Origin of E-UTRAN

Origin of E-UTRAN
At the 3GPP TSG RAN #26 meeting, the Study Item description on “Evolved UTRA and UTRAN”
was approved [815]. It is noted that all 3GPP TSG RAN meetings after the #26 meeting have been
called 3GPP TSG RAN (new) meetings.
The justification of the Study Item was that with enhancements such as HSDPA and HSUPA,
the 3GPP radio-access technology will be highly competitive for several years. However, to ensure
competitiveness in an even longer time frame, that is, for the next 10 years and further, a long-term
evolution of the 3GPP radio-access technology needs to be considered.
Important parts of such a long-term evolution include reduced latency, higher user data rates,
improved system capacity and coverage, and reduced cost for the operator. In order to achieve this,
an evolution of the radio interface as well as the radio network architecture should be considered.
Considering a desire for even higher data rates and also taking into account future additional 3G
spectrum allocations, the long-term 3GPP evolution should include an evolution toward support for
wider transmission bandwidth than 5 MHz. At the same time, support for transmission bandwidths
of 5 MHz and less than 5 MHz should also be investigated in order to allow for more flexibility in
whichever frequency bands the system may be deployed.
3GPP work on the Evolution of the 3G Mobile System started with the RAN Evolution Workshop,
held from 2–3 November 2004 in Toronto, Canada. The Workshop was open to all interested
organizations and members and nonmembers of 3GPP. Operators, manufacturers, and research institutes
presented more than 40 contributions with views and proposals on the evolution of the UTRAN.
A set of high-level requirements were identified in the Workshop including: (1) Reduced cost per
bit, (2) Increased service provisioning – more services at a lower cost with better user experience,
(3) Flexibility of use of existing and new frequency bands, (4) Simplified architecture, Open interfaces,
and (5) Agreement toward reasonable terminal power consumption.
It was also recommended that the Evolved UTRAN should bring significant improvements to
justify the standardization effort and it should avoid unnecessary options. In a certain light, the
collaboration with 3GPP SA WGs was found a must with regards to the new split between the
Access Network and the Core, and the characteristics of the throughput that new services would
require.
With the conclusions of this Workshop and with broad support from 3GPP members, a feasibility
study on the UTRA and UTRAN Long-Term Evolution was started in December 2004. The objective
was to develop a framework for the evolution of the 3GPP radio-access technology toward a highdata–
rate, low-latency and packet-optimized radio-access technology. The study should be completed
by June 2006 (at the time when this book is finished, it seems that this deadline for final E-UTRAN
standard is likely to be postponed), with the selection of a new air-interface and the layout of the
new architecture. At that point, Work Items will be created to introduce the E-UTRAN in 3GPP
Work Plan.