing technical changes ...................................................................................................... 20
`4.10.1.3
`Specifications not propagated to next Release ....................................................................................... 20
`4.10.2
`Mirror Change Requests ............................................................................................................................... 20
`4.10.3
`Release mechanisms ...................................................................................................................................... 20
`4.10.3.1
`Corrections to Releases ........................................................................................................................... 20
`4.10.3.2
`New features ............................................................................................................................................ 21
`4.10.3.3
`Release naming ........................................................................................................................................ 21
`4.10.3.4
`Introduction of features into Releases ..................................................................................................... 21
`4.10.3.5
`Early implementation of features ............................................................................................................ 22
`5
`Availability and distribution of specifications ....................................................................................... 22
`5A File naming conventions ........................................................................................................................ 22
`6 Work Items ............................................................................................................................................. 24
`6.0
`Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 24
`6.0.1
`Introduction: why manage a project? ............................................................................................................ 24
`6.0.2
`How to manage a project? ............................................................................................................................. 25
`6.0.3
`Types of modifications to specifications ............................................................................................................ 26
`6.1
`Creation of a Work Item ..................................................................................................................................... 26
`6.2
`Type of Work Items ............................................................................................................................................ 27
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`Start and continuation of the work and responsibilities ..................................................................................... 27
`6.3
`General ........................................................................................................................................................... 27
`6.3.1
`Role of the rapporteur ................................................................................................................................... 28
`6.3.2
`Realization of Work Items .................................................................................................................................. 28
`6.4
`Planning and categorization of the deliverables (and control thereof) ........................................................ 28
`6.4.1
`Choice of deliverables ................................................................................................................................... 29
`6.4.2
`Contents of deliverables ................................................................................................................................ 29
`6.4.3
`Service requirements ............................................................................................................................... 29
`6.4.3.1
`Technical realization specifications ........................................................................................................ 29
`6.4.3.2
`Test specifications ................................................................................................................................... 29
`6.4.3.3
`Early implementation .................................................................................................................................... 29
`6.4.4
`Status tracking of Work Items ............................................................................................................................ 30
`6.5
`Work Item model ................................................................................................................................................ 30
`6.6
`Management documents and tools ......................................................................................................... 31
`7
`Status List of Specifications ............................................................................................................................... 31
`7.1
`Work Item Status List ......................................................................................................................................... 31
`7.2
`Change Request data base ................................................................................................................................... 32
`7.3
`Mailing lists and Membership data bases ........................................................................................................... 32
`7.4
`Electronic tools used/preferred ........................................................................................................................... 32
`7.5
`WEB and FTP services ....................................................................................................................................... 32
`7.6
`E-mail reflectors .................................................................................................................................................. 32
`7.7
`E-mail decisions ..................................................................................................................................... 32
`8
`E-mail drafting phase .......................................................................................................................................... 32
`8.1
`E-mail decision declaration ................................................................................................................................ 33
`8.2
`Status reporting ................................................................................................................................................... 33
`8.3
`Decision announcement ...................................................................................................................................... 33
`8.4
`Timing ................................................................................................................................................................. 33
`8.5
`General ................................................................................................................................................................ 33
`8.6
`Change history ...................................................................................................................... 34
`Annex A:
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`Foreword
`This Technical Specification has been produced by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
`
`The contents of the present document are subject to continuing work within the TSG and may change following formal
`TSG approval. Should the TSG modify the contents of the present document, it will be re-released by the TSG with an
`identifying change of release date and an increase in version number as follows:
`
`Version x.y.z
`
`where:
`
`x
`
`the first digit:
`
`1 presented to TSG for information;
`
`2 presented to TSG for approval;
`
`3 or greater indicates TSG approved document under change control.
`
`y
`
`the second digit is incremented for all changes of substance, i.e. technical enhancements, corrections,
`updates, etc.
`
`z
`
`the third digit is incremented when editorial only changes have been incorporated in the document.
`
`Introduction
`In order to ensure correctness and consistency of the specifications (i.e., technical specifications and technical reports)
`under responsibility of the Technical Specification Groups (TSG) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),
`clear, manageable and efficient mechanisms are necessary to handle version control, change control, document
`updating, distribution and management.
`
`Also, the fact that the specifications are/will be implemented by industry almost in parallel with the writing of them
`requires strict and fast procedures for handling of changes to the specifications.
`
`It is very important that the changes that are brought into the standard, from the past, at present and in the future, are
`well documented and controlled, so that technical consistency and backwards tracing are ensured.
`
`The 3GPP TSGs, and their sub-groups together with the Support Team are responsible for the technical content and
`consistency of the specifications whilst the Support Team alone is responsible for the proper management of the entire
`documentation, including specifications, meeting documents, administrative information and information exchange with
`other bodies.
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`Scope
`1
`This document outlines the working methods to be used by the 3GPP Technical Specification Groups and their Working
`Groups and their Sub-Groups, and by the 3GPP Support Team in relation to document management, i.e. handling of
`specifications, updating procedures, Change Request procedures, version control mechanisms, specifications status
`information etc. It complements the rules and procedures defined for 3GPP. This document does not stipulate the details
`of the internal working of the TSG Sub-Groups. From the Technical Specification Group point of view, a task and
`responsibility is given to a Working Group directly answering to the Technical Specification Group. In practice, the
`work/task may be carried out in a subgroup of that Working Group.
`
`References
`1A
`The following documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of the present
`document.
`
` References are either specific (identified by date of publication, edition number, version number, etc.) or
`non-specific.
`
` For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
`
` For a non-specific reference, the latest version applies. In the case of a reference to a 3GPP document (including
`a GSM document), a non-specific reference implicitly refers to the latest version of that document in the same
`Release as the present document.
`
`3GPP TR 21.801: "Specification drafting rules".
`
`3GPP TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".
`
`3GPP TS 21.101: "Technical Specifications and Technical Reports for a UTRAN-based 3GPP system".
`
`3GPP TS 41.101: "Technical Specifications and Technical Reports for a GERAN-based 3GPP system".
`
`ITU-T Recommendation I.130: "Method for the characterization of telecommunication services supported by an
`ISDN and network capabilities of an ISDN".
`
`Definitions and abbreviations
`2
`For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and those in 3GPP TR 21.905 apply.
`
`building block: sub-division of a feature, representing a coherent set of technical functionality which would generally
`be expected to reside in a single system element.
`
`change control: procedure whereby proposed modifications to a specification are presented for approval to the TSG as
`formal Change Requests.
`
`closed: specification status in which no changes of any kind to the specification are permitted.
`
`Change Request (CR): formal proposal presented on a standard form to modify a specification which is under change
`control.
`
`draft: specification status prior to change control, in which changes may be made without formal Change Requests.
`
`early implementation: implementation of a particular feature on a platform of a release earlier than the release that
`contains the feature.
`
`feature: new or substantially enhanced functionality which represents added value to the existing system.
`
`frozen: specification status in which only essential corrections are permitted.
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`Group: TSG or TSG Sub-Group.
`
`major version: For version x.y.z of a specification, x is called the major version.
`
`Example:
`
`For version 3.2.0 of a specification, the major version is 3.
`
`specification: generic term standing for Technical Specification and Technical Report.
`
`Study Item: type of Work Item which will conduct feasibility studies and will result in a Technical Report
`
`TSG: Technical Specification Group.
`
`TSG change control: specification status in which the Technical Specification Group is responsible for approval of
`Change Requests.
`
`TSG Sub-Group: Working Group or subgroup of a Working Group or of a Sub-Group.
`
`Working Group (WG): official subgroup of a TSG reporting to that TSG.
`
`WG Change Control: specification status in which the Working Group is responsible for agreeing Change Requests
`for submission to the TSG for approval.
`
`version: unique identifier in the form x.y.z for a specification at a given point in time.
`
`Example:
`
`version 3.12.3.
`
`withdrawn: specification status in which the given version of the specification no longer belongs to the appropriate set
`of valid specifications.
