3GPP Releases

Meanings of 3GPP releases

3GPP RELEASE RELEASE DATE DETAILS
Phase 1 1992 Basic GSM
Phase 2 1995 GSM features including EFR Codec
Release 96 Q1 1997 GSM Updates, 14.4 kbps user data
Release 97 Q1 1998 GSM additional features, GPRS
Release 98 Q1 1999 GSM additional features, GPRS for PCS 1900, AMR, EDGE
Release 99 Q1 2000 3G UMTS incorporating WCDMA radio access
Release 4 Q2 2001 UMTS all-IP Core Network
Release 5 Q1 2002 IMS and HSDPA
Release 6 Q4 2004 HSUPA, MBMS, IMS enhancements, Push to Talk over Cellular, operation with WLAN
Release 7 Q4 2007 Improvements in QoS & latency, VoIP, HSPA+, NFC integration, EDGE Evolution
Release 8 Q4 2008 Introduction of LTE, SAE, OFDMA, MIMO, Dual Cell HSDPA
Release 9 Q4 2009 WiMAX / LTE / UMTS interoperability, Dual Cell HSDPA with MIMO, Dual Cell HSUPA, LTE HeNB
Release 10 Q1 2011 LTE-Advanced, Backwards compatibility with Release 8 (LTE), Multi-Cell HSDPA
Release 11 Q3 2012 Heterogeneous networks (HetNet), Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP), In device Coexistence (IDC), Advanced IP interconnection of Services,
Release 12 March 2015 Enhanced Small Cells operation, Carrier Aggregation (2 uplink carriers, 3 downlink carriers, FDD/TDD carrier
Release 13 Q1 2016 LTE-U / LTE-LAA, LTE-M, Elevation beamforming / Full Dimension MIMO, Indoor positioning, LTE-M Cat 1.4MHz & Cat 200kHz introduced
Release 14 Mid 2017 Elements on road to 5G
Release 15 End 2018 5G Phase 1 specification
Release 16 2020 5G Phase 2 specification
Release 17 ~Sept 2021