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3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) is a collaboration aimed at developing globally acceptable specifications for third generation (3G) mobile systems. The 3GPP2 focuses on North American and Asian regions. It is the standard body behind CDMA2000, which is the 3G upgrade of CDMA. CDMA is mostly used in the US as well as in some telcos in Japan, China, South Korea, and India.
Techopedia Explains 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2
3GPP2 is composed of Japan’s Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) and Telecommunications Technology Committee (TTC), the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA), North America’s Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and South Korea’s Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA).
3GPP2, which stands for 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2, is different from 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). Whereas 3GPP2 is focused on standardizing CDMA2000, 3GPP deals with UMTS.
Both 3GPP and 3GPP2 are offshoots of the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) initiative dubbed IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications 2000). IMT-2000 is aimed at developing high speed, broadband, and IP-based mobile systems that features network-to-network interconnections, feature and service transparency, global roaming, as well as seamless location-independent service.
Consistent with the goals of IMT-2000, 3GPP2 seeks to deliver high-quality mobile multimedia telecommunications to the mass market, worldwide.
CDMA, and consequently CDMA2000, is a minority in the global field of wireless networks, which is dominated by GSM and its successors – GPRS, EDGE, and W-CDMA (UMTS). However, since some of the biggest telecommunications companies in the world employ CDMA-based technologies (e.g. USA’s Verizon and India’s Reliance), it is still necessary to have a standardization body like 3GPP2.
To establish better focus on specific areas in the development of 3G, the 3GPP2 body created four Technical Specification Groups: TSG-A for Access Network Interfaces, TSG-C for CDMA2000, TSG-S for Services and Systems Aspects, and TSG-X for Core Networks.