`
`Work Item (WI): description of an enhancement to a technical area, which may be categorized as Study Item, Feature,
`Building Block or Work Task.
`
`Work Item description (WID): description of a Work Item in a standard Work Item Description sheet.
`
`work task: sub-division of a building block, representing a self-contained, well-scoped and well-scheduled item of
`work.
`
`3
`
`General responsibilities of the Support Team
`
`Specifications, meetings and liaisons
`3.1
`The Support Team is responsible for the management of the work of the TSGs. This includes editorship and
`management of specifications once they have been put under TSG change control. It also includes preparation of and
`support for the meetings (including meeting reports) of the TSGs and their Working Groups, and subgroups in
`descending priority.
`
`It furthermore includes liaison with other bodies and relevant groups and institutions.
`
`Registration of code points
`3.2
`In the course of 3GPP's work, it will from time to time be necessary to register code points in protocols maintained by
`bodies other than 3GPP, for example, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types registered with the Internet
`Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA, http://www.iana.org/).
`
`Wherever possible, registration of such code points shall be entrusted to the 3GPP Support Team rather than being
`performed by an individual delegate. Since 3GPP is not a legally constituted entity, the Support Team shall register
`such code points in the name of one of the Organizational Partners on behalf of all the Organizational Partners of 3GPP.
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`Handling of Specifications
`
`Numbering scheme
`4.0
`The specifications shall be numbered according to the following scheme:
`
`3GPP TS aa.bbb (for Technical Specifications); or
`
`3GPP TR aa.bbb (for Technical Reports).
`
`The fields aa and bbb shall be selected according to the nature of the specification as given in tables 1 and 2. The
`provisions of table 1 shall be strictly enforced, but those of table 2 should be used for guidance: it is acceptable to
`deviate from these provisions for backwards compatibility or other reasons.
`
`Table 1: Specification number ranges aa
`
`Use
`
`Remarks
`
`Service aspects
`
`Range for
`GSM up
`to and
`including
`Release
`1999
`01.bb
`
`Range for
`GSM
`Release 4
`onwards
`
`Range for
`UMTS
`Release
`1999
`onwards
`
`41.bbb
`
`21.bbb
`
`02.bb
`
`42.bbb
`
`22.bbb
`
`03.bb
`
`43.bbb
`
`23.bbb
`
`04.bb
`
`44.bbb
`
`24.bbb
`
`05.bb
`
`45.bbb
`
`25.bbb
`
`06.bb
`07.bb
`
`08.bb
`
`46.bbb
`47.bbb
`
`48.bbb
`
`26.bbb
`27.bbb
`
`28.bbb
`
`09.bb
`
`49.bbb
`
`29.bbb
`
`Requirements specifications Often transient specifications containing
`requirements leading to other specifications;
`may become obsolete when technical
`solutions have been fully specified; they could
`then, e.g., be replaced by reports describing
`the performance of the system, they could be
`deleted without replacement, or be kept for
`historical reasons but treated as background
`material.
`Services, service features, building blocks or
`platforms for services (a service feature or
`service building block may provide certain
`generic functionality for the composition of a
`service, including the control by the user; a
`platform may comprise one or more network
`elements, e.g. UIM, mobile terminal, auxiliary
`system to the core network etc.); also
`appropriate stage 1 specifications; also reports
`defining services which can be realized by
`generic building blocks etc.
`Mainly stage 2 specifications (or specifications
`of a similar nature describing interworking over
`several interfaces, the behaviour in
`unexceptional cases, etc.).
`Detailed and bit-exact stage 3 specifications of
`protocols between MS/UE and the Core
`Network.
`25.1bb: UTRAN radio performance
`25.2bb: UTRA layer 1
`25.3bb: UTRA layers 2 & 3
`25.4bb: UTRAN Iub, Iur & Iu interfaces
`Speech and other codecs (video etc.).
`Functions necessary to support data
`applications.
`Detailed and bit-exact stage 3 specifications of
`protocols between radio subsystem (eg BSS)
`and periphery of CN (eg MSC). (Not used in
`Release 1999.)
`Detailed and bit-exact stage 3 specifications of
`protocols within the Core Network.
`
`Technical realization
`
`Signalling protocols (UE to
`CN)
`
`Radio access aspects
`
`Codecs
`Data
`
`Signalling protocols (RSS to
`CN)
`
`Core Network signalling
`protocols
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`Range for
`GSM up
`to and
`including
`Release
`1999
`10.bb
`
`11.bb
`
`12.bb
`
`Range for
`GSM
`Release 4
`onwards
`
`Range for
`UMTS
`Release
`1999
`onwards
`
`Use
`
`Remarks
`
`50.bbb
`
`30.bbb
`
`Programme management
`
`51.bbb
`
`52.bbb
`
`31.bbb
`
`32.bbb
`
`SIM / UIM
`
`Charging and OAM&P
`(Operations, Administration,
`Maintenance & Provisioning)
`
`3rd Generation Mobile System, project plans /
`project work programme and stand-alone
`documents for major Work Items.
`Subscriber / User Identity Module and the
`interfaces between it and other entities.
`Application of TMN for the 3GPP 3rd
`Generation Mobile System and other functions
`for operation, administration and maintenance
`of a 3rd Generation Mobile System network.
`Regulatory test specifications. (Transferred
`from ETSI TC SMG to ETSI TC MSG.)
`
`
`Specifications of encryption algorithms for
`confidentiality and authentication, etc.
`Introduced in Release 8 for the so-called
`"Long Term Evolution" of the radio technology.
`A similar subdivision to that used for the 25-
`series above is used.
`NOTE: Column 1 refers to the original GSM specification series used up to Release 1999.
`
`Column 2 refers to the specifications peculiar to GSM implementations for Release 4 onwards – that is,
`those specifications relating solely to GSM/EDGE radio access.
`Column 3 refers to the specifications created by 3GPP for Release 1999 onwards implementations having a
`UTRAN radio access. Many of these are common to GSM/EDGE and UTRAN systems (see table 2).
`Separate specifications list the specs required to implement Releases GSM/EDGE and UTRAN systems
`(3GPP TSs 21.101, 01.01 / 41.101).
`
`
`
`33.bbb
`34.bbb
`35.bbb
`
`36.bbb
`
`
`
`Security aspects
`Test specifications
`Algorithms
`
`Evolved Universal Terrestrial
`Radio Access (Network)
`
`13.bb
`
`
`
`
`
`55.bbb
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
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`Table 2: Specification number ranges bbb
`
`Range
`aa.bb
`
`aa.0bb
`
`Use
`Specification applicable to pre-Release-4 GSM
`systems.
`Specifications applicable to both 2G (GSM) and
`3G systems.
`
`aa.1bb
`
`Specification either (a) derived from earlier 2G
`(GSM) specification, but with technical
`modification; or (b) new specifications.
`
`New specifications.
`
`aa.2bb
`to
`aa.7bb
`
`aa.8bb
`
`Technical Reports not intended for publication.
`
`aa.9bb
`
`
`Technical Reports intended for publication.
`
`Remarks
`Continue to be maintained by 3GPP. Not propagated
`beyond Release 1999.
`aa in range 21 to 39:
`For most specifications in this range for a given
`Release, a GSM specification numbered [aa - 20].[bb]
`will have existed for earlier Releases.
`Example: 3GPP TS 28.032 replaces GSM 08.32 for
`Release 1999 onwards.
`aa in range 41 to 59:
`Direct equivalent to aa.bb GSM specification for
`previous Releases.
`aa in range 21 to 39:
`For most specifications in this range for a given
`Release, a GSM specification numbered
`[aa - 20].[bbb - 100] will have existed for earlier
`Releases, and may continue to exist (in parallel) for the
`same Release.
`Example: 3GPP TS 28.133 will have been based on
`GSM 08.33, but both specifications exist for
`Release 1999 onwards.
`aa in range 41 to 59:
`New GSM specification for Release 4 or later.
`Not, in general, derived from pre-Release 4 GSM
`predecessors.
`NOTE:
`See table 1 for specific allocation within
`25.bbb series.
`Working documents of 3GPP Groups not intended to be
`transposed into publications by the Partner
`Organizations.
`As distinct from those of the aa.8bb series.
`
`4.0A Version nomenclature
`Each specification is associated with a "version number" in the form x.y.z which uniquely identifies the document. The
`significance of the three fields is defined in table 3.
`
`Table 3: Version number fields
`
`Field
`
`x
`
`Use
`
`major
`also referred to as "release"
`
`technical
`
`editorial
`
`y
`
`z
`
`
`
`0:
`1:
`
`2:
`
`Remarks
`
`draft
`presented to TSG for information
`(specification estimated by prime responsible
`Group to be at least 60% stable)
`presented to TSG for approval (specification
`estimated by prime responsible Group to be
`at least 80% stable)
`3 or greater: approved by TSG and under change
`control; the value indicates the Release
`according to table 4.
`Incremented every time a technical change is
`introduced into the specification. Once under change
`control, such changes shall only occur when the TSG
`approves one or more Change Requests. Reset to zero
`every time the "major" field is incremented.
`Incremented every time a purely editorial change is
`introduced into the specification. Reset to zero every
`time the "technical" field is incremented or reset to zero.
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`Table 3 shows the estimated degree of stability to be used as a guideline for determining when to raise a specification to
`version 1.y.z and to 2.y.z. Such figures are obviously subjective, and the decision is ultimately at the discretion of the
`responsible Group.
`
`A TS or TR having reached at least 60% stability and presented to the TSG for the first time shall be presented with its
`major version number set to 1, i.e. as version 1.y.z..
`
`4.0B Releases
`Specifications are grouped into "Releases". A mobile system can be constructed based on the set of all specifications
`which comprise a given Release. A Release differs from the previous Release by having added functionality introduced
`as a result of ongoing standardization work within the Groups.
`
`Specifications pertaining to a given Release shall be distinguished by the first field of the version number ("x" in x.y.z)
`according to table 4. Table 0 also shows for comparison the equivalent significance of the GSM Releases.
`
`For further details on Release control, see subclause 4.10.
`
`Table 4: Version numbers vs. Releases
`
`Spec under change control for …
`
`GSM Phase 1
`GSM Phase 2
`Release 1996
`GSM Phase 2+
`Release 1997
`GSM Phase 2+
`Release 1998
`GSM Phase 2+
`Release 1999
`GSM Phase 2+
`(pure GERAN-based system)
`pure UTRAN-based system and common
`UTRAN- & GERAN-based systems
`
`Release 1999
`GERAN- & UTRAN-based systems
`
`Release 4
`GERAN- & UTRAN-based systems
`
`Release 5
`GERAN- & UTRAN-based systems
`
`Release 6
`GERAN- & UTRAN-based systems
`
`Release 7
`…
`
`NOTE:
`
`spec number
`format and
`version
`aa.bb
`aa.bb
`aa.bb
`aa.bb
`aa.bb
`aa.bb
`
`v3.y.z
`v4.y.z
`v5.y.z
`v6.y.z
`v7.y.z
`v8.y.z
`
`aa.bbb v3.y.z
`
`aa.bbb v4.y.z
`
`aa.bbb v5.y.z
`
`aa.bbb v6.y.z
`
`aa.bbb v7.y.z
`
`…
`From Release 4 onwards the 3GPP format for
`specification numbers and versions applies to all
`specifications (including those only relevant for
`implementation of a stand-alone GSM system).
`
`
`Overview
`4.1
`Where appropriate, the three-stage methodology defined in ITU-T Recommendation I.130 should be employed:
`
`Stage 1 is an overall service description from the user’s standpoint.
`
`Stage 2 is an overall description of the organization of the network functions to map service requirements into
`network capabilities.
`
`Stage 3 is the definition of switching and signalling capabilities needed to support services defined in stage 1.
`
`In addition, it is often appropriate to perform a feasibility study prior to formal specification work. This is sometimes
`referred to as "stage 0".
`
`Furthermore, it will often be appropriate to follow stage 3 with the production of test specifi